Thumbs-forward grip

No. Absolutely no.

Thumbs down isn't "obsolete", as it still is a very effective way for millions of people to hold a handgun...even though I use the thumbs forward grip when I shoot semi autos. It's just like my holding the bottom of my AR handguard with my off side arm underneath it is still an effective way to shoot it instead of the "straight-arm, thumb over the top hold" that's in vogue now. That hold may work for you, but it doesn't work for me .

Stay safe.

Other methods may be obsolete in the pure target shooting and competition arena with a few exceptions but as with most things that work great under controlled conditions, it can, should, and has to be modified to fit your exact situation at any given time in a defensive scenario.

For example, are you going to be thinking about your thumbs forward grip that you trained so hard to perfect when you need to shoot now and you have sustained a serious shoulder injury?

It’s all a matter of perspective.

There are lots of ways to skin the cat and shoot fast and accurately.

earlthegoat2 said:

Other methods may be obsolete in the pure target shooting and competition arena with a few exceptions but as with most things that work great under controlled conditions, it can, should, and has to be modified to fit your exact situation at any given time in a defensive scenario.

For example, are you going to be thinking about your thumbs forward grip that you trained so hard to perfect when you need to shoot now and you have sustained a serious shoulder injury?

It’s all a matter of perspective.

Click to expand...

It is all a matter of perspective, and perspective is often just what you know.

When the next latest and greatest shows up, everything else is obsolete, or, at least so youre told. Is it always true? No, but it could be.

I think no matter what youre using in the moment, you need to at least give the latest and greatest a good try, and see why it is what its supposed to be, or how will you ever know? Maybe it is, maybe it isnt.

Things progress as time goes on and better ways are always figured out. Some go easily along with that, some need to be dragged, kicking and screaming into the current truth.

The big advantage to those who have learned the "obsolete stuff" and yet continued to progress all along, they have the knowledge of all that they learned in the past, and have that to draw on when things arent perfect and might require some adaptation.

I see that more with "stances" than I do "grips". These days, I have two grips. One handed, and thumbs forward. Thumbs forward, simply because Ive found, that for right now anyway, its the best grip for me.

Stances, on the other hand, are what they are in the moment, and just morph into whats needed as Im shooting. Might be one handed shooting one way, some sort of modified Weaver as I do something else, some sort of Isosceles if everything is right in front of me, etc.

I draw on all of those "old and obsolete" methods I learned in the past whenever I need them. I havent discarded any of them, just stored them away for when they might be needed, and what works best. My brain seems to know what and when that is, so I dont worry on it.

Im also a Bruce Lee fan when it comes to anything, and shooting is no different. Learn as much as you can about as much as you can, and take from that, the best parts of each, thats most useful to you. That has always worked very well for me, with pretty much everything.

no, because I shoot revolvers as well, and don't want to the habit of sticking my fat thumbs too far forward. I also have a CZ-70 and if I don't wrap my right thumb fully, the slide is lower than the web of my hand, which could go badly.

I shoot all my revolvers with a slightly modified thumbs forward grip. The only time I was ever "bit", was with my Chiapa Rhino, which is set up a bit differently than most revolvers and has a relief cut near your thumb for the cylinder gap.

Unless you have overly large hands and your thumb is past the face of the cylinder, its a nonissue, and you get the benefits of the thumbs forward grip.

There is no universal answer. You have to find what works for you. What works for a semi-auto doesn't work very well with a big bore revolver. I cringe every time is see a video where some so-called expert is shooting a .500S&W with his thumbs forward and elbows locked. It hurts to watch.

Only reason my weak thumb is "forward" is so I can catch the hammer more quickly.

Thumb press.

-kBob

Thumbs forward is a competition grip. For self defense, I prefer to draw with the trigger finger indexed and both thumbs on the safety lever. That eliminates the possibility of an accidental fire, but allows me to shoot by simply closing my hand.

People do what they do. Doesn't work well on the Baby Chief, often my carry along with the Series 70. Thumb over for me on 1911 or revolver.

Guess I need to watch more videos since I'm not sure if what I do has a name.

Vern Humphrey said:

Thumbs forward is a competition grip. For self defense, I prefer to draw with the trigger finger indexed and both thumbs on the safety lever. That eliminates the possibility of an accidental fire, but allows me to shoot by simply closing my hand.

Click to expand...

It is a "grip", not sure it has a specific use though.

Personally, I do find it works well for me, and seems to do better than all the others Ive tried in the past, and thats no matter what Im doing while Im shooting.

Not sure what you mean by the trigger being "indexed" here though, but from the sound of "closing your hand" its already on the trigger, and you dont actually have a firm grip on the gun? Is that right, or am I misunderstanding you here?

99.99% of the USPSA shooters, that I see shooting well. Are using thumbs forward.

It's just a matter of how high, and aggressive do you want to go. Or whether or not to hook the trigger guard. Or when to pinch, or when to push pull. Elbows relaxed, or elbows rotated up.

taliv said:

I don’t like calling it thumbs forward cause I point my thumbs up or out just a bit so they don’t push the slide on my second round

Click to expand...

I think I actually drag on the slide, quite often.

taliv said:

I know I do. Sometimes bad enough to hit the slide release so that my slide doesn’t hold open on empty mag

Click to expand...

That was a big problem for me going from a 1911 to a SIG, and at the time, I was still shooting with the thumbs locked down.

Once I switched to thumbs forward, that problem seemed to alleviate itself for me, as my thumbs dont interfere with the controls or slide.

I have tried it. I do not like it. It’s not for me.

AK103K said:

That was a big problem for me going from a 1911 to a SIG, and at the time, I was still shooting with the thumbs locked down.

Once I switched to thumbs forward, that problem seemed to alleviate itself for me, as my thumbs dont interfere with the controls or slide.

Click to expand...

I had a similar problem with switching from a 1911 to a Glock

taliv said:

I know I do. Sometimes bad enough to hit the slide release so that my slide doesn’t hold open on empty mag

Click to expand...

I do it all the time. Especially with Sigs.

Corpral_Agarn said:

I do it all the time. Especially with Sigs.

Click to expand...

I've given up on non-legion Sig's locking back on empty at this point. I won't change.

Yes I do thumbs forward and it works best for me, I actually was doing it naturally before I realized it was a thing.

Recently I was shooting with my dad and shifted him to a more thumbs forward grip and the results were immediate and positive, he was really happy about the change.