I can’t shoot double action revolvers!

[Hemlock]

 

[boattail]

I'm new to this forum and have not read all the responses here but I too shoot an SP101 and I will say shooting full house loads ruined me. I never had a flinch before I made the mistake of full house 357 in a 2 1/4" sp101. To this day I still have to really watch what I do to remove that flinch from my shooting. A fellow member here helped me identify my problem using a dummy round mixed in with live rounds to showcase where I was going wrong. I have to actively work to stop the flinch in my handgun shooting.

One thing that did help me with a couple of my guns is a grip that fits my hand. The stock SP101 grip and the stock Colt King Cobra grip (new model) were all too skinny for me. I made custom grips for both of those guns that fit my hand. These are grips that resemble a Bill Jordon style grip but even bulkier. Once I had a grip I could hold correctly my groups tightened up, hotter loads could be shot without pain, and my overall use of the guns improved.

 

[Member 34319]

I've been practicing using the laser insert thingy. Boy do I pull hard to the left!

I am getting better.

 

[boattail]

I had laser grips on my sp101 as a point and shoot training aid. Sure does show the shaky hands

I pulled left as well as my pinky finger would grip harder trying to fit the small grips. I nice fat butt grip helped even out my grip pressure.

If I can figure out how to post a picture I'll post up my grip.....

 

[boattail]

I did shave off the beavertail after this photo was taken. It just rounds off at the top now. So much better now that the grip angle is closer to 90*

 

[RMc]

I can't help thinking you would be better off with Hogue Monogrips for the SP101:

 

[boattail]

I can't help thinking you would be better off with Hogue Monogrips for the SP101:

View attachment 1040645

I tried one of those and hated it. I have an Altamont grip in wood of the same shape and they all are too small for my hands. Plus the angle is all wrong for me. Another issue with rubber on a grip for me is my shirt not sliding on them and exposing the gun.....but that is secondary to how they shoot.

Although...if your hand fits the grip above or any that give that extra support they will help with double action pull. I like to shoot stout loads and that grip angle just pounds my hand.

Just like everyone's box of holsters that don't fit I have a box of grips for the sp101 I have even sold a few off.

 

[RMc]

View attachment 1040015
I did shave off the beavertail after this photo was taken. It just rounds off at the top now. So much better now that the grip angle is closer to 90*

The grip angle suggests an attempt to give a revolver a semi-auto grip angle.

 

[RMc]

View attachment 1033523

The chart above was designed for traditional one hand/single action only bullseye competition.

 

[boattail]

The grip angle suggests an attempt to give a revolver a semi-auto grip angle.

It is patterned off the smith and Wesson target grips on my model 17. I do like a 1911 grip so maybe that's why they work so well for me.

 

[Flopsweat]

View attachment 1040015
I did shave off the beavertail after this photo was taken. It just rounds off at the top now. So much better now that the grip angle is closer to 90*

Nice woodworking and you must have some gigantic meat hooks on ya. Looks like you carved that grip from a tree trunk.

 

[Fishjager]

Most revolver shooters know what click click boom is, master it and you will have no problems.

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

I have a 686 with a 7 in barrel and it shoots like a semi auto they have their stuff figured out with that one ! I have a 10 year old girl that likes to shoot it even with mag loads .

 

[OldBroad44]

I have a 686 with a 7 in barrel and it shoots like a semi auto they have their stuff figured out with that one ! I have a 10 year old girl that likes to shoot it even with mag loads .

Even a 686 with a 2.5" barrel is pleasant to shoot with full loads. Its a full size gun with a heavy under lug and a muzzle heavy feel. It just has a short barrel. Its nothing like shooting the K frame Smith or Ruger equivalent.

 

[MikeE]

You are right to practice DA, that's what it is meant for in self defense. Nice thing about DA revolvers is dry practice. Make SURE you are unloaded, no ammo in the room. Aim at a safe direction. Use the crease of your first joint.to press. Roll your finger slightly down the trigger face. Make sure you have a tight grip, canting in your wrists a bit. Practice until you can do this w disturbing the front sight. You will be fine.

 

[boattail]

Nice woodworking and you must have some gigantic meat hooks on ya. Looks like you carved that grip from a tree trunk.

I don't have overly large hands, I don't have sausage fingers, just a large glove size. I think my preference for large grips has to do with age and nerve damage in my shoulders and wrists with impingements. I also am getting more essential tremors in my hands as I age. The smaller the object I hold the more my hands shake.

I built this set of grips for my Colt King Cobra as the factory grips are thin.....

https://imgur.com/aUjLXXB

 

[Flopsweat]

I don't have overly large hands, I don't have sausage fingers, just a large glove size. I think my preference for large grips has to do with age and nerve damage in my shoulders and wrists with impingements. I also am getting more essential tremors in my hands as I age. The smaller the object I hold the more my hands shake.

I built this set of grips for my Colt King Cobra as the factory grips are thin.....

https://imgur.com/aUjLXXB

Nice! Looks comfortable.

 

[OldBroad44]

I don't have overly large hands, I don't have sausage fingers, just a large glove size. I think my preference for large grips has to do with age and nerve damage in my shoulders and wrists with impingements. I also am getting more essential tremors in my hands as I age. The smaller the object I hold the more my hands shake.

I built this set of grips for my Colt King Cobra as the factory grips are thin.....

https://imgur.com/aUjLXXB

I've always had a slight tremor in hand/arms, and more now at 75. Didn't realize it when a kiddie because I learned to shoot on full size handguns. In my twenties and beyond, when I started buying guns of my own, some I couldn't shoot well at all. Turns out its all the light ones I can't shoot well offhand. J frame Smiths, Charter Arms Bulldog and Pathfinder, Glock 23. I need the gun to be at least about 30 ounces unloaded, or I can't shoot it well offhand. That amount of weight stabilizes the gun so the tremor vanishes, even now at age 75. For me, its weight that matters with respect to stabilizing tremor, and this makes sense physically. Your Colt with the underlugged barrel should do a good job of stabilizing the tremor. My EDC is "Buddy", a 686 snubby that is rock solid in my hands. He weighs 36 ounces empty. Heavy for an EDC, but I need that weight. Especially since my EDC needed to protect my duck flock against small predators such as racoons, possums, and skunks, sometimes at a distance.

Size of grips doesn't affect tremor as best I can tell but does affect my ability to shoot well for other reasons. Optimal conformation allows me to hold outstretched gun with minimal cocking of wrist and in such a way that my trigger finger engages the trigger in such a way that the trigger pull is straight back instead of pushing gun sideways. I can't shoot J frame Smiths well in part because they are just too small for my trigger finger to engage trigger correctly.

The tremor doesn't affect some kinds of shooting. Bench rest, if course. And a very stable sitting position I have with elbows on bent knees. Also, shooting at moving targets. Or point shooting. Or shooting from the hip fast. I do these firing DA, as part of what is involved is letting shot off as gun moves past the target. The double action makes it easier to control exactly when the gun fires. The tremor doesnt matter because the gun is moving when fired and gun's motion stabilizes it. I don't use the sights for such games. One can be pretty accurate point shooting a gun with an underlugged barrel without using the sights at all as it is easy for the hand to feel where a muzzle heavy barrel is pointed.

 

[boattail]

Yup the small frame guns cause me more issue too. Maybe that is why those two smaller guns are all that needed the big grip. I know they helped with finger placement on the trigger like you speak of.

 

[Pete F]

I've always had a slight tremor in hand/arms, and more now at 75. Didn't realize it when a kiddie because I learned to shoot on full size handguns. In my twenties and beyond, when I started buying guns of my own, some I couldn't shoot well at all. Turns out its all the light ones I can't shoot well offhand. J frame Smiths, Charter Arms Bulldog and Pathfinder, Glock 23. I need the gun to be at least about 30 ounces unloaded, or I can't shoot it well offhand. That amount of weight stabilizes the gun so the tremor vanishes, even now at age 75. For me, its weight that matters with respect to stabilizing tremor, and this makes sense physically. Your Colt with the underlugged barrel should do a good job of stabilizing the tremor. My EDC is "Buddy", a 686 snubby that is rock solid in my hands. He weighs 36 ounces empty. Heavy for an EDC, but I need that weight. Especially since my EDC needed to protect my duck flock against small predators such as racoons, possums, and skunks, sometimes at a distance.

Size of grips doesn't affect tremor as best I can tell but does affect my ability to shoot well for other reasons. Optimal conformation allows me to hold outstretched gun with minimal cocking of wrist and in such a way that my trigger finger engages the trigger in such a way that the trigger pull is straight back instead of pushing gun sideways. I can't shoot J frame Smiths well in part because they are just too small for my trigger finger to engage trigger correctly.

The tremor doesn't affect some kinds of shooting. Bench rest, if course. And a very stable sitting position I have with elbows on bent knees. Also, shooting at moving targets. Or point shooting. Or shooting from the hip fast. I do these firing DA, as part of what is involved is letting shot off as gun moves past the target. The double action makes it easier to control exactly when the gun fires. The tremor doesnt matter because the gun is moving when fired and gun's motion stabilizes it. I don't use the sights for such games. One can be pretty accurate point shooting a gun with an underlugged barrel without using the sights at all as it is easy for the hand to feel where a muzzle heavy barrel is pointed.

I started having tremors (65) and got some medication from my doctor - Propranolol. It is similar to Neurontin. It seems to work very well.

I probably had the tremors for years and didn't notice it. That explains why I shot my Ruger Redhawk 7.5" so well compared to my lighter pistols.

I haven't been out shooting lately, but will let you know if it made a difference.