How to hold a handgun...

just bought my first handgun--a glock 19. I noticed there's what looks like a groove on the front of the triggerguard for the supporting hand's index finger. I feel more comfortable shooting this way and can see how this method might be helpful in controlling recoil (esp. in larger calibers) Am I holding it wrong? or is it just personal preference?:confused:

I am not sure about how a Glock is built, don't have one, but based on my experience with other arms, such as the Smith and Wesson Russian models, these are built with spur triggerguards, so you can rest your inidex finger on them when you are not pulling the trigger.

Just my 2 cents.

And......................................No caliber wars, folks!!:evil::D:D

You might want to consider taking at least a basic course in how to shoot a handgun from a competent, certified instructor.

I second a good training course, but this will give you the basics by one of the best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa50-plo48

A few pictures might help.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ayoob85.html or
http://www.midwesttraininggroup.net/Tips/get_a_grip.htm

the second one is using a Glock

Note that neither uses the front of the trigger guard. On the second link they show a "cup and saucer" type of hold that I do not recommend (Fig. 5).

The Todd Jarrett video above is excellent.

Personal preference really, but not how I was trained, and it doesn't work for me.

Might I suggest you look for a book by D R Middlebrooks he developed a style of shooting that a bunch of the top shooters are using right now.

Fist-Fire here is a link to his site.

http://www.tacticalshooting.com/academy.html

Being that you are a new shooter this would be great to learn before you pick up "bad shooting habits"

I personally hold thumbs layered, right one on top of left, all digits on left hand cover fingers of right hand
under trigger guard IMHO its a considerably better grip.

Since how you hold a pistol is a personal preference, I don't want to say one way is better then another. But I will say good choice of pistol; the G19 is a fine, reliable weapon.

And get a copy of "The Complete book of Combat Handgunnery" by Massad F. Ayoob. (To start.)

Thanks Pat-inCO that was pretty helpful. You guys are right I'll take some certified training, most likely through CCW classes.

Your mileage may vary, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of another index finger on the trigger guard. Might slip INTO the trigger guard at an inopportune moment.

Regardless, definitely get some training as soon as you can.

This is a great thread thank you I have learned a lot. Now I can't wait to take my class.

The Springer Precision website has a great video showing the grip.

I filed that off of my G19 and it looks better.

I have seen a few people use that hold, but I personally don't like it.

Whatever fits for you...but classes do help.

That's a pretty popular grip for some.

I personally was taught that if a pistol was meant to be shot with two hands it would have two handles.;)

Todd's video is good, but not gospel, even for him.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/430/6hi6bt2ab3.jpg (http://img215.imageshack.us/my.php?image=6hi6bt2ab3.jpg)


Don't get too hung up on grip style. 30 years ago I was lectured by an instructor for placing my finger under the guard. You place it on the front, it's what the "pros" and "experts" were doing, and was the best and most accurate way to shoot. Now we have another "best and only way" to do it, and if I don't follow the current fad then I am just wrong.... again.

So we have many pistols with squared off/checkered triggerguards for the index finger, but we're told never to use it. And many will tell you not to use the slide release lever either. Following that logic I have decided that the manual safety is another relic, since many pistols don't have one, so I don't dare touch that either. And according to the Brady Campaign that trigger thingy is a hazard to children when it's pressed, so I'm pretty much out of action for now and looking for an alternate defensive weapon.

Which reminds me, does anyone have links to gel tests for slingshots? I am interested in penetration values for a .32 ball bearing at 320fps. :D

Time will pass and methods will change again, and not necessarily because it's better, but merely because it's different.

Go with what works for you, the end result is the only thing that matters.

But that's just my opinion.......

might i suggest youtube

Try this:

1. Grip the gun comfortably with your dominant hand. Your hand should be as high on the grip as reasonable--which helps manage recoil.
2. Now look for grip area on the opposite side from your hand that is still exposed and not covered by your fingers. Try to place the heel of your off-hand to cover the exposed area.
3. Then wrap off-hand fingers around dominant fingers.
4. Thumbs should point toward the target in the same direction as the barrel.

The idea is to cover as much grip as possible for control. (This may sound familiar if you play golf, softball, or racquet sports.) Thumbs pointed properly can assist with natural point. Combined you'll have better sight-picture recovery after shot recoil.

It may not feel exactly right at first (ever change your golf grip?), but keep at it until it's 2nd nature.

Stick with one particluar handgun at first until it's comfortable and then try some different guns/grips and adjust as needed to feel that you have solid control of each handgun.

Yeah, that's fine. Just don't do that with six shooters!

www.guntalk.tv has good videos for beginning shooters.

Having rather small hands I discovered that I have 2 options for getting as much skin as possible onto the grip of a full-sized gun. (The demonstrator gun is a junky Airsoft I use for dry-fire exercises with a toddler running around).

Lower grip:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a370/MBVoelker/shooting/lowgrip.jpg

Higher grip:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a370/MBVoelker/shooting/highgrip.jpg

Using the higher option reduces my groups from:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a370/MBVoelker/shooting/firstplatesforMarksman.jpg

To:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a370/MBVoelker/shooting/7yard-1.jpg

I suggest quality training and a bit of experimentation to see how well theory fits into the real world. :D