[STIGUY]

I am needing to add to my gear some new mags and I have noticed that some vendors have "modified mag followers" that don't lock the slide back when empty. Two questions as I am new to any sort of "formal" competition. Is there times where this would not be acceptable in which the rules states that you must should to slide lock? Secondly, if not and I have read on another post that the "pros" count their shots so that they know when they need to reload rather than when the slide locks back. That is they know the gun is mag and chamber is empty rather than the slide locking back indicatinf this is the case. I don't want to result to that as there are probably alot of things going on through a stage without having to worry about that. Your thoughts, comments and/or suggestions are as always Greatly Appreciated!

THANKS!

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: For IDPA the slide should lock back when empty. In USPSA I don't want my slide to lock back. Hope this helps. Thanks, Eric

[STIGUY]

Aircooled6racer, on Oct 23 2009, 02:54 PM, said:

Hello: For IDPA the slide should lock back when empty. In USPSA I don't want my slide to lock back. Hope this helps. Thanks, Eric

Thanks....I should have been more specific...USPSA. So I guessing there is really no need for any of my mags to lock the slide back in USPSA.....

[RickB]

Aircooled6racer, on Oct 23 2009, 02:54 PM, said:

In USPSA I don't want my slide to lock back. Hope this helps. Thanks, Eric

Actually, it's not so much that people don't want their slide to lock back in USPSA, as they're willing to trade no lock-back at all for no premature lock-back, yes? I've seen shooters, who've lost count of how many rounds they've fired, rack out a round after a reload.

[G-ManBart]

What division and what kind of gun? All of my guns lock back except for my Open guns. I've never had a premature lock back, but I've seen a LOT of people hear click when they expect bang and then have to do an unplanned reload. About half of the time they forget to rack the slide after the unplanned reload, so that really adds to the fun for the peanut gallery.

Pretty much everybody shooting Production, Single Stack, and Limited-10 run setups that lock back and they don't have massive problems with unplanned lock back. Limited shooters are sorta split and as I've already described the scenario above, it's almost always a Limited shooter experiencing this pain. On the flip side I don't recall seeing a Limited shooter with a gun prematurely locking back with any kind of frequency. I also haven't seen a jammed mag or broken ejector (the other two potential reasons <caugh, excuses, caugh> why some folks don't want their mags to lock back the slide. Open shooters almost always have guns set up to not lock back....if you run a 28-32 round gun dry you deserve what you get...lol.

I've had zero problem trimming mag followers to lock back on my Limited gun...they lock back when they should and not when they shouldn't....takes a little bit of patience to do properly and unfortunately I think that is the real reason more folks don't do it. R,

[Al Capizzo]

As Bart said above, all my guns other than Open division DO lock the slide back on an empty magazine. This is not by design or planning on my part, I haven't given it much thought either way. I've not had any issues with the slide locking back prematurely on any gun. I think as you gain experience you will adapt either way. The trick in competitive shooting isn't counting your shots as you fire per se, but rather knowing where in a particular stage you will be doing your reload.

[calishootr]

what Al and Bart said, its knowing where to reload so you dont haveto go to slide lock as its one extra step in getting thegun back up and running, all of my 'race' guns are dremeled on the slide stop so that they DONT lock back

[Resjudicata]

My STI Limited gun has experienced premature slide lock a couple of times. That is why it is now set up to not lock back. However, I don't modify my mag followers, I modify my slide lock with a very deep dimple where the pin sets so that it will not be pushed up by the mag follower. This way you have mag spring pressure against the slide lock to help push out a completely empty magazine.

Chris

[steel1212]

STIGUY, on Oct 23 2009, 05:31 PM, said:

I am needing to add to my gear some new mags and I have noticed that some vendors have "modified mag followers" that don't lock the slide back when empty. Two questions as I am new to any sort of "formal" competition. Is there times where this would not be acceptable in which the rules states that you must should to slide lock? Secondly, if not and I have read on another post that the "pros" count their shots so that they know when they need to reload rather than when the slide locks back. That is they know the gun is mag and chamber is empty rather than the slide locking back indicatinf this is the case. I don't want to result to that as there are probably alot of things going on through a stage without having to worry about that. Your thoughts, comments and/or suggestions are as always Greatly Appreciated!

THANKS!

My limited guns don't lock back. If I run dry that is my fault. My 1911s all lock back and I do run it dry, some times I have no choice but to do just that and that is why I want it to lock back.

[pjb45]

In years past, it was fairly common to have premature lockback. It seems recently the development of new followers preclude this problem. That said all my guns are modified so they do not lock back.

Yes, I have lost count. Not too often and not in a major match.

[fayetteflash]

When I first got my STI, the Bolen followers were forcing slidelock with 1 round left in the mag... A little dremel work and all was good. I prefer to cut the notch out and not let it slidelock. Knowing where you should reload and how many (if any) extra rounds you have allows just counting any extra shots you take and then adjust.

[kgunz11]

In a perfect world, we'd want a little tuning on the slide stop and a little on the slide stop tab of the follower. The Dawson "competition" followers have a lowered slide stop tab. They wont lock the slide back, but they do give the follower a little more structural integrity as it tracks up and down the mag tube. The guns we tune in the shop get a little attention on the slide stop itself and a little on the slide stop tab of the follower. If you wanted your gun to lock back, just put in a new follower. That (tuning both parts) allows us to leave a little tab left on the follower so it tracks properly and still not engage the slide stop with a round left in the gun, or remove just a little more and it wont lock the slide back at all.

If you use a Grams or Bolen follower, look at the part of the follower where the bullet point is but opposite side of the ejection port. That little tab that sticks out towards the slide stop is the slide stop tab. I will take a file and round the front left corner of the follower then at a sharp downward angle I'll taper down the follower tab. Put everything together and try it in the gun until it's just right and repeat for each mag.