Do you prefer the magazine to drop free when you press the release?

[BK]

This is referring to a defensive carry pistol only. I know that competitors prefer the quick 'tactical reloads' for time savings, and I guess pistols that are designated for other specific rolls than defensive carry might require one or the other, say a hunting pistol might be better to keep its magazine in place. So maybe there are different needs for different rolls.

But for carry:

When you purposefully press the mag release, do you prefer that the magazine drop free?
-or-
Would you prefer that the pistol keep the magazine from falling free so that you can remove it manually?

I've read some guys state that they would prefer that the magazine be held in place by the pistol. In the event of inadvertently pressing the release by mistake, whether the gun is holstered or during live fire, they want the magazine to remain semi-seated, maybe so that they always know where it is. What about you?

 

[Drail]

Europeans have always preferred for the mag to remain in the well until pulled free. Here in America we invented IPSC. We don't stand around waiting for a mag change.

 

[Warp]

Drop free...absolutely drop free. When I reload or perform a Phase II malfunction clearence drill I do not, nor do I want to, take the time to reach up with my off hand to physically remove the magazine. Unless I have to becasue it won't drop due to the malfunction, anyway.

I understand the reasons for wanting it to stay in place. 99% of the time I carry with a semi auto on my hip I do not have a realod. What's in the gun is what I have. In that case it would logically follow that having the mag stay in place would be better. I still like drop free though

 

[MedWheeler]

For a defensive weapon, I want it to fly free, to actually eject. Not being in law enforcement anymore, I doubt I'll have the need for partial ("tactical") reloading, and can still do it with drop-free magazines if I ever did.

 

[Warp]

Yup, you sure can perform a 'tactical reload' with a drop free mag.

 

[BK]

Europeans have always-

I read that somewhere too. Is it true for the handguns made by Glock, Beretta, FN/Browning, HK, CZ, EAA, Walther, Steyr? I don't really have much experience with the pistols that those makers build, but I thought that their magazines dropped right out just like the American made pistols that I do know.

 

[Warp]

IIRC somebody (Glock?) had made their mags to stay put when full but drop free when partially empty but too many people complained about them not dropping free.

 

[chris in va]

My CZ 75BD had a 'mag brake' from the factory. I simply flattened it out with a screwdriver.

 

[hey_poolboy]

If a mag doesn't drop out of a gun when I press the release the first thing that happens when I get home is to find out what on earth is wrong with the gun. Especially if it's a SD or HD gun. In the VERY unlikely event that I have to use the weapon to defend my family I would not want to have to think about removing a mag to stuff in another should the need arise.

 

[daytodaze]

None of my weapons give me an option. Always drop free ready for a fresh mag.

I actually practice reloads with empty mags by dropping them onto a padded surface.

 

[wow6599]

I have problems with our Kahrs....and it bothers me. I have found 1 mag out of 7 that will drop free. Besides that, they all fly down.

 

[jfrey]

When I push the button I want that mag to fly or fall out. Hate sticky mags. My Kahr wouldn't drop mags so I returned it to the factory with a note I wanted them to drop out. Got it back and they dropped out like I wanted. Not many fly out like the Wilson mags in my 1911's but they don't stick, even my Glocks.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I would rather have a magazine drop free, but in case it doesn't, I want some way to grasp the bottom of it.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Drop free.

If I didn't want the magazine out of the gun I wouldn't be pressing the mag release.

 

[dcarch]

I absolutely want the mag to drop free. That's what the mag release button's there for, right? IMHO, the butt-heel mag release was one of the worst devices ever invented.

 

[Tape]

absolutely drop free

 

[GLOOB]

Don't really care, either way, as long as the mag release button doesn't trip accidentally. I've never heard of a civilian SD shooting that required a reload.

But sensitive release plus drop-free mags are the last thing I'd want in a SD handgun.

The Euro heel release puts your left hand on the floorplate, anyway. I suppose that's one place where it gives no additional advantage for a mag to drop free.

 

[TonyT]

I would not expect to be in a defensive situation where I would need more than the rounds in the magazine. However, I would prefer the magazine to drop free when the mag release is depressed.

 

[4thPointOfContact]

IIRC somebody (Glock?) had made their mags to stay put when full but drop free when partially empty but too many people complained about them not dropping free.

That's absolutely true about the first generation of Glock 17 pistols; I bought one the first year they were available. There was concern about the magazine, while fully or partially loaded, being released and falling from the pistol;thereby presenting a danger to the soldier carrying it. Empty magazines fell out without problems, of course. I thought at the time, and still do, that it was a good feature to have (but I'm interested more in my pistol accidentally unloading itself and magazines not being lost, than in fractions of a second in competition.)

The only thing I did was train to use my off hand to "throw the magazine to the ground" as it went for the reload. Fractions of a second lost, oh noes!!. Hell, I trained that way for so long that I STILL do it without even thinking.

Why? Because the One Time I Forget will probably be the one time the magazine sticks in the well and then I've got a full hand trying to get the stuck one out. If it's a non-speed reload, my expended magazine's in my hand and ready to be stored away, so no lost magazines there.

 

[ny32182]

I would rather have a magazine drop free, but in case it doesn't, I want some way to grasp the bottom of it.

This^... I've had to rip them out in the event there is a double feed type situation.

If I had my way they would all exhibit spring-loaded ejection when the mag catch is pressed. The faster the old one is out the faster I can get a new one in.

 

[mljdeckard]

Me too. I put bumper pads on all my 1911 mags (if they don't come with them already.) Besides positive seating when you load them, you have something to yank on if you need to.

 

[Luchtaine]

I have two hands I can keep the magazine from dropping if I want. If I only have one hand I can't remove a magazine that wont drop.

 

[MedWheeler]

^^ The above is a good point (though we don't seem to have any dissenters here to convince!)

 

[Dr.Rob]

Drop? I want it to fly out of the gun like an extra projectile

First centerfire semi auto pistol that didn't 'pop' the mag free really suprised me, as I learned with a 1911.

 

[Robert101]

"I want it to fly out of the gun like an extra projectile", from Dr. Rob.

Yea, that's what I'm talking about...........