proper handgun grip?

Please note the following, quoted from the Forum menu description of this forum.

This is a "no holds barred" training area.
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And that the OP didn't ask "what is the best grip", or what is the most effective / efficient grip. Nor did he specify for defensive shooting, or for speed shooting, or anything like that. He just asked about a "proper" grip.

I'll say it again, the "proper" grip is what ever gets the job done for you, and keeps both you and the gun from damage.

I have handguns ranging in size from a pocket .22 through a Desert Eagle ending up with 14" barrel Contenders. No one gripping style is optimal for all of them in all of the situations I use them. Some style of grip are a very poor idea for some guns and some people.

What the combat match shooters are doing this decade might be "demonstrably, objectively better", but that's only true when you are talking about them, or maybe you, and not me.

A "better" technique is only better if the shooter can use it better, if they can use it at all. While we put most emphasis on defensive shooting (with good reason), there are other kinds of handgun shooting where the same styles are not as important, or possibly even detrimental.

And even in defensive shooting, different people, different guns, different results. What works well for a 6' 250lb size 9 glove wearing 1911A1 shooter might not be the best grip for the 5' 115lb size 6 glove shooting a Colt Agent snubnose, etc.
 
Alright I'll clarify and clear this up. I'm not talking about revolvers, I don't own one. Second I'm talking about deffinsive shooting or the training to do so.
 
44 AMP said:
...A "better" technique is only better if the shooter can use it better,...
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One thing about using "a 'better' technique better." Sometimes that's a training/practice issue.

In the days when my wife and I were helping coach our youth trapshooting team, we got a lot of experience helping someone change to a technique which offered the potential for better performance. Often one of our shooters reach a plateau and just couldn't seem to improve beyond a certain point. And often the problem was that he was doing something that he thought "worked for him", but it only worked to a point.

So we'd work on showing him a better, more generally accepted way. Initially, his performance would deteriorate, and he'd become frustrated. But with continued training and work, he start to get the hang of the better technique and his scores would improve beyond where he have been stuck.

That is the common "natural history" of making any change that offers the potential for improvement. Breaking old habits can be hard, and something new might initially seem not to work too well. But the new way can offer greater "up-side" if one sticks with it.
 
Alright I'll clarify and clear this up. I'm not talking about revolvers, I don't own one. Second I'm talking about deffinsive shooting or the training to do so.
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Assuming you have the space and both hands, assuming a modified Isosceles stance with a thumbs forward grip will likely produce the fasted and most easily repeated fire from service-caliber and sized handguns. (Basically, what works best in IPSC/IDPA)

You'll note there are a few qualifiers in there!
-If you are too close-quarters for a fully extended stance, two hands may not be the best grip.
-If you are at an odd angle, the ISO two-handed grip may not be the best.
-If you have an unusually large or small pistol, you may need to adapt to that.
-If you have an unusual caliber, you may need to adapt to that.
 
Fighting with a handgun depends on a few things, carrying a pistol with lots of rounds, is good! You might need them.

One with night sights? Good. It is normally poor light, that you get jumped.

One assailant, he has just stabbed you, you lace him with rounds! Why, because you do. A good two handed grip (your preference) if your off arm/hand is damaged, use the one that is good.

But no one has ever wished for less rounds in a fight! So use a grip that works on a fat grip.
 
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