My wife is a new shooter and shoots to slide lock often as she's learning. However, today when cleaning the gun, I noticed the slide was not smoothly retracting or going forward. Upon comparison to another 320 I have, the ejector is bent up slightly and dragging. I'm assuming this is caused by over insertion of a magazine during a slide lock reload. I've added TTI and Henning base pads to the magazines for added capacity and so they lock in with the mag well installed.

Is there a reliable way to get this fixed without buying a new FCU? I've read of folks just bending it back but I imagine at some point it will break rather than bend.

My next thought is to remove the slide lock but I'm not sure how this would function long term on a 320. I don't use the slide lock on my USPSA guns, which are CZ's. These are purely game guns but I also don't want to damage the 320 or have my wife develop bad habits. At some point it might be needed to clear a malfunction.

Thoughts?

Carefully bending it back is all you can do.

It's seen primarily from using magazines that allow overinsertion (such as a 21 round magazine, with an aftermarket baseplate).

If there's nothing to prevent overinsertion, and the slide is locked back and one drives the magazine past the catch, then there are reports of it bending the ejector. Bending it back will eventually result in failure of the ejector and at a minimum, a new FCU or FCU chassis.

The dog ears on the baseplate prevent overinsertion, but only if used in the appropriate grip module. A 17 round magazine in a 15 round grip frame (eg, compact, or subcompact) allows the mag to be driven deeper into the mag well. A 21 round magazine has the extended baseplate in part for that reason; it's not just to fill the gap for aesthetics or feel, but to prevent over-insertion.

The Taran Tactical +5's on a 17 round magazine meet the 140mm rule, and won't allow the magazine to be overinserted into any grip module that takes a 17 round mag. I run them on the factory modules and with the newer Wilson modules, without any difficulty, and they fit into the Sig mag funnel without any problem, either. Definitely no chance of overinsertion with the funnel on there.

Hmm. That’s what I’m using, a 17td mag with TTI +5. It’s close the ejector when pressed in hard. Maybe getting one too many rounds In the mag is enough. Fully loaded they don’t have much give on the top round.

As for cutting off the slide catch; raising the slide catch is part of resetting the FCU after assembly.

I suppose there are more roads to Rome, but when I'm told to unload and show clear, I remove the magazine, lock the slide back while shedding the chambered round, and show the mag well and chamber with the slide locked back.

Given that the slide release catch is part of the function of the FCU, I'd say leave it intact.