Gen 5 Glock Shooters, Support hand placement

[bpack325]

All,

I'd been doing a lot of dry practice, attempting to replicate a Vogel-type grip on my gen 5 34, with the standard slide release installed over the factory extended version. Validation in dry fire was great for recoil control, but terrible for my support hand palm. Still bits of my hand in there. How are Gen 5 shooters placing their hands to get the most control but also avoiding the more angled slide release?

[Duelist]

Your slide release did that? Wow. I’ve only got a few hundred rounds through my 19x, and that wasn’t even on my radar.

[bpack325]

Yeah, I'm fairly new to the Gen 5, after shooting HKs for a few years and running Gen 4s before that. Slide release feels a bit sharp on two samples I have, not sure if anyone else has run into it.

[Gio]

All,

I'd been doing a lot of dry practice, attempting to replicate a Vogel-type grip on my gen 5 34, with the standard slide release installed over the factory extended version. Validation in dry fire was great for recoil control, but terrible for my support hand palm. Still bits of my hand in there. How are Gen 5 shooters placing their hands to get the most control but also avoiding the more angled slide release?

I'm guessing your slide is not locking open at the end of a mag or you are occasionally activating the slide release in the middle of a magazine bc of pressure on the slide release from your support hand?

I had this same issue develop over the last two years because I was moving my grip farther and farther forward on the gun similar to Vogel. I started having issues with the slide not locking open at the end of a mag though because my support hand grip was pressing down on the slide release. I started modifying slide releases to bend them flatter against the frame so they weren't angled out from the frame as much, but I would still have the slide fail to lock open about 20% of the time. I talked to Vogel about this, and found out he modifies his guns and magazine followers to make them more reliable at locking the slide open.

I ultimately decided to shift my support hand grip farther back on the gun. My support hand thumb now pushes against the frame in front of the slide release, and the base of the thumb contacts the frame behind the slide release, creating a bridge where I do not contact the slide release at all. I tested both grip methods on several recoil control type drills including the Ben Stoeger doubles drill and 7-25 yard bill drills. I found that while I did seem to have less muzzle rise with the more forward grip, my splits and hits were not any better than when I shifted my support hand back. In fact, I found the sights tracked more predictably up and down with my support hand farther back. You have to keep in mind, the slide returns from recoil in about .05-.06 seconds, and the fastest shooters in the world can only pull the trigger in .11-.12 seconds while most M-GM level shooters are in the .15-.18 range. That gives you plenty of time to let the sights return to target between shots.

I ended up doing about 4000 dry fire draws in a week to build the muscle memory to shift my grip position and several thousand rounds live fire to confirm. I now have zero issues with contact on the slide release and have not had a mag fail to lock the slide back since changing up my grip.

[bpack325]

Thank you, this was exactly the information I was looking for!

I had in fact been experiencing failures to lock back due to pressure on the slide release. I moved the support hand back a little at the match, and bam hole in my hand. I’ll try your method now, I’m also going to add a small square of grip tape between the thumb rest and slide release area to see if that gives just a little more traction, seems a little bare there. I appreciate it!

[Gio]

Here’s a picture example of the modification I do to the slide release to flatten it against the frame. It’s subtle, but it makes a world of difference.
Unmodified:


Modified:

[Jay585]

A Kagwerks Slide Release might fix the issue. I have not used one myself.

Attachment 38536

[Rc217]

A Kagwerks Slide Release might fix the issue. I have not used one myself.

Attachment 38536

I have used the new gen 5 kagwerks slide release for a few range sessions. I had a problem with actually locking the slide with my support hand while firing. It happened on various gen 5 models for me and it has never been an issue in previous gems for me. The kagwerks release works well for me. I get slide lock on every empty mag and haven’t inadvertently locked the slide whole firing yet. It also gives your Glock a cool spoiler and racing stripes on your slide.

[Jay585]

I have used the new gen 5 kagwerks slide release for a few range sessions. I had a problem with actually locking the slide with my support hand while firing. It happened on various gen 5 models for me and it has never been an issue in previous gems for me. The kagwerks release works well for me. I get slide lock on every empty mag and haven’t inadvertently locked the slide whole firing yet. It also gives your Glock a cool spoiler and racing stripes on your slide.

Any issues with holsters? If so - which holsters, and how is the interference happening?

[Rc217]

Any issues with holsters? If so - which holsters, and how is the interference happening?

I have used it with a jmck, phlster, and a als safariland with no issues.