Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

Extended mag release question


bababoris

Recommended Posts

Hello.  Hope I am posting this in the right place.

My daughter and I are relatively new shooters, shooting USPSA exclusively for now. She inherited my 9mm STI 2011.  Since her hands are smaller she has a hard time reaching and pressing the mag release when doing reloads.  I am considering replacing her mag release button with something like this: https://www.shootersconnectionstore.com/Dawson-Mag-Release-2011-IDPA-Legal-Length-Blued-P2251.aspx

 

Looking for feedback about this option and also to see if there is something else I should consider that could solve her issue.

 

TIA.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those are way too small, especially since they are artificially smaller than they could be due to the IDPA designation. 
 

With the standard double wide grip, your daughter will likely have to rotate the gun in the strong hand to get to the magazine release. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, one of our B level open shooters solved this problem and many of our smaller shooters adapted her technique. She was a right handed shooter who used her left thumb to depress the mag release as her hand went to her rig to get another mag.  With a little practice it was much faster than rotating the pistol to hit the mag release with the strong hand thumb. Hope this helps. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, IVC said:

Those are way too small, especially since they are artificially smaller than they could be due to the IDPA designation. 
 

With the standard double wide grip, your daughter will likely have to rotate the gun in the strong hand to get to the magazine release. 

That is what she does now. Not ideal but she’s making it work 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, dapribek said:

Hi, one of our B level open shooters solved this problem and many of our smaller shooters adapted her technique. She was a right handed shooter who used her left thumb to depress the mag release as her hand went to her rig to get another mag.  With a little practice it was much faster than rotating the pistol to hit the mag release with the strong hand thumb. Hope this helps. 

Interesting.  I’ll pass it on to see if that may work.  Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

When my son was young and couldn’t comfortably reach the mag release he adopted the support hand move too.
I felt it was safer than having him flick the gun around in his hand to try and hit the mag release. 
He wasn’t “fast” by any means, but hitting the mag release on the way to the belt for a fresh mag didn’t slow him down any in the scheme of things. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Fortunately the 2011 is great for changing out mag buttons - I would try the beefiest one you can find.  Really the only issue is when you have a mag release so big, your support hand accidentally punches it during firing as the gun moves during shots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

A completely different gun but for my Beretta 92 there is a taller mag button and also a taller and wider button available. I found the taller and wider one is much easier than the just taller one. I also found that snipping a coil or 2 off the spring helped a lot. It feels to me like I have X power in my thumb and I need 100% of X to operate a stock button so I need the thumb positioned just perfectly. That perfect position requires moving the gun around in my hand a bit. But w/ the larger and softer button, I can move it w/ 75% of X which I can get w/o moving the gun in my hand. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Get a mag release that is drilled and tapped and put a Dawson low pro mag button on it. Then practice with it so you do not accidentally drop the mag, etc. This is a great set up for competition and will serve you well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The idpa length is not really short as in for-carry length. For me its just the right length for practical shooting. The longer ones make me push them with my palm unintentionally. My hand are smallish. I flip the 2011 grip to positively depress the button. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Get a mag release that is tapped for a button and you can try the various sizes and shapes to see what works. I like the Dawson low pro mag button but I have average size man hands, for her I'd probably look at one of the paddle releases.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...