When changing clips, should I have to slightly rotate my hand to eject clip?

[mfer]

When shooting my CZ 75 SP-01 Tactical (rubber grips), I have to rotate my hand ever slightly to get a good press on the clip release. I can do it without rotating, but it is a strain for sure.

Is this normal or do I need a thinner grip as my hands aren't as big as the average person? I have to do the same to release the slide as well, but I'm guessing thinner grips won't help with that as my thumb to hand is same length and there is no grip there. The decocker is just fine. Not sure if thinner grips will help this or hurt. I guess they are only $85 and I can likely sell them for a few bucks less if they don't work, but thought I'd ask here first before I'd buy.

Thanks THR.

 

[bainter1212]

I have small hands and shoot a CZ 75 SA in IDPA. I have the same issue.....with practice, I can loosen my grip, rotate my wrist and smash the mag release before I can get the new mag up to the well.
The thing that takes the most time is retrieving the new mag and bringing it up into position anyway.....so you should have plenty of time to release the mag as long as you practice your reloading often.

 

[JTQ]

I have to rotate the gun in my hand to hit the mag release button. I depends on your hand size and the particular gun. Some guns will have a magazine release right under your thumb, and others will require you to reach for it.

I like to think of those that I have to reach for as part of the guns design. It means you need to make an active move to release the mag rather than accidentally pushing it while you're shooting as could be the case if it were right under your thumb. Dropping a mag when you don't intend to is worse in my book than having to rotate the gun in my hand while I'm changing mags.

 

[Peter Gun]

I think most people have to rotate their grip a little to get enough leverage to make the button function reliably. At the USPSA training session I went to, the instructor specifically showed us the technique for mag changes.
I actually don't have to shift my grip on my gen 4 g35 but I did install the taller glock mag release button to make sure I fully depressed it. Every other pistol I have used I had to shift grip a little, but the gen 4 glock frame is set up just right for my short fingers.

 

[GRIZ22]

I have large hands and short fingers. I have to rotate my hand to reach the mag release. This is not as awkward as it sounds. Having done it at least 100,000 times over nearly 50 years of shooting, it started feeling normal over 49 years ago.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I don't know anyone who doesn't have to slightly rotate the hand to release the magazine. It's natural.

 

[JTQ]

Clint Smith at around 1:40 into this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVGQQhkjzec

Watch Tiger McKee rotate his 1911 making mag changes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkZgYb-ReSU

 

[berettaprofessor]

Shoot left-handed I just have to move my trigger finger to eject most MAGAZINES.

 

[ATLDave]

Some people can reach the mag release button without "flipping" the gun in their hand, some/many cannot. Ben Stoeger has won 5 national USPSA titles in production division (an equipment division that limits mag capacity to 10 rounds and therefore places a ton of emphasis on magazine changes) and he says he has to flip his Tanfoglio (and had to flip his Beretta when he was shooting those) to reload. Which is to say, having to flip is obviously not a limiting factor in developing a blindingly fast reload.

 

[mfer]

Thanks everyone for answering my question. As you may very well tell, I'm a somewhat inexperience pistol shooter. This place is teaching me a lot. Thanks!

Also, I just thought of something. I can just remove the gripes and see how it feels before I buy. It won't be perfect but should at least give me an idea of I'd benefit from thinner grips.

I really like the feel of the rubber grips. Not sure if I'd love or hate the smooth Aluminum grips.

 

[ATLDave]

May not mean anything to you, but there are a lot of guys who shoot CZ's in USPSA matches.... virtually all of them that I see have some kind of thin metal grip panels. Either the checkered ones or the flat ones with grip tape panels. Maybe they just all think the metal grips are more baller. Or maybe they know something.

 

[Chuck R.]

This is the reason I now favor the European style mag release found on the Walther's and HKs. Not only are they harder to accidentally activate, but with both I don't have to change my grip to release a mag.

Chuck

 

[mfer]

Maybe they just all think the metal grips are more baller. Or maybe they know something.

Maybe it's both!

 

[FL-NC]

They are called MAGAZINES. Calling them "clips" is amateurish and typical of the lack of knowledge anti-gun people possess. Good luck in your future shooting endeavors!

 

[mfer]

Magazines, check. Didn't realize clips were offensive.

 

[RX-79G]

Magazines, check. Didn't realize clips were offensive.

Don't mind him. Correct nomenclature is nice, but not a measure of your fitness as a gun owner and human being.

I've had one pistol with that kind of mag release that I didn't have to rotate - the Baby Eagle, which is a modified CZ with a smaller grip.

Otherwise, you could reverse the mag release and use your index finger from the right side.

 

[9mmepiphany]

If you really don't want to give up your shooting grip, just hit the magazine release with the support hand thumb on it's way to the fresh magazine.

We've long taught this as a alternative method

 

[FL-NC]

mfer- its not "offensive". After all, you're a shooter and obviously support the 2A. My only point is its one of many terms misused by those who despise our rights and our sports, along with "assault weapons", "heat seeking bullets", etc.

 

[Zerodefect]

If your thumb reaches the button without changing your grip, then NO.

Use you support hand to pull the gun to the left, that'll give your thumb more force. Usually a tug on the trigger guard does it. Let the mag fall free.

For tac reloads and malf drills, feel free to change your grip as needed. Speed reloads, no.

 

[Coyote3855]

If your thumb reaches the button without changing your grip, then NO.

Use you support hand to pull the gun to the left, that'll give your thumb more force. Usually a tug on the trigger guard does it. Let the mag fall free.

For tac reloads and malf drills, feel free to change your grip as needed. Speed reloads, no.

I'm unclear on this concept, and on the difference between a tac reload and a speed reload. I have relatively small hands and must rotate a 1911 slightly to reach the magazine release, as do many of the competitive shooters cited by other posters . I don't understand the reason for using the support hand to "pull the gun to the left." Shooting IPSC/USPSA Limited Division, my support hand was bringing the reload magazine into position while my strong hand was dropping the empty one.

To the OP, if you use the slingshot method instead of the slide stop to release the slide, you won't need to change your grip. Pull the slide to the rear and let it go without "riding" down.

 

[jmr40]

Regarding clips vs magazines. The magazine is the part of the weapon that holds spare ammo. It can be a detachable magazine, or a fixed magazine like the tube magazine on a lever or pump action. You can have magazines with floorplates on bolt rifles etc.

A clip is a device that holds cartridges making it faster to insert them into the rifles magazine. Stripper clips similar to the one on the right in the photo were originally loaded with 5 rounds making it much faster to load WW-1 and WW-2 era bolt action rifles. That particular clip is designed to make it faster to load an AR detachable magazine. The clip on the left is designed to load 8 rounds into a Garand magazine.

There is really a distinct difference between the 2 and most experienced shooters prefer to use correct terms. But the 2 terms have at times been used interchangeably since WW-1. Many soldiers referred to 1911 magazines as clips. But most soldiers were not experienced shooters prior to being drafted even in 1918.

I'm a retired teacher. I can't help myself at times, but if I see someone using the terms incorrectly I try to help them understand the difference. Hopefully in a way that does not belittle them, but just for educational purposes.

 

[Zerodefect]

Sometimes your thumb can reach the button, but not have enough of an angle to push it.

So as you bring the gun back to your retention index, tug on the trigger guard with your support hand at the same time as your thumb hits the button as your support hand is leaving the pistol.

Done right it doesn't cost more than .1s on a speed reload.

A speed reload is to see chamber empty, drop mag, reload.

A tac reload is select another mag, release mag and insert new mag, the pistol is hot the entire time.

At risk of sounding like a fanboy, it's all explained in detail here for $20:
https://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=12985/guntechdetail/Magpul_Dynamics__Art_of_the_Dynamic_Handgun_

I good vid to watch before your first class.

 

[Jim Watson]

This is kind of like asking the centipede how he managed all those legs. He thought about it, then couldn't walk.
I had to get out a gun and dryfire reloads for a while until I quit thinking about it, then look to see where I was.
Yes, I have to slightly rotate the gun in my hand to reach the magazine catch. I have done it so long for so many times that it is reflexive. I reacquire the firing grip as the fresh magazine goes home and I swipe the slide stop with the left thumb.

jmr40
The distinction between "clip" and "magazine" sometimes seems the Internet Definition of firearms expertise. There are a number of misnomers that annoy me worse. Like loading one's ammunition feeding device with "bullets." Or misuse of "bore diameter."

 

[Mizar]

On a CZ 75 one can switch the magazine catch either left or right - putting it on the right side of the gun will allow you to engage it with your middle finger without changing your grip. I'm left handed so this is how I change magazines on my pistol. It is definitely faster and more convenient than changing your grip to reach the button with your thumb (for me, on an ambidextrous mag catch pistol). Some people tend to use the trigger finger, but I'm not finding it comfortable - you have to bend it to an awkward angle. Pressing the catch with your middle finger will feel awkward at fist, but once you master it it will become a second nature.

If you handle and shoot your pistol comfortably with the original grips than leave them on - grips do a lot more than just allowing you to reach for the magazine button...

 

[kokapelli]

Regarding clips vs magazines. The magazine is the part of the weapon that holds spare ammo. It can be a detachable magazine, or a fixed magazine like the tube magazine on a lever or pump action. You can have magazines with floorplates on bolt rifles etc.

A clip is a device that holds cartridges making it faster to insert them into the rifles magazine. Stripper clips similar to the one on the right in the photo were originally loaded with 5 rounds making it much faster to load WW-1 and WW-2 era bolt action rifles. That particular clip is designed to make it faster to load an AR detachable magazine. The clip on the left is designed to load 8 rounds into a Garand magazine.

There is really a distinct difference between the 2 and most experienced shooters prefer to use correct terms. But the 2 terms have at times been used interchangeably since WW-1. Many soldiers referred to 1911 magazines as clips. But most soldiers were not experienced shooters prior to being drafted even in 1918.

I'm a retired teacher. I can't help myself at times, but if I see someone using the terms incorrectly I try to help them understand the difference. Hopefully in a way that does not belittle them, but just for educational purposes.

Thanks, it drives me nuts too.