Sideways grip....anatomical logic?

Believe it or not, some of the very old engravings of soldiers with wheellocks and rapiers show them holding their pistols in just such a manner. At the time, however, the optimum distance for discharging your pistol was just about contact distance, so proper technique, at least as it has come down to us, was more or less reserved for your sword and dagger. Although the last such illustration I saw, which happened to be of Guy Faulkes, showed the individual on foot, it is conceivable that when mounted and shooting to the left, there may have been a natural tendency to tilt the pistol to the left but there may be some other reason more related to fencing. In fencing, as you probably know, you twist the sword arm to the left in a lunge and do the same when you assume the charging position when on horseback, provided you are armed with a thrusting sword. I'm sorry but my riding instructor when I was in college wouldn't let me try that out, not with one of her horses.

I had pretty much switched over to handguns by then anyway.
 
A fellow LEO firearms instructor taught me that technique several years ago. When shooting with my weak hand, I cock my wrist to a 45 degree angle. My shots are spot on at close combat distances. I now teach that technique when I run my guys through firearms qualifications.

Randy
 
A fellow LEO firearms instructor taught me that technique several years ago. When shooting with my weak hand, I cock my wrist to a 45 degree angle. My shots are spot on at close combat distances. I now teach that technique when I run my guys through firearms qualifications.
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BINGO!!!

Being that my dominant side is my right side, if my right hand or arm is injured and unusable, then I shoot with my weak (left) hand. I tilt the pistol about 45 degrees to the right so the sights line up with my dominant (right) eye. I can make good hits on distant targets with this method.

Now if my weak hand/arm is disabled and I can only shoot with my strong (right) hand, I tilt the pistol slightly to the left (not as much as when shooting with my weak hand) as it seems more natural to shoot one-handed this way than with the pistol held 90-degrees vertical.
 
as previously stated the Chinese were trained to fire their Broomhandle and Broomhandle copies this way, if anyone knew how to use a Broomhandle it was them, the C96 is a top eject pistol, a sideways hold prevented the spent brass from distracting the shooter, and another fun fact is in full auto it has quite a bit of muzzle climb, so a sideways hold would help to spray down a room :)
 
Sidenote nerd Trivia Facts: The Mauser C96 was the basis for Han Solo's Gun in the original Star Wars trilogy. The stormtrooper's blaster rifles were based on the British Sten Gun. I find that slightly ironic.

okay, i'm finished being a geek now. :D
 
It has it uses but they are limited to such as firing around a barricade, using the recoil to drive the direction of firing and so on.
 
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