Hold your handgun sideways ?

[Rail Driver]

I'm pretty sure that even if you hold it sideways that the gun would recoil vertically.

You're wrong. The recoil will go along the bore line. When held sideways, the bore line is to the left (or right if you're left handed) of the center line of your arm and wrist. The gun will always recoil in the direction of the sights because of the way most guns are made with the bore above the centerline of the arm when held properly. When held improperly (ie sideways "gangsta" style) the gun will still recoil towards the sights. The only one that might not recoil the same when held sideways would be something like a chiappa rhino, which MAY recoil differently because of the location of the center of the bore. (I don't know as I've never fired a chiappa rhino, though I'd love to have a 4" model)

FWIW, I don't see me canting my gun more than a few degrees left of center (I'm right handed) unless I MUST. I would rather not be eating brass at the range

 

[wh!plash]

I'm pretty sure that even if you hold it sideways that the gun would recoil vertically.

Actually not. The recoil of the gun forces the action in the opposite direction (your slide in the case of a handgun). Your hand is steady holding the gun, and the slide is on top, moving backwards. Basically, the slide is rotating around the fixed position. If the slide was oriented to the side, it would rotate around the fixed position (your grip) in that way.

//edit: above posted beat me to the submit button

 

[HappyHunting]

I found myself shooting at about a 30 degree angle when behind cover in a match. When I noticed it I felt so cool that I didn't put any more points down that round.

 

[foghornl]

tried it ONCE, just for grins....

I wasn't grinning when the .45ACP empty smacked me in the face....

 

[mgmorden]

It spread into the real world of gangsters from there. It has nothing to do with practical requirements, and everything to do with looking scary.

Do we even know how prevalent it really is "in the real world"? I'll admit I see it all the time in the movies, but I've never personally seen many "ganstas" shooting guns, nor is that the type of detail likely to make it into a newspaper article about a crime.

I sometimes wonder if it's more a case of this happening on TV so much that we just assume everyone in the real world is doing it too.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Gangstas hold the gun sideways because it looks cool, dude.

Now let's spread the word that the waaaay cool dudes do it by lookng in the little hole and pushing on the trigger.

 

[nwilliams]

Yes it's true, the sideways angle combined with thrusting the gun forward at your target as you fire adds extra spin to the bullet, it adds at least an additional 1,200fps to the bullet.

Also holding the gun sideways triggers an automatic homie'ing device inside the bullet itself which allows the bullet to maneuver through the air and find it's target, however most gang members don't have the technique quite right so 95% of the time the device isn't activated and the shots end up all over the place instead of the intended target.

 

[coloradokevin]

I think some of you guys have been REALLY overthinking this issue. Believe me, your average street gang member doesn't have any legitimate reason for doing most of what they do, and they certainly haven't discovered any tactical/target/brass ejection advantages by holding their gun sideways.

I'd venture to say that they hold their guns sideways because:

1) They are stupid, uneducated, and know nothing about guns.

2) They saw it on a rap video, or in a movie, and thought they'd imitate their heroes.

3) They think it looks intimidating, which is probably why they also tend to hold the gun very high while holding it sideways. Size intimidates in nature.

The vast majority of these clowns couldn't reliably hit a man-sized target at 5-yards without any pressure. Most victims of gang shootings were simply the unlucky ones, and I'd venture to guess that for every gang-related shooting victim we find, at least 8-10 people were shot at and not hit.

As for the story told by the RP's friend, I'd call it a pure work of fiction and urban legendry. There are some legitimate reasons to shoot a pistol with a slight/moderate cant under some circumstances, but the gangsters certainly aren't operating under these unique situations.

 

[Dokkalfar]

I've heard it started mainly with the army, back when personal fully automatic weapons were introduced. By holding the firearm sideways, recoil would run your aim along enemy lines instead of into the air. And Hollywood just picked it up from that, where it continued to spread into the gangsta community

 

[rromeo]

Colorado Kevin +1

shooting rapid fire during a drive-by shooting or shooting up a crowd, the recoil distributes the successive shots laterally, i.e. more hits. As opposed to having the recoil direct most of the shots above the heads of their likely victims, which would probably be the case with inexperienced rapid shooting.

This would require some real thinking, which I doubt is prevalent.

So the brass goes over the car and not in the back seat. After choking on my coffee I looked at him with a brow raised and he said "seriously" "a long time ago during a gangster drive by shooting the guy in the back seat got tired of being sprayed with brass from the guy in the front seat so he shot him too."

The original is quite stupid enough that it's probably true.

 

[sharkman]

Ya'll are all wrong, they hold it that way to shoot because that's the way it came out of the box

 

[KBintheSLC]

Not sure about the full-blown gangsta' method, but a very slight cant of 5 or 10 degrees can be beneficial when shooting a handgun single handed.

 

[fourdollarbill]

The original is quite stupid enough that it's probably true.

 

[staggerlee213]

Left handed stuntmen and actors got tired of being hit with the casings?

 

[Hatterasguy]

Cause its cool and I do it on my birthday.

Its more fun to do with a rifle, did it with my friends AR and my M1 carbine once. Shout "I'm going to jack me a slade" while doing it for proper affect.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Legitimate reason for canting would be right-handed shooter left-eye dominant, or vice versa.

No legit reason for sideways shootin' a semi-auto or revolver.

I have heard the tale that full auto Mausers (actually full auto Spanish Astra C96 clones) were held sideways to sweep a room or crowd horizontally, but wish I had noted the first cite I heard for that. Its a hard piece of folklore to pin down.

 

[Mac's Precision]

They shoot that way because that is the same position the 'banger's hand would be in when running a rattle can and depressing the valve with the thumb. Watch a few thuggers tag some walls...

It is either that....or they are simply mental midgets.

I am glad they shoot like that....makes me much more comfortable knowing they can't hit anything. Gives me LOTS of time to get all relaxed in my text book Isosceles position....obtain a perfect sight picture and squeeeeeeeeeeeeze for that perfect clean trigger break.

Keep it up homies.

Cheers
Mac.

 

[Bruno2]

Its like when you throw a punch . Your fingers should be paralell to the ground. Holding your pistol like that is like your punching bullets out of your hand.

(deleted -- <Sam>

 

[Silvanus]

I hold my hangun at about a 45° angle when shooting one handed.

But I'm glad for every "gangster" that holds his sideways! Means less hits on LEOs and other innocent victims We should encourage that "tactic" through movies and rap videos

I have heard the tale that full auto Mausers (actually full auto Spanish Astra C96 clones) were held sideways to sweep a room or crowd horizontally, but wish I had noted the first cite I heard for that.

Ever played MGS 3? 1:30 and 3:50 and at 4:25 just for fun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKSlBItpEMQ

 

[FLAvalanche]

Gangsters aren't bright....they hold their pistols that way because that's the way they came out of the box.

 

[CraigC]

I think it has little to do with logic and everything to do with silly male posturing by the ignorant illiterate.

I sometimes wonder if it's more a case of this happening on TV so much that we just assume everyone in the real world is doing it too.

I've seen it several times in convenient store footage. Usually the other hand is used to hold up dude's britches, so I'm not sure how they planned on carrying out their loot.

 

[dirtymike1]

Gangsters aren't bright....they hold their pistols that way because that's the way they came out of the box.

Trunk, not box...

 

[Jonah71]

Well, it's kinda hard to hold the gun at the right angle when you have to use the other hand to keep your pants from falling the rest of the way down.

 

[Sav .250]

Different strokes for different Gang-sta`s!

 

[Ryanxia]

My theory is what one poster touched upon. The simple fact that when holding a gun out it is more natural and less of a strain on the muscles in your forearm to hold the firearm sideways than straight up. This coupled with the assumption that the shooter is not experienced in proper fa training is my best guess