GUNSMARTS: Pistol Grip & Stance
How you stand and grip your pistol is one of the first things you should work on as a new gun owner and it provides a foundation for being able to control how much a handgun kicks or recoils. In this Smith & Wesson GUNSMARTS video, I’m sharing my tips for grip and stance with a pistol.
Pistol Stance
Think of your stance as your foundation. I begin with my feet at least shoulder-width apart with my strong side foot, in my case my right foot, a step back. This provides a solid base for me to build on.
Next, I begin to add little bends to my body starting at the ankles, moving up to my knees, and then bending forward at the hips. When I extend my arms, I activate the muscles in my back and shoulders making sure I don’t lock my elbows. All of these bends end up serving as little shock absorbers and combined help me keep my weight forward on the balls of my feet.
Grip
The lower you grasp the grip of your pistol, the more the handgun will kick during recoil. I use a high, thumbs-forward grip when I shoot. It starts by getting a good grip with my strong hand high along the upper portion of the grip, the backstrap of the pistol. Making a V with my strong hand, this is where I’ll make contact with the pistol’s backstrap.
If the pistol has accessible thumb safeties, I like to ride them by keeping my strong hand thumb right along the top. This keeps me from bumping them on accidentally and helps keep my grip high too. Win, win!
When I grasp the firearm I make it a point to keep my trigger finger straight and outside the trigger guard. I wrap the rest of my fingers around the front of the grip and use them to pull the grip into the palm of my strong hand.
Bringing the support hand into play is sometimes difficult for new shooters. I start by extending my support hand in front of me and add another shock absorber bend at the wrist. Now, it’s time to meet up my hands and when I place my support hand on the grip I do so in a way to eliminate any space between my hands. The base of my left-hand thumb, the area where it meets up with my wrist, fits right into the space underneath where my right thumb meets my right hand.
My left hand’s index finger makes contact with the pistol’s frame beneath the trigger guard as I wrap my fingers around my strong hand grip. Where I pull the grip into my palm with my strong hand, I grip differently with my support hand. I think of my left hand as a vice and I use it to clamp my support hand fingers together and onto the grip.
This grip combined with my stance allows me to shoot everything from soft-shooting .22 rimfire pistols up to large caliber revolvers. The more powerful the firearm, the more aggressive I stand and the harder I grip to manage the recoil as best as I can. Try it out and see if it works for you.
Be sure to check out my other videos in Smith & Wesson’s GUNSMARTS series. Head on over to S&W’s website for more information, free downloads, and giveaways.
