Competition Magazine Followers - Capacity vs. Slide-Lock

To lock back or not to lock back, that is the question.

If you’ve spent any time upgrading your gear for competition, you’ve probably run into this debate: Should your gun lock back on empty, or should you sacrifice slide-lock to squeeze in more rounds? From a competitive shooter’s perspective, this isn’t about losing functionality — it’s about optimizing performance.

Let’s break down why this question matters and how most competitors think about it.

Competitive shooters see this differently

This conversation really only makes sense in the context of competition shooting. Defensive or duty use is a different world with different priorities. In competition, the goal is simple: shoot the stage as efficiently as possible — with the fewest reloads and the least wasted motion.

Capacity vs. slide-lock

When purchasing extended magazines, you’re often faced with a tradeoff:

• Maximize capacity, or
  
  
• Retain slide-lock functionality
  
  

To gain extra rounds, manufacturers commonly use thinner followers. That thinner follower may no longer reliably engage the slide stop when the magazine is empty. The result? More ammo… but no guaranteed lock-back.

From a competitive standpoint, that’s usually a feature, not a flaw.

Stage planning makes slide-lock unnecessary

When building a stage plan, you will carefully consider how many rounds you intend to fire from each shooting position, planning reloads into sections with movement when necessary. This helps prevent standing reloads while still giving yourself extra rounds in most cases for expected misses or makeup shots.

The goal is to reload proactively, not reactively.

If your plan is solid, the slide should never lock back in the first place. And if it does lock back? You’re probably already having a rough stage. Slide-lock won’t fix poor hits, missed reload timing, or bad stage execution.

“Why am I losing functionality?”

This is a common customer question:

“Why would I want to give up slide-lock?”

From a competition perspective, you’re not losing function — you’re gaining rounds. Those extra rounds can mean:

• One less reload on a stage, or
  
  
• In some cases, no reload at all.
  
  

Less reloading = less time = fewer chances to fumble under pressure.

That’s a trade most competitors are happy to make.

Preventing premature lock-back

In some setups — especially older 2011-style pistols — poorly tuned followers and slide stops can cause the gun to lock back with rounds still in the magazine. That’s a real problem.

In those cases, preventing lock-back at the slide stop can actually improve reliability by:

• Eliminating false lock-backs, and
  
  
• Keeping the gun running until the magazine is truly empty.
  
  

For these shooters, disabling slide-lock isn’t just about capacity — it’s about consistency.

Slide stops with thumb rests

A growing trend among competitive shooters is slide stops that double as thumb rests. These give the shooter a consistent indexing point and help control recoil.

However, they come with tradeoffs:

• By design, they prevent slide-lock because your thumb is actively pressing the slide stop down during firing.
  
  
• They can make finding a compatible Kydex holster more difficult due to the external shape of the part.
  
  

They’re a great tool for competition — just something to be aware of before committing.

Final thoughts

For competitive shooters, the question isn’t really “Do I want slide-lock?”

It’s:

“Do I want more rounds and fewer reloads?”

In competition:

• You plan reloads instead of relying on slide-lock.
  
  
• Running dry usually means something already went wrong.
  
  
• Extra capacity can simplify a stage plan and reduce risk.
  
  
• Disabling slide-lock can improve consistency in certain platforms.
  
  
• Modern slide stops with thumb rests naturally remove lock-back anyway.
  
  

So… to lock back or not to lock back?

For many competitors, the answer is clear:

More rounds. Fewer reloads. No regrets.