+1 on the tip to use the pad of your finger...my meaty (read fat) fingers just work better that way and I've had that confirmed by several other Kahr owners. As for the slide spring "loosening up" a bit, I don't think you want that since they tend to need a pretty fair amount of spring tension to work properly. That is why it's recommended to replace the springs relatively often (don't remember the general guideline offhand).