[Park_Ranger]

i just recently found this forum , and i've been looking around for a semi-auto pistol that is completly ambidexterous, slide catch, saftey, and magazine catch (not as important but would be nice). i've found the CZ85B and this is about it, its a nice pistol, but i just did a firearms safety course and they had a 1911 there, and it just felt right. can anyone point me in the right direction? thanks
Park_Ranger

 

[Jim Watson]

Some upper-crust 1911s come with ambidextrous safeties. It is a routine gunsmith installation on the rest. So is the ambi magazine catch made by Smith-Alexander for about a hundred dollars. I don't know of a gun that comes with one standard.

Ambi slide stops for 1911s are available but most are junk. I know of no southpaw using one, they just learn to trip the regular lever with their forefinger. A 1911 slide stop is a more subtle part than you might think. Many extended RH slide stops are prone to premature engagement due to being bumped or by inertia in recoil. I would expect a double one to be worse. I recommend getting an extended RH slide stop and then cutting off the rearward extension, leaving a short horizontal shelf for easy release by the left forefinger. I have seen this done successfully. (The Wilson Bulletproof is made that way.)

 

[Park_Ranger]

its not so much releasing the slide catch that bothers me, its locking the slide back, its a very aqward movement , and usually involves switching hands. it may sound like nothing to a right-hander, but imagine everytime you went to clear your weapon and keep the slide open (which in canada is a law when on a range) and had to switch your pistol to your left hand. thanks for the info
Steve

 

[Sheldon]

I'm a lefty and just use my trigger finger to push upward on the bottom of the slide release and my right hand to pinch the rear of the slide to draw it rearward to make the slide lock back. Right handers usually use their right thumbs to push the bottom of the slide release upward and their left hand grabs the slide to pull it rearward to do the same thing right?

Just shoot off all the rounds in the mag and let the mag lock the slide back!!!! Yeah, that's the ticket!!

 

[RickB]

As pointed out above, the 1911 is already a very ambidextrous design. You really need only an ambi safety, as the slide stop and mag release can be operated with either hand. I know two people who use ambi mag releases, and they're both right-handed - they find operating the catch with their trigger finger is easier/better than with the thumb. To lock the slide back, I push up on the bottom of the slide stop with the side of my trigger finger; it's a kind of an unusual movement, but one that is easily developed. I have found some guns are very difficult to drop from slide-lock using the tip of the finger, so I wrap my right hand up under the butt (kind of a follow-through after the reload), and release it with the tips of two fingers of my right hand. I've seen some guys try to get along without an ambi safety, using their left thumb on the standard safety, but that seems to slow if done after the draw, and dangerous if done before.

 

[rex]

I don't want to open this topic back up,but.If you would really want to do something with the slide stop,try Pachmayer's extended one.The extension is the lightest one I've seen,and you can trim it to whatever length you want-it's long enough to almost touch an extended thumb safety.Just trim it down until you have enough of a lever left to get some added leverage,and pick up with your trigger finger.I still haven't trimmed one on one of my match guns,and dropping the slide is rediculously effortless.A little leverage goes a long way.

 

[jason10mm]

The Wilson bulletproof slide stop has a different design than most stops. Instead of a downward slanted ramp, it has a horizontal ledge which makes it very easy to use the index finger to press up on it to engage the stop. If you don't want to buy that, then just slide your left hand down on the grip a little so you can get more leverage on the stop and press it up. Beware that the stock kimber slide stop is puny and very difficult for lefties (like me!!). With the addition of an ambi safety (usually a do it yourself drop in part), the 1911 is totally lefty friendly. Later

 

[gm45]

Got a lefty friend who has the fastest mag change splits of all of us. He uses the left trigger finger to actuate mag release and slide stop (any brand, just a matter of conditioning the finger). No righties in our group can drop the slide on a fresh mag as quick as he can. Ambi safety, and I think it's more lefty friendly than righty.

 

[Jim Watson]

Steve,
I see your problem. I developed a technique for you: Assuming you wish to cease fire in the middle of a magazine; remove the magazine with the left middle finger on the catch (or get the S&A ambi) and stow it, eject the round from the chamber and stow it. Then tip the gun all the way over to your right, pointed downrange, slide stop up. Grasp the slide with your right hand, base of the thumb over the slide serrations, thumb extended down the left side of the slide, which is now uppermost. Pull the slide back and when the slide stop lines up with the notch, flip it into engagement with the right thumb. All done. I figured it out in about two minutes. I figure you are used to the oddities of a right-handed world and can manage it even sooner. Keep the gun in the firing hand. Use accessories and techniques to load, unload, and otherwise service it with your off hand.

 

[Army Chief]

... I've been looking around for a semi-auto pistol that is completly ambidextrous ...

Take it from a southpaw who's fired them all: a 1911 with an ambidextrous safety will meet your intent, but the best pistol that could legitimately be called "ambidextrous" is the HK P7 -- bar none.

Chuck

 

[Battler]

Hear this southpaws and take heart - read once Cooper saying that the mag release and slide stop are on the WRONG side of the gun, that they should be out of the way, to avoid accidental trippage!

You say you want it on the right to lock the slide back? Is locking the slide back something you need to do in a hurry?

And the thumb is not MEANT to be able to reach your mag release without changing grip (as I have to), or you could trip it.

It seems to make sense, the only "quick" control I find I really really need is the safety (for which I agree you do need to go ambi).


Battler.

 

[Navy Gunner]

As a firearms instructor (and a lefty) I would offer this advice. Do not put ambi mag release or slide stops on your guns. Most guns do not have them and when you change your gun you will be challenged to use others. The M-9 is our issue weapon and you can change the mag release to the oposite side of the gun. However this becomes a problem during a security alert when a right handed shooter gets the gun set up for the lefty. Now add in stress, darkness and incoming fire and you can see why the gun should be the same every time. It is a simple matter to learn to manipulate these devices with your trigger finger and what safer thing to happen than to have to remove your finger from the trigger to manipulate your gun? Good luck.

 

[Park_Ranger]

wow, guys thanks for all the reply's they are very helpful, i didn't expect such fast reply's nor so many lefties like me! amazing
anywho thanks
steve

 

[7th Fleet]

Listen up, you do not need a an ambi slide lock (stop) because the proper way to release the locked back slide on a semiauto pistol, is to grasp the rear of the slide pull it slightly to the rear and let it go forward chambering the round.

7th

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