Learning the superior paddle mag release-Walther/HK

but it does, if you can reach the paddle release with your thumb then your thumb is big enough to use push button release witout moving your grip. Any other finger being used to push the trigger guard/paddle release and you will lose your grip, there's no if about it, i challenge you to grab your Walther and do a mag release with index/middle finger while your hand stays in the absolute same position

To me the 1/5000 or whatever chance of having the push button hit while its in the holster is a good enough chance for me to take.

I DID argue you don't have to change your grip to engage the paddle release unlike the button. No one has argued with me on that point.

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I have argued this. In order to use my trigger finger I have to twist one way, in order to use my middle finger I have to twist the other. My thumb cannot hit the paddle because my hands are too short.

For someone with small hands, the paddle is arguably worse because it's harder to reach.

Meh... They never worked "as advertised" for me. It was awkward activating it with my trigger or middle finger, and if I used my thumb I'm shifting my grip just as much as I am with the button. Maybe because it's the way I've always done thing, but I'm not in the mood to change my habits this late in the game over some pretty minor advantages...

Ambidextrous? Ok, I'll sorta give you that though personally I could care less about ambi capability. Though to be fair to us button guys there are ambi buttons or at least reversible buttons on the market today, my old XD for example had an ambi mag release button.

Dumping the mag in holster? Never happened to me or anyone I know personally, and I consider it very unlikely overall especially with good gun/holster design. Usually it's something you'll notice within a short amount of time carrying the gun anyways and be able to fix.

Dumping the mag simply by gripping the gun? Come on...

I like the paddle release. I own the PPQ & P30. I don't try to depress the paddle, but more try to push it down a little as far forward as my trigger finger reaches, then pull my finger back, acting as a fulcrum.

Reversible isn't ambidextrous. It just lets you have left-handed guns if you want (and if other parts are right-hand only, it lets you have a lopsided gun).

That said, I find hitting the button with my finger is as easy as hitting the paddle. It's more of a motion for my finger, but easier to hit it.

Bovice said:

The paddle is awkward, and sweeping down your trigger finger would definitely make you change your grip. Then there's that feeling of "did I sweep it down far enough?" I never feel like it goes far enough and the mags don't seem to drop as well.

Buttons are good. You press it straight in.

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I prefer a button too, but in a fairness, I don't own a Walther or HK. I've handled em and didn't like the paddle, so I looked for something different. Its definitely possible I would have learned to like the paddle more, but I have no problem with the button whatsoever. The paddle is the perfect fix for a problem I never had.

I am not saying the button release is antiquated or unusable

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Then I will! Once you've used the HK or Walther style you hate going back to the stone age. I agree with your position and am glad "my" PPQ has a "real" magazine release!

Atbat82 said:

I love the Walther mag release! So much more intuitive than the button. Hopefully they offer two variants.


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+1.

Once you've used the HK or Walther style you hate going back to the stone age.

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Tried it. Went back to the rocks and sticks.

While it is "possible" to hit the mag release, I've never had it happen inadvertently.

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I have.
A minor fix to the holster prevented it happening again, but it is possible. Remember that carry holsters are often designed to minimize bulk, which means the button isn't protected by extra layers. In my case the holster was fine with stock grips, but would allow the botton to be depressed when I swapped to slim grips.

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Another option for dropping the magazine is to use the off-hand, I experimented for a while with my PPS that way and in the end decided that strong hand middle finger was the best way for me.
For off-hand release, you'd pinch and pull the paddle when you loacked open, sweeping the empty out as your hand went down to the belt for a reload. The downside is that is isn't the same if you're reloading before going empty.
What works for me is to use the middle finger of the strong hand, with my thumb pushing on the other side of the gun. When I have a good grip on the reload mag in the left hand, a very slight shift in right hand position dumps the mag as I bring the gun in a bit for the fresh magazine. The advantage is twofold:
1- reloads are always the same, regardless of whether I'm dumping an empty magazine or a partially full magazine
2- I can (and do) use the exact same motion to reload button-release guns, because my thumb is mashed right where a button would be. (really high button releases like the CZ70 and Walther PP-series are the exception here, and obviously a heel release isn't conpatible with this method ... so I don't carry high-button or heel-release guns)

i challenge you to grab your Walther and do a mag release with index/middle finger while your hand stays in the absolute same position

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I can do it every time on my P99AS without shifting my grip at all.

However, to activate the button-style mag release on my Colt 1911 and Ruger Mark III, I have to shift my grip by turning the pistol slightly counter-clockwise in my hand. And I have relatively long fingers.

I use my middle finger on all pistols with the paddle/lever style mag release.

I prefer it to a push button mag release because I find it faster.

You flick your trigger finger down to release. Or you bring up your ring finger if you wish to be different. In a weird mood? use your thumb-though I am not sure why. Totally ambidextrous, really isn't possible to accidentally dump the mag unlike the push button, and you don't have to shift your hand/gun.

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You can use your trigger finger or strong hand middle finger with a reversed or ambi button release. The paddle is neat, but it's not all that when put in perspective.

Well i'm sure there will always be those who see the genius of this innovative design, just as the engineers at Wather and HK did, fact is it just has not caught on with shooters.

As mentioned if it were all that everybody would be copying it and coming out with their version of it on their pistols.

Now Walther is going to a button release on the PPQ.


Some ideas catch on some don't, and it doesn't look promising for the future of paddle releases.

Never really cared for them myself, seemed like a kinda gee-whiz gimmick.

wild cat mccane said:

Take you finger and stick it out like a gun. If you can move the pointer finger down...that is all it takes for the paddle release.

A button push always requires a change of the hand either in a counter clock wise turn or an extended reach of the thumb.


I was wrong. The button is inferior and is antiquated. I am glad someone else said it.

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I'm glad the paddle release works so well for you (didn't for me, and I have tried it), but having some very minor arguable advantages over the button mag release does not make the button inferior or antiquated.

It's just a different way to run the gun.

I'm in the exact same boat. Disappointing for sure.

I've tried the paddle release as well and I don't like it at all. I have to shift my grip the same way I do when using a button release to use the paddle. I shift my grip when reloading because I tilt the whole gun to reload easier. Sure it's not ambidextrous but I'm both right handed and still don't have an issue releasing the magazine left handed.

If this release is superior, I don't see it at all.

"The paddle is awkward, and sweeping down your trigger finger would definitely make you change your grip. Then there's that feeling of "did I sweep it down far enough?" I never feel like it goes far enough and the mags don't seem to drop as well."

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i find the paddle the most comfortable and functional. counterpoint:

1) no grip change for me
2) no question of "did i hit it" my USP and P30s mags just plain shoot out the magwell, so check your springs
3) like a few others here, i use my strong/shooting hand middle finger (keeping my trigger finger out and away from the trigger). if you're having to shift your grip to use a paddle then you're using the 'same finger' as your button types, try a diff finger and train with it.
4) it's truly ambi and either hand (diff than ambi)

I have pushbuttons on my glocks and 1911s. I prefer paddles in my HKs to all. just a personal pref (and yes, i have ejected a g19 mag via pushbutton depression while wearing an mtac holster and driving, never a paddle, and never any type in a full kydex holster with either mag release method).

my 2 cents.

Hak, 1 is subjective, which is why I say it's neither better nor worse.
3, you should keep your middle finger away from the trigger as well. Your trigger finger isn't the only finger capable of pulling the trigger.

3, you should keep your middle finger away from the trigger as well. Your trigger finger isn't the only finger capable of pulling the trigger.

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What if you're left handed, and you have a pistol with a push button mag release?

What if you're left handed, and you have a pistol with a push button mag release?

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Hit the button with your middle finger. If your hands are big, use your knuckle, if your hands are small curve your finger in. Either way, your middle finger is farther away from the trigger with a push-button than with a paddle. I find it easier to hit the button with my middle finger than it is to hit the paddle with finger or hit the button with thumb.

balance 740 said:

What if you're left handed, and you have a pistol with a push button mag release?

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Buy one that's ambi or reversible, or learn to do it with your trigger/middle finger as Skribs suggested.

Running a "right handed" gun isn't actually all that hard to do with your left hand.

Right.

But I was trying to make a point with that statement.

For what it's worth, I don't think there is a universal, "better", mag release out of the two. Some will prefer one, and some will prefer the other.

I'm a lefty, so I'm used to using my middle finger on any pistol that doesn't have a heel mag release. I don't personally feel that the push button mag release is safer than the paddle/lever style release.

On a paddle/lever mag release, I normally index my trigger finger on the outside of the trigger guard, while moving my middle finger forward and down to release the mag. I find it faster and more comfortable than using the knuckle or the pad of my middle finger on a pistol with a push button mag release.