Open Slide Design. The primary role of the open-top slide was to provide a 180° ejection port. Open top slide virtually eliminated jamming or stovepiping. The slide retention device, which caused the slide and barrel assembly to remain open after the last cartridge had been fired and ejected, allowed the user to load the chamber one cartridge at a time (emergency tactical loading) should the magazine be lost or damaged. The pistols were designed so that the extractor would not be damaged by direct chamber loading. These models operated on the short recoil, delayed locking block system, which yielded a faster cycle time.