D-I-Y thumb rest

[eric nielsen]

Shot this new set-up at the indoor range tonight. Just opinion but I probably own the sweetest USPSA Limited gun on earth, very happy with this thumb rest, it stays on the gun for sure.

Tried friend's gun w/the GoGuns _as _edal while waiting my Ltd gun, didn't like it, way too high and far back, for my hands it made a locked wrist impossible. Bought the DAA Adjustable, Matt installed it, shot it, didn't like it. Took a good look & saw that it was too far forward regardless of which position is chosen. It bent my left hand position off to the left & bent my right hand to be in a straight line w/my right forarm which I dislike, a lot.

Took a look at my Open gun's Dawson rest which seems to work well and was positioned by me using glue, tape, etc for weeks before finally marking the screw hole locations & having a co-worker drill & tap my scope mount.

Messed around w/both parts and some double-side tape and tried this - better. Could always buy another Dawson rest and drill/tap the DAA mount to hold it higher and further back.

Dug thru my junk drawer and found the ledge I had on my Tanfo open gun about 1997 or so. Screw holes fit perfect so taped the side to prevent scratching the Ltd gun and put it on. Way too far forward.

Tried using front hole in rear frame hole. Okay, this works out nice in dry fire. Took my no-rest hand position and was able to move only the thumb up & on this thing, nothing else changed, very very solid grip.

Visualized how a piece of 90-degree aluminum could make the part I want. Found the aluminum at Home Depot.

Needed a new hacksaw anyway, this one is the four-star version:

Other tools. 2-wheel grinder was handy but not necessary.

Rough part.

Another view, taped to not scratch frame.

On the gun. Makes for a very low ledge.

Support hand shooting position, wrist is completely locked.

Left-hand only grip - trigger finger needs a little practice getting In & out of position, no big deal.

Another view of weak-hand-only. Planning to polish the bottom of the ledge until it is glass smooth.

Position in holster - needed to reduce from original 3/4" aluminum part width to clear the CR Speed hanger.

Nice feature of this design is if you make your own you can chop, grind, and file the ledge to fit your hand position exactly with no compromises. HTH

[steviesterno]

looks pretty cool! thanks for the descriptive write up. I have thought about why I would need this (in open, too) but it looks like they might be viable for limited

[eric nielsen]

I was finding it harder to control the Limited gun with a thumb rest until I gave this one a thorough shake-down, this one makes the gun better, at least for me. I'm seeing the sight-tracker effect all the time now in live fire; in dry-fire all the gun-handling drills and shooting-on-the-move practice is also noticeably better, I see the sights in alignment (all the time) without needing to put them there.

I'm not using the Vogel-type twisting grip with this rest (although it works okay, the mount is low enough to use that grip), I'm primarily focused on gripping as tight as possible with both pinky fingers. Quick way to have everything fall in place is to shoot a string strong-hand-only, looking for minimum muzzle flip (gorilla grip in the pinky finger) and then fire a string with both hands. Very easy to follow the bouncing front sight.

[Optimistix]

Great info thanks as I am also playing with the same idea.

About the slide racker ... am I correct in saying that in USPSA you don't have to fit you limited guns in a box like the Standard division in IPSC?

I was thinking about fitting a slide racker but couldn't figure out where one would position it ... that was until I saw your photos. I will probably only have to mount it square with the frame so that it fits the IPSC standard gun box ...

What would you say are the advantages/disadvantages of having the thumb rest mounted flat like yours or at an angle like the *thumb rest [generic]*?

Where can I get more info about the grip you are describing?

Thanks for the great info ...

[eric nielsen]

[edited to make links work]

No box to fit into for USPSA Limited. Rackers were always legal in Limited, thumb rests and do-anything-you-want barrel/sight combinations just became legal w/new rules Jan 1st, 2013. The shorter you make your racker the more it helps to have your right thumb curled down near the mag release as you rack the gun, to avoid trying to rip your thumb off w/the weak hand. Between this gun w/the racker mounted forward and my Open gun w/racker mounted at the rear of the slide, I like the Limited position better - quicker to get on it after seating a mag, quicker to acquire 2-handed grip and start shooting.

Grip technique (pressures, positions, what it "feels" like) is best explained by having a good shooter show you in person. But start here: http://www.handgunsmag.com/2010/09/24/tactics_training_combatg_100306/ and read Brian's book: http://www.brianenos.com/

W/out taking his class my best take on Bob Vogel's technique is that you: 1. use Captains of Crush grippers to increase your max strength (48-72 hrs of rest between workouts) 2. squeeze to a pretty high percentage of your max strength when shooting 3. twist your hands into each other somewhat, at the top - your right hand twists CCW and left hand twists CW putting a push into the top of your grips and a pull into the bottom of your grips. The stronger your hands are, the more you can do this without breaking contact with the bottom of your grips. I find this works well for guns that are all flat on top (polymer frame Production guns) and less well for guns that are all round with screws and levers and such on top (1911 and 2011). It helps calm down the jumpy torquing bouncing recoil pulse of a lightweight polymer gun. The high elbow position, again not taking their classes, on Vogel and Sevigny, seems to be more a side-effect, not a cause, of the twist in the hands.

Another grip that works and can seem to "pop" your gun back down out of recoil almost like a machine, is to focus on butting the heels of your hands together at the bottom/rear corner of the gun. Some people do this with back-tension -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azb3q8wOrV4

Edited August 23, 2013 by eric nielsen

[eric nielsen]

Heels into bottom corner, Continued:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h9rKDEXPvM

Some people do that with muscle force from the chest -

Edited August 23, 2013 by eric nielsen

[eric nielsen]

The most common grip (I believe) still today is completely neutral all around the gun -

I think with the Open gun, Dave Dawson's thumb rest design is genius and it works very well with the almost-straight-back recoil impulse of a good competitive Open gun. I think with a Limited gun the recoil impulse is much more like someone shoving on the gun from 30 degrees below the muzzle and the Open-type rests that are fairly low - Dawson, Arredondo - are good, the more angled rests - GoGuns, DAA - are less well suited and seem to magnify the Limited recoil. Muzzle rise is low, but the entire gun wants to jump up above your line of sight more than using no thumb rest at all. Not everyone notices this, but quite a few people have seen the same effect and agree w/me on this. I'm finding the very low and flat rest is as good or probably better than no thumb rest at all. Another consideration is the unfortunate sharp corner that Strayer & Tripp put in the 2011 frame design - that will raise a distinct callous on your left thumb if you use Vogel's rolling grip.

For a totally different view on support-hand grip - this goes against the locked down hand position I've used since taking Ron Avery's class 20 years ago - you can see the GoGuns designer speak about it. I'm not an orthopedist but I've been locking my left wrist for a very long time and so, like 99% of good action shooters, that tendon/muscle group is very strong and so I don't agree, especially the chest muscle part, that is not the original Leatham/Enos technique, but here is his point of view...