Weight lifting and hand gun accuracy.

Yes you are correct, get into lifting some Dumbbells and gripping exercising are my thoughts...

Regards

I would suspect your response to the recoil (flinching for instance) has far more to do with actual upper body strength. There are some old timers out there with little body strength who can still sling some mean lead.

jon has a point about flinching or just not use to shooting something over 22's...

If I shoot 440Corbon or 50AE even the 44 mag, for 20 rounds or so, I notice my groups get larger if I go back to the 9mm Glocks and shoot them

Find a day when you can shoot couple of hundred rounds and next day see if you are sore and stiff I guess

handguns, eh not so much. I havent noticed anything

rifles, in my opinion yes. I gained 150lbs on top of my max bench wieght in 4 months and i feel much more stable with AR-15.

Shooting handguns, at least, is not a matter of upper body strength, but building up the wrist, hand and finger muscles is helpful, as well as beneficial for overall health.

Try shooting one-handed if you want to see. IMO it helps a little, but isn't a substitution for practice.

Actual physical strength really means little to accurate shooting. It's more about building a good position that doesn't require muscle tension to hold the pistol or rifle on target. Flinching and trigger control mean far more.

Sorry, but body builders have little advantage over 90-lb teenaged girls in this game, excepting extreme cases with the mega-uber guns that are heavy and hard hitting, and even then I wouldn't say that's a hard and fast rule.

Arm and grip strength count. Several exercises...

1. Extend both arms out to the sides. Make small (6 inch) circles. Build up to 100 times in each direction, then add light (1-2 lb) weights.

2. Get yourself a 5-lb weight, a cord, and a 1-1.5 inch dowel. Tie the weight to the cord, wrap it around the dowel. Lift the weight by rolling the dowel, then lower it the same way.

3. Get a grip exerciser. Or a wide-mouthed jar filled with sand. Lift it by the mouth using only your fingertips.

The best thing for my hand gun accuracy has been shooting. The second best thing for my hand gun accuracy is the addition of a "hand squeezy thingy" to my truck. (note: I'm not saying the best, just wehat worked for me.)

I found this out by accident from needing something for my hands while driving since I have quit smoking. I drive around messing with a tennis ball or grip exerciser. I wonder if those ones mentioned in the back of gun rags are worth the money.

There are many things that go into accuracy when it comes to shooting a handgun(or any type of firearm) No-one will argue that learning trigger control and tons of practice are huge componants of becoming proficiant with your handgun. It has also been proven that strengthening your grip will make a huge difference. Dont settle for the cheap Wally-World gripmaster. Get a good one such as the ones advertised in the gun mags. I cant remember the name of the one I keep on hand but will look it up and try to add it to this thread.

Also- Do not discount how much upper body strength will affect your shooting. I was lucky enough to attend the Chapman Acadamy several years ago. The instructor for my classes was none other than John Skaggs. One of the things that the classes stressed was the full on frontal stance while shooting. John instructed all of the students to grip the gun as tightly as possible and tighten up all of the muscles in the arms, shoulders, and back. After the first day I felt like i had spent about two hours pushing iron at the gym. By the end of the week I was sore and actually tired of shooting(Didn't think that was possible). I have taken many other classes on shooting during my LE career and have never found a class that stressed the tightening of the back muscles. We literally were told to tighten and flex every muscle possible in the back and arms. As strange as it sounds it works. Im not saying that you have to go out and start bodybuilding, but it does stand to reason that the more you work out those stabilizing muscles the better your control of the handgun will be. I have tried to share this concept with other trainers and have been scoffed at. But thats ok. None of the other trainers were able to teach me as much about handgun accuracy, and they sure couldn't shoot like John S. could.

Just my 2cents. Wonder if anyone else on this forum was lucky enough to take a Chapman class. What is your take on it if you have?

Not an expert, just a burly guy who's done some weight training.

Accuracy,training, and practice are all more important, IMO, but enhanced upper body strength certainly doesn't hurt.

Mike OTDP has 3 excellent exercises.

One other: take a broom, shovel, hoe,etc, and grip it tightly at the very end of the handle. With the far end of the tool resting on the ground, and your arm fully extended, twist the handle till the tool is raised off the ground to the height of your chest. Do the next set of ten with your weak hand. Then go back to the strong hand, do the next set with the tool facing the other direction. Do the last set with the weak hand in the other direction.

Not an expert, just a burly guy who's done some weight training.

Accuracy,training, and practice are all more important, IMO, but enhanced upper body strength certainly doesn't hurt.

Mike OTDP listed 3 excellent exercises.

One other: take a broom, shovel, hoe,etc, and grip it tightly at the very end of the handle. With the far end of the tool resting on the ground, and your arm fully extended, twist the handle till the tool is raised off the ground to the height of your chest. Do the next set of ten with your weak hand. Then go back to the strong hand, do the next set with the tool facing the other direction. Do the last set with the weak hand in the other direction.

Once again, only opinion, but if you're shooting 9MM pistols and heavier, you probably want enhanced
upper body strength to help with control, aim, and recoil.

I felt better when I was lifting. I think the weights improve your grip strength, which should put off the muscle tremors one gets when grip fatigued sets in. It won't necessarily help with flinching, but I think it doesn't hurt it any. I solid shooting position helps manage recoil better in my opinion and gets you back on target faster.

Not really a physical exercise, but instead, move your target out 25-50 feet further than your normal target shooting distance. Shoot a couple of boxes of ammo, trying hard for bullseye.

Then move the target back to your regular distance. Interesting results.

I do like the arm and shoulder exercises noted above though, and I will try those.

A couple of years ago I had a massive leg injury that laid me up for months. When I could finally start rehab I was shocked at how much upper body strength was gone: hands, arms and back muscles. My target accuracy went to hell. I started using one of those spring loaded hand squeezers, the kind that lets you squeeze one finger at a time or all together. I also started some light dumb bells, 10 to 20 pounds, for curling and full arm extensions. I went for lots of reps rather than a lot of weight. I found that brisk walking helped the back muscles.

It wasn't that I lacked sufficient strength compared to small women and children, but the stamina was gone and that's what I had to get back. It's been a slow process (I don't heal/recover as quickly as I did 40 years ago) but there is improvement and my shooting is improving.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

It seems like the first couple of magazines at the range from a handgun are fine. After that if the arms get tired then accuracy begins to open up due to muscle fatigue. So while upper body strength isn't needed to shoot well at first it sure aids in making long range practice sessions more tolerable without seeing one's performance go out the window.

As mentioned a supportive but non crushing grip is what is needed. This doesn't require forearms of steel to accomplish. And in fact an overly firm grip can mess up the shooter's accuracy. But those bulging biceps will allow you to hold the gun steady at arm's length for a longer session with more comfort and steadiness.

Arm and upper body work will add you in your grip and stabilization of the handgun.

Depends. In the "ultimate accuracy" games of free pistol and 10M air pistol, muscle is irrelevant and may even be an impediment. Those competitors are looking to build a "bone-on-bone" shooting position, as tremors induced by even slight muscle tension show up on the target.

But those are guns with no real recoil, and rapid-fire doesn't exist. If you're shooting a bigger gun -- especially if you're rapid firing with a bigger gun -- a certain measure of grip strength and arm strength is useful. Top action pistol competitors routinely work out their hands and arms.

None of that, IMO, bears on your situation. I'd bet a box of .44 Magnums that your problem is recoil anticipation or "flinching" as it is known in politically incorrect circles. When you can mentally treat your "bigger pistols" the same way you treat you BB gun, you will almost certainly find that you shoot them equally well.

Lifting weights might help. But unless your sights are weaving and shaking from the extra weight, it's probably more to do with anticipating recoil or having an inconsistent grip, rather than upper body strength. I think working on grip and dryfiring is the bomb, personally.

When I'm shooting, I take pains to "dry fire" the gun so as to keep the sights still, even though the thing is going to go "boom" this time. If you don't practice dryfiring, then you won't have this mental image, and you'll have no "follow through". And you'll also have no idea if you're pulling the trigger true to begin with.

In my experience...I bought an Ultra CDPII, as my first 1911, I couldn't shoot it that well, but it wasn't the guns fault, as my Dad shot some tight groups with it. I have since gotten a full size, and I can drive tacks with that one. I have been lifting weights, but like the poster above, believe it is the percieved recoil that makes me not shoot well. Since the heavier 1911 doesn't hardly move, I can get good groups.