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Smith & Wesson Competitive Shooting All aspects of competitive shooting using Smith and Wesson Firearms. Including: IPSC, IDPA, Silhouette, Bullseye.


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Old 05-22-2018, 04:39 PM
wrangler5 wrangler5 is offline
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Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload  
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Default Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload

I've returned to IDPA shooting after laying off for a few years, and in the spirit of shoot-what-you-carry I'm trying my 9mm Shield in the CCP division. (I used to use a Glock 26 in SSP, or a K-frame revolver, and did well with both.) I've done good shooting with the Shield in the 2 matches I've been in, except that my brain seems to run a subconscious round counter that's still calibrated for 10-round mags, as I am frequently surprised when I get slide lock after 8 (or 9) rounds.

But I've had a significant slowdown in each match when the pad of my right ring finger gets pinched between the collar of the 8-round mag and the bottom of the grip frame during a reload. The first time it was only painful, but last weekend it drew blood, which with my blood thinners took a long time to stop. In both cases it took substantial extra time to clear - the mag really locks up tight if there's anything between the mag collar and the grip, and it took hard pressure from my left thumb to get it released.

My immediate solution during the last match was to remove the collars from the 8-round mags, so there's nothing that can pinch during a mag change. But the pinch occurred on Stage 5 of the match and the final Stage 6 only had 1 mag change, so I haven't had much opportunity to confirm that I have a reliable fix.

Removing the collar leaves a section of bare magazine sticking out of the grip, so the actual gripping surface is only as long as the gun frame. I think this will be enough to hang on to and still shoot well, although I don't yet know if lack of a collar will affect magazine alignment/feeding reliability.

Has anybody else experienced this kind of pinching, and if so do you have a solution (other than just removing the magazine collar?) I have imagined cutting/filing a bevel (or even a notch) on the collar along the section that might cause the pinch, but thought I'd try the nondestructive collar-removal cure first.

Any suggestions from experience will be appreciated.
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Old 05-25-2018, 08:01 AM
Wise_A Wise_A is offline
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Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload  
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Wear a glove, if your match director allows it. According to 8.8.3, they should be.

If the pinch is in the same place every time, tape up or band-aid that spot.

Last edited by Wise_A; 05-25-2018 at 08:04 AM.
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Old 05-25-2018, 08:25 AM
OKFC05 OKFC05 is offline
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Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload Shield in IDPA pinching finger on reload  
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I shoot the Shield in BUG, which only allows 6 rounds, and quickly learned the 7 round mag's advantages in reloads. I swapped my 8 round mags for 7s from the guys who don't do speed reloads.


For CCP, the 2.0 Compact is distinctly superior to the Shield, but there is no rule against using a lesser gun in a division.


Added: Yes, I have tried modifying the 8-round mag, gluing, cutting, shaping, removing rubber, and am forced to the conclusion the 8-round magazine sucks for speedloads, and I actually get a higher score in CCP with the Shield using the 7-round magazines than fighting with the 8s.
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Last edited by OKFC05; 05-25-2018 at 08:40 AM.
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