TwoShot Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 At our last club match a shooter brought his 12 year old son to shoot his first match, Dad only had 1 match under his belt. The young man was a pleasure to have around and knew how to be safe. He was shooting a Glock 17. He had alot of jams, stovepipes, FTF, etc. After the match his father shot the a mag through the gun with no problems. Several shooters said the boy was limp wristing/not enough grip strength. The ammo was reloaded so I don't know the PF. I have Glocks but have always shot them stock. Could Dad get a guide rod and lighter recoil springs to tune the gun to work for his son? Any suggestions would be welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay870 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 For a $10 part it is certainly worth a try. Might just be too early though. A buddy of mine had his 12 year old trying a 9mm Glock but it was still too much gun for the young man. He has a real slight build, and even with a grip reduction he couldn't control the gun well enough for reliable cycling regardless of power factor & spring setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihatepickles Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Grip tape the grip or try TruGrip. That would be my first step to helping improve the limp wrist tendency. Practice outside of the match would help too I'm sure, for both Dad and son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Could Dad get a guide rod and lighter recoil springs to tune the gun to work for his son? Any suggestions would be welcome! Yes, but depending on how light, a reduced power striker spring would also be necessary to avoid a potentially unsafe situation..... That change might increase the likelihood of primers not going bang, unless their reloading technique is close to perfect or they're using Federal primers exclusively..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Lord Gomer Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Forgive my ignorance, but why would you need a lighter striker spring if you use a lighter recoil spring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Lord Gomer Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 My son does pretty well with the M&P with the small backstrap, if a different gun with replaceable backstraps is an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Forgive my ignorance, but why would you need a lighter striker spring if you use a lighter recoil spring? Because a stock striker spring can over power a reduced recoil spring and cause an out-of-battery firing condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intel6 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 (edited) I recently had my two young sons out shooting and I am looking to start them thinking about going to matches with me. My plan was to start them with a small frame Glock because they could shoot 9mm and move up to .40 with no change in equipment. The only Glock 9mm I have right now is a 17L but I figured that would still work and mabey be a benefit? I was using a 130 PF reload with a 121 gr. lead bullet that I cast myself. The gun has a aftermarket captured guiderod with an ISMI 13 lb. spring and I have shot this set up quite a bit so I know it works. My 13 year old is tall and lanky and had no issues with shooting the 17L and everyting functioned fine. My 10 year old who is also tall for his age but built solid like I was when I was a kid had intermittent functioning problems/stovepipes with the exact same gun. I worked with him on it but he still had problems with it and I think it is hard for someone of his age to understand things like grip strength, limpwristing, etc... With him I ended up using the same load in a Tanfoglio 9mm (all steel) and there were no problems with functioning and he was able to shoot fine. I found it interesting that the heavier gun worked fine for him? I am wondering if making the Glock heavier with a magwell or heavy guiderod might help? Neal in AZ Edited May 11, 2009 by Intel6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
open17 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Put in an ISMI 13 lb spring. Will work just fine with the stock striker spring. Pretty common problem with shooters of small stature. Adding weight to the frame also works, but there isn't much you can do and stay in Production. Reloading a light bullet/fast powder load can also help a bit--makes the recoil snappier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 A Glock 17 is quite a bit of gun for someone with small hands but not completely impractical. The biggest question I have is what ammo was he shooting? If he's new, it might be he is shooting factory ammo which is going to have a lot more recoil than necessary. I'd suggest he find someone who has some decent minor PF ammo to try before doing anything else. If that works out, then he could consider buying some 147gr minor from Atlanta Arms - it is a pretty smooth 9mm load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Put in an ISMI 13 lb spring. Will work just fine with the stock striker spring. I have had the slide move OOB with a 13# ISMI and stock striker spring, once the recoil spring has a few K cycles on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chbrow10 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 my 10 year old has been shooting a G34 for about 18 months. I have heard that the Glock likes a strong grip. I got my son a pair of those hand grip exercise things (look like pliers without the jaws) and FORCED him to exercise with them on the way to school every day. No problems now. He shoots factory 115 grainers and 147 grain handloads with no problems on either load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBuzzard Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 With my son, he often stovepipes the G34, with 129PF loads..........but works 100% for me. Fill it up with factory Blazer 115grn, and it runs for my son 100%. I am surprized that this is the case.........but it is. BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacon Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Forgive my ignorance, but why would you need a lighter striker spring if you use a lighter recoil spring? Not necessarily, you can still run the stock striker spring, but if the recoil spring is to light it will take the gun out of battery when you pull the trigger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 My son is 13, almost 14. How often do you see youngsters shooting matches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Lord Gomer Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Every time I go. (My youngest shoots every match I go to) Locally, I would say that, on average, one out of every 15 or 20 shooters is a junior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 There is a GSSF match coming up that I might have him try. I think it would be less intimidating as there is no holstering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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