Binding the grip during reloads

[shooting for M]

Hello,

I have an STI Tactical with a double undercut scotts frame. I have just started shooting it and thought maybe my mags were out of shape and sticking. I think, after messing with it, I was trying not flip the gun so far and tweaking the grip so much the mag was sticking. Anyone else have this problem? The mags don't stick all the time, and never if while I'm not actually practicing full speed.

Edit to add I have a big button, that I like because I can almost reach it without changing my grip, and when I try that is when the mags stick.

Thanks,

Jason

Edited December 1, 2007 by shooting for M

[EZ Bagger]

I definitely can squeeze my grips enought to keep some mags in, but it's never been a big issue for me as I need to move my hand to reach the button anyway.

One of these day's I may try changing to a big button with the welded on protective bump.... May become an issue at that time.

[bkeeler]

Hello,

I have an STI Tactical with a double undercut scotts frame. I have just started shooting it and thought maybe my mags were out of shape and sticking. I think, after messing with it, I was trying not flip the gun so far and tweaking the grip so much the mag was sticking. Anyone else have this problem? The mags don't stick all the time, and never if while I'm not actually practicing full speed.

Edit to add I have a big button, that I like because I can almost reach it without changing my grip, and when I try that is when the mags stick.

Thanks,

Jason

I have heard of this with grips that have been thinned and under cut. But I dont have a cure for it.

BK

[HSMITH]

What happens to me with stock mag catches is that I actually push the button in far enough that it catches the mag on the button side and holds it in the gun until I release the button a little. Unless the grip has been thinned out extensively and/or you are REALLY strong you shouldn't be flexing the grip enough to bind the mag in the grip with grip pressure alone.

Hold the gun as if it were laying flat on a table, push the button in hard and hold it in hard without squeezing the grip hard and rotate the grip vertical mag down. Did the mag fall? If so, you are a brute. There isn't much you are going to be able to do other than train yourself to lighten up a little on the reload. I know ONE guy this way. If the mag didn't fall until you have an easy fix. Grind out the button side of the mag catch radius until you can do this test without binding the mag.

[boz1911]

What happens to me with stock mag catches is that I actually push the button in far enough that it catches the mag on the button side and holds it in the gun until I release the button a little. Unless the grip has been thinned out extensively and/or you are REALLY strong you shouldn't be flexing the grip enough to bind the mag in the grip with grip pressure alone.

Hold the gun as if it were laying flat on a table, push the button in hard and hold it in hard without squeezing the grip hard and rotate the grip vertical mag down. Did the mag fall? If so, you are a brute. There isn't much you are going to be able to do other than train yourself to lighten up a little on the reload. I know ONE guy this way. If the mag didn't fall until you have an easy fix. Grind out the button side of the mag catch radius until you can do this test without binding the mag.

I have had both these issues in the past. They both would usually only occur during a static reload. High speed and high pressure. The mag button problem showed up only on my single stacks, and the excess grip pressure on my S_I. I can't really explain why the excess grip pressure problem went away but after I was made aware of it and stopped chasing the problem it just seemed to go away.

Maybe it just took a while to get used to a wide body?? Who knows?

[shooting for M]

Thanks for the advice, I'll play with it and get back.

Thanks,

Jason

[Tokarev]

Aren't these the mags that were occasionally sticking in Marc's gun?

[1911nm]

I have watched one female IPSC shooter who, while hitting the mag release, flipped the base of the frame slightly to the right, in order to facilitate a clean mag drop. There wasn't a lot of wasted time with this motion, and I assume she felt the lost time more than made up for a fumbled exchange. Just a thought. I have been thinking about adding weight to my 10rd single stack mags to assist in a clean drop.

[benos]

And since this wasn't mentioned, be sure to number your mags (if you're not already) in case you find one that tends to stick more than the others.

be

[scirocco38s]

And since this wasn't mentioned, be sure to number your mags (if you're not already) in case you find one that tends to stick more than the others.

be

That is a good idea. I find that some grips are fine and others the mags will stick. I have for friend taken their mags with their gun and checked if mags stick. When doing this you check with the mags empty/full /partially full and when you find one that sticks I coat it with a sharpie marker, find where it is rubbing and the using a machinist vise, gently squeeze the mag in the deminsion it is rubbing.(sometimes it is both) I do this repeatedly until the mag works in the gun that shooter uses. Your mags may work in your gun and stick in another guys gun or vice versa. It is asame that with the grips being injection molded the way they are that the demiension arent kept closer, but on the other hand STI/SVI could manufacture their mags to a better spec also.

[shooting for M]

Thanks for the advise and comments. After a bit of playing around it's definately me flexing the grip that's catching. if I just drop the mag with a loose grip it never happens, but when I start squeezing to reach the mag release it happens about 1 in every 5. I did number the mags and they all stick if I am squeezing too hard. I guess I'm back to flipping the gun. We'll see how it goes in April, SS 'till then.

Jason

[al503]

Check the mag release itself. I had the same issue and I took a little (.002-.003") material off the mag release (where it would make contact at the front of the inserted mag) and all was good after that.

[get2now]

Thanks for the advise and comments. After a bit of playing around it's definately me flexing the grip that's catching. if I just drop the mag with a loose grip it never happens, but when I start squeezing to reach the mag release it happens about 1 in every 5. I did number the mags and they all stick if I am squeezing too hard. I guess I'm back to flipping the gun. We'll see how it goes in April, SS 'till then.

Jason

You aren't the only one who has this problem. I don't like shooting S_I's anymore because my grip is too tight on them for the mag to drop consistantly.

It's probably a subconsious fear of not wanting to drop the gun while reloading. What I finally determined was, that I was squeezing the front strap area too hard with my two middle fingers when I hit the mag release.

My Para doesn't flex under pressure so that was my cure.

Gary

[boz1911]

Thanks for the advise and comments. After a bit of playing around it's definately me flexing the grip that's catching. if I just drop the mag with a loose grip it never happens, but when I start squeezing to reach the mag release it happens about 1 in every 5. I did number the mags and they all stick if I am squeezing too hard. I guess I'm back to flipping the gun. We'll see how it goes in April, SS 'till then.

Jason

Like I mentioned before I had this same problem when I first started to shoot my S-I. I believe my problem actually disappeared by simply getting used to the wide grip. It's my guess that unless there is a mechanical issue you will do the same.

[AlamoShooter]

My grip was cut and shaped some. and I can keep every one of my mags from falling by squeezing the grip.

In dry fire and practice they work fine but if I let an event run over me my grip would strangle the mags in place.

One good way to test the mags is without the spring or guts in the mag and the slide off the gun. = you can see what is going on. I had injured my shoulders and I did not know I was getting my strength back until the mags jambed up.

[ledavatar]

I have watched one female IPSC shooter who, while hitting the mag release, flipped the base of the frame slightly to the right, in order to facilitate a clean mag drop. There wasn't a lot of wasted time with this motion, and I assume she felt the lost time more than made up for a fumbled exchange. Just a thought. I have been thinking about adding weight to my 10rd single stack mags to assist in a clean drop.

Was that Julie Goloski you're referring to? I noticed she does that a lot shooting single stack on her youtube videos.

[yoshidaex]

Thanks for the advise and comments. After a bit of playing around it's definately me flexing the grip that's catching. if I just drop the mag with a loose grip it never happens, but when I start squeezing to reach the mag release it happens about 1 in every 5. I did number the mags and they all stick if I am squeezing too hard. I guess I'm back to flipping the gun. We'll see how it goes in April, SS 'till then.

Jason

Sort of an related issue,

In extreme cases, if your grip is thinned enough, its possible to affect the trigger pull while you're shooting. I don't have too strong a grip but during a class with Sensei Bragg, he could literally squeeze the grip on my thinned and stippled S_I so hard the trigger pull weight was dependent on how tight he clamped down on the grip.

It might be possible to cure the sticking mag problem if you go back to an unmodified grip.

Find a buddy with a unmodifed grip and see if you can duplicate the mag stick problem.

[shooting for M]

OK, I've been shooting my STI for the last couple weeks. Here were the problems:

I had to take a bit of material off the rear of the magazine catch.

That wasn't enough so I borrowed a "tuned" mag and found out my mags were too long front to back, vice fixed that.

Then I noticed that I could actually rotate the mag catch to cach the mag, so I rounded the corners on it a little more.

No more problems-so far.

I can still bind the grip a bit but not as pronounced as before. But I think Like Boz1911 said I'l should get used to it and it might make me stop "death gripping" the gun with my strong hand. (I really have a problem with this, I need to dry fire more.)

Thank you all for all your help in this thread and the others that I searched. This forum is great for info for just about everything, shooting related anyway.

Thanks Again,

Jason