Glock 26 Gen 5 Ambi Mag Release

Yes. Gen 5 G26 has ambi slide lock lever

https://us.glock.com/en/pistols/g26-gen5-fs-us

ETA: Sorry, thought you said slide release.

Even if it doesn't have the Ambi mag release,I'm sure you can swap it from right to left. My buddy did that with his, but not sure what gen it is.

gobsauce said:

Even if it doesn't have the Ambi mag release,I'm sure you can swap it from right to left. My buddy did that with his, but not sure what gen it is.

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Yes, you can swap from
Side to side is the magazine release button. And only Gen 4/5

Gen 5 mag release isn't ambi but is easily swapped to the other side. I never did this but I can see the value if you want a dedicated lefty pistol.

All Glock mag releases are “ambi,” being accessible to the thumb of one hand, and the trigger finger of the other hand. The Gen5 Glocks have a mag release button mechanism that can be switched to the other side, so that the left thumb can operate it while shooting lefty, though it requires that one use ONLY Gen5 magazines, as I understand it, which is one reason that I do not plan to “take advantage” of what I see as a useless feature. I write left-handed, but throw right-handed. I shoot some handguns, including Glocks, better left-handed, because my more-capable left index finger is “smarter,” and better able to cope with the complex nature of the Glock trigger, but I have never wanted to be able to switch a Glock push-button mag release to the other side. It has always seemed efficient to use my left trigger finger to press mag release buttons. (I do, however, appreciate TRUE ambi mag releases, such as the heel-clip types.)

Regarding the “improved” Gen5 slide latch/release, I find that the Gen5 “ambi” slide latch thumb tab gets in my way, when shooting two-handed lefty. I have two Gen5 Glocks, and they are little-used, thus far, for that reason. (I have yet to decide whether to replace those parts, or just cut-away the offending thumb pads.)

I shoot rifles left but pistols right and sometimes left to maintain if my right becomes incapacitated during a fight. That ambidextrous slide lock has never been a problem to me with either hand firing. And honestly I'd rather have that mag release being thumbed and not index released because the thumb is more tactile with fine motor skills. I mean if the thumb wasn't determined to be the best digit in the hand to be used, then ask yourself this: Why was there never an attempt to mainstream, ordered by mil and police, and mass produced handguns with index only mag releases?

YMMV

The_Quartermaster said:

I shoot rifles left but pistols right and sometimes left to maintain if my right becomes incapacitated during a fight. That ambidextrous slide lock has never been a problem to me with either hand firing. And honestly I'd rather have that mag release being thumbed and not index released because the thumb is more tactile with fine motor skills. I mean if the thumb wasn't determined to be the best digit in the hand to be used, then ask yourself this: Why was there never an attempt to mainstream, ordered by mil and police, and mass produced handguns with index only mag releases?

YMMV

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Arguably, a thumb-button mag release is vulnerable to being unintentionally released by the thumb, as that Houston PD officer did, more than once, in that recent gunfight that was recorded on his body-worn video camera. His quite large hands worked against him, in that case.

Notably, my relatively short thumbs are unable to reach the mag release buttons of many pistols, but, if shooting lefty, I can, with SOME pistols, quite handily reach the mag release button with my left index finger. SO, MMDV. (My Mileage Does Vary. ) Of course, this is not true with all pistols, as some do require me to shift my grip, to press the button.

I would not advocate for index-finger-only mag release, because I do not believe that a push-button is a best mag release system. In addition to the problem with long-thumbed folks accidentally/unintentionally releasing their mags, with their thumbs, there are plenty of accounts of mag release buttons bumping into things, or being nudged by various objects. Poorly-designed holsters have been known to put pressure on mag release buttons.

Rexster said:

Arguably, a thumb-button mag release is vulnerable to being unintentionally released by the thumb, as that Houston PD officer did, more than once, in that recent gunfight that was recorded on his body-worn video camera. His quite large hands worked against him, in that case.

Notably, my relatively short thumbs are unable to reach the mag release buttons of many pistols, but, if shooting lefty, I can, with SOME pistols, quite handily reach the mag release button with my left index finger. SO, MMDV. (My Mileage Does Vary. ) Of course, this is not true with all pistols, as some do require me to shift my grip, to press the button.

I would not advocate for index-finger-only mag release, because I do not believe that a push-button is a best mag release system. In addition to the problem with long-thumbed folks accidentally/unintentionally releasing their mags, with their thumbs, there are plenty of accounts of mag release buttons bumping into things, or being nudged by various objects. Poorly-designed holsters have been known to put pressure on mag release buttons.

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That's still not true, I haven't had this experience and neither has anyone else I've known. Should I ask some instructors if this is even true? Of all the problems that were had in the AAR's being written in P&S, that wasn't one of them. As for your sampled cherry picked , that's just one small sample and by your own admittance an outlier even as most hands are not sized that way.

Your mileage can vary all you want, it just speaks for you and isn't a real problem for the majority because truth be told you are the very first one to be telling this song.

Personally speaking but the paddle mag release is superior in my opinion but the button mag release for thumbs to use isn't problematic or it too would have disappeared just like the olden heel release. have you ever spoken to LTC Lutz about the development of the M16A2 or with some of the folks who had input with the requirements for the M17? They take a certain percentile of body shapes from LOP to grips, placements of things like magazine releases into consideration and then go from there. So it's not an afterthought or was left up to the manufacturer to do on their own really. Sometimes this is the case but not the norm.

Your samples are outliers, I have yet to experience the things you made claims of. And advocate for what you want, that's still your biased opinion though. So my suggestion is for you to do you, and I will do me meaning I'm still going to agree to disagree and leave it pleasantly at that.

Rexster said:

Arguably, a thumb-button mag release is vulnerable to being unintentionally released by the thumb, ...

His quite large hands worked against him, in that case.

Notably, my relatively short thumbs are unable to reach the mag release buttons ...
I would not advocate for index-finger-only mag release, because I do not believe that a push-button is a best mag release system...

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Just a couple of data points here with Patrick E. Kelley in his "Out of the Box to Match" series with a couple of Beretta PX4's. As a lefty with large hands, he normally uses his index finger to release the mags, but he also has problems with his right hand index finger reaching around the grip and pushing the mag release while shooting.

Patrick is an exceptional shooter, but since I'm a righty, with short fingers, it would never occur to me that this is possible.

You can see him drop a mag from a PX4 in 9mm at about the 2:25 mark in this video





In this video with the PX4 in .45 Auto, he explains the issue beginning at about the :25 mark

Just for my clarification of the OP, depending one's perspective, there wasn't a "Gen1" G26. From my recollection & understanding, the first G26, when it was first sold, would be what some folks would call a Gen2.5 (finger-grooves, but smooth front-strap).

From one lefthander to another - first make sure that you can reach, without shifting your grip, the mag catch and positively depress it, not just "I kind of reach it with the tip of my thumb". If it's the later, then I would suggest that you leave the catch on the left side and press it with your middle finger - after all these years shooting "right-handed" handguns, this way already feels natural to me and I find it a little bit awkward to use my thumb on an amby mag release. And the speed is about the same - if you are a IPSC/USPSA shooter it might make a difference, but not for a defensive use.

JTQ said:

Just a couple of data points here with Patrick E. Kelley in his "Out of the Box to Match" series...

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I don't think that his weak hand's index finger has a place there, not at all - you are interfering and possibly blocking movement of your dominant hand's index finger while pressing the trigger. Not a good idea in my book.