How firmly do you hold your handgun: Question from a rifle shooter.

[DLS]

Short question: How firmly do you hold your gun?

Context:

I have shot mostly rifle all my years of competition. I did a bit of handgun silhouette and bullseye (now called precision pistol) shooting many years ago. I played a bit at pin shooting with my Combat Commander too. I'm an OK handgun shooter, I have bagged deer, bear and an elk with my .44, shot Pistol Expert in the Corps six years straight, passed the LEO certifications in a couple of states and met the "Pistoleer" level of competency on a recent beta test of the new pistol course that Project Appleseed is developing.

In the past I was trained to shoot handguns with what was described as a firm handshake level of tension in the hand.

Now, recently I've started playing with ICORE matches and shooting DRRCs Rimfire Challenge which has a pistol component. I've also shot a few Speed Steel practice matches. This has caused me to do some research and based on a recommendation here I've picked up Dryfire Reloaded by Ben Stoeger. In his book he recommends a monster level of hold, using terms like crush grip etc.

Is this the new normal?

I've been playing with this level of tension with my dry fire and it seems to hinder clean trigger press and induce tremors in my hold.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

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[Kruel J]

70% of your grip should come from your support hand. I don't personally "white knuckle" it. A properly applied combat grip goes a long way here.

 

[hatchj]

Im probably not qualified, but for me personally, i hold firmly, but i wouldnt go to the point of making shooting more diffucult. Anything you so that isnt confortable for your form/physical abilities is only going to make things harder to shoot accurately

 

[Kruel J]

Thumbs forward, no tea cupping and get that weight off those heels!

 

[wired]

My support hand is usually on my hip. The hand holding the gun medium firm handshake level.

I sold a Beretta 92 to a guy I work with once. He came back complaining it would not
run without stovepiping and he couldnt hit squat. . I went out shooting with him and yep. every 4th or 5th round stovepiped. Then I picked up the gun and ran 200 rounds through it without a failure on bullseye. I hated shaking hands with that guy

 

[DLS]

I shot Weaver Stance for years but Massad Ayoob's writing, expecially his Stress Fire series caused me to change. I now shoot a pretty traditional two-handed grip from a modified isosceles stance. Support hand wrapping the strong hand, thumbs parallel or with heavy recoiling handguns strong thumb over support thumb. I do gain 70-80 percent of the grip tension from my support hand.

I'm playing with keeping everything the same other than to increase the overall grip tension to levels higher than I've used in the past. I can understand the theory of hard holding in relation to recoil management but am not so sure it's worth the loss of trigger control and the resultant degradation of sight alignment during the trigger press. Perhaps I need to play with it more … which I plan to do.

Thanks for the comments so far, I appreciate them a great deal. Anybody else want to weigh in?

 

[DLS]

I should add:

One of the things I need to work on is rapid follow-up shots. The "rapid-fire" stages of police qualifiers or bullseye shooting are still very slow compared to the dynamic games like Speed Steel and ICORE etc. This is why I'm looking to try new things … my speed needs to increase a bunch to be shooting these games at the level I want.

 

[DLS]

So, when I read "crush grip", "squeeze the crap out of the gun" and similar quotes from an author that is also a very high ranking practical pistol shooter I pay attention and want to know if I'm reading him correctly and how to apply his training to my shooting. We are always looking for that edge right?

I tried to add this to the post above but it seems I've met some limit on the number of edits I can make in a 24 hour period. I guess I'll need to write in a word processor and then cut and paste in the future as I'm a terrible typist and am always seeing mistakes after I place a post in the forum!

 

[teflon6string]

Thumbs forward, no tea cupping and get that weight off those heels!

+1 ... not necessarily squeezing super tight, but rigid enough in the elbows and wrists so even the heaviest recoil spring in a 1911 will absorb sufficient force for the pistol to compress, eject and re-chamber.

 

[Capn Jack]

My support hand is usually on my hip. The hand holding the gun medium firm handshake level.

I sold a Beretta 92 to a guy I work with once. He came back complaining it would run without stovepiping and he couldnt hit squat. . I went out shooting with him and yep. every 4th or 5th round stovepiped. Then I picked up the gun and ran 200 rounds through it without a failure on bullseye. I hated shaking hands with that guy

Like grabbing a glove full of chopped liver....

 

[CountryGent]

I never really thought about it. Not white-knuckled, but enough to control the handgun in question. Stance is generally two-hand modified weaver or one handed bladed with off-hand behind back.

 

[arakboss]

It depends on how firmly the bad guy is trying to grab it out of my hands. But I would say pretty firmly

 

[RicInOR]

When I shoot IDPA or Steel, with 2 hands, I grip with about the 60-70% coming from support hand. More if I am shooting weak side, less with a Full size gun, more with a narrow gun -- ie single stack.

Grip tape made a huge difference with my Shield. I don't use it on my full size.

One thing, practicing is the same as cheating ;-)

 

[Cerberus Group]

Over thinking it....

100% Right hand, and 100% Left hand.

Hold it like someone is tying to rip it out of your hands.

Class dismissed...I'm running out of Easy buttons.

 

[Stomper]

My support hand is usually on my hip. The hand holding the gun medium firm handshake level.

I sold a Beretta 92 to a guy I work with once. He came back complaining it would not
run without stovepiping and he couldnt hit squat. . I went out shooting with him and yep. every 4th or 5th round stovepiped. Then I picked up the gun and ran 200 rounds through it without a failure on bullseye. I hated shaking hands with that guy

Lemme guess, dead fish handshake, yeah?

.... I just know it.

 

[ron]

I use a firm grip but not a death grip. Hold 100% hard grip I think you would be more prone to a flinch? More tense.
Pistol shooting for me is mind over flinch to make an accurate shot. Teach yourself to break the shot no flinch.

 

[slimmer13]

Not too tight, not too loose, just right.

 

[CountryGent]

Not too tight, not too loose, just right.

That almost sounds naughty. Well, if one has a filthy mind, which I most certainly do.

 

[BillM]

You need to try it and decide what's right for you. Personally I grip revolvers like I'm trying to
kill them. Not so much with Single Stack and Limited guns, and a lighter yet grip on my Open
and steel challenge guns.

FWIW---Ben Stoeger likes a killer grip. Brian Enos in "Beyond Fundamentals " promotes a grip "just
firm enough that you don't drop the gun". Toss Steve Andersons books in the mix and
things get even more confused.

 

[UnionMillsNW]

My grip is more of a "press". I push forward with my firing hand and "pull" towards my body with my support hand. I'd describe the tension level as "holding an egg you don't want to break or have someone take from you."