WolfMansDad
Member
I've never been a fan of the 1911 before. I've always found it to be too hard to shoot, due to excessive recoil, and I've heard many old servicemen make the same complaint. This weekend, however, I had the chance to shoot one and decided to try holding it differently from my usual grip.
Until now, I have always curled the thumb of my right hand (the hand that holds the pistol and operates the trigger - I'm right handed) down until the tip of it contacts my middle finger. It just seemed the natural thing to do, and I use the same grip for autos and revolvers. Recently, however, I read Andy Stanford's book, "Surgical Speed Shooting," and in it he recommends keeping the thumb as high as possible. On the 1911 this means leaving it on the safety while shooting. When I read that, I thought it was weird and that the thumb might interfere with the slide or get pinched. On Saturday, however, I decided to try it and see what would happen.
What a difference thumb position makes! That one small change made that .45 feel like a 9mm. It became as mild and easy to control as my glock. Not only that, but it made it point as naturally, too. I tried the "shotgun test," where you close you eyes, mount the gun, and then open your eyes to see where it is pointing, where it naturally wants to point in response to your body. I've always found 1911's to point low for me before, but with my thumb resting on the safety, the slide was level and the sights were aligned or nearly aligned every time. I tried the same grip left handed as well, leaving my left thumb in the air where the safety would be, and the results were the same.
Having gotten good and proud of myself for finding this, I did some more reading Saturday night. Apparently this style of grip is widely taught, and a lot of other people know and use it. I had not heard of it before I read Stanford's book, but I don't shoot handguns a lot.
How many of you keep your thumb high when shooting a pistol? How many of you keep it low? What is the largest caliber you can shoot well? For me, with a low thumb, it used to be 9mm. I never would have guessed that such a small change would make such a big difference.
Until now, I have always curled the thumb of my right hand (the hand that holds the pistol and operates the trigger - I'm right handed) down until the tip of it contacts my middle finger. It just seemed the natural thing to do, and I use the same grip for autos and revolvers. Recently, however, I read Andy Stanford's book, "Surgical Speed Shooting," and in it he recommends keeping the thumb as high as possible. On the 1911 this means leaving it on the safety while shooting. When I read that, I thought it was weird and that the thumb might interfere with the slide or get pinched. On Saturday, however, I decided to try it and see what would happen.
What a difference thumb position makes! That one small change made that .45 feel like a 9mm. It became as mild and easy to control as my glock. Not only that, but it made it point as naturally, too. I tried the "shotgun test," where you close you eyes, mount the gun, and then open your eyes to see where it is pointing, where it naturally wants to point in response to your body. I've always found 1911's to point low for me before, but with my thumb resting on the safety, the slide was level and the sights were aligned or nearly aligned every time. I tried the same grip left handed as well, leaving my left thumb in the air where the safety would be, and the results were the same.
Having gotten good and proud of myself for finding this, I did some more reading Saturday night. Apparently this style of grip is widely taught, and a lot of other people know and use it. I had not heard of it before I read Stanford's book, but I don't shoot handguns a lot.
How many of you keep your thumb high when shooting a pistol? How many of you keep it low? What is the largest caliber you can shoot well? For me, with a low thumb, it used to be 9mm. I never would have guessed that such a small change would make such a big difference.
