Why is the "Dirty Harry" wrist brace grip considered bad?

Well, I went to the range this morning, and I didn't have any feeding issues in 50 rounds of XTP using the wrist brace grip. That's not necessarily dispositive, since the failure rate is generally only around 5%, but it was encouraging. More importantly, my wrist felt much better being supported, and it didn't impact my accuracy at all. I've been living with the bad wrist for so long that I wasn't really consciously aware of how much it bothers me when I'm shooting with a normal two-handed grip. I'm going to experiment more with this grip, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it works with my much snappier LCP MAXs. As far as what anyone else thinks about it, the range this morning was full of guys half my age (I don't usually shoot on Saturdays) with their young stud guns, and nobody was shooting better than I was, so I guess I really don't care.

trackskippy said:
If you want some help with your eyes, check out the "top focal" type shooting glasses. I have the same problem, and they work great. And if you only put the power lens on your strong eye, and leave the other without power, you can shoot reactively, with both eyes open, and have clear, sharp sights, and a clear target.
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I wore special prescription shooting glasses for many years, but as my eyes aged. , they've been less and less helpful. I'd have a nice clear front sight, but the farther out I went past about 7 yards, the more trouble I had seeing the target. A few months ago, I decided to have my shooting glasses made in my normal prescription and just get used to having a blurry front sight, and it's working out very well. And if I ever have to use my gun for real, I won't have to ask the bad guy to wait while I fish out my special glasses.

Old Dog said:
Because you're still basically shooting one-handed; two hands on the pistol/revolver simply provides far more control. Having your weak hand holding your shooting hand wrist when shooting does nothing to mitigate the effect of recoil on your shooting hand wrist. I have severe osteoarthritis in my right wrist (having broken most of the carpals and/or the distal radius on three occasions); it's constantly painful and plagues me greatly these days. A "wrist brace" grip is not gonna do anything to help, and anyway, two hands on the gun are better than one if you have weakness in your hand/wrist. (I am not an MD, but one of my old shooting buddies is an orthopedic surgeon.)
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I have to tell you, it sure helped me this morning. I guess I'll know more when I try shooting one of my LCP MAXs, maybe tomorrow. The recoil with them is unpleasant.
 
Pistolay said:
I wore special prescription shooting glasses for many years, but as my eyes aged. , they've been less and less helpful. I'd have a nice clear front sight, but the farther out I went past about 7 yards, the more trouble I had seeing the target. A few months ago, I decided to have my shooting glasses made in my normal prescription and just get used to having a blurry front sight, and it's working out very well. And if I ever have to use my gun for real, I won't have to ask the bad guy to wait while I fish out my special glasses.
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Count yourself lucky that you can see that well. Without my glasses, I can't read normal newsprint beyond 5 - 6". What is weird is that I can take my glasses off and read the fine print ingredient list on a package. I have never been able to get front and rear iron sights (on a rifle) in focus at the same time nor either of those will be in focus if the target is in focus.
That's why I prefer a scoped rifle. Handguns, I just do the best approximation that I can by holding the gun out, glancing at the sight alignment, then switching to the target. And I've been wearing glasses for over 60 years. :barf:
 
Starter52 said:
I've been using (and teaching) that wrist hold for decades. It works for me.
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Have you been teaching the wrist hold as the first primary way to grip a gun or as an alternate grip if someone can't hold the gun with 2 hands? Has your teaching been professionally or teaching friends and family?
A shooters direct interface with a handgun is their grip. Unless some weakness or injury prevents it you're better off with both hands placed on the grip. If it works better for a casual, occasional shooter that's great. No high level shooting instructors are teaching the hand on wrist as the best primary way to hold and shoot a handgun.
 
I teach professionally, but part time. About 30-40 students per year.
I start my students with .22 S&W revolvers. I teach the wrist hold as the best way to shoot these particular guns. The low recoil does not require a death grip.
When we transition to .22 autos I find that most students keep using the wrist hold. Likewise,
even when shooting center fire pistols many prefer to stay with the wrist hold.
It works for us.
 
if it works for you go for it.

Light weight wrist curls in both directions might help as well, along with squeezing. I like to work curls into all my workouts, especially during dry fire
 
I knew a woman who was an excellent pistol shot with an unconventional method. She gripped the gun with her right (dominant) hand and pulled the trigger with her left (support hand) index finger. So, whatever works for you.

If you tightly grip your wrist with your support hand, it will loosen your strong hand grip, however.
 
Old Dog said:
Wait, what? The "Dirty Harry wrist brace grip?"

I thought it was the "Kelly wrist brace grip." As an aside, wasn't the original Charlie's Angels just awesome TV? (For a teen male in 1976, anyway...) Fun fact: Jaclyn Smith was the first actress on network TV to wear what later became known as "Daisy Dukes."
View attachment 1169522


Because you're still basically shooting one-handed; two hands on the pistol/revolver simply provides far more control. Having your weak hand holding your shooting hand wrist when shooting does nothing to mitigate the effect of recoil on your shooting hand wrist. I have severe osteoarthritis in my right wrist (having broken most of the carpals and/or the distal radius on three occasions); it's constantly painful and plagues me greatly these days. A "wrist brace" grip is not gonna do anything to help, and anyway, two hands on the gun are better than one if you have weakness in your hand/wrist. (I am not an MD, but one of my old shooting buddies is an orthopedic surgeon.)
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Man, my academy classes never looked like that :oops:

My Dad did the wrist-brace hold once. He used it when shooting his Colt Huntsman, fired one shot.

He didn’t get stitches, but he probably needed one or two. His thumb bled like a head wound from the dual slices the slide made.

After that, the wrist-brace hold never held much appeal for me. But if it helps a person who is compromised by arthritis or injury to be able to shoot, have at it!! :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
JN01 said:
I knew a woman who was an excellent pistol shot with an unconventional method. She gripped the gun with her right (dominant) hand and pulled the trigger with her left (support hand) index finger. So, whatever works for you.
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I have seen two women deal with a DA/SA automatic by getting BOTH forefingers on the trigger. As one lady said, “The man at the store showed me where it said “Ladysmith” right on the side.”

There were the other two who, considerately provided with DA revolvers by their menfolks, soon realized they were a lot easier to shoot if you pulled the hammer back. They also found that they were easier to fire when you really don’t mean to.
 
I didn't do the wrist brace because I had weak wrists, pretty much the total opposite, I just felt comfortable doing it. At one time, I was a very good shooter of .357 revolvers, but I'm old now, and don't shoot enough to get really good again.
 
Whomsoever trained him was dated. Remember that flick dates back to the '70s when SFPD actually enforced the law and people respected the police.
 
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