dvc4you Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 (edited) I was following the recoil control thread with interest, it seems to me that for non compensated guns everyone is gripping their gun really hard. Some people made an exception to this rule when referring to open guns. Assuming a good technique, what pressure are you using in your open gun grip? gripping like a hammer? Do you push down on the "*thumb rest [generic]*" or just lay your thumb on it? Having a dot that returns faster, has more to do with: gas, popple holes and the compensator design or a hard grip? Inexperienced open shooter wants to know... Edited October 27, 2015 by dvc4you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Nick Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I shoot a .40 Gold Team. I use a firm grip and keep the gun pushed out with my arms fully extended. I don't put much pressure on the thumb rest. If I relax my grip, the dot starts to jump around. This works for me in shooting steel with quick dot acquisition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Having a dot that returns faster, has more to do with: gas, popple holes and the compensator design or a hard grip? Not a matter of which is best, but why not do them all and reap the benefits of an even faster dot return? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvc4you Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 My set-up includes all of those I am just trying to figure out how hard should I grip the gun... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 You should only grip as hard as is needed for the dot to return to the same position as the previous shot. You don't need to death grip it because the comp is controlling the recoil.You also need to be neutral in the grip as well and not try to force the barrel down to control the recoil. The neutral grip with both hands gripping the same amount of force will allow the dot to track up and down with very little if and side to side movement. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Your analogy of "gripping like a hammer" is a good one. I shoot open and my strong hand grips the gun about the same as I would hammering a nail. My weak hand grips with about twice as much pressure. Trying to use the thumb rest for recoil control causes me more problems than it solves. I use it as a reference point for my grip and nothing else. And I also take advantage of loads tuned to match my gun that has both a comp and popple holes. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 The grip on my open gun is no different than the grip on my limited gun. Flatland Shooter gives a pretty good analogy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 you have to grip an open gun just as hard as any other. it gets misleading when guys say "I grip it like a hammer" if that guy has good grip strength with say a max of 120lbs of force in each hand he might use 70% of his potential max for 85lbs in each hand. So at 70% of his max grip, to him that feels like quite a light, gentle grip when in actual fact he's gripping the F$#%k out of it. Conversely a guy with say a max grip strength of 80lbs might use 90% of his max for only 70lbs of force. he probably has sore hands after few rounds, gets very shaky on longer courses of fire and feels like he's gripping the absolute snot out of it when in fact he's not. So to one guy 70lbs feels like death gripping it, to another 85lb is just a nice somewhat firm hold. So to me the answer is this. Grip it as hard as your potential allows you to without any negative effects (shaking, trigger jerk, steering the gun around etc). The best way to make that easier is to improve your grip strength so that you need only use less of your potential but still have a very strong grip of the gun. Ideally you would grip the gun so hard it would not move at all. Then you could pull off 0.06 second splits assuming you could run the trigger fast enough. sights or dot would NEVER leave the A zone. Don't be fooled by vids of flat shooting open guns. One thing is slow frame rates make them seem flatter than they really are. Secondly the top open shooters usually have bags of grip strength and are using it too. If you truly think compensators/ports etc are making these super flat shooting guns watch a vid of guys shooting weak hand only.... That should show the massive difference between gripping the thing hard, and just holding on to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echotango Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 (edited) I agree with beerbaron. Look at 2:30, weak hand shooting. Edited October 30, 2015 by echotango Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMC Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Good thread. I just started in open and was wondering the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Miles Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Having a dot that returns faster, has more to do with: gas, popple holes and the compensator design or a hard grip... or the recoil spring or the mainspring or the firing pin stop or the shape of the bottom of the firing pin stop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedsouthshooting Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Hard enough to cycle while loading on the ragged edge of powder puffs. Lol Steel challenge loads at 132 pf through a steelmaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 +1 with BeerBaron. When I first started shooting dots, with or without comp, I was told to grip the pistol naturally. Not too hard, not too soft and lock your wrists. Well, that doesn't work. I recently watched on of the Smith & Wesson Team members shoot a course near me. He used a customized M&P 5" with a custom comp. His muzzle did not rise one iota, but all the 2011 Open shooter's did. I called him about a week later and asked what his load was, and how he gripped the gun. His was a pretty standard 9mm major load. He told me he had a "good" grip on the gun. He explained he gripped it hard, but not with a death grip. I subsequently watched a bunch of Limited Nationals videos on YouTube. I was really surprised to see that a lot of the top shooters had less muzzle rise than what I see in most Open shooters at the local matches, and their splits were fast. So I tried gripping my gun harder. My strong hand gripped about as hard as you would grip a 22oz framing hammer when you swung it. My weak hand gripped harder. After I tuned my weak hand placement a tad, the dot never left the glass of my FFIII and it settled right back down in the center. I'm working on my grip strength now to see if harder equals flatter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ano Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 If I limp my open gun, shit wont cycle (light slide, 7lbs) Ive only shot like 60? ish matches in open so far, but I swear lots of shots Im faster with my svi std division .40 gun. its the long hard shots thats much faster. I can usually split 9/10s with the .40 but Im pretty much always at 11/12s with my open gun, think it has something to do with the fact you see dot movement, with iron sights its just "still" sort of, hard to describe really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novock Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 I grip pretty securely with my strong hand and rest my thumb on the thumb rest vs pressing down on it. I grip all my guns in a similar way. do what is comfortable as long as it is working for you. If it isn't try something new! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3gunDQ Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I tell people to "hold it like a grown as man." It differs from shooter to shooter and you need to try different grip strengths to see what words for you AND what runs the gun. hold it too loose and you'll see your malfunctions increase. I use lots of hand and lots of finger... and I am no where near that 60/40 BS... more like 70/70... maybe 80? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 If you're using 80% of your grip strength, you need more grip strength Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3gunDQ Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 my 80% and yours aint the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 That's my point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Elliott Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Grip it like it owes you money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZinZA Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 (edited) As if it were Justin Bieber's throat (Maybe I'm just getting old) Sent by Jedi mind control Edited January 13, 2016 by CZinZA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelix Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 ^^+1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRush Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Perception of percentages is different for each person. The old "squeeze it until you shake, then back off until it quits shaking" seems to work well. Of course the stronger you are the higher that threshold is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Elliott Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 As if it were Justin Bieber's throat (Maybe I'm just getting old) Sent by Jedi mind control That would make me crush a steel grip flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RippinSVT Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 I grip like I'm holding a hammer. It's not about getting rid of recoil, that's impossible. It's about making the recoil quick, manageable, and predictable. I visualize my hands as being a stiff spring into which the gun is recoiling. The spring should be allowed to compress, but should always return quickly and predictably to the same position. I don't fight the gun back down, it just snaps right back down normally onto target. To me, the most important thing is that the gun doesn't torque or have lateral movement, and some guns do. I want my gun to track perfectly up and down. I'll take a gun with a tad more muzzle flip over a gun that shoots flatter and doesn't track vertically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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