What's the proper way to grip a revolver?

[madcratebuilder]

and I think the stocks on the old single action revolvers were designed for shooting one handed.

Almost all cap and ball revolvers share the "plow handle" grip and it is very similar to today's Ruger SA's. Single or two hand grip well work. I let the grip roll back in my hand to a certain extent. The cap and ball guns are easily controlled with a single handed grip.

Some accounts say that in the famous shootout with Bill Tutt, Wild Bill rested his pistol on his left arm to steady it for the shot, and if he did, that makes sense considering it was such a long shot.

I'm sure that this is untrue, Wild Bill was surly aware of the amount of gas and flame escaping from the barrel gap of his 51 Navies. One reason the revolving carbine never caught on. Bill may have rested his right hand on his left arm, but not the revolver.

When I was younger I could shoot very accurately one handed, and rarely ever had a need to use two hands. But now because of age and serious health problems, I have a difficult time holding a pistol steady one handed. So now I use two hands most of the time, and I do it the way that Keith says; which means I can grip the stock with my primary hand the same way as if I was shooting one handed.

I'm also feeling the effects of well over a half century of wear and tear on the body. A two handed hold from a seated position works well for me.

Use whatever works best for you

Couldn't agree more, different guns need different holds, just as different people need different holds.

 

[tipoc]

The type of grip frame effects the grip as well as the type of stocks being worn on it. My grip is not the same on a frame as on a larger gun.

tipoc

 

[Jim K]

The so-called "teacup grip" was taught by the Army for use with the M1911A1 service pistol throughout WWII and later. The upper "weakside" arm was braced against the side of the body. It is not a bad hold for impromptu firing, which is what they were interested in for training in quick fire.

As to the grip itself, there has been a great deal of effort directed at "filling in" the frame with a grip adapter or with the grips themselves. With most revolvers this might be good, but for the small frame revolvers with heavy recoil, a tight grip with the middle finger fully up behind the trigger guard might be tried for better control and less (yes, less) battering of the hand. Some of the grips recently put on those guns by S&W were not their brightest idea; I replace them with the old wood Magna style grips and suffer a lot less.

Jim

 

[David E]

But Keith says to never grip the gun with both hands. He says to bring the other hand up loosely under the shooting hand to form a good steady rest for the shooting hand.

For slow-fire, that works fine, as does one handed. But when you're going for speed with accuracy with a hot .38 or larger, two hands is the way to do it, especially for multiple targets.

For example, you won't see any winning times fired one handed on this stage from the Steel Challenge:

http://steelchallenge.com/wp-content/gallery/stages/roundabout.jpg

 

[chriske]

The way you can easily repeat at will and lets you hit what you aim at.

 

[trickshot]

For slow-fire, that works fine, as does one handed. But when you're going for speed with accuracy with a hot .38 or larger, two hands is the way to do it, especially for multiple targets.

Gripping the gun with both hands works great, and is the preferred method today, and that's what everyone is teaching. But this is a late twentieth century invention. Once upon a time there were lots of people who could draw quick and shoot fast and accurate, one handed.

In the chapter "Quick Draw and Hip Shooting", Keith tells how he would sometimes give exhibitions of quick draw shooting one handed. He used large caliber full sized revolvers. Sometimes he did this with famous people like Fitzgerald. And he would put all six bullets in a tight group, faster than most people could ever hope to do. In that chapter he tells about a time when being able to shoot very fast and accurate one handed probably saved his life; when he stepped on a big rattlesnake and shot it three times before he hit the ground.

Use whatever works best for you.

 

[Sam1911]

Somtimes hand size dictates that best control of the gun is gained through adequate use of a two-handed grip:



This wouldn't work well at all one-handed.

-Sam

 

[trickshot]

Somtimes hand size dictates that best control of the gun is gained through adequate use of a two-handed grip: This wouldn't work well at all one-handed

I agree completely.