Grip

[jhugz]

I'm a lefty, and because of that, I have a M&P Pro for Production for the right side slide release. Well an item that I thought would make me faster is actually making me slower. I'm a big dude and have large hands. When using a real aggressive forward grip like a Sevigny or Vogel I end up riding the right side slide release with my strong hand thumb and if I polish off a mag, the slide fails to lock back sometimes. Any suggestions?

[Sin-ster]

Ignore it.

If that thumb is not preventing the sights from returning to alignment quickly and consistently, don't worry about it. Lots of folks suffer from that problem on several platforms. I used to be one of them, but I found that my grip was not as effective in the areas where it matters (i.e. recoil management) and now it's a non-issue unless I'm shooting strong hand or weak hand only. (No support hand for said thumb to rest on, so it floats over the slide stop.)

In USPSA, you should not be conducting slide lock reloads unless you have screwed the pooch on an array, or in super-rare instances where you plan for one. If you're running into slide lock issues several times in a match, you need to work on avoiding that more than you'd ever need to worry about the gun not locking open. If your stage plans consistently send you to 11 rounds on an array, you probably need to rethink them.

If it really bugs you that much, you can focus on fixing it; flag your thumb more and make sure not to squeeze the pistol with it, applying only front-to-back pressure with your weapon hand. If you ignore it, you may find like I did that over time, the issue goes away.

[jhugz]

Thanks bud, for USPSA I think your right.

[Sin-ster]

Thanks bud, for USPSA I think your right.

I should have added-- if you're shooting IDPA, or maybe just even combat/tactical oriented training, it may be something to look into.

As I said previously, if you flag that thumb a bit more, it'll help to alleviate the problem-- with the added bonus of putting your support hand even higher on the gun. However... If you squeeze with that thumb after such an adjustment, you'll drag on the slide and could cause malfunctions...

The real key is in not applying pressure there, and maintaining a relatively neutral grip. Unless you're shooting a Sig, in which case... You're SOL.