Stumpy
Established Member
Choosing a handgun that FITS your hand is the most important part of picking a handgun for self defense. Reliability and caliber are secondary. By FIT, I mean, does the pistol fit your hand properly or IS THE PISTOL TOO LARGE FOR YOUR HAND? Is the trigger reach too far and the grip to big around in circumference for your hand?
1. How can I tell a pistol fits my hand correctly?
a, Grip it properly and place your trigger finger on the trigger(trigger in the most forward position) between the tip of the trigger finger and the first joint.
IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THE PHOTO TITLED Grip Demo 3.
b. IT SHOULD NOT LOOK LIKE THE 2ND PHOTO, Grip Demo 4.
2. A second method to check for proper fit:
a. Attain a proper grip and place a ball point pen between the frame of the pistol and the pad of the finger closest to the palm. Raise
the pistol straight up.
b. The pen SHOULD FALL OUT OR DROOP as in Grip Demo 2 photo. The pen should fly out if your thump or finger flick the drooping end.
c. It should not look like Grip Demo 1 photo where the pen is is so tight against the frame that it does not droop and goes nowhere when
you thump or finger flick it.
If you don't have that gap between your finger and the frame or you finger has a death grip on the pen and it does not droop or fly out then YOUR PISTOL IS TOO LARGE FOR YOUR HAND and you need to get a smaller grip frame pistol.
Many shooters downfall is shooting a fatter double stack pistol and they grip it properly but to reach the trigger properly, they have to break the grip and move the entire hand around to reach the trigger. Everything goes out window after that.
This was shown to me about 20 years ago by Tom Givens and Jim Higginbotham at a class a Steel City Gun Club.
I bring this up because today I shot a great score on the yearly APOSTC Qualification Course for my PD. 25 to 5 yard course. 12 rds at 25, 12 rds at 15, 14 rds at 7 and 12 rds at 5 yards. I outshot all but one officer and I did it with a 3.1 barrel M&P Shield 9mm that fits my small hands. Other officers with small hands and larger double stack pistols did not. Especially those shooting the double stack 40SW's.
I don't shoot IDPA or USPSA but I do pride myself on my shooting. Since the ammo shortage started, I don't practice near as often as I would like or should Once you find that pistol that TRULY fits your hand PROPERLY, you will find that shooting better just becomes easier. Do not waste time and effort trying to "make it work" with a pistol that truly does not fit your hand . Find the pistol that just feels right and that your hand fits properly and go with it and master it.
I shot a 76 in the academy back in 1989 with a 92F. I had to grip, slide my hand around to get my finger on the trigger and it was a trainwreck!
6 months later, after I'm off probation, I buy my own Smith 5904 that had a shorter trigger reach and small diameter grip. My first qual score with it was a 96 and then a 100 the next go around.
When I mandatorily had to carry a P226 and then P220, the SO let me purchase the Sig Short Reach Trigger and our Armorer installed it. Trigger reach problem solved and my scores stayed high.
Hope this helps some of my forum brothers out there master their pistols.
1. How can I tell a pistol fits my hand correctly?
a, Grip it properly and place your trigger finger on the trigger(trigger in the most forward position) between the tip of the trigger finger and the first joint.
IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THE PHOTO TITLED Grip Demo 3.
b. IT SHOULD NOT LOOK LIKE THE 2ND PHOTO, Grip Demo 4.
2. A second method to check for proper fit:
a. Attain a proper grip and place a ball point pen between the frame of the pistol and the pad of the finger closest to the palm. Raise
the pistol straight up.
b. The pen SHOULD FALL OUT OR DROOP as in Grip Demo 2 photo. The pen should fly out if your thump or finger flick the drooping end.
c. It should not look like Grip Demo 1 photo where the pen is is so tight against the frame that it does not droop and goes nowhere when
you thump or finger flick it.
If you don't have that gap between your finger and the frame or you finger has a death grip on the pen and it does not droop or fly out then YOUR PISTOL IS TOO LARGE FOR YOUR HAND and you need to get a smaller grip frame pistol.
Many shooters downfall is shooting a fatter double stack pistol and they grip it properly but to reach the trigger properly, they have to break the grip and move the entire hand around to reach the trigger. Everything goes out window after that.
This was shown to me about 20 years ago by Tom Givens and Jim Higginbotham at a class a Steel City Gun Club.
I bring this up because today I shot a great score on the yearly APOSTC Qualification Course for my PD. 25 to 5 yard course. 12 rds at 25, 12 rds at 15, 14 rds at 7 and 12 rds at 5 yards. I outshot all but one officer and I did it with a 3.1 barrel M&P Shield 9mm that fits my small hands. Other officers with small hands and larger double stack pistols did not. Especially those shooting the double stack 40SW's.
I don't shoot IDPA or USPSA but I do pride myself on my shooting. Since the ammo shortage started, I don't practice near as often as I would like or should Once you find that pistol that TRULY fits your hand PROPERLY, you will find that shooting better just becomes easier. Do not waste time and effort trying to "make it work" with a pistol that truly does not fit your hand . Find the pistol that just feels right and that your hand fits properly and go with it and master it.
I shot a 76 in the academy back in 1989 with a 92F. I had to grip, slide my hand around to get my finger on the trigger and it was a trainwreck!
6 months later, after I'm off probation, I buy my own Smith 5904 that had a shorter trigger reach and small diameter grip. My first qual score with it was a 96 and then a 100 the next go around.
When I mandatorily had to carry a P226 and then P220, the SO let me purchase the Sig Short Reach Trigger and our Armorer installed it. Trigger reach problem solved and my scores stayed high.
Hope this helps some of my forum brothers out there master their pistols.
