Got a M&P 2.0 compact a couple moths ago or so. I’ve taken it out a couple times and really like it. Haven’t got to run it as much as I’d like due to the ammo fiasco we’re facing. Originally bought it as a new potential carry option. I’m not new to handguns, I’ve shot and owned lots of different stuff through the years. My problem with this gun is riding the slide lock for some reason. Last time I took it out I messed with the different size grips. The XL one seems to work best to prevent this form happening. I’d rather not run the largest grip for Concealment issues adding bulk it seems.

Anybody else have this problem?

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Frankly, I want the gun to be as concealable as possible but
this video may help.

I have the same problem, on both the Sig P226 and Springer XD I shot competitively (IDPA/USPSA). It was more of a concern in IDPA, but I got to the point where I could recognize and recover the reload without losing more than about a second over a locked-slide situation.


I have the problem to a lesser extent in my M&P 2.0 Compact, but for my carry pistol, I don't really care. If I'm in a situation where I've shot the gun empty in a self-defense scenario, that means I'm 16 rounds into the gunfight. My problems are far beyond the second or two it adds to rack the slide for a reload.


P.S. Great video by Bruce Gray, one of my favorite shooters/instructors/gunsmiths.

FWIW, I would occasionally run into this problem when shooting my Beretta 92FS using a two-handed, thumbs-forward grip. The technique shown in the video corrected the problem.

Thanks for the video!

Point taken and fair enough if 16 rounds don’t get it done. Guess it’s just more so a pet peeve so far with this gun and me. I’ve never had this problem with my glocks or Shields along with other various stuff. I have other carry options and wasn’t solely relying on this one.

Can you grind some material from the slide lock lever?

I also experience this problem with almost all semi-auto non-1911 pistols. After also carrying 1911's for close to 35 years and having learned to 'ride' the safety of the 1911, I find that my long thumbs almost always make contact with the slide stops of pistols.

I had the same problem show up when first getting used to my M&P 2.0 9MM.I have been shooting 1911's for 50 plus years and always used the thumb down position verses riding the safety as some prefer. I do use the thumbs fore ward on my Sig 220 and Beretta 92 with no problem. It just didn't work for me on the M&P although a lot of people use it very well. What ever suits your grip and grip strength will probably work out fine for you.
Jim

I don't agree with the video. Basically he's saying loosen your grip. That's what going to happen when you reposition your strong thumb to on top of your support thumb.

Just goes to show why some instructors teach thumb over thumb even with semis. It suits those with less grip strength and it keeps everything clear of all the levers and moving parts.

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Release the Kraken

I have two Compacts, both 4" barrels. One is 9mm the other .45. These are almost identical sized guns and I don't think my grip is any difference on one from the other. The 9mm always locks the slide back after the last round, the .45 seldom does.

I reload my ammo and have tried different loads on the .45 thinking maybe that was the problem, but nothing has worked.

Oddly enough even though I have much more practice with the 9mm I am slightly more accurate with the .45, so I don't really think there's anything wrong with my loads for it.

The .45 feeds very reliably, never jams. The failure to lock back is something I've just decided to accept.

The large grip only extends the back strap. It won't affect ability to conceal significantly.

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Freedom isn't free.

While I dabbled with the high thumb grip that became almost a fad when the "combat" thumb safeties came along on 1911's, I eventually returned to using a crush grip, with my strong thumb more or less curled.

It allows me to grab a SA or DA/DAO revolver, a 1911 with an original short and narrow "government" thumb safety, or any of the assorted TDA (DA/SA) or plastic pistols and not have my shooting hand thumb affect the slide stop lever.

Bumping the lever up is arguably a worse problem than pressing or holding the lever down. UP can lend itself to an unintentional premature or early slide-lock condition (with rounds still remaining in the mag), while DOWN (or inward, but still preventing lever rise on an empty mag) usually just means the slide doesn't lock back on an empty mag.

The job of my both of my thumbs (when using a 2-handed grip) is to stay away from the controls on the left side of the gun (or the rear of the cylinder on a revolver, or the BC gap!!), and let me run the gun normally without a shooter-induced issue interfering with things. It's a one-size-fits-all grip for me.

It also allows me to have the same identical master hand grip technique (including thumb placement) whether shooting 1 or 2-handed.

Just depends where any particular shooter wants to invest their effort in adjusting and refining their shooting grip, and what gun(s) they're using.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

I have an interesting experience with this. I carry a Beretta PX4 Compact as my primary EDC, and usually also carry a 642-1 as a BUG or by itself as primary. When I first started practicing with these two guns, I was concerned about confusing my grips. After experimentation, I had two interesting results. First, my "muscle memory" seems to have gotten to a point where I use the appropriate grip for each gun, i.e., I automatically go to a thumbs-forward 2-handed grip with the PX4 and a thumb-down/thumb-over-thumb 2-handed grip with the 642, and each time my sights are on target. Second, when I intentionally use a thumb-down/thumb-over-thumb grip when drawing my PX4, the gun points down, and when I try a thumbs-forward grip with my 642 the gun points up, likely as a result of the different grip angles between my PX4 and 642 and my grip habituation/"muscle memory" with each gun.

So far, the only quasi-negative thing I've run into when switching between the two guns is that I will occasionally catch myself trying to decock my 642 when going to low ready.

This is why I borrowed the term "pattern recognition" to apply to my shooting grip technique. You work to ingrain a specific technique when your hand grasps and "recognizes" a specific gun, and then you can begin to rely upon "muscle memory".

This is one of those for good or ill phenomena, though, and it pays to train to ingrain how you want things to happen the "right way".

In my case, I was lucky to become a firearms instructor and have access to our LE range, so I was able to indulge my shooting hobby and work to ingrain my technique with all of my personal guns, as well as my various work guns over the years. (It helped to have access to a free ammo inventory for the calibers we supported, too. )

Funny story of my own ...

A couple of my own 3rd gen guns (3913 & CS45) have been fitted with the optional spring-loaded, decock-only assemblies. I did that because I could, and it interested me, back when the option was first introduced as a LE option in the late 90's.

Now, we recommended our people carry their 3rd gen's in the Off-Safe/Ready-to-Fire condition, which meant decocking was a down & then up manipulation. Well, years and many tens of thousands of rounds of range work pretty well made my decocking/lifting the levers back to Off-Safe/Ready-to-Fire an automatic process I didn't even have to think about.

When I installed those decock-only assemblies, I found my thumb was reaching to lift the lever after lowering it to decock ... but the heavy spring was already lifting the assembly to lift the lever faster than my thumb could find it.

What did I do? Nothing. Since all of my other 3rd gen guns don't have the optional decock-only assembly, I want to keep my thumb instantly reaching to lift and return the lever upward after decocking. It just happens too fast for my thumb to do the job on those two guns, so my thumb feels the lever automatically rising past it, due to the spring, and my thumb instantly drops back down to the crush position.

Since those guns got the assemblies installed at the end of the 90's, I've had a fair number of years on the range to work to accommodate my grip and decocking technique to them.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

I went through the same thing when I converted my Beretta 92FS to decock-only.