New gun owner, gripping too hard?

H

Hiralaam

Inactive
Hi all,

So I've just this week bought my first handgun (first actual firearm too). It's a sig 1911 in .45 acp with some nice and aggressive 25 lpi front strap checkering.
Have only had the time to put 250 rounds through it due to time constraints and have been trying to dry fire practice draws, sight alignment, etc.. as much as I possibly can at home. After the first day I noticed my hands, mainly fingers on the checkering, getting pretty beat up and bruised, whilst most of the bruising has gone the fingers on my firing hand are getting more beat up by the day. I wouldnt mind this much at all if it wasnt for the fact that now I'm actually bleeding over my front checkering a bit every time I dry fire.

Does this clear up? Is this normal with the checkering and does the skin get calloused enough to deal with this?
Am I gripping my pistol too much? The sights aren't at all shaky.

Thanks in advance guys.
 
A tight grip is a shooter's asset but not to the point of shaking. Aggressive surfaces may be best dealt with by wearing a glove when doing extensive range shooting.
 
A tight grip should help not hurt. Try a glove. I bought gloves to use with a new Glock, it eats my trigger finger. I have 2 1911s with front strap checkering, A 9MM Valkyrie and a .45 Colt Wiley Clapp lightweight Commander. Even the Colt doesn't hurt me. I also have a Clark gun with their trademark stippling done with a punch, very sharp. It looks like it would cut you up and it might if it was a hardball gun but it's a heavy slide wad gun so only light loads are used. Try the glove.
 
Does this clear up? Is this normal with the checkering and does the skin get calloused enough to deal with this?
Am I gripping my pistol too much? The sights aren't at all shaky.
Click to expand...

No, this isn't normal!

Relax your grip. Your strong hand grip doesn't need to be a death grip. Your support hand can be tight, but then you aren't using it on the checkering.

There are multiple schools of thought on grip. Most of them say to use a tight grip to control the recoil. But there are champion level shooters (Brian Enos)who apply as little pressure on the gun as possible. Literally just allow the gun to hang in the triangle formed by your hands and only apply as much pressure front to back to engage safeties and activate the trigger.

Under no school of thought should you be cutting up your hands on the gun.
 
Use a glove but to be honest, my TRP has an aggressive front strap but I've never tore my hands up using it.

I'd suggest you put the gun down, let your hand heal and toughen up before you start your practice routine again.
 
Front strap checkering sucks. Some people like it, some people hate it. I'm in the latter group. I also don't think people should be forced to wear gloves just to tolerate gripping their gun.

I put Hogue rubber finger groove grips on my 1911s, and love them. They, and some other grips with a front-strap cover, offer excellent gripping (to me).

https://www.hogueinc.com/handgun-gr...e-overmolded-rubber-grip-finger-grooves-black

Another option is to sand down the sharp points. That's fine with stainless guns but not so popular with blued or plated/coated guns as it removes the protective coat.
 
To add a bit more: I have baby soft hands. I work in the IT world, so if I look at a shovel for more than a minute I get sympathy blisters.

I shot over 200 rounds out of compact 9mm yesterday without developing so much as a tender spot.

I'd suggest the OP go to a class and get some training.
 
Thanks for the responses, all. They were all very helpful.
As a response to ghbucky's comment on grip: Little bit embarassing, but I just loosened my grip with my strong hand just a tad and made sure my support hand was on a little tighter and it felt 10 times better already.
Watched more than enough videos advising a very tight grip but not too tight as to shake the sights, but I suppose watching and really comprehending are two very different things. Also feels as if I'm really not losing anything in terms of recoil control. Will put that to the test this weekend but I'm 99% sure that if anything, it'll be an improvement.
So hopefully no need for gloves, I'm of the same principle as 74A95 on that one.
In fairness though, my hands were already fairly pre-beat up from deadlifting with double overhand all the time. So I'm sure that also contributed.

On the subject of taking classes and getting training, I'd love nothing more. However here in my neck of the woods (Belgium) that's pretty hard to come by. I plan on taking some 3gun 'classes' you can get here when the licenses for my AR, shotgun and 9mm pistol clear.

Thanks guys.
 
Put some tape over the sharp checkering. Relax your grip a bit, all you need at this point is firm, so the gun is secure. Later on you can work on "rock solid" if you desire.

Gloves do work, but they change the feel, and particularly if your trigger finger is gloved.

Put some tape over the sharp spots. Looks like hell, but it works.
 
I am not a fan of checkering on my grips, prefer smooth grips with MILD front-strap abrasive (like the tape you can get lots of places, and pretty aggressive "checkering" on the back-strap (mine is an Ed Brown snakeskin spring housing).

As for grip, I follow this advice. Do not grip TIGHTLY with your trigger hand because doing so inhibits fine control of your trigger finger. With your trigger hand, just apply a lightly firm grip. Wrap your support hand fingers around the fingers of your trigger hand and SQUEEZE HARD.
attachment.php

attachment.php
 
Last edited:
S&W M&P 2.0s come with pretty aggressive checkering, and after buying my first one, my palms went through a bit of a toughening up period, in that they became a little tender and sore after shooting, oh around 200 rounds give or take a couple dozen. Never started bleeding, but my hands are a bit calloused from decades of judo practice.

There are ways to deal with the checkering, as several have described above, so I won't repeat any of that. And a couple have addressed the tightness of a proper grip, to which I'll add one thing: the proper grip needs to be tight enough to ensure the gun doesn't slip during recoil, but not so tightly as to induce shaking.

Rob Leatham has a video concerning grip (YT search 'rob leatham grip' IIRC), but I'll summarize here: First, grip the gun as tightly as you can, until shaking occurs, then relax until it stops. Then relax your grip just a bit more to allow both gun control and ease of movement of your arms. That's about how tightly you should grip your gun.
 
the proper grip needs to be tight enough to ensure the gun doesn't slip during recoil
Click to expand...

This is not true. You can let the gun hang in your hands and apply just enough front to back pressure to break the trigger and the gun won't go anywhere except straight up and back down.

That is how Brian Enos runs his guns.
 
ghbucky said:
This is not true. You can let the gun hang in your hands and apply just enough front to back pressure to break the trigger and the gun won't go anywhere except straight up and back down.

That is how Brian Enos runs his guns.
Click to expand...
Not to argue, but wouldn't that be tight enough to prevent slippage? If the gun only goes up and down, but doesn't slip, that would be by definition, "tight enough to ensure the gun doesn't slip during recoil." At least I would interpret it that way.

Now, I hold the gun significantly tighter than that because I want to control recoil impulse as well. I don't want the gun to go up and down if I'm shooting defensively; I don't want to have to relocate my sights, readjust my aim or any of that time-wasting stuff. I want the gun to recoil as little a possible, for the muzzle to flip as little as possible so I can get as many follow-up shots on target as quickly as possible as is necessary.

If I'm just shooting for goofs, sure, I hold the gun rather loosely (compared to how I hold it during a defensive drill, for example) for precision's sake.

But I didn't think that's what we were talking about. If it was, then ignore this and my other post.
 
Hiralaam said:
After the first day I noticed my hands, mainly fingers on the checkering, getting pretty beat up and bruised, whilst most of the bruising has gone the fingers on my firing hand are getting more beat up by the day. I wouldnt mind this much at all if it wasnt for the fact that now I'm actually bleeding over my front checkering a bit every time I dry fire.

Does this clear up? Is this normal with the checkering and does the skin get calloused enough to deal with this?

Am I gripping my pistol too much? The sights aren't at all shaky.
Click to expand...
It all depends on how calloused and work hardened your hands are. I shoot and carry 1911s almost exclusively. I CAN'T shoot a pistol with front strap checkering. I won't buy one, and I hate it when I get a gun in for testing/review and find that it has front strap checkering. A couple of magazines of standard power .45 ACP and the fingers of my right hand are shredded raw.

I did once get a 1911 that had front strap checkering. I took a file to it and knocked the high points off the checkering, then I installed a Pearce Grips wrap-around front strap to cover up what was left of the checkering.

http://www.pearcegrip.com/Products/Colt/PG1911-1

Will the problem get better for you? IMHO, probably not, unless you modify the gun in some way to reduce or eliminate the cheese grater on the front strap. Or wear shooting gloves -- but then you'll be shredding gloves wholesale.
 
Your grip should be firm enough to control the firearm. You want to minimize sliding between surfaces and your skin. Aggressive textures should aid in grip but when allowed to move against your skin, they can act like a file or sandpaper. (Consider that the difference between sandpaper and grip tape is the intended motion.) Minimize that movement with your grip. It's also a good idea to wear shooting gloves to protect your hand from both mechanical wear and chemical residue (GSR).

Since finding training is extra difficult during the pandemic, watching videos is a great idea. You'll want to translate what you see into what you do.

Start with an unloaded gun. Practice your grip. Practice your draw. Do some dry firing. Try the different styles, techniques, etc. from various video presentations. See what feels good and natural. Pay close attention to your sights through your trigger pull. Be sure that the gun stays still and firm.

Spend time doing this before your next range trip. See how things evolve.
 
Using the minimum force required to maintain positive control of the weapon, realize the harder you grip it the less accurate you likely are.
 
Not to argue, but wouldn't that be tight enough to prevent slippage? If the gun only goes up and down, but doesn't slip, that would be by definition, "tight enough to ensure the gun doesn't slip during recoil." At least I would interpret it that way.
Click to expand...

I dashed off a quick post that looks argumentative, not informative. Apologies. Allow me to elaborate.

There is a lot of mis-conception about handgun recoil We all think we need to CONTROL the recoil. But the reality is that we do very little. No matter how much force you use, the muzzle will rise. The recoil still happens.

Enos' method is freaky, but it is, at the very least, an informative experiment.

Cam your support hand over so that the wrist is locked. That is your stable platform for the gun and provides all of the support.

Now loosely wrap the grip with your strong hand and have the beavertail rest on the web of your hand to provide a support in the rear, and use JUST enough pressure to get any grip safety engaged and press the trigger.

The results will be very surprising. The gun will rise just as much as when you use a super strong grip. It's hard to do that the first time, because you are convinced the gun is going to fly over your shoulder, but it won't. Caveat: I don't know if a .50 would do that, never shot one. I've used that method with light weight guns shooting high power loads and the results are always the same.

The locked support wrist provides a stable platform for the gun to return to and your sights will be aligned again.

I'm not saying Miculek and all the people that advocate strong grips are wrong, I'm simply saying that a strong grip is not necessary, so there is no reason for the OP to be cutting his hands up. That kind of force is completely unnecessary.

The loose grip is not practical for me, I can't replicate that hold under ANY kind of stress, even shooting games.

But, it is an amazingly accurate way to shoot, because there is NO side to side pressure on the gun, it just hangs loose and steady with the sighs aligned.
 
My only regret in life was not being able to find an 18 lip checkering file back in the day....

For simply shooting at a bench, checkering might not make much sense but from the leather, at speed, it made all the difference for me. All I do is hit keys on a keyboard these days but I still like sharp, low LPI checkering.

I only shot my checkered race-gun frame for 8 hours at a stretch once, for an all-day portion of a 3-day class I took, and my hands were fine. When I was competing I kept my practices short and to the point, usually never more than one hour total, and I wasn't the only guy there, so I had to wait my turn.

Here's what I'd do, if I was the OP: Dry fire for 15 minutes a day when you aren't tired, and focus on some clean trigger breaks. Once you start making mistakes, put it away. You'll get better at dry firing, and your hands will get tougher. Join a local bowling pin, USPA or IDPA league and you'll see why the checkering is there. And you'll have some great fun, for sure.
 
Charlie Askins said to develop a grip that would crush iron while Bill Jordan emphasized that his Jordan Trooper grips were smooth. I learned to shoot before all this checkering and stippling became fashionable. I would try taping over the stippling, see how that feels.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top