3rd IDPA Match and the Unexpected Happened

[doc540]

This is really starting to become more and more fun now that I'm able to apply what I'm learning.

Thanks to those here who have offered so much helpful advice.

I really got tested when something unexpected happened during a stage.

With one in the pipe and ten in the mag on a 10 shot stage, the slide locked back after the 8th shot, leaving me two shots short of finishing.

I guess I should've just cycled the slide and kept shooting, but my first instinct was to drop that mag and reload.

Accuracy was good, but the extra reload time hurt me a little.

Anyone have an idea why a Colt 1911 slide would just lock back like that? Mag's are Virgil Tripp's.

That's never happened to me with about 1,000 rounds thru this gun.

[konkapot]

This is why many folks modify their mags and followers and slidestops so that the gun NEVER locks back.

Causes:

Bullet movement in the magazine

Your thumb(s) bumping that slidestop up.

Weak plunger tube spring, allowing that slidestop to move up on it's own.

Match karma-A gun that runs great in practice has a wierd malfunction that will only happen in a match.

Also a remote possibility that it didn't really "lock back" per se; there could have been an ammo problem that was not readily apparent.

FY42385

[doc540]

Thanks

Thinking back now, I could've thumbed it because I was leaning from behind cover and it locked on the third of four targets in that stage.

Good practice, though.

I had to make a split second decision to deal with it and move on.

I also fumbled a tactical reload by dunking the mag into my pocket before withdrawing and loading the second mag.

I was supposed to have them both in one hand at the same time. :0

[jar]

This is why many folks modify their mags and followers and slidestops so that the gun NEVER locks back.

Not such a good idea for IDPA. It's most likely your thumb hitting the lever.

[chirpy]

Remember...a gun that runs perfectly all the time is GOING to choke during a match! I don't know who said it first but it is worth repeating and remembering!

Richard

[Rob Tompkins]

This is why many folks modify their mags and followers and slidestops so that the gun NEVER locks back.

Not such a good idea for IDPA. It's most likely your thumb hitting the lever.

+1000, very bad idea for IDPA where you oftern have to shoot to slide lock.

[Ryan]

The first time I tried CDP was with my carry piece: dan wesson CBOB, which had been previously 100% reliable. After numerous occasions of the slide locking back with random rounds left in the magazines I ended up discovering that my ammo would slide fwd under recoil and the bullet would nudge the slide stop up. So, out came the dremel and I attacked that slide stop. I can now fire anything from RN to large diameter hollow points without problems. As an added bonus, all of my mags still lock the slide back, now after the last round!

Ryan

[Gregory_k]

how did you get the 10 round 1911 magazine to fit in the box?

[sfinney]

how did you get the 10 round 1911 magazine to fit in the box?

There are 3 or 4 brands of 9mm 10 round mags that will fit the box now. Wilson ETM, Metalforms, Dawsons, and Tripps. Maybe more. They aren't as long as the old ten round .45 mags.

[Duane Thomas]

I also fumbled a tactical reload by dunking the mag into my pocket before withdrawing and loading the second mag.

I was supposed to have them both in one hand at the same time. :0

What you've just described is perfectly legal - and actually a superior way to solve the problem. In IDPA there are three legal reloads - the slidelock reload (referred to in IDPA as the "emergency reload"), the Tactical Reload and the Reload With Retention. The difference between the latter two is that in the TR you wind up juggling two mags in your hand, in the RWR you store the old mag before grabbing the new. According to IDPA rules, the two reloads are interchangeable, i.e. if the stage description says to do a tactical reload, you may do a RWR instead..Since the RWR is a more time and motion efficient technique (i.e. it only requires you to move your hand down and back up the the gun once, where the TR requires you do so twice) the RWR is a much simpler, easier-to-esecute, and faster technhique. So don't think you did things "wrong"?

Also, just to reiterate what others have already said - though I'm sure you already know this - ever disabling your slide stop in IDPA, a sport within which the slidelock reload iplays such a huge part, would be a really bad idea.

[G-ManBart]

Take the slide off the gun, put the slide stop back in, get some of the same ammo from the match, load a few in a mag and put the mag in the gun. See how close the bullet comes to touching the inside of the slide stop (the part that engages the follower). If it's close where a little bit of movement on the part of the bullet would cause contact with the slide stop, that's a likely candidate for what happened. As the bullet moved up, it bumped the slide stop (upwards) which cause it to lock back. If needed, you can remove some material from the inside of the slide stop so there's more clearance.

Second, find the spot where the plunger makes contact with the face of the slide stop. You need to be pretty exact on this, but mark that spot, then make a dimple that the plunger can rest in...not deep, just a little dimple. That keeps the slide stop from moving upwards unless you want it to. R,