[LFW]

Am I the only person who never suffers from hammer or slide bite? I shoot Hi-Powers, stock 1911s, PP and PPKs with impunity. Out of curiosity I've experimented with trying to purposely scrunch my hand up high on the grips of these various pistols and still can't make them come in contact with the cocked hammers or the racked-back slides. My hands are probably on the medium-small size. The down side is that I have trigger reach problems with some of the double stacks pistols and N-frame revolvers.--Leigh

[Thirties]

I agree. I've never been bitten by a gun except one:

The Beretta 950 .22 short. That thing is tiny. Here's a snapshot...

[Sean Smith]

I think hammer bite has mostly to do with hand size. But it has always baffled me how Browning never noticed that his guns bite you unless you make the hammers a wee bit shorter. :confused:

[hksw]

How much do you weigh? (Trying to determine if your hands are 'fat' or 'skinny'.)

[BigG]

An ole hammer biter, but I love her. 38 Special Colt Auto by Jim Clark. http://sc.groups.msn.com/tn/4D/80/coltsgc/1/c.jpg

[Dave T]

Am I the only person who never suffers from hammer or slide bite?

Am I the only person who always suffers from hammer or slide bite? Unless or course a generous beaver tail has been installed.

I was taught to grip a semiauto as high as possible to get maximum control and recoil recovery. Having learned that lesson well, I get "bit" by everything. My Glock 21 used to dig a small hole in my hand (from the slide) if I fired over 100 rounds. Any 1911 will take a chunk out of the web of my hand unless it has a beaver tail (this includes the original Commander with it's short tang grip safety). I sold the only Walther I ever owned because firing one magazine left my hand bleeding (slide again). The Browning HP, even with the rounded hammer eats my hand with one shot.

If you don't experience hammer/slide bite - my, aren't you lucky!

[Fed168]

It kinda depends on the gun. If I get hammer bitten, it means I have a good grip on the gun and my shots are going where they should.

The only two guns that have bitten me are the 4506 and the BHP- kinda have a permanent scar on the web of my hand. No biggie.

Slide bite- the P230.

[Coronach]

Odd.

I shoot a 4506 and I cannot see how I could possibly get my hand bitten by it. :) Guess I have small hands.

The Sig P230/2 will leave a small mark on my hand if I fire several hundred rounds. It is painless, but I have noticed it.

Mike

[DMK]

I agree with Dave T. My hands are skinny with long fingers. I use a high grip on my pistols to keep the bore centerline low and keep muzzle flip more controlled. I get bit by my Sistema and PP unless I conciously adopt a lower grip.

However, I did notice something interesting with my CZ-70. I though it was biting me because I'd end up with a bloody web after shooting it for any length of time. However, after some thought, I realized that it was the sharply defined edges at the rear of the pistol that was doing it, not the hammer. After smoothing out all the hard edges and refinishing the gun, it is just as comfortable to shoot now as any of my pistols.

[ambidextrous1]

I'm 6'2" @200 pounds with large lean hands, and have never experienced hammer bite. Accordingly, I don't understand the need for beavertails or the continuing discussions on HB.

Heck, I've never been present when anyone experienced hammer bite.

:confused:

[C.R.Sam]

Oodles of shootin with stone stock 1911s and 1911 A1s and never have been bitten.

If I were to again carry an auto, would want it to be a stone stock ex USGI 1911 A1.

Sam

[45auto]

I use a high hold and never had the hammer actually "bite" me, but the sharp edged tangs of the frame, really dig into my hand- badly.

The 1911 wasn't designed to be shot with a high hold, thumb on safety in it's old confiquration. Luckily, the IPSC guys designed a lot of improvements for the 1911 long before I ever shot one. Otherwise, I might be shooting a Glock today :eek: .

I won't own a 1911 that doesn't have a beavertail, at least one I shoot anyway.

[kalibear45]

Try shooting an 'ol Llama 1911. She'll bite ya fer sure! :D

[WonderNine]

I never get hammerbite from anything..

When I grip a HP and cock the hammer, the hammer is not touching the web of my hand. But then maybe it has to do with the fact that some people handle recoil different also. Limp wristing anyone?

[Black Snowman]

Closest thing I've come to is my thumb getting beaten to a bloody pulp by the slide catch on my Desert Eagle .50 AE. This lead me to change my grip style which actually lead to a technique that has given me much better control of all my handguns.

[Fed168]

Coronach- I get a really high grip on the 4506, plus having big paws doesn't help either.

[Rob96]

Haven't been bitten by a hammer yet. Now I do get a red mark from the grip safety on my gov't model Colt. But I don't bleed or lose any skin.

[Old Fuff]

Hammer bite occurs when a fold of skin gets caught between the bottom of the hammer and the Colt’s grip safety’s horn, or the frame on a Browning Hi-Power. On a Colt an obvious cure is a “duck-butt” grip safety, but if you don’t want to go that route simply shorten the hammer spur a bit and take off a little metal on the bottom. On Colt’s in particular the spur is thicker then it needs to be. Reshaping a Browning’s hammer often works wonders, and I suspect this simple solution will work on other guns too.

Incidentally, the reason the original Colt 1911 had such a short horn on the grip safety was because Browning was trying to avoid giving the hammer an anvil.

[Flashpoint]

The only thing that ever bit me was a little Loricen (sp?) 22. I really should have expected that.

[clin4580]

Never been bite.I have kinda small hands though.

[gbelleh]

I've never been bitten by anything (including WWII 1911s, Walther PPKs, etc.) I have relatively small, skinny hands, but I've never had any trouble reaching a trigger on anything either.

[HSMITH]

Small thick hands here and they EAT me. Blood dripping off my elbows with 1911's shooting matches in the service.

[Spieler]

Never been bitten!:D

[bigmtnman]

I've shot autos from .22 short to .45 1911's and never been bitten.
Being 6''4" and 265# I have fairly large hands. I learned a long time ago that you rarely get hurt if you pay attention to what you're doing.

[BluesBear]

Big hands with short fingers here. Been shooting semi-autos since I was 10. Never been hammer bitten.

I do, however, like the original late 70's Colt wide grip safety just because it helps my pointability.

[Dr.Rob]

Commander and the BHP both bite me. So what? Get tougher.

I notice its worse with a high thumb hold (on the safety).

[mr. e]

My favorite target pistol is the BHP. I haven't modified the hammer, and have never been bitten. Maybe I'm not holding it right ;^)

[Daniel Watters]

Commander and the BHP both bite me. So what? Get tougher.

This obnoxious logic should have died years ago. I'll have to dig up Ross Seyfried's exact quote concerning this when he was practicing for his first IPSC Woorld Shoot. Upon complaining about the persistent wound in the web of his dominant hand, everyone kept telling him to "Shoot some more. Your hand will toughen up." Finally, Ross got fed up and mentioned that he had already shot around 5 to 6 digits worth of ammo that year: "Exactly how much more ammo do I need to shoot?"

If you don't suffer from hammer bite, good for you. Personally, if a pistol bites me, I'll bite it back and 'defang' the offending area.

[Dorrin79]

I have big paws, and have never been hammer-bitten. Neither has anyone I personally know.

Doesn't mean I don't believe it could happen, just that I don't worry about it

[Ky Larry]

I own and have owned many brands and types of hand guns. The only one that is a "Biter" is my new CZ-83 .380. It's not the hammer but the safety that takes the meat off my hand. I've modified my grip and solved the problem. BTW,my 83 is a great little gun. Very accurate and reliable.

[Archie]

is you are deformed. My condolences.

[Amegatek]

Never suffered from hammer bite or slide bite. :)

[Nightcrawler]

Hmmm...if every semiautomatic pistol you own bites you in some way or another, you really might want to re-think your grip.

As for shooting with the thumb on the safety...well, my Colt has a short safety, not one of the extended ones, but even so that seems dreadfully uncomfortable to me, holding the pistol like that.

I've not been bitten by my 1911, though, with its spur hammer and everything. My CZ-97 came with a generous beavertail machined into the frame, so I don't think it'd be possible to get bitten by that pistol.