Modifying slide/slide lock so slide always goes forward on reload

[Grelber]

If I slam in a magazine at slide lock, most of my guns (glock, 1911, cz, 2011) will release the slide some of the time, and some of my guns will release the slide all of the time.

It is a thing that seems to begin or to become more consistent with a little wear (although a couple cz's have been near 100% consistent from day one) and which seems to be somewhat dependent upon what bullet shape/length I am using.

For shooting sports this can be a very handy thing (and it looks cool) so I would like to get all of my guns to be as close to 100% consistent as is possible.

Anyone ever delve into what modifications would improve reliability for this ? Am thinking that the shape of the slide release could perhaps be tweaked for a low risk mod, perhaps the groove in the slide could be very incrementally adjusted for angle safely though ?

 

[midget]

Most 2011 shooters do the exact opposite of what you are wanting and remove the slide lock on an empty mag. If you are running your gun dry, it may be more advantageous to plan out the reloads a little better. That being said, I would be weary of any modification that automatically closes the side as it is also likely cause the slide to lock open inadvertently... Just my two cents..

 

[Grelber]

Most 2011 shooters do the exact opposite of what you are wanting and remove the slide lock on an empty mag. If you are running your gun dry, it may be more advantageous to plan out the reloads a little better. That being said, I would be weary of any modification that automatically closes the side as it is also likely cause the slide to lock open inadvertently... Just my two cents..

I may not have been clear, on my 2011's that are USPSA limited guns I have also modified them so the slide never locks open, gets the extra round with 100% reliability and with 20+ rounds versus 10 it is easy to plan so you about always have a few extra for a stubborn Texas star or whatever. The the real goal, in both situations is to make it so that the gun acts the same way every time, instead of the occasional unexpected slide lock with a round left in the 2011 or the occasional slide not going forward with other guns.

What I want to do is modify my IDPA/USPSA production class guns so that the slide reliably acts the same way all of the time (goes forward when you slam in a fresh mag from slide lock), in one sport going away from slide lock reloads would waste a good bit of time and in the other sport it is hard to plan your make up shots .

 

[Tactically Fat]

Wouldn't this just mean modifying the mag followers a tad so they don't impact the slide lock/release?

 

[rvb]

I find getting the force required to cause the slide to bounce forward is slower than a good reload and hitting the lever... I try to be relaxed for fast RLs and hard seating works against that.

but... if I wanted to do what you are saying, I would
1) weld up the notch so it's not as deep, with less engagement of the stop into the slide *
2) polish the mating surfaces.
3) use as heavy a slide stop lever as possible (what's really going on is the stop's inertia is causing it to move down as you beat the mag/gun upward.**
4) strengthen the spring that holds the stop down during normal operation (stronger spring or slight bending)

* not production legal and probably not ss legal either...
**also maybe not legal.

if not legal for the division, then polish the mating surfaces and slightly change angles if necessary...

-rvb

 

[romack991]

rvb nailed it.
Also using a lighter grip on the gun during the reload could potentially help as well.

 

[mammynun]

rvb nailed it.
Also using a lighter grip on the gun during the reload could potentially help as well.

Excellent point, and probably explains why the slide will go forward on a given pistol when my wife reloads, yet it doesn't ever happen to me.

 

[Grelber]

Wouldn't this just mean modifying the mag followers a tad so they don't impact the slide lock/release?

Not for what I want, for the situation with some guns occasionally locking back 1 round early some folks do tweak followers as you noted.

I find getting the force required to cause the slide to bounce forward is slower than a good reload and hitting the lever... I try to be relaxed for fast RLs and hard seating works against that.

I have never been accused of good reloads & I get your point. When I was shooting Glocks () , it required intent for the slide to close, with the CZ I'm shooting now I think the slide would drop for you on a brisk & smooth reload though.

It does not appear that anyone has done what I'm considering so I think I will leave things alone rather than maybe screw something up that I would rather not pay for.

Also using a lighter grip on the gun during the reload could potentially help as well.

I think I will try that for a couple reasons. My dry fire reloads are now "beep - beep - expletive" , so it couldn't hurt to experiment.

 

[rvb]

It does not appear that anyone has done what I'm considering so I think I will leave things alone rather than maybe screw something up that I would rather not pay for.

It's not a new idea, but getting reliability is the hard part (getting it to both lock back reliably and 'auto-forward' reliably is a bit of a fine line).

I think I will try that for a couple reasons. My dry fire reloads are now "beep - beep - expletive" , so it couldn't hurt to experiment.

a loose grip is important during the RL, imo, for a lot of reasons. if I'm tense and/or crushing the gun, the RLs are often cluster Fs. If I can be relaxed, incl a loose grip on the pistol, they usually flow. I think being relaxed lets things align themselves, like if the mag doesn't enter directly align w/ the mag well. I agree w/ Tim it would also help here to let the gun move more when you seat it.

I found when shooting some Lim this year my reloads suffered because I wasn't used to hard-seating full mags, causing me to grip harder and slam harder, taking some of the 'flow' out of the RLs....

-rvb

-rvb