He points out that when the pistol is properly gripped with the firing hand, it aligns with your forearm-a critical factor in managing recoil. Proctor also rebuffs the popular notion that the non-dominant hand should account for the majority of your grip I've heard other world-class shooters say this, too. Some trainers advocate having the support hand supply most of the gripping force, some say it should be equal.Īlso, with your elbows unlocked, you can more easily transition between targets. And since one handgun round (regardless of caliber) is unlikely to immediately incapacitate your adversary, being able to hit your target in rapid succession until the threat is stopped is critical to your survival. The result is less muzzle flip, which translates to faster follow-up shots. He advocates shooting with arms bent, allowing the elbows to flex during recoil. It made me rethink several aspects of shooting I had taken for granted, not the least of which was recoil management.įor starters, Proctor stresses that the arms play a huge role in recoil control and that grip counts a lot more than stance because you can't count on being able to assume a proper stance in a gunfight. Recently, I took a course from Way of the Gun's Frank Proctor, a former Special Forces operator and current competitive shooter. To compensate, many of the top competitive and tactical shooters advocate keeping a slight bend in your elbows.
With the true isosceles, while your fully extended arms don't send your muzzle left or right, they send the muzzle up, perhaps more than necessary. The stance taught to me is not an exact isosceles because the gun-side foot is slightly rearward of the other foot. This gap gives recoil a place to send your muzzle-in this case to your non-dominant side, which makes it harder to shoot to the same spot consistently.Īs I mentioned, thumbs-forward brings with it a change in stance to more of an isosceles-square to the target with the arms fully extended for consistency and recoil absorption. Thumb-over-thumb results in a gap between the heels of your hands. In the thumbs-forward grip, the firing hand takes control of the gun and is then joined by the support hand to provide a secure 360-degree grip. This results in your hands covering virtually 100 percent of the gun's grip, and it's why many shooters favor thumbs-forward over thumb-over-thumb. The heels of your hands should be in contact with the gun and each other, and the thumb of your non-dominant hand is also pointed forward, resting against the frame below the other thumb. Insert your other hand into the void and allow your fingers to overlap the fingers of your firing hand. This creates a void on the grip between the heel of your hand and your fingertips. In the thumbs-forward grip, you grip the gun with your dominant hand, but rather than bend your thumb down, you allow it to remain straight, aligned with the muzzle.
This is the way I was retaught to shoot at the police firearms instructor course I attended in 2005. It was prevalent in both law enforcement and competitive shooting circles for decades, and there are many variations.Īs early as the mid-1980s, competitive shooters started employing a more squared-up stance-as opposed to the bladed stance used in the Weaver-and adopting a thumbs-forward grip. Many will recognize this grip and presentation as a component of the Weaver stance, named after Jack Weaver and popularized by Col. This creates isometric tension that helps control the gun during recoil.
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