It’s Technical Tuesday here at Shadow Systems. This week, we are talking about Optic Cuts for our slides. We cut our slides to fit a Trijicon RMR or a Holosun 507c. We’ll talk about why we chose these, how we designed our optic cut to allow the optic to sit lower than anyone else on the market, and how to install your optic on your slide.
Drop a comment with anything you’d like to see us cover in a future Technical Tuesday.
This week, we are talking about the MR918 interchangeable backstrap system and the optional magazine well.
When we designed the frame, we included an interchangeable backstrap system that we call the NPOA system for Natural Point of Aim. The reason we designed it this way is that we feel some of the other designs out there now, small/medium/large, doesn’t really solve the problem–the problem being that I want a gun that points naturally for me. Our system is all about adjusting the gun so that it points naturally for you.
The gun comes with three backstraps, neutral, high, and low. We include a tool with a hardened steel pin in it to help you take the backstraps on and off. The gun has a single pin on the back of the backstrap. Using the tool, there is a little tiny chamfer on the tool that nicely fits into the top of the coil pin and that pin just pushes right out. Then the backstrap will just slide right off. You’ll see the dovetail along the back of the frame when you pull off the backstrap; that dovetail is what tensions the backstrap to the frame when it’s in place, making it feel and function as one solid piece. Each backstrap has a corresponding dovetail as well.
What you’re trying to do is to select the backstrap that feels natural to you, and what we mean by that is what makes the gunpoint as true to your natural aim as possible.
We will walk you through how to change out the backstrap and how to determine your natural point of aim to find the correct backstrap for you.
The gun ships with the “neutral” backstrap, which is somewhere between the Glock “hump” and the flat 1911; it’s very similar to what we do to our custom Glock framework when we flatten out the backstrap some. That’s a good starting place for most. You’ll also receive a “high” and a “low” backstrap. The “high” is most similar to the way a stock Glock fits in your hand, so if you’re a Glock guy, this may be the place to start for you. The “low” is the flattest of the three backstraps and feels most similar to the way a 1911 fits in your hand. So select the backstrap that works best for you and then lock it in place with the pin.
Once you’ve installed your backstrap, you’ll see there is a little tiny hole that a plug fits in. If you just want to run the gun flat, without a magwell, take the little plug and put that into the hole–this will keep debris out of that hole and finish the gun in a flat configuration.
If you’d prefer to run a magazine well to assist with faster reloads, you can choose to utilize the included magwell often used by Glock. Our magwell is a polymer piece that is lightweight and durable and comes standard with your gun. If you’d like to add the magwell, take the plug back out and add the pistol magwell plug in its place then pin that in place. Then the magwell snaps tightly into place and is pinned in place with the second pin. Then the magwell will be locked nice and rigid to the frame. We really like this magwell not just for faster reloads, but also because that bottom edge helps to lock the pistol even tighter into your grip. One additional note on our magwell, it has been designed so that if in the rare instance you do break your magwell, let’s say you fall on some rocks and break the magwell, it is designed to break at the plug so it will protect your frame. That way if you ever need to, you can replace the plug for $1 without doing any damage to your frame.
Hope this was a helpful introduction to our backstrap system and our optional magazine well. It is our goal to meet that need of every shooter to have a gun that points naturally, especially under stress. Can’t wait to hear your feedback as more of these MR918s start getting into the market.
Drop a comment with anything you’d like to see us cover in a future Technical Tuesday.
This Technical Tuesday, we’re discussing a common trigger installation mistake and specifically the trigger return spring.
In the video, we take apart the frame. We show you how to do it on a frame compatible with Glock internal parts. The most common trigger installation issue that we have seen from customers is people will sometimes have the trigger return spring installed improperly, which can make the trigger bind a bit. We want to show you how to avoid that.
We also walk through how to look and see that it is installed correctly without even having to take this all apart. Hopefully, this is helpful! This is one of the little things that can help ensure your trigger is functioning the best that it can!
As always, if you have any issues with this or anything else, give us a call at (469) 458-6808 and one of our techs can help you get everything installed correctly!
