westernrover
Member
- Joined
- May 4, 2018
- Messages
- 1,613
A grip that follows the backstrap of a "round butt" frame is usually short (fore to aft) compared to a square-butt or conversion grip.
By "long," I mean the front-to-back length at the base, not the grip's height. It's tempting to use the word "width," but I'm not asking about the lateral, port-to-starboard width. I'm asking about the length from heel-to-toe.
Traditional single-action plow-handle and double-action "target" grips are fairly long in the base. They force the hand to remain more open between the pinky-finger and the palm (hypothenar eminence). This tends to put the first thumb joint in front of the palm and cause the wrist to be bent over more. A long base increases the grip-angle from vertical.
A grip with a short base on a round-butt frame, such as the traditional Magna grips, Hogue wood grips, or Altamont Combat grips, move the palm farther forward to where it is under or even in front of the first thumb joint. The hand is cocked up and back more at the wrist. The effective grip-angle is more vertical.
I don't know which is better.
What I have found with grips so far is finger-grooves never fit my long, thin fingers. They won't let me grip as high as I could without them.
Big palm swells like on Hogue no-finger-groove wood grips also force a low hold because the swell inevitably hits the hypothenar eminence (aka palmar brevis) and slides up into the thenar pocket.
So I'm either looking for some conversion target type grips with no swells such as the Ropers or Hogue JM grips, or I'm looking for something with a short base like Ahrends retro banana or smooth target grips. Why might one work better than another? My criteria are performance in shooting, grip consistency, and recoil control, not concealment or some other secondary consideration.
By "long," I mean the front-to-back length at the base, not the grip's height. It's tempting to use the word "width," but I'm not asking about the lateral, port-to-starboard width. I'm asking about the length from heel-to-toe.
Traditional single-action plow-handle and double-action "target" grips are fairly long in the base. They force the hand to remain more open between the pinky-finger and the palm (hypothenar eminence). This tends to put the first thumb joint in front of the palm and cause the wrist to be bent over more. A long base increases the grip-angle from vertical.
A grip with a short base on a round-butt frame, such as the traditional Magna grips, Hogue wood grips, or Altamont Combat grips, move the palm farther forward to where it is under or even in front of the first thumb joint. The hand is cocked up and back more at the wrist. The effective grip-angle is more vertical.
I don't know which is better.
What I have found with grips so far is finger-grooves never fit my long, thin fingers. They won't let me grip as high as I could without them.
Big palm swells like on Hogue no-finger-groove wood grips also force a low hold because the swell inevitably hits the hypothenar eminence (aka palmar brevis) and slides up into the thenar pocket.
So I'm either looking for some conversion target type grips with no swells such as the Ropers or Hogue JM grips, or I'm looking for something with a short base like Ahrends retro banana or smooth target grips. Why might one work better than another? My criteria are performance in shooting, grip consistency, and recoil control, not concealment or some other secondary consideration.
