Adding weight to a competition gun

[ctbreitwieser]

I was thinking about what a person could do to help reduce muzzle flip on a competition pistol and thought about making some sort of weight that mounted to the front rail. In theory, it should help keep the front end down while still keeping the slide from slowing down. Has this been done? Would it even work?

 

[Mgderf]

Have the muzzle ported.

 

[17 squirrel]

Google Smith & Wesson model 41 and mod 52 pistols with weights.
The 41 weights are more involved with more pieces if I remember correctly.
I own both pistols but I only have weights for the 41. Have you tried heavier bullet ?
What pistol are you talking about ? And what caliber.

 

[Mike Elzinga]

It would depend on what gun you are using and what division of what discipline you are competing in. Possible? Yes. Practical? Maybe.

 

[ctbreitwieser]

No specific pistol. And porting puts you in open class. I'm saying that if you have a competition pistol already set up and already load low recoil ammo that this should help improve your speed on follow up shots.

 

[Rob377]

Bob Vogel took a Glock light, pulled out the bulb and filled it with lead shot.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl8p_Ju_TKY

 

[romack991]

 

[Drail]

I was involved in the early days of USPSA/IPSC competition and everyone was bolting weight onto their guns (which were all .45 ACPs) to help keep the muzzle lift down. We had big heavy brass weights on the bottom of our magazines (one company even offered lead weights for the bottom of your magazine to add weight and to help start it out of the well quicker when ejected) and steel plates under the grips and anything else we could think of - BUT - adding all that weight had one drawback - it made the gun harder to move on and off of targets quickly and with precision. So it's a tradeoff. This was before compensators and bull barrels were common. But yes, adding weight forward and under the barrel will tame the muzzle. Now everyone seems to want to shoot lighter calibers and lighter guns with compensators. But it was pretty amazing to see guys like Rob Leatham and Brian Enos blast through a stage with a big old heavy .45. Didn't seem slow them down all that much. A heavy .45 doesn't have much kick compared to a polymer .40 when hosing down targets.

 

[Mike Elzinga]

Yea it seems a bit counter productive to add weight to an already light, polymer framed gun. If you want a heavier overall gun, pick a steel framed platform. Adding weight to the slide, and thus more reciprocating weight, doesn't seem to make much sense either. Ive seen a number of older bullseye type guns (S&W 41's, High Standards, Pardinis) that have various frame or barrel weights, but it wasn't to damper recoil, just to adjust how it balanced in the hand when shot with a 1 handed bullseye stance.

 

[looney2ns]

Some guns such as the xDm 5.25 have hollow guide rods. There are aftermarket solid SS guide rods available that add at bit of weight.
PRP~ Perfecting Your XD/XDM!

 

[outnumbered]

My brother gave me advice that he picked up through years of competition shooting(probably originating from Brian Enos) Make that which moves lighter, and that which does not heavier.

 

[Drail]

Another thing to consider - a pistol gets lighter and more top heavy as you work through a magazine. A heavy all steel gun is still fairly well balanced - even when it is almost empty. (good thing) A alloy/polymer lightweight pistol starts out lighter with a higher center of gravity and gets lighter and more top heavy as it is emptied. The center of gravity has a significant effect on how quickly you can shoot it while dealing with recoil and muzzle rise - especially when you're down to the last 2 or 3 rounds. I was shooting heavy steel 1911s when the first Glock showed up at our range. And of course everyone had to try it out. One magazine convinced me - more weight in a gun below the barrel makes it easier to shoot fast. I'm not saying it can't be done with a light weight gun - but you gotta work at it a little harder and the change in weight as it is emptied is more pronounced.