Thumbs-forward grip

Do you shoot semiautomatic handguns with a thumbs-forward grip?

  • Yes

    Votes: 93 81.6%

  • No

    Votes: 21 18.4%
  • Total voters
    114
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I find it unnatural, and non-intuitive... and far too trendy for me. And there's no way I'm putting my thumbs on the slide. It's dumb. Yes, yes, I know, all today's big competition shooters and the "defense experts" do it.... but these people apparently have plenty of cash for unlimited ammo, and unlimited practice time with nothing else to do. Practice anything enough, and you can get good at it. We don't all have that option... and not all of us would do it even if we did. ;)
 
Last edited:
Stophel said:
I find it unnatural, and non-intuitive... and far too trendy for me. And there's no way I'm putting my thumbs on the slide. It's dumb. Yes, yes, I know, all today's big competition shooters and the "defense experts" do it.... but these people apparently have plenty of cash for unlimited ammo, and unlimited practice time. Practice anything enough, and you can get good at it. We don't all have that option... and not all of us would do it even if we did. ;)
Click to expand...

Not sure I understand how unlimited ammo plays into it but dry fire is free and often just as good as banging out live rounds, depending on what you are working on :D
 
I once tried thumbs back. I didn't like it.

I just put them where they feel right and don't get in the way.

Some examples:
When I started shooting and carrying double stack Glocks, I learned to use the recess on the side of the grip. 1911, I ride the safety shooting right handed, but left handed I put my thumb below the safety. G42, I keep them up so they don't interfere with my trigger finger, which is the same for small revolvers. Large revolvers, gun hand thumb down, support thumb depends on SA vs DA.

I suppose the important thing for me is to stay consistent with technique for a given pistol's design.
 
Well, obviously, they don't want you to put your thumbs on the slide, but just read back a few posts.

My thumbs aren't getting anywhere near it. ;)

Yes, I'm one of "those". Don't worry, we'll be dying out soon enough.
 
WrongHanded said:
I once tried thumbs back. I didn't like it.

I just put them where they feel right and don't get in the way.

Some examples:
When I started shooting and carrying double stack Glocks, I learned to use the recess on the side of the grip. 1911, I ride the safety shooting right handed, but left handed I put my thumb below the safety. G42, I keep them up so they don't interfere with my trigger finger, which is the same for small revolvers. Large revolvers, gun hand thumb down, support thumb depends on SA vs DA.

I suppose the important thing for me is to stay consistent with technique for a given pistol's design.
Click to expand...

That's way too low. That depression on the Glock frame, is where the butt of my support thumb goes, the top most part of my palm.
On 1911's, there's no way to get under the thumb safety. Recoil would flip it on every shot.

It's also worth noting, that good grip feels awful for about a year. Then your muscles loosen up and accept it, and it's perfectly natural. The old grip feels weird then. I hated it for at least a year. Stuck with it, because shot timers and targets don't lie.
 
A few years ago I saw an interview with Jerry Miculek, where he discussed the grip. He mentioned that some people claim that he's shooting under-power puff loads because his gun does not move. Not so, he said. He's just holding the gun down hard enough that it does not move. It was typical Jerry stuff. But one other thing he said was that he does not do anything with his thumbs. So, they are not forward or backward in particular, just safely out of the way. I practiced his method and it worked well.

Pistol instructors tried to instill thumbs-forward into me since, but I found one interesting advantage to Jerry's method: it allows to shoot guns of drastically different sizes with the same grip. If you're doing thumbs forward, then transitioning from a larger gun to a smaller gun is liable to cause an interference, in particular with the slide stop.
 
Since I`m not an expert and the vast majority of "experts" do use the thumbs forward grip...that`s good enough for me.

I think that most of us that started shooting before the advent of the internet and gun shows on TV started shooting autoloaders the same way we shot single action or double action revolvers...by wrapping our thumbs around the grip like always.

I had to remind myself when I first started the thumbs forward grip to do just that. But after awhile, it just comes naturally.
 
9mmepiphany said:
Why would your thumbs be in contact with the slide?

Which griping technique advocates that thumb placement?
Click to expand...
The old 1911 high thumb "alibi" grip everybody used to use. You know, the gun version of the upper crust tea cup pinkie. :)
 
I use some variation of thumbs-forward depending on the pistol being fired. It's slightly different for SIGs than Glocks due to the location of the controls and grip angles. I can sometimes get messed up switching between the two.
 
I will say that with my grip that works great for me on Glocks and 1911s does have one drawback on the BHP (other than my high grip getting hammer bite like crazy) is that the big old takedown/slide stop always catches on my thumbnail during recoil.

Always leave a range session with the BHP bleeding on the web of my hand and a chipped thumbnail on my off hand.

Usually worth it :D
 
The biggest problem for me shooting my 1911's using that grip is, trying to get up as high as possible on the grip of the gun, wants to activate the grip safety, and the gun doesnt reliably fire.

I guess Im lucky, as my HP's dont bite. :)


I think some of the problem here for those who havent yet figured it out yet is, they dont seem to understand the placement of the off hand, and what it does for you in helping control the gun. You get complete and even coverage of the entire grip, with no gaps.

The thumbs wrapped over grip, leaves a space under the off hand, thats not in contact with the gun, which also tends to break/weaken your grip, and you dont get as solid a grip on the gun, and the gun can move around as you shoot.

As was mentioned, any change in what youre used to can and will take a little getting used to and there is always a bit of a learning curve. The harder you fight things, the harder it will be, so thats up to you, if you want to bother at all. I think its your loss if you dont give it a good try and get to actually see its benefits, but hey, thats all you. :)
 
AK103K said:
The biggest problem for me shooting my 1911's using that grip is, trying to get up as high as possible on the grip of the gun, wants to activate the grip safety, and the gun doesnt reliably fire.
Click to expand...
Do you have a "memory bump" on your grip safety? If not, you can make one with Mole Foam. That's an adhesive-backed bit of foam that you find in the foot care section of your drugstore or Walmart. Just stick a square or two on the grip safety to make it easier to release with a high grip.
 
AK103K said:
The biggest problem for me shooting my 1911's using that grip is, trying to get up as high as possible on the grip of the gun, wants to activate the grip safety, and the gun doesnt reliably fire.
Click to expand...

Only double stack 1911s do that for me and only when shooting one handed with thumb over the safety.

Perhaps a bigger memory bump on the grip safety would help?
 
Safety possibly needs set up.

Make sure your hand is sinking into the frame as much as possible, and hopefully not pushing up on the beavertail more than your palm pushes on the safety. Also consider the Dan Wesson DWX when it starts shipping. No grip safety.
 
Vern Humphrey said:
Do you have a "memory bump" on your grip safety? If not, you can make one with Mole Foam. That's an adhesive-backed bit of foam that you find in the foot care section of your drugstore or Walmart. Just stick a square or two on the grip safety to make it easier to release with a high grip.
Click to expand...
No bump on the grip safety. All but one of the 1911's Ive owned over the years were factory Colt type grip and thumb safeties.

If I were to go back to using a 1911, and do anything to the grip safety, Id probably pin them down, so they wouldnt be a problem at the worst possible moment.

But, since I no longer use one for daily use, Im better off keeping the ones I have and keep up on in practice with, stock, so if I need to pick someone elses up elsewhere, I dont have that bad habit instilled. :)

Zerodefect said:
Safety possibly needs set up.

Make sure your hand is sinking into the frame as much as possible, and hopefully not pushing up on the beavertail more than your palm pushes on the safety. Also consider the Dan Wesson DWX when it starts shipping. No grip safety.
Click to expand...
Yea, the problem there, especially now that Im spending most of my time shooting guns with a lower bore axis and allow a higher grip, when you instinctively try and get that grip now with a 1911, you do tend to push up on the tail, and weaken the pressure on the bottom of the safety and causing trouble.

If you get a more correct "1911 grip", where it wants your hand to be, its not so much an issue.

And it is the grip safety thats the issue there, as I dont have any trouble jamming my hand hard up into the grips on my SIG's, Beretta's, HP's, etc.
 
AK103K said:
No bump on the grip safety. All but one of the 1911's Ive owned over the years were factory Colt type grip and thumb safeties.

If I were to go back to using a 1911, and do anything to the grip safety, Id probably pin them down, so they wouldnt be a problem at the worst possible moment.

But, since I no longer use one for daily use, Im better off keeping the ones I have and keep up on in practice with, stock, so if I need to pick someone elses up elsewhere, I dont have that bad habit instilled. :)


Yea, the problem there, especially now that Im spending most of my time shooting guns with a lower bore axis and allow a higher grip, when you instinctively try and get that grip now with a 1911, you do tend to push up on the tail, and weaken the pressure on the bottom of the safety and causing trouble.

If you get a more correct "1911 grip", where it wants your hand to be, its not so much an issue.

And it is the grip safety thats the issue there, as I dont have any trouble jamming my hand hard up into the grips on my SIG's, Beretta's, HP's, etc.
Click to expand...

Honestly, you probably wouldn't have a problem with a bigger bump, which are pretty much standard on most 1911 makers these days.
 
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