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

[BK]

I think the poll results would be completely different if I had posted this at KTOG. The Kel Tec pistols that I've handled keep a good hold on their magazines when released, and a lot of the KT guys look at it as a good thing.

 

[788Ham]

I've got a Beretta 1934 .32 auto, that hangs onto the mag, kinda glad, as its the only one I have.

 

[Mike1234567]

At the range I prefer the mags to drop only slightly but for SD/HD I want them to drop freely. So... if I had to choose one way or the other I'd opt for drop freely.

 

[1SOW]

My CZ75B came with a mag brake that a ballpeen hammer quickly flattened so it would drop free. Comp or carry, if I press the release, I want it gone.

 

[tnek13]

Drop free - I want to know if the mag is seated, a second shot can be rather important.

 

[9delta7]

mag fly

Have older 1989 Colt MK IV that will absolutely throw a mag 2 feet horizontally if held that way when mag release button is depressed. Love it - always will.

 

[WardenWolf]

Definitely drop free. Interesting you mention the Europeans not liking drop-free mags. Even my P-64 with its heel mag release will drop free once it's depressed.

I just *wish* the magazine in my father's Ruger Mark I was drop-free. I *really* need to find a way to make extracting the magazine easier because right now it requires 2 hands, a solid surface to bear down on, and very strong fingers. Worst. magazine. release. EVER. It would almost not be classified as a detachable magazine in California, given that you usually need a screwdriver to get it out.

 

[Chris Rhines]

Look at it this way. I'm involved in a self-defense shooting. I have an empty gun, and I feel like I need to reload. This means that I've burned through 18 rounds, and my life is still in danger.

Anything that slows down my reload is unsat. I want that magazine out of there so fast it leaves a vacuum behind.

-C

 

[GLOOB]

Look at it this way. I'm involved in a self-defense shooting. I have an empty gun, and I feel like I need to reload. This means that I've burned through 18 rounds, and my life is still in danger.

Funny. I look at it the same way, but I come to a different conclusion. If I burned through 18 rounds, and my life is still in danger, then I guess w/e I'm doing isn't cutting it. Would 17 more have saved me? Maybe. But I'd be running like a gazelle by the time that gun shot empty.

OTOH, if I accidentally press the mag release while gripping the gun and end up with 1 shot and a mag in the bushes, my last thought before I died would be what an idiot I am.

I've never carried a mag in a quick access pouch, other than during an IPSC type event. So unless I got assaulted while competing, I'd have a slow (or no) reload, anyway.

What are the stats on a reload during a self defense shooting, anyway? Is it exactly zero, or just close?

Drop free - I want to know if the mag is seated, a second shot can be rather important.

By that time you did your first reload, that could be the 19th shot.

If you're worried your first mag would release while carrying, then I have to think that getting a click, tap/rack, would be preferable to drawing the gun and watching the mag hit the floor.

 

[FadingSwordsman]

Drop free, but even learning and shooting with guns that drop free I'll still make the motion to rip the magazine out of there, so I guess I don't gain that much unless I would have missed a stuck mag.

I think this would matter more for if/when you have to fire with one hand. When you've got your second hand underneath, I almost don't see why you wouldn't push out the magazine even if it just drops out normally. I mean, maybe the day is hot and your mag/mag well is sticky. Maybe you're holding it at an odd angle and it catches. Maybe a piece of tape just got blown onto the bottom of your gun, holding on the mag.

Your mag getting stuck somehow could very well get you killed in the wrong circumstances. (And if you have to reload at all, the circumstances are probably wrong enough)

So again, I prefer the mag to fall free, but assume it won't.