Teach me the need for beaver tails? How does slide bite happen?

[Bucky]

I don’t understand the need for beaver tails because I’ve never had slide bite before. I mostly shoot glocks. I think I have a fairly high grip on the gun. But don’t get close to having the slide bite my hand. I’m guessing it has to do with hand size and maybe people with huge gorilla hands need it more? Just wondering!

Do you compete or do holster work? I have smaller hands. I have a very high grip. Under normal shooting, I avoid the slide bite. When competing, particularly steel challenge, where you really push the draw speed, that’s when I’m subjected to slide bite.

[Hemiram]

I never had slide bite until I bought a PPK, and had it big time. That gun was problem plagued from day one, and my GF shot it fine, but it was unreliable and pretty badly machined so it went away as soon as I could sell it. At the time, it was just another badly made new gun that didn't work, and I moved on. I had a LOT of bad new guns back in the early to mid '80's, the PPK wasn't nearly as bad as some of them.

[Jim Watson]

Not a Glock but my 1911Sc SW Commander will give me a worn, spot at the web between my forefinger and thumb.

My gunsmith terms that a "chewing" action at the seam of grip safety to frame. All the more reason for a smoothly blended beavertail.

Deletion of the beavertail on the Plastic M&P 2.0 mystified me; I prefer the "1.0" grip.

[TxRod]

I experience slide bite frequently, the Ruger American, the Beretta 92 Compact and the latest, the CZ P10 being three standouts. The Beretta and the CZ were tough to take. I bought the Beretta and loved everything about it - what a beautiful weapon - except for the fact that after 100 rounds my top knuckle was rubbed raw. I really wanted to buy a P10 for carry but after renting one at the range determined slide bite would squash that love affair. Slide bite sucks.

[sheepdog]

The reason is threefold for some people in my opinion.

1. People like me get slide bite from Glocks because our hands ride so high on the frame. As such, I cannot shoot Glocks without using the backstraps with the beavertail (and I've had the bloody hands at the range to prove it). I almost bled on some guy's Mosen he was letting me shoot because I hadn't even realized I was bit until we saw the blood trickling down my arm.

2. Sometimes, however, it's not about slide bite at all. I cannot shoot a SIG P229 without the extended beavertail. There is no way I am going to get slide bite with the bore axis that high, but the tang area hits my thumb knuckle because of the way my hand is shaped and wraps around the grip/frame comfortably. As soon as I picked up a Legion or the Elite series with the medium and large beavertails respectively, this problem went away.

3. Lastly, and I know this is a little controversial because people's hands and techniques differ, but for me I can more consistently get a full purchase using a beavertail because I can slam my hand up high on that grip without going too high as the beavertail stops it. I even prefer the larger beavertail on the Elites over the smaller ones on the Legions just for this reason.

So at the end of the day everyone is built differently. The majority of shooters don't need a beavertail, but many of us do.

[VT1032]

I get slide bite even with the beavertails, but I'm a fatty with big hands... A G19 with beavertail will leave me bleeding by the end. Without, I'll have a nice groove of missing skin. With a g43, let's just say the web of my hand has induced stoppages...

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[babypanther]

I left blood on the slide of my P2000 every qualification, and on my glocks I take the med backstrap and do the home made GFA with it. Only other gun I had slide bite from was racking the slide of a BHP with the standard hammer on it. Felt like it friggin bit me.

The most uncomfortable pistol I’ve ever shot was a CZ83. The backstrap/beaver tail on that is part of the metal frame, and it rests right on the first joint of my thumb. I can’t shoot that gun for more than half a magazine, and it was a 380 if i remember right.


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[JAH 3rd]

My gunsmith terms that a "chewing" action at the seam of grip safety to frame. All the more reason for a smoothly blended beavertail.

Deletion of the beavertail on the Plastic M&P 2.0 mystified me; I prefer the "1.0" grip.

I like everything about my M&P 45 2.0 except the lack of a beavertail. Likewise, I prefer the 1.0 with beavertail. It helps anchor the pistol in my hand. I really miss it. The more aggressive texture of the 2.0 does help compensate for the loss of the B/T.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

I have pretty big thick hands but with no fat and I grip high and everything bites me. Scarring on my thumb's first knuckle, etc, etc. GI 1911s I might as well just pinch a fold of skin on the web of my hand with pliers and yank it off.

Glocks I just live with the damage. But it's annoying. Repeated knuckle-skinnings have at least reduced the sensation there.

[JTQ]

The reason is threefold for some people in my opinion.

The majority of shooters don't need a beavertail, but many of us do.

I see a PX4 in your avatar. How do you fare with the PX4?