Proper Handgun Grip
BY Herschel Smith2 years, 6 months ago
These are both lengthy videos which could have been shortened a bit and the points still communicated.
First up, John Lovell and his chief trainer debate, compare and contrast.
I find that I don’t go quite as far forward on the top of the frame with my left hand thumb as John does in his grip, so I concur more with his trainer. Pushing my thumb as far forward as John does torques my left wrist in a kinetically odd and uncomfortable way. I like his pistol doctrine of “equilateral arm extension” while presenting because I use an isosceles stance.
Next up, Mike Glover just happens to do a lengthy video on handgun fighting and proper grip technique.
I concur with his statement “The grip comes from vicing the top of the frame” with your opposing thumb.
On September 10, 2021 at 9:25 am, Paul B said:
Current shooting 1911. We have steel targets at the range. Grip the gun, put the front site on target, focus, squeeze and knock down one of the plates.
7 shots, 7 plates. Not sure what if anything I need to change.
On September 10, 2021 at 5:55 pm, Ohio Guy said:
I’m no pistol pro like John, Mike or Massad,but I have large hands and a killer grip. My 55yo eyes still work. And I can make steel plates ring like chime bells. Like Eric plays the guitar. It wasn’t always that way starting out, but it is now. But like anything else good, it takes hard work, study and practice. Do what works and feels natural for you.
On September 11, 2021 at 9:02 pm, Brad said:
I’ve been on a long quest to shoot my pistol like a bad ass pistelero for some time now. I’ve watched the videos, taken some classes. A lot of the gunslingers out there make videos concentrating on the back of the pistol grip. “You should have an air tight seal on the back strap where your thumbs meet”. Yada Yada. So I finally got frustrated and said screw it, about the time the ammo disappeared. So I was doing a shit load of dry fire, with a laser.
Finally got some time and ammo for some live fire fun and I’ll be damn. For me what kept that muzzle down was my “weak hand” finger tips interlaced on my strong hand knuckles. The end result was the portion of my fingers between the first and second knuckle face the target. Much like Lovels grip. I actually had to unload my carry weapon and draw and point to see what else I was doing. Beside gripping real hard with my weak hand fingers I am torquing inwards with both arms. The seam on the back of the gun, it’s pretty big. But, where’s the leverage? A very long journey for me.