How Many Problems With Pistols User Induced

[94045]

I think people buy a 1911 like a Kimber or Dan Wesson, don't bother to clean/lubricate it and go to the range and have issues. I've got a 3" Ultra Carry 9mm Kimber that was traded in at a great loss because it's first owner never bothered to read the manual, follow instructions.

I've had it for three years and it has never jammed on me with simple cleaning/oiling.

I've always been afraid of 1911 platforms under 4". I know they can be made to run like a Swiss watch but everything in set-up is just much less margin for error. May be an unfounded bias from some of the early Officer's Models teething problems. Funny, I had a Star PD .45 at the time that did run like a Swiss Watch.

 

[SwampWolf]

And for certain types of autos, the manner of gripping is huge.

A problem many first-time 365 users have is riding the slide stop or having the middle/base of the thumb on the slide. Guaranteed the slide won't lock back on an empty mag or the pressure from the thumb will impede the slide's reciprocating and create a failure to eject or failure to feed. Not an uncommon issue with sub-compact semi-autos. Even the full size SIG P-series guns have many first-time operators saying the slide won't lock back on an empty mag, but they're riding the slide-stop as a 1911 shooter rides the safety.

Admittedly, there are advantages to the popular, in vogue "straight thumbs" grip many, if not most, shooters seem to prefer (but which can result in the thumb getting in the way of the slide control lever or interfere with the reciprocating slide if done incorrectly) but I'm an advocate of what author/firearms instructor Massad Ayoob describes as the "wedge hold". This grip involves the "index finger of the support hand being wedged under the front of the trigger guard, camming the muzzle up and driving the grip tang more forcibly into the web of the hand. The V-shaped wedge of flesh and bone under the front of the guard also helps prevent lateral deviation of the gun muzzle due to a frisky trigger finger...".

Another hold author Ayoob is an advocate of is the "thumb-lock grip"; accomplished by "locking the support hand's thumb at or behind the flexed joint of the primary hand's thumb...When the support hand's thumb presses down on the median joint of the flexed thumb on the shooting hand, it bonds the support hand of the firing hand. This prevents the hands from separating when there is really powerful recoil, as with a super-light .38 or with the .44 Magnum. Finally, the thumb of the support hand can come in with its thumbprint placed on the thumbnail of the firing hand. Now both hands are flexed and exerting maximum gripping strength..."

I do think that the "proper" grip for any individual shooter can be a very individual choice; much depending on the size and shape of the handgun and of the shooter's hand. The amount of recoil of a particular round and gun is also something that one might should take into account.

Edit: I don't know why there's a line running through much of the words I wrote.