One handed practice? glock trigger squeeze, grip suggestions

[palidon11]

how do you folks feel about one handed practice? both dominant and weak hand..

just breaking in a glock 27, still not used to the way the trigger breaks. generally the sight picture moves a bit, even with a nice steady pull. i've been doing some dry-fire practice and have worked that down alot. ive hypothesized that if i can squeeze the trigger in one hand and keep the sight picture steady then with two hands it will be much better. thoughts? tips glocks trigger?

i want to be proficient firing with each hand, period..



brings me to my next question, how should the firearm be positioned in the hand?

being right hand dominant i started gripping the weapon a little counter-clockwise, with the knuckled a little closer to the trigger. i was still getting aquainted with the weapon and noticed i was consistently shooting left, and down left

i began to rotate the wrist/hand in a clockwise direction and resting the thumb on that little thumb grove in the glock frame. it also caused my trigger pull to be different, though i wouldn't describe it as being more 'straight'. it also seemed to align the weapon ina more direct way with the wrist, and better move energy through my wrist into the elbow and so on

thoughts? i feel as though that is pretty settled for me, though i appreciate thoughts and wisdom from other shooters!


thanks! and g'day to you!

 

[iblong]

Practicing strong and week hand is very important at least to me.
There is a good chance in a self defence situation you will be using one hand to fend off blows, open doors,move objects,hold a light, or may have an arm/hand disabled ect.
As for low left,sounds like your pushing in antisipation of the shot breaking.
I try to keep the grip square and firm in the web of my hand and use very little thumb preasure,and squeeeese the trigger.Im no master but this is how I practice.YMMV.
In warm months I carry a 27 and find it to be just about right,Prefer it in most cases over my PM9.

 

[wildehond]

working on your hand strength also helps with one-handed shooting. With stronger muscles of the had it takes "less effort" by your fingers to press the trigger. Whinch in turn makes it easier to hold the handgun steady.

 

[Remllez]

Wildehond makes a good point about hand strength. Get yourself one of those little V-shaped hand exercisers and build your hand muscles whilst watching your favorite television program.

It will take a month or two but you'll notice your shooting improves, especially if you shoot revolvers D/A. It sure makes trigger pulls seem much lighter. Practicing one hand, off hand is a great training exercise.

 

[SleazyRider]

On the two occassions I've had to use a firearm defensively, both required one-handed shooting. The weak hand was restraining a dog, and in the other case, held a flashlight. Think about it: how often during the course of a day do you have both hands free as you would when you're target shooting? Yes, I'm a firm believer in practicing one-handed shooting, not to mention shooting while moving.

Grip the gun as it would come out of your holster, without adjusting it with the weak hand. After all, practicing with one hand should include the draw and presentation.

 

[lyrikz]

how do you folks feel about one handed practice? both dominant and weak hand..

just breaking in a glock 27, still not used to the way the trigger breaks. generally the sight picture moves a bit, even with a nice steady pull. i've been doing some dry-fire practice and have worked that down alot. ive hypothesized that if i can squeeze the trigger in one hand and keep the sight picture steady then with two hands it will be much better. thoughts? tips glocks trigger?

i want to be proficient firing with each hand, period..



brings me to my next question, how should the firearm be positioned in the hand?

being right hand dominant i started gripping the weapon a little counter-clockwise, with the knuckled a little closer to the trigger. i was still getting aquainted with the weapon and noticed i was consistently shooting left, and down left

i began to rotate the wrist/hand in a clockwise direction and resting the thumb on that little thumb grove in the glock frame. it also caused my trigger pull to be different, though i wouldn't describe it as being more 'straight'. it also seemed to align the weapon ina more direct way with the wrist, and better move energy through my wrist into the elbow and so on

thoughts? i feel as though that is pretty settled for me, though i appreciate thoughts and wisdom from other shooters!


thanks! and g'day to you!

Palidon. I thought i was the only one who practiced different hands. Im left handed and i try and shoot my glock right handed. Then single handed. Im not trying to look cool i was just under the impression if i was ever hurt, could i use a firearm with my weak hand.

My other pistol is a de .50. I can shoot that acurately left handed. I can not (actually to scared to try) do it with my right hand yet. I just picture being attacked by a bear and the bear biting my left hand. I have this cannon and cant shoot it with my right hand....

Good to know im not the only one.

 

[murf]

it took me a while to get decent shooting off-hand. tried all sorts of different grip positions, stances and head, arm, gun alignments. finally, just kept my strong-hand shooting position (rotated the other way) and closed my right eye (right eye dominant).

i focused on trigger control because i didn't have any with my off-hand. sight alignment and grip were easy since they were the same either way. fwiw

murf

p.s. have always practiced one handed strong side (not exclusively). i'm sure that made it easier to transititon to weak side.

if you want to learn one handed shooting, check out the threads on bullseye shooting. i think they are up in the competition forum. also, try bullseyepistol.com

 

[gunnutery]

I'm not sure about your front sight, but if there's a bit of a level portion on the top of your front sight, you can put a dime on top of the front sight and dry fire and the dime should stay on, it's good for working on follow through too.

As far as the grip goes, the dime dry fire might help, but putting rounds down range and trying to correct it that way might be the best.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

I train primarily with my weak hand only. About 30% of my training is weak hand only, which also includes clearing stoppages in addition to marksmanship skills.

I'm right hand/eye dominant, so when I shoot weak hand only I roll the pistol to the right about 30-45 degrees to align the sights with my right eye.

(When performing left hand only manipulations with your Glock, if you encounter difficulty in depressing the magazine release while performing a Combat Reload then you should check to see if your thumb is blocking and preventing the magazine release from protruding out the right side of the grip. All you have to do is move your thumb a little bit to keep this from happening.)

I don't train very much strong hand only as it isn't much different than when I shoot two-handed, except my weak hand isn't there.

 

[coolluke01]

Dry fire practice will be the greatest help. The goal is to be able to disconnect your trigger finger from the others. Watch that front sight as you press the trigger. It's hard to keep it from moving.
Some people use lasers and a spot on the wall to practice with.

 

[Biggs19]

Here's a link to a great article that says a lot about grip. What I like most about it is that it doesn't just preach one style as gospel. Rather it demonstrates several options - one of which may work best for you. Grip is certainly personal - what works for me may not work best for you.

Good luck!

http://gunzoo.com/news/The-Combat-Grip

 

[HDCamel]

I almost exclusively shoot one-handed. Two hands just feels awkward and pointless more often than not.

Grip to keep the barrel in line with your forearm and you'll usually have more of a gentle rise of the muzzle as opposed to an upwards break.

 

[Biggs19]

Oh, and regarding the Glock specifically, I think it's a fantastic trigger pull. I've spent 98% of my handgun time competing with a 1911, and now the glock is the only non-1911 I enjoy shooting nearly as much.

I put a 3.5lb Glock trigger connector in my G19 and it really improved my ability to pull the trigger without impacting my point of aim.

My buddy went much farther with his G34 and installed a Vanek trigger. Having fired it too, it's unbelievable.

Again though, these are merely mechanical options that will change the feel of the gun and should be combined with your ideal grip and lots of training as prescribed in this thread and elsewhere.

 

[wlewisiii]

NY1 spring and a 3.5 lb connector. The only way a Glock trigger is shootable for me. That's how I have my G19 set up. Took less than five minutes to change it from an unshootable POS to my all time favorite semi-automatic.

I will also add that I am a revolver shooter at heart and consider the S&W K frame DA trigger to be my preference.

 

[coolluke01]

I did some dry firing with my G34 last night. I focused on how I do it. When shooting one handed I noticed that applying firm pressure with you thumb to the side was equally important to the fingers on the grip. Much of the movement that is created by pulling the trigger is side to side. Keeping pressure on the side of the frame will help a great deal. The reason I bring this up is that when shooting two handed the off hand provides with stability and focusing on the shooting hand thumb pressure is not as important.

 

[LiveLife]

I roll the pistol to the right about 30-45 degrees

Shawn, I tried your "rolling" or canting of pistol but I roll/cant inward at 30-45 degrees (like racing hand positions on steering wheel) about 2 years ago and it has worked very well in providing more stable shooting grip, especially for weak-hand shooting. I have shared it with other shooters and it has worked very well for them. Good work!


As to OP, the defensive instruction I received and share is as follows:

- Set 8x11 white copy paper targets at 3 yards. Perform all possible strong/weak hand shooting drawing from holster with/without the use of sights (to include point shooting) within 6 inch shot group.

- Then move the 8x11 copy paper target out to 5 yards and repeat drills and continue moving targets out to 7 and 10 yards. If possible, set multiple targets on the card board as far apart as the range will allow or use separate card board targets at outdoor range/shooting area to require shift in body position to engage targets.


palidon11, I carry a Glock 27 and dry-firing while watching the front sight is good, but "real-life" tactical shooting drills will involve practice without the use of sights as you may need to fire under low/no-light situations where use of sights/even night sights are less than optimal. If you are interested, I would suggest the following drills (it's what I do and share with other shooters for close-range defensive shooting) for you to "hone" your skills (yes, do use Shawn's 30-45 degree canted one handed grip technique, it really works).

Note: If you need to brush up on shooting basics/fundamentals check these out:
Stance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Cf0WEeXZk&feature=related
Grip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=22msLVCtPk8
Trigger Control - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xa5JPLGIsU&feature=relmfu
Accuracy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVzSAm5VhfE

For those who think 40S&W/Glock 27 is not accurate - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdqIhmu9Fuk

Close range defensive shooting drill:
- Place an 8x11 white copy paper target at 3 yards.
- Picture an imaginary Point-of-Aim (POA) dot in the center of the target.
- While focusing on the POA, without using the sights, draw your pistol (two handed first, then later one handed) and point at the imaginary POA - Do not make any adjustment to your grip/wrist after draw and hold steady.
- Verify POA with sights. If they are not aligned, maintain your grip and move only at the waist and shoulder to align the sights to the POA (do not move/rotate your head/neck, only make adjustment to the waist/shoulder! This is important!)
- Repeat draw from holster until sights align to imaginary POA.
- When you can consistently draw and have the sights align to POA, fire the pistol while focusing on the POA/target.
- If the Point-of-Impact (POI) is different than POA, readjust at the waist/shoulder (do not adjust any other part of the body) and repeat until POI is same as POA.
- When you are able to consistently draw and fire (2 hands and 1 hand) with same POA and POI, then move target out to 5 yards and repeat drill.
- Place two 8x11 white copy paper targets side-by-side (one target lower by 4 inches) and repeat drill (one shot per target - use pen/marker to mark holes - I place a slash at 2 o'clock position).
- When you are able to consistently engage the two targets and match POA/POI, move target out to 7 yards then 10 yards (6" shot group size rule applies at 7-10 yards. If your shot groups are too large, move target closer and repeat drill/practice until you can maintain smaller shot groups).

Whenever you feel confident at any distance, then try the following exercise concurrently:
- Place an 8x11 white copy paper target at 3 yards and CLOSE your eyes and repeat above drill and open your eyes to verify POA/POI.
- When proficient, place two 8x11 targets (one lower by 4 inches) and repeat drill.
- When proficient, move target(s) out to 5, 7, 10 yards.

Glock 27 long-range accuracy (Minute-of-Gong at 230 yards) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmMEg4y54Dk

Have fun!

 

[murf]

fyi, i did a little experiment a couple months ago to determine the effect on point-of-impact from canting a pistol (per shawn dodson's post). all shots fired from 25 yards.

ten shots with pistol vertical, ten with pistol rotated clockwise 25 degrees and 10 shots with pistol rotated counterclockwise 25 degrees. poi on the clockwise and counterclockwise rotations were two inches out at 5 o'clock from the vertical poi. not significant @25 yards imop.

murf

 

[DoomGoober]

Not only does grip strength matter, but shoulder strength is pretty important too. When I shoot one handed, the gun tends to sway up and down slightly, pivoting at my shoulder. Because of the cant, my groups tend to form a bit of a diagonal line.

A guy at the range suggested holding a weight in firing position to help build muscles to stabilize this gun bounce (both one and two handed.)

 

[palidon11]

i have practiced point and shooting, very important imo!

watched those hickok45 vids a bit back, found some valuyable info in them. love all his videos though...

appreciate the feedback folks! the dry fire practice has helped alot in terms of shooting on the range. just gotta keep plugging!

 

[tomwalshco]

I almost exclusively shoot one-handed. Two hands just feels awkward and pointless more often than not.

Grip to keep the barrel in line with your forearm and you'll usually have more of a gentle rise of the muzzle as opposed to an upwards break.

I'm with you, Camel. I practice so much 1-handed, that a 2-handed feels clumsy, awkward and uncomfortable. There is no doubt in my mind, if all hell breaks loose, I'll be hanging on to something (car fender, pillar, door jam, ground, etc.). Besides, 1-handed allows me to get 90 deg to my target and expose 2/3 less of a target if someone is shooting back. Also gets my gat closer to the target. I ain't shootin' free throws...

 

[ken grant]

http://www.youtube.com/user/ssdsurf?feature=mhum#p/u/4/4nlAmKLDT0E

watch this guys series on grip and trigger pulls.

Very good info

 

[SubieGuy4]

When I shoot one handed I make sure the barrel is perfectly in line with my forearm. This usually means your hand is rotated far enough inward on the gun that only the tip of your trigger finger is on the trigger (at least on a Glock, with hands like mine). I then tilt the gun inward (counter clockwise if you're a righty) at about a 15 degree angle. While this causes the gun to jump to the left a little, I find it's easy to overcome. The reason for doing this is so that you can keep the gun in line with your arm while still getting the sights in front of your right eye.

This wasn't intuitive for me at first but an instructor coached me on shooting this way with one hand. I can now shoot with nearly the same speed and accuracy with either hand alone as I can with two hands (with a Glock 23).

 

[TonyT]

One hand shooting with both the stong and weak hand are a basic requirement for sound handgun usage either in the normal pistol games or i a self defense situation.

 

[JO JO]

strong side , reaction side, unsuported, and suported, all important. as far as grip/angle
for you reaction hand unsuported try this ( grip = inline with forearm in web of hand )
( angle = stand stright with arms at side slowly raise your arm normal /relaxed to shooting position that is your natural angle ) thats how our SAI has instructed us it has
helped me with this sometimes by forceing yourself to hold in an unnatural position
you can not be at you best. relax squeeze bang, its worth a try

 

[tuj]

I shoot bullseye so all the shooting I do is one-handed and at distance. As mentioned above, get one of those hand exercisers, I like the ones with springs for the individual fingers like they sell for guitar players. This way you can practice holding 3 fingers tight and then slowly moving your index back and forth. I also helps to get a 5lb dumb bell and hold it with your bottom three fingers out straight while you pretend-squeeze the trigger with your index finger. Even better, tape a laser pointer to the top of the dumb bell and watch the dot on the wall and see how steady you can hold it.

Shoot your wobble. If you can keep the front sight *while in alignment with the rear* within say a 3" circle, you should be able to shoot a group that size. Shooting for precision and accuracy is really about a few fundamentals that apply to however you hold the gun or however many hands you are using.

Increase pressure on the trigger while keeping the sights aligned and the front sight on the target. That's all there is to it.

It sounds like the crap-tastic glock trigger plus the fat grip are fighting you when you switch to a one-handed grip. Building hand strength will help counter this. The gun is probably moving a bit in your grip as you pull the trigger. Try putting the first crease of your index finger aligned with the right edge of the trigger blade. This puts less compressible flesh on the trigger and makes it feel a bit lighter. This is a technique Brian Zins advocates.

As for your grip, just find something *consistent* and stick with it. Its more important to have consistency than it is to grip the gun any certain way. Usually it can help to think to put pressure front to rear and squeeze in those directions, and not squeeze the gun from the sides. But again, its more about finding what works best for your hands.

Otherwise, watch the front sight, wait for the break. Don't pull the trigger, add steady pressure until it breaks.

Those are just things that have all helped me become a better shooter. And like I said, 99% of my shooting is one-handed.