Hand size; is there a standard measurement?

[ATLDave]

It does seem like there should or could be a better way to size hands relating to firearms. Using your glove size doesn’t look like the right way. Probably the circumference of your grip. You could compare it to the circumference of a pistols grip at the trigger. I have no idea how you would measure a person’s grip circumference.

There’s literally no point. Two people with physically identical hands might prefer different grip sizes or shapes. There’s no “right” fit.

 

[JTQ]

But measuring the grip, including around the trigger would take into account the shape of the rear of the grip and help you determine if your finger can reach the trigger.

One data point I use is a tape measure around the backstrap, around the trigger, and back to the starting point. This takes into account the thickness of the grips and the distance from the backstrap to the trigger. Measuring from the backstrap to the trigger face with a caliper is a measurement that is often used, but is fairly useless since it doesn't take into account the thickness of the grips.

 

[buck460XVR]

Ergonomics the interface between humans and machines.

There’s literally no point. Two people with physically identical hands might prefer different grip sizes or shapes. There’s no “right” fit.

Hangingrock hit it on the head. It ain't just about what fit measures right, it also comes down to personal preference and what "feels" comfortable to you. I have guns that are awkward for me to shoot, yet I can shoot them very accurately. Still, I prefer to shoot other guns that are more comfortable to me, more. This means I become more proficient with them. I have some handguns that most other folks shoot more accurately the first time, regardless of their hand size, like my 1911s. Seems most everyone that shoots them the first time, at least stay on the paper. No so much with my other handguns, even my hunting type revolvers, that are scarey accurate. This tells me that ergonomics and "natural" fit mean as much as matching sizes. Old time shotgun makers once prided themselves on "fitting" a shotgun to the owner. LOP, Angle of the buttstock, Drop and Cast all were carefully measured and the stock formed and bent to match the individual shooter. This was meant to create a gun that became a extension of ones arms and giving the best sight picture above the barrels(yeah, this was generally done on SxSs). You don't see that anymore. You see most folks going in and buying a shotgun off the rack designed around the standard or average measurement of a male shooter: approximately 5'10”, 185 pounds. Sometimes they change buttpads or cut the stock or buy something aftermarket. Mostly tho.....they just adjust.

We are fortunate to live in a time where we have a multitude of firearms to choose from and a variety of places to try them on for fit. We also have a ton of different grip styles and sizes to choose from when it comes to the stocks on out favorite handgun. This is why I tell folks to play with and fondle as many models as they can in numerous LGSs before making the leap to purchase. The more you handle, the more you are sure when you pick up "the one".

 

[doubleh]

I'm a simple guy and about the only thing I measure on a gun is the length of pull on rifle stocks and usually do that by simply shouldering the rifle. Handguns I just grip. If it feels right it is. If it feels wrong it is and I'm not interested. About the only time I actually measure with rulers and tape measures is when I make a stock or set of pistol grips.

Varminterror is right about there being standards for hand size. I've found that the glove sizing chart is, for me, pretty close and US made gloves follow it pretty closely. Made somewhere else? Trying them on is the only way to be sure. I wear a medium sized glove according to the chart and tried on some foreign made work gloves the other day. I was up to XL and they were still very snug so I'm still in the market for work gloves. I recently purchased a pair of lightly insulated gloves and it took an XL for them to be comfortable. I couldn't get my hand in the medium sized ones.

 

[Mike J]

Kind of interesting thread. My hand measures 8 1/4" from my wrist to my fingertip. If I spread my fingers as wide as possible it is 9 1/4" from the tip of my pinkie to the tip of my thumb. They give us cut resistant gloves at work. I wear extra large. I don't really think it has that much to do with anything. This got me thinking about my old Ruger P-series. It feels much better to me with the factory grips on it. I shoot it a lot better with Hogue finger groove grips on it. I am sure it is due to the finger grooves. The pistol feels too big with the Hogue grip. My M&P 2.0 has 4 different grip modules that came with it. I have played with all of them trying to see what works best for me. I keep winding up with the medium module back on the gun. I do have to work harder to shoot my little Kahr CM9 well as there just isn't much there to hold on to.

 

[Old Stumpy]

Lee valley Tools sells custom hand planes with small, medium, and large tote handles available which will fit any size and length of custom plane. A good idea, considering that the tote size decreases (sometimes uncomfortably) with decreasing size and length of traditional hand planes.

They use a measure across the palm at the knuckles to determine hand size.
Up to 3" is small. From 3 1/8" to 3 7/8" is medium. From 4" and up is large.
Since the tote on a hand plane is shaped and gripped not unlike a handgun grip, this might be a somewhat transferable measure.
However, even with a hand plane I found that it wasn't a slam-dunk certainty.
I found that even though I fitted into the medium size category, I could not decide whether the medium or the large felt best in my hand.
So, in the end, it is still a matter of preference with either.

 

[Varminterror]

Argh, I was ordering boots for my wife last week who wears 8-8 1/2, my gloves are 9 1/2 standard, some brands 9 long. Apparently I’m past the edit window on that post, lest I’d fix it. That, of course, was my competition gloves, worn tight as a second skin.

 

[JDR]

I have the larger beavertail backstrap on my Gen4 G-21; I have the largest backstrap and side-shells on my HK P30. I think that says a lot.

 

[94045]

Hand size varies in a lot of ways.
My hand is 8" long but my longest finger is only 3.5". Big palms and short fingers. My hands are pretty broad. A G19-5 or M&P 2.0 Compact is a 3.5 finger grip with flush mags and yet a Beretta 92 feels a bit of a stretch because of my finger length. An M&P 2.0 is most comfortable with the standard medium insert.

 

[skeeterfogger]

When you wear xxl gloves you don't have hands. You have hams. The best fitting I have is 357mag and 44mag with pachmayrs. Everything else is solid with two fingers and thumb grip.

 

[Olon]

In most discussions of various handguns and how they fit individual shooters, it seems the topic of hand size comes up in nearly every thread.

Some posters say that they have larger hands so Gun A doesn't fit them, while others say they have smaller hands so Gun B is perfect.

Some have mentioned glove size as a reference.

Another poster just mentioned that he has large hands and measured from his wrist to his fingertip and it was 8".

I consider myself to have large hands and did the same measurement and it was also 8".

Is that the standard measurement to determine if you have large hands? Is there a different measuring standard to determine your hand size?

I just thought it would be helpful if there was a standard measurement to reference in regards to hand size and whether or not certain handguns fit others differently.

Of course there are many other factors in the individuality of the human hand such as finger length, palm size, etc that determine whether or not a particular handgun will feel good.

They would have to make the men’s sizes huge (small), ginormous (medium), and gorilla (large)

 

[Varminterror]

This thread has had me thinking the last several days, but I haven’t yet thought of the right words to say it without a LOT of people likely being triggered, and I realized today, I’m not that person to deny truth in the face of excessive sensitivity...

It’s very popular to tell would-be buyers they need to feel the grips of many pistols and find the one which best fits their hand as if it will shorten their learning curve or heighten their proficiency, but in reality, there is very little truth to that recommendation. In short, it’s bad advice, which is why I’ve stopped giving it myself, as an instructor. So very, very many shooters with varied hand sizes shoot with proficiencies unattainable for the average Joe, regardless of how the pistol felt to them on the first time they picked it up.

Equally, the new shooter’s hand is the most ignorant hand there is. Their hand doesn’t know what a pistol should feel like, so why would we recommend someone to pick the one which feels best? It’s like pointing towards a calendar of sports cars and asking a 5 year old, which of these cars is the fastest? They’ll have a favorite, maybe the shape, maybe the color, maybe just the background behind it... so they’ll pick, and it won’t be based on ANYTHING other than an ignorant forced selection with a largely irrelevant and subjective bias.

I’ve been guilty of it many times, and dozens of new shooters have bought pistols based on my bad advice - pick the one which feels the best in your hand. But I challenge myself to encourage new buyers to be more “woke” to their own ignorance these days. Don’t pick the one which feels best. Pick the one which does what you need, take some shots, learn how to be a shooter, and then buy.

The best consolation path is to buy something they know won’t be their “forever” pistol, and be willing to resell and upgrade once the Newby has worn off and their hand finally knows what it needs for their use.

 

[tbob38]

My whole life (I'm 81), I assumed my hand was 8" thumb to pinkie tip. So read this discussion and measured the span to be 9 1/2". All those years I estimated things wrong.

 

[theotherwaldo]

My hand span is also 9-1/2 inches but my fingers and palms are very thick and meaty. I've had to resort to the big Pachmayr grips even for revolvers like the Super Blackhawk.
My gripping strength is so weird that I can't wear rings - they either break or they crimp in place and have to be cut off.
This seriously affects what I find comfortable and steady in a pistol grip... .

 

[Varminterror]

Splayed finger span has far more to do with flexibility than actual hand size. With all of the arthritis and chronic injury damage in my right hand, I have an inch and a half wider span in my left hand than my right.

But both hands fit the same size of glove and fit pistol grips the same.

 

[crestoncowboy]

I'm 6 foot 3 barefoot and relaxed. I can palm a basketball pretty easily and have long skinny fingers. Size 12 shoes are my smallest. I'm not terribly picky about guns size being big or just right. My sig 226 with hogues, or beretta 96 with hogues are about my perfect grip size. But I prefer Glocks with finger grooves and shoot a G 22 and a large frame 20 or HK usp as well. The glock 22/17 feels a bit small but it's one of my favorite guns. I'm more likely to complain about the tiny pocket guns being too small than a gun being too big. I dont shoot anything smaller than the double stacks as well. My little beretta 950/21/ minx etc guns I struggle with. My guns that came with multiple backstraps still have the ones they shipped with installed. My two sig 320s have medium grips and feel pretty good too. I have tried pachmyer grips on double actions many times based on looks alone and they just feel too small. I always go to a wood grip (or an x-frame grip) on smith and Rugers.
As far as long guns I carried an old JC Higgins that is about 6 feet long when I was a kid so I just learned to deal with nothing fitting right. My first bow was set up for a big grown man and I was about 5 foot tall and 115 lbs. Beggars cant be choosers I suppose. People worry too much about that goldilocks size in everything. Until I was old enough to drive I rode exclusively in the back of my dads mustang. Ideal? Nope. But things rarely are in life. My dad is 5 foot 2 or so, and so is my wife. When I drive their vehicles I never mess with the seat. I just wiggle around and go with it unless it's a cross country trip. Now when they get in mine they have to do some adjusting.

 

[C0untZer0]

If you need a knife and fork to eat a Burger King Whopper, then you have small hands.

 

[94045]

This thread has had me thinking the last several days, but I haven’t yet thought of the right words to say it without a LOT of people likely being triggered, and I realized today, I’m not that person to deny truth in the face of excessive sensitivity...

It’s very popular to tell would-be buyers they need to feel the grips of many pistols and find the one which best fits their hand as if it will shorten their learning curve or heighten their proficiency, but in reality, there is very little truth to that recommendation. In short, it’s bad advice, which is why I’ve stopped giving it myself, as an instructor. So very, very many shooters with varied hand sizes shoot with proficiencies unattainable for the average Joe, regardless of how the pistol felt to them on the first time they picked it up.

Equally, the new shooter’s hand is the most ignorant hand there is. Their hand doesn’t know what a pistol should feel like, so why would we recommend someone to pick the one which feels best? It’s like pointing towards a calendar of sports cars and asking a 5 year old, which of these cars is the fastest? They’ll have a favorite, maybe the shape, maybe the color, maybe just the background behind it... so they’ll pick, and it won’t be based on ANYTHING other than an ignorant forced selection with a largely irrelevant and subjective bias.

I’ve been guilty of it many times, and dozens of new shooters have bought pistols based on my bad advice - pick the one which feels the best in your hand. But I challenge myself to encourage new buyers to be more “woke” to their own ignorance these days. Don’t pick the one which feels best. Pick the one which does what you need, take some shots, learn how to be a shooter, and then buy.

The best consolation path is to buy something they know won’t be their “forever” pistol, and be willing to resell and upgrade once the Newby has worn off and their hand finally knows what it needs for their use.

I'm a long way from.an expert and at best an average shot but If a pistol is small.enough (LCP) or large enough (G21) I have to really work to keeping it from squirming during a string of fire I consider it an undesirable grip. My little sister can get all four fingers solidly on Shield 9mm with flush Mag. It takes a full size M&P 9mm for me. That makes me think we might need a slightly different size handgun.

That said I can manage to find a way to grip most any handgun well enough but I choose to pick a grip that doesn't fatigue my hands so fast unless I have a specific reason for it like the LCP. Still it wouldn't be my choice to fire a half case of ammo.