The slide release lever on my Glock 30 is super tough to use. Is this something common in Glock pistols or what? I just got the gun used for $400, but it is fairly new. The previous owner said he bought it new about a year and a half ago, and the pistol appears to have not been shot at all. So is this a problem?
Do you have the empty magazine in the gun when you are attempting to use the slide release? If so, the mag spring may be tight. Load up the mag to max capacity and let it sit for a week or so.
If the mag is removed from the gun, and the release is still tight, check the mag release notch for any metal. Make sure it is smooth. If not, a call to Glock may be in order.
Maybe it’s just me, but I find that the subcompact Glocks that use the telescoping 2-piece style recoil spring are much stiffer and therefore harder to release the slide with the lever (unless you’re fighting an empty mag pushing up, the clamping force of the recoil spring pulling the slide forward is what you’re counteracting). Example being my G26 is much harder to drop the slide on than my G34 or G19. You could just be noticing the difference?
Perhaps Glock is attempting to enforce the view that releasing the slide via the slide lock is not the way to go? In all seriousness, perhaps you ought to look into an extended slide release. I own 7 Glocks and have had no trouble using the standard slide lock to lock back the slide. But I’ve never attempted to release the slide using that part, so can’t comment as to whether the reverse is true.
Well this is the only Glock I have ever delt with other than a G17 a few months back that I only shot 3 rounds through, and I did not notice a hard slide release on that, so maybe this stiff ass spring setup is doing it. And just so you know what kind of trouble Im having, it is not just a little hard to activate, you would think the darned thing was stuck if it was your first time handling the weapon(which I did). It actually hurts my thumb. And about calling Glock, Im not sure how far I would get with that since I am not the origional purchaser of the pistol. I suppose I could give it a shot, how is there customer service by the way?
citizensoldier16 pointed out the most obvious potential problem, if you’re trying to drop the slide on an empty magazine – especially one with an unused mag spring – then you’re fighting more than just the slide release spring.
Beyond that, either you’re not pressing on the lever properly (which I’ve seen more often than you’d think), there is a problem with the spring, or there is a dimensional problem with the lever or slide.
Their customer service has been overwhelmingly positive the few times I’ve called them. Before you call Glock, I’d start by determining if your problem is a tight mag spring, a tight recoil spring, or a machining issue. If its a spring issue, these can be solved by loading the mag or shooting about 50 rounds through the gun. Springs will naturally be tight on a new or unfired weapon, and will take some time to loosen up.
Keep us updated.
There doesn’t appear to be any machining defects on it, and I’m pretty sure Im using the lever correctly, so I am going to give those springs some time to relax and see what happens. The last (10th) round is a little tough to get in the mag, so I bet thats what it is. Ill let you guys know how that works! Thank You!
The glock is much easier to charge by just using the slide grab method. I don’t use the slide stop to release the slide.
Next time I see Dave Sevigny, I’ll let him know he’s doing it wrong. 
Doesn’t he run that city slicker G34? Those have the extended slide stops if my memory serves me.
I’ve seen Vickers too uses the slide stop. I DIDN’T say it was wrong to use the unwashed method. I just said it’s easier for me to grab and go. (with the standard slide stop being so slim on the glock)
Dave has more than one Glock, I’m pretty sure.
I just said it’s easier for me to grab and go. (with the standard slide stop being so slim on the glock)
(emphasis mine)
I somehow missed the “for me” part. 
Alright…
“for EVERYONE”! Everyone with a standard slide stop should do it MY WAY. 
The bigger point being that I didn’t say that thumbing the slide stop was “wrong”. 
I’m anything but graceful. I can fumble fuck anything that requires dexterity. If I can accomplish something without messing with a button or lever, I’ll take that route every time. Plus, my thumb doesn’t reach the slide stop without repositioning the gun in my hand.
Honestly, my G17 has seen so many rounds that I can literally ram a mag home and the slide will run forward on its own. Kinda nice during IDPA matches…saves me a few hundredths of a second on each reload! 
Would not the trigger be a lever? Perhaps you should give up shooting and stick to Golf like my goofball brother:D
I’m worse at GOLF!!
I once watched a student melt down in a timed drill. It might have been a broad, but it’s been a while now. Anyway, the student was shooting one of those city slicker Sig Sours for the entire day. And at the end of the day the instructor put a time constraint on the drill which included a mag exchange of some kind.
Anyway, the simple pressure of adding the time constraint caused the student to use the decocker to try to drop the mag in the gun. The student just stood there depressing the decocker with all his/her might and the mag wouldn’t come free.
Now I know everyone will say the student wasn’t familiar with the weapon and probably doesn’t even own any 5.11 pants. But shooters at various levels can lock up and do dumb shit.
Anyhow, that’s why I like to keep my weapons manipulations BIG, TRUE, and DUMB ASS proof. Even though I could probably pick up speed on a reload by going to the slide stop. I live in reality. And I realistically don’t get enough practice to master that to the point where I’m like LAV.
Without trying to start the umpteenth debate about this on M4C …
I’ve seen plenty of students induce stoppages when “under stress” doing reloads with either an overhand or slingshot technique. Doing it properly requires more finesse then advocates want to admit, and the same person who lacks the skill to hit a little lever under stress (but he can still hit the mag button?) is going to lack the skill to rack the slide reliably.
The difference is that someone who misses the lever just goes for the lever again. Someone who induces a stoppage has caused himself a whole new level of rut-roh when he was already behind the curve.
I like the slingshot method on Glocks. It’s been working good for me.
I run the standard release on everything including my 34 (used strictly for uspsa). I personally have never had an issue. I’m more worried about smothering it than not being able to hit it.
I don’t know Dave personally but I had a chance to pick his brain a few years ago and, at least at that time, he swapped the extended out for the standard.
In my experience the G30 with the standard slide release is tougher to use and seems to be the nature of the beast with the wider slide.
That’s what I’d do if I ever got a G34/35. I like how slick the standard Glock is.