"It's a p*** poor way to hold a Beretta!"

AndABeer

New member
Apologies if this belongs in General Discussion, but this gave me a short laugh and so I figured I should put it somewhere.

I was channel surfing the other day and there happened to be a scene on an indoor range so naturally I stopped for a minute. Dick van Dyke in his most recent series (Diagnosis Murder I think it's called?) reached down picked up a Beretta and popped off a round holding the pistol "Gansta" style. He then drops the gun :eek: and acts as if shooting the pistol had hurt him. The police range master asks him what he thought he was doing.

Van Dyke replies, "That's how they shoot in the movies."

Range guy, "Well, maybe, but it's a piss poor way to hold a Beretta."

Range guy then picks up the Beretta with his right hand and wraps his left around his right wrist . He procedes to shoot several times with an incredible flinch and I'll be damned if he didn't end up with a perfect group.

I rolled my eyes, chuckled, and surfed onward finally alighting on the Hist channel.
 
I've recently gotten into Outdoor Life Network (OLN). It's actually a pretty good channel. They're showing Tour De France this week.

see ya,
Ben
 
He might have been just doing a bad job of simulating recoil. As for the gripping the wrist thing, I've seen real shooters do that but I'm not sure what the point of it is.

Any show that makes fun of Gangsta shooting deserves kudos in my book. :D
 
Don't laugh totally at the gripping the wrist of you shooting hand with you off hand. My wife has arthritis[sp?] in her right wrist. Sometimes when she is shooting she does that hold. She says that it doesn't make her right wrist hurt from the recoil. What works works
 
Van Dyke and Friends

Hmmmm. An actor playing a Doctor and an actor portraying a Rangemaster both displaying poor gun handling skills. Imagine that! :rolleyes:

Scoops, you're right. Those old cowboys sure could "throw lead". The thing that amazed me was the cylinders in their guns look pretty much the same size as the one in my Blackhawk but they, apparently, could load about 80 rounds in theirs and I can only get six in mine. :confused: :)
 
wrist thing

I've tried it a coupla times and it's kind of fun. If you completely brace your wrist, your whole forearm seems to come up as a solid arm (in the beam sense) hinged at the elbow... I find it useful for things like full house .357 outta 3" barrel... helps cut down on snapping your wrist around... for *me* anyway... maybe it's in my mind, dunno.

Try it sometime, it's fun :D
 
Borf makes mention of a technique which I've seen _many_ handgun hobbyists use, either because it works for them or they really don't know any better; kinda like the 'cup and saucer' grip.

I recently read an article and saw posted on the Web by 'okjoe', the fella who advocates pressing the trigger with the middle finger of the firing hand, a modification of the hold the wrist with the support hand grip. His modification involves gripping the fiiring hand with the support hand far forward and with the fingers over the top of the firing hand wrist and the thumb on the bottom. He makes the same observation as Borf, that the whole forearm is more solid.

I am, however, a more conventional shooter and though I'll admit to having experimented using the middle finger to press the trigger I found it to be less accurate at all distances with no gain in speed to engagement as well as fraught with other problems. YMMV.

As to that TV show, it's a TV show with actors who may or may not have any real idea about proper gunhandling, marksmanship or safety.
 
Is that the same individual who sells the folded piece of white plastic margerine tub as a the ultimate point shooting aid?

I'm making no accuracy claims, mind you :) Nor on speed - It is definately *slower* to get the handgun from a non-shooting (holster/bench/low ready/whatever) to a shooting position... it takes a second to firmly brance your wrist. It does seem to cut down slightly on recovery time between shots with some snappier handguns though.

Useful? Beats me. I really don't see what it would be good in reality except for plinking fun or someone with joint problems as mentioned above.

On a related note, what kind of grips do people usually use here? I generally hold gun firmly in right hand, then wrap it up with left - left fingers over right fingers, left palm barely touching right palm. As if I held my hand togeher flat, then curled right fingers down, then curled left fingers over, then somehow made a hole big enough in the middle for a lead launcher. Right thumb riding high up the grip, low on slide if an auto. Right hand holding grip lightly but firmly - hand's main job is the trigger. Left hand providing most of my aiming control and stability.

Hmmm... still haven't tried shooting sideways... one of these days...
 
Hi guys...my first post here.Let me start by saying I've had a great time reading here these past weeks...and I've learned something every time I've been here. I saw the post regarding shooting "like throwing darts" I've seen that in some old movies too...but I remember a film of Ed Mc Givern useing that style of shooting. I think it was like a test...to see if "worked". He did pretty good with it. I wouldn't bet two cents on my ability with it!
Mark
 
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