The spring definitely is stiff but I have large hands and I think that can be contributing to the problem. To cleanly access the button, I have to release my grip on the gun to use more of my thumb-tip because it's a sub-compact. I guess that part of the sacrifice with this frame size.Originally Posted by Dan Lehr
The spring is definitely stiff but my finger is probably not out of the way as much as it could be--I'm trying to maintain as much grip as I can during a reload. I guess I'll have to sacrifice grip as an exchange for carrying a smaller gun?
Not having to shift the gun in the hand to release the mag seems to have become the expectation for many, but I'd expect to shift every gun in my hand to hit the mag release. Changing expectations could be a benefit.
I often share this video from Shannon Smith. You can skip to the 2:05 mark
Yes.
I have M/L hands. I am a lefty, and have tried all sorts of different release options for pushing the mag release.
The one that works best on the timer is to "flip" my grip in my strong hand, so the magwell is as close to vertical as possible. With the gun flipped, I then depress the mag catch with the middle finger on my left hand, while at the same time my new mag is being grabbed and then inserted to that magwell as the spent mag drops free. My context is as a pretty low-level, very occasional USPSA shooter. I'm generally trying to reload between target arrays, so I focus more on reliable mag changes. I am no high speed low drag shooter by any stretch.
There is essentially no practical size difference between a 26 and 17 in regards to mag release placement. For my hand size, I have to shift the gun in my firing hand to be able to hit the release on most guns. So, I wouldn’t say it’s due to the smaller gun, but instead due to hand size and efficient mechanics to press the mag release in.
Turns out I can’t find a good video to explain that exact step in the process. But essentially, I’m shifting the gun in my strong hand to hit the mag release keeping the gun vertical, then “fixing” my grip as I acquire my next mag and then seat it.
Keep in mind that’s what I do, based off my hand sized and size of gun. You may not need to shift the gun.
Blowers sorta mentions it in this video, but as he goes through demonstrating techniques, you can see that he slightly shifts the gun, then slightly shifts it back. That’s all the movement I’m talking about.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HMcc9OmjmWQ
I love that within minutes, three of us isolated on that one line to give a response. Gooooooo PF.
My wife started shooting idpa w/ me this summer. She immediately started having trouble dropping mags. I started a thread here and got a lot of help. But she still had problems. One suggestion was try using her weak hand thumb. First time she tried that she looked at me and said, winner. We think this way. Standard 2 hand grip and slide locks back empty. Her strong hand thumb is near (maybe 1 inch) the release button, but not near enough, so she has to flip the gun around as you say. And flip it back. But her weak hand thumb is only a little further away. Maybe 2 inches. So she hits the button w/ her weak hand thumb. It needs to move an inch further, but; 1- no need to flip the gun around and flip it back, 2- she is pushing her left hand thumb into her right palm and has, since she is using her arm muscles, probably 10 times the strength compared to her strong hand thumb only. After she decided to concentrate this technique we went to practice. We found that all ways to simulate reloads w/o firing a round were not really great so I loaded up maybe 6 mags one round each. She sticks one in the gun and one in her mag pouch. She starts from low ready, fires, drops the mag and reloads. I stand just behind her and, as soon as she grabs the next mag, I put another one shot loaded mag in her pouch. So she goes through 6 cycles of reloads as fast as she can move correctly. By the second round of 6 she says she really likes this. After the third round she says this is absolutely her best technique.
It is possible that it is a tiny fraction of a second slower, but strong hand thumb is always a bit dicey whether it will go well or not. Weak hand thumb is always 100%.
Yeah.
I have shared this before. It may not help here, but shooters with short digits may benefit from doing a couple of things as they break their grip to reload...
1. Put shooting hand thumb on the mag release and stiffen it to hold it firm.
2. As your support hand leaves the gun, use it pull the gun into your shooting hand thumb. Keep thumb firm, and the mag should drop.
Don't listen to me overall... I tend to put partially depleted mags back into mag pouches...because that is where I reach for mags...I do not train to pull mags from a pocket (much)....likely to get me kilt in da streetz...
pat
Pre-hand injury, I used the middle finger of my strong hand to hit the mag release on my G19. I have medium hands with long fingers. My thumb is too short to reach the release on the G19 without significant grip shift. I found that the grip shift needed to release using the middle finger was much less than shifting to reach with my thumb, and kept better control of the pistol while doing so. And my finger had a better angle to press in on the release instead of sort of pressing at an angle with my thumb.
With my P250SC, my thumb can reach to release pretty well and the geometry of the trigger guard makes it hard to reach with the finger so this technique didn't work so well. Post-hand injury, I've adapted to use my weak hand thumb to reliably hit the release.
And I'm the last guy you want to take instruction from, so consider this as just a data point for consideration.
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