Get a Grip – How to Grip a Pistol

How to grip a pistol is one of the key factors in how accurate you will be.  Improperly gripping the pistol will lead to all sorts of problems1911 shooterincluding poor shot placement, loosing control of the gun due to recoil and even malfunction of gun and injuring yourself.

I am not saying this is the only way to correctly grip a pistol. This is what I learned and it worked well for me and many other men that I served with. 

You want the webbing between your thumb and index finger of your shooting hand up firmly against the top part of the pistol grip. Too low and you will have a hard time controlling the recoil and too high will get you a good chunk of your hand taken off by a semi automatic slide. You want your thumb and index finger to be approximately the same height which will help you keep the gun level.  Hold the gun with the firmness as a firm handshake. Too tight and you will start to shake the gun.

Your non shooting hand wraps around the shooting hand basically cupping it.  I always exerted a little pressure with the index of the non firing hand up against the trigger guard. I found this help me stabilizing the gun. The thumb of this hand I pointed straight forward. The thumb of the firing hand ends up being directly in line behind the other thumb. This is known as the “straight thumb” technique. It seems to help me point the weapon naturally. That is not saying that I advocate point shooting. I still rely primarily on the front sight.

If this isn’t the way you are gripping the pistol, try it out a bit.  First simply draw the pistol and bring it up and use the grip.  See how it feels in your hand.  After working on this awhile, try it out on the range.

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DAVID COLBURN

I am a 64 year old former professional bodyguard. Some of my achievements and Certifications include; -8 Styles of Martial Arts Training -PADI Scuba certification -Owned Upstate and Syracuse K-9 -National and Olympic Qualifier in Wrestling -Professional Driving School Training -Firearms Training Certifications