Well I'll be. It feels weird to have so little play. Maybe I can
adjust it to allow for a bit more downward movement prior to tightening
up.

I agree, it feels funny at first. I use what I would call "firm
handshake pressure" to lock the fence, and it's never budged in use.

Here's a setup tip: I noticed that on my Jet Fence, the plastic glides
in the locking head didn't contact the fence rail squarely. As a
result, the fence would skew (very) slightly as the lock was tightened.
A little tape shimming under the glides fixed it.

There is no adjustability for locking play / pressure, unless you want
to shave some thickness off the glides.