A little bit of science fiction in 2019.
Let’s be honest, why don’t we have laser pistols yet? We are getting close to a quarter of the way through the 21st Century and it seems like comic books have lied to me through my youth. But there are incremental advances. One of these was evidenced by RADETEC at SHOT Show 2019. This year they introduced their Smart Slide. It is a high-tech replacement slide for your Glock.
While it may not shoot lasers, it brings the way someone interacts with their pistol to a completely different level. The Smart Slide has an integrated screen in the rear of the slide. This screen displays different pieces of information depending on the setting.
This is the display for a loaded chamber but no magazine inserted.
For starters, it will indicate if there is a round in the chamber. It can also tell you if there is a magazine inserted in the gun. And going beyond that, the Smart Slide will even tell you how many rounds are left in the magazine. Amazed yet?
The display indicates a round in the chamber and 16 rounds in the magazine.
The way the Radetec Smart Slide is able to do this is through, in part, the use of magnets. The Smart Slide comes with a replacement slide for your Glock 17 with a built in screen, a new back strap for your pistol and (2) followers for your stock magazines. These followers talk to the slide in order to tell the slide if the magazine is inserted and if so, how many rounds are in it.
Here the pistol has a magazine of 17 rounds inserted but no round in the chamber.
The unit also acts as a shot counter. Keeping track of the rounds fired through the pistol. While this may not be important for many people, it becomes really important for departments or ranges where a strict maintenance schedule is adhered to. The battery last for 8 hours continuous use or 1 month of standby.
What are my thoughts on this technology? I like that it is pushing the envelope in firearms technology. Do electronics create an additional failure point? Absolutely, and you saw that as the main argument for red dot optics when they were first introduced to carbines back in the day. I think with time this type of technology will find its way into more and more firearms in a less obtrusive and more inexpensive way.
As the technology becomes more common I expect it to shrink in size and come down in price.
The Smart Slide will be available Q4 for around $1,000 (MSRP). That includes the Smart Slide, new back strap and (2) magazine followers. Pretty cool, right?
Its Like the On-Weapon display in Apex Legends
I cant un-see this now
Lots of negative Nancy’s in these comments…… I think it’s pretty awesome. Reminds me of playing Halo. The good news for us broke ass firearm enthusiasts is that there is a black and white version of this that costs 138 bucks and just pops onto the rear of your already existing slide.
Boomers big mad lol. Leave it to older generations to always resist the improvements and changes the newer generations make for the betterment of the future the older generations will take no part in.
Neat concept but this would be purchased for someone just to say they had it. If you need this on your pistol to keep track of what’s in it, your not responsible enough to own a firearm. I keep a couple loaded in the house and know exactly what’s in the magazine and if it’s chambered or not. And I always clear my weapon before cleaning or examining. This is going to get in the wrong hands and someone will get hurt from lack of knowing.
You ate a lot of paint chips as a kid huh?
What a boomer, this is clearly designed for police or LEO. Not the biggest priority to count your rounds if you’re being gatted at.
When a company can’t manage their website SSL certificates properly… you probably don’t want to even think about buying their ‘gun tech’. Their SSL cert expired on 8/31/2019 and in 5 months they couldn’t be bothered to renew and install an update.
Personally I’m a big fan of tech like this moving forward. It’s something different, cool and high-tech that we haven’t really seen before. Obviously you should be doing things like chamber checks on your own, and yes the electronics are just one more thing to go wrong, but at least these electronics failing won’t lead to you not being able to aim (unlike red-dots) and/or shoot your gun; the firearm will still be fully functional minus the screen on the back. Assuming they can work out any potential kinks in the programming and prolong the battery life I could see this becoming mainstream in maybe a couple decades. Bravo.
I’m not a fan of slapping a lot of things on guns. Good idea? Mmmmm….kinda. The part of it I can get down with is the round count for knowing how many rounds I have put through a firearm over time. I do think that’s a good idea. But as far as the number of rounds in the magazine, I’m not too concerned about that. Maybe for those who don’t use their firearms often or those who only use them for home self defense situations,. I can hop back and forth across that line all day with a bunch of , “Yeah….but”….
It’s a hi dollar add on ,its neat , it’s cool, but then comes the downfall, what happens and it will ,when there is a glitch in the software. It says 0- clear , but is it really. Then you have to check anyway, accidents happen. I just don’t see it taken off, not even for training purposes. IMHO I’m gonna say no thanks.
I agree. And emp’s can be made easily and cops have them and civilians. I don’t want any electronic to power my gun or be apart of it.
EMP’s don’t effect anything that isn’t connected to the grid bro. You just lost any credibility with your words here now. Let the smarter folks handle the engineering and go back to your cubical.
Nobody thinks that having an ammo count right in front of you could be useful if you need to use your weapon for self defense?
I don’t like the chamber check feature because that is something you should be doing yourself.
Everyone has a right to their opinion with respect to industry and tech. advances. Personally, I can see adding something like this to a range toy or a firearm that’s being used to teach someone new to shooting. However, I think it a horrible idea for a carry gun. I’m coming from the perspective that I believe everyone should receive as much training as they can afford, if they plan to carry a firearm 100% of the time on a daily basis, so long as they are wearing pants. In a defensive situation, everything should flow from muscle memory. And, if #1 out I the 4 universals firearm safety rules is = to, “treat every firearm as if it is loaded” any chamber indicator, manual or mechanical is a pointless waste of time. I do however realize that the overwhelming majority of people are far more ignorant about firearms than they think they are. Especially casual shooters and collectors. P
Silly idea…no, scratch that. Stupid idea…
If I get enough points shooting it, does it upgrade to a machine gun?
If it said “reload! Reload” the gamers would keep that company in business forever
Hi-LARIOUS! Hadn’t thought about that until you nailed it. Dammit you should be part of their marketing team!
NO. NOT cool. Hate it actually. Nothing is sacred anymore. Everything has to ‘somehow’ be digital-ized, computer-ized…all “for the greater good”. The ONLY way I see this being a viable slide “replacement” option, is for Rental ranges or the like, and possible LEO application(s). Just remember: EVERY TIME you introduce some other aspect of technology, especially electronics to a mechanical, hard-use object, the end result will generally be MORE problems, more concerns to be dealt with and WITH that comes a psychological concern in the form of doubt. WILL it work? Will it work ALL the time, and can I DEPEND on it? “Do I REALLY have 12 rounds LEFT in my mag”, OR is ‘seeing’ believing?
When will the public realize that computers and guns don’t mix. There is already a problem with people too stupid to check for an empty chamber. Let’s legitimize that stupidity with an electronic device. Too lazy to watch in front of you for cars stopping? Let’s make the car brake for you. Then you won’t have to watch at all. Is there a warning about not looking down the barrel when you pull the trigger? This all seems obvious to my generation who did everything without computers. You had to actually think then. I drove 25 years without any phone in the car. Do you think anyone would do that now? You can call me an old fuddy duddy but I’ll tell you one thing- we did not have any deaths from texting/talking and driving. OK – my rant.
Shut up boomer
What does this have to do with guns…
I think everyone isn’t looking at this the right way. Everyone thinks that the person would get it because the can’t count or whatever. This is something that is just cool to have if you have spare money and like that kind of thing. It’s not to have a tactical advantage it is just an expensive but cool toy if you like that kind of thing
Great, another thing to put batteries in.
I wonder how that screen hold up after being violently beat back and forth 10,000 times. The Glock is a good gun, if it isn’t broke, why fix it.
Way over price. If my project list was not so full. But really give the Arduino hacking folks a week and they will reduce its size to a usable fit. Better yet a tiny13 or basic stamp project.
Not a good idea. People will use this to determine when a weapon is clear. If it malfunctions or gives false clear, the danger level goes up quite a bit.
My only concern with this device is that this LED display (being directly under the rear sight) would distract your concentration away from your sights, particularly in a low light situation when you most need them. JMO…
Why?!!!! If this can be produced, politicians will require it to make your (already legal) firearm more legal. Why give them opportunities/ideas that WILL force us to eventually “COMPLY” to this “GREAT IDEA.” It WILL become a requirement to merely own a firearm. Next step..all firearms to be manufactured this way! Again WHY?!
Thank you RADETEC
As a fan of the game HALO, I find that someone was able to come up with this in reality to be pretty neat. But it is a novelty item only, would never need it for a real world weapon. Is it for me? Nope. But, hey, hats off to the guy for putting the time and effort into making it work. He’s got more brains and creativity than I have.
Pretty expensive. Would be nice if only the rear plate on the slide needed to be teplaced. What are you going to do with the original slide???
I’d never pay a grand for something like that but I can see the next step as being face recognition, similar to that used in Iphones. It would be nice to know that your gun could not be used against yourself. As soon as you bring your gun into horizontal, it would search for your face, instantly acquire and be ready to fire. Trust me, it’s coming, so if someone is ready to build it, please keep me in mind. I can be reached at diyalarm.net
To answer the article author’s Q on why don’t We, the Sheeple have laser guns. It’s because the government already has them and they are restricting the technology advantage for themselves. It worked very well in Iraq and other places. Ostensibly to zap IED mines and booby trapped ordnance at distance but they noticed that it also did an acceptable job of instantly exploding humans when some Isis terrorists ‘accidentally’ walked into a shot?
Lasers and microwaves are different
As soon as the gun grabber progressives see this they will throw $ at these guys to encourage them to make this an electronic fire control device. You know, another infringement like magazine capacity and semi auto rifle regulation…
I like it. Flashed back to the movie “Aliens”. The M41A pulse rifle (Colonial Marines) had a visual ammo display. Practical? Maybe not. Fun factor? Heck yeah.
I was also thinking the same thing. Personally I do not trust electronics to make my gun shoot. I want that purely mechanical. But I see nothing wrong with an ammunition counter. I would take it as an estimate of how much ammo my firearm had left but I would not use it to replace safety training that I follow.
One thousand dollars is way too expensive for this technology though.
Looking at the photo it makes the slide about 1/4″ wider for the last inch. The idea for carry is a more narrow slide, not a wider one. Useless toy.
I don’t like it one bit. No one needs to pay 1K on technology to tell the shooter if there is a magazine in the gun. Can it hold up to the elements of weather or combat conditions? The other problem I have is it may open the door to smart gun technology. I could already here members of congress say, if they could invent this. they could invent a smart gun.
If you need something like this – you probly shouldn’t carry .
Thats the dumbest thing I’ve seen on a long time. Really?
Okay – cool toy I guess. Likely for the geek who (will) never fires his gun outside the range.
For $1K, there’s a WHOLE LOT of stuff you can do to a Glock that will enhance the trigger and accuracy of the platform.
For the record – I’ve never (and probably will never) own a Glock, no matter how popular it is – just doesn’t work for me. But, even for us “disposable income/impulse buyer types”, I just can’t see someone spending this kind of $$ for a gadget (with no longevity track record), when you could buy another gun, or a whole lotta ammo for this amount of $$.
My $.02
Rick
What a waste of money .
Rick provides an interesting observation. While I do admit that i’m always amazed by advancing tech. with firearms it seems that much of it rises above pragmatic applications or is more in line with ‘bling on a beast’ rather than functional purpose? First off, in decades of combat shooting involvement both in real time warfare and competition, the only time I really gave a shit about ‘knowing’ how much ammo I had left in my magazine was…NEVER?
When laying down suppressive firepower was requires we just switched mags when one was empty. If the firefight was hot and extended after a couple mags were emptied your highly trained and experienced combat mind already began keeping a running count. “okay…3 mags down, only got seven left. Switch off full auto to single shot…start to aim more…until support weighs in” Before you ran out of rounds completely, you had better be in one of two configurations. Falling back to regroup or policing through the dead enemy bodies. Invariably, But beforehand we were prepared with enough ammo for any contingency. That was part of operational protocol.
Most CQB firefights are over pretty quickly. What you do with the first few rounds in your mag is of more importance in a deadly engagement than knowing exactly how many rounds you have left in your magazine. Especially with a pistol in a civilian firefight. And with even a modicum of practice experience most gunslingers would subconsciously ‘know’ that they had just fired off 8 or nine rounds, so if they don’t know if the bad guy is down, they realize they still have a few shots left in the gun in case he jumps into view so you’re still good to go and you don’t have to make a grave mistake of distracting your serious attention focus off the scenario dynamics at hand in front of your eyes by looking down on at your gun, or worse, as often depicted in stupid movies where the hero diverts his attention actually drops his mag to check what’s left and then puts it back, LOL! It’s not unlike a speeding driver taking his eyes off the road to look at his text message. Which is why skilled shooters should be able to switch mags rapidly without looking and on the move.
It’s also ‘debatable’ if even a round in the chamber indicator is even that useful. If you’re one of those who ALWAYS assumes there is a live round in the chamber, even when there isn’t, and handles the gun accordingly, why would you need to waste action time relying on an indicator? And, of course, that’s why most still guns don’t have them. Besides, running
The other thing is that if we continue to train ourselves to rely on smart phone type brainwashing where we have to check the ‘oracle’ on the smart screen for everything we want to thing about and do, that the government and every other anti-privacy control group wants to also know, then we are relinquishing our ability to self-evaluate and make our own critical choices without depending upon artificial intelligence to make it happen.
I can just imagine the standard after a (criminally) justifiable self defense shoot civil lawsuit where the lawyer for the plaintiff asks you, ‘…so, Mr. Concealed Carry-boy, did you check your slide screen before you killed the victim for permission to shoot?
But who knows, The Future changes into the past more rapidly today than it did when I was a juvenile. Maybe a newer version would be able to count your rounds expended over a month and give you a notice to stock more ammo? Maybe the menu would also display a ‘rating’ on your shooting performance at the range? Something like: ‘Great shooting dude, you da Top Gun today!’ or, ‘You Suck today, chump. Go home and practice some dry firing before you waste more ammo.’ That would be really cool and maybe worth the price?
But for right now, this just looks like a trend that is pervasive in the modern commercial applications of capitalistic enterprise. Use any gimmick enhancement as long as it is marketable for increased profit. It doesn’t have to have real value, just enough of a ‘cool’ factor to monetize.
Great comment…BEST of THE day
Total agree!
If you’re watching that stupid time or not it will let you
$1K for a slide with counter? LOL you must have ammesia to use it very well
I pity the poor fool who gets into a fire fight WITHOUT one of these!
Be careful, sarcasm can be lost so easily when dealing with some of the subscribers to this blog
most real comment ive seen on here