Thumb rest

[Aristotle]

When I first started shooting Open last year, rite off the bat, I purchased an Arrendondo Thumb Rest for my Open gun. During a long range standard, something like 30 yards, it wasn't even hitting paper. This was probably my second time shooting Open. Someone told me to toss the thumbrest so I did at the time. Learned this little thing called "grip pressure" and I'm finding brown again.

Anyhow, it's been literally a full year now. Digging through my parts bin I find that old thumb rest. Must have been bored, or ADD'd out of doing some chores, next thing you know I'm screwing it onto my gun after a little modification.

"Oh look, it's my belt and timer." I'm sure I can get in a few draws before the wifey knows I've gone AWOL.

I've been refining my draw all year with my open gun. And after the very first draw noticed that when I got my thumb on the rest " my dot steadied faster on POA ".

Whaaa What's this.

Few more draw strokes and I'm thinking, wait, something feels different.

Anyhow, looking forward to taking it to a range or a monthly match to see if I can possibly benefit from a thumbrest after a full year of driving an open gun with improved skillset with the gun.

Tis the season, for tweaking your gear for next year.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Aristotle

[JThompson]

Take it off again, and this time throw it in the waste basket.

[shooterbenedetto]

if you dont grip with your thumb it should be fine. Just let your thumb rest on it.

Since you have reprogram your shooting without it, I dont think you'll have a problem.

[Dan Sierpina]

The topic title describes what it is for, resting the thumb. They are not there to control recoil! They only give a consistant place for your thumb as you shoot.

[G-ManBart]

Take it off again, and this time throw it in the waste basket.

Somebody better forward this advice to Eric G.....not sure how he's accomplished so much with his gun all out of whack like this

[AWLAZS]

Ari I use one on my guns and I do push down on it a little. THe other da I was doing some dry fire drills and I put my finger out in front like Eric G. I was pinching the front of the trigger and the thumb rest. It was very solid.

Randy

[Sean Gaines]

I use one, and put alot of pressure on mine, it does not effect the accuracy one bit, it give me alot more control of the gun. There is a difference with or with out it on, for me. I can't grip the gun hard with out it, and it flips around more with out it.

But then again, I place my weakhand thumb on the frame when I shoot limited, so I am used to having my thumb on the gun.

I like them, and wish we could use them in limited also.

Edited November 25, 2009 by Sean Gaines

[JThompson]

Take it off again, and this time throw it in the waste basket.

Somebody better forward this advice to Eric G.....not sure how he's accomplished so much with his gun all out of whack like this

Yes, but he does that crazy wrapping the index finger around the trigger guard too. There are exceptions to every rule. I tried it and it upset the recoil of my gun. I also spoke with Max Michel about it too and he said much the same thing.

The concept of using it in conjunction with the index finger in front of the trigger guard might have some merit because they could offset one another. I subscribe to the KISS principle though, the less variables I have to deal with the better I like it. As Albert E said in my sig. "Everything should be made as simple as possible." The more variables you throw at something the more shit there is to go wrong. It's not to say that it can't be done and done well, but for most of us the less the better.

JT

Edited November 24, 2009 by JThompson

[rvb]

... ADD'd out of doing some chores, ... a little modification. ... I'm sure I can get in a few draws before the wifey knows I've gone AWOL.

how'd that work out for ya? 'cause I'm always gettin' busted...

-rvb

[Aristotle]

... ADD'd out of doing some chores, ... a little modification. ... I'm sure I can get in a few draws before the wifey knows I've gone AWOL.

how'd that work out for ya? 'cause I'm always gettin' busted...

-rvb

lol, not real well, it's usually when I'm "almost" done that I hear this booming voice from downstairs that says " so are YOU DONE???? "

" uh, yeah honey, just had to grab something real quick... "

Anyhow, yeah, I chucked the thumb rest again. I just can't toss out possibly 100 hours of practice already, there's nothing here that's broke, and I should leave well enough alone.

All I need is bullets and range time, bullets and range time, bullets and range time.

Edited November 25, 2009 by Aristotle

[G-ManBart]

Take it off again, and this time throw it in the waste basket.

Somebody better forward this advice to Eric G.....not sure how he's accomplished so much with his gun all out of whack like this

Yes, but he does that crazy wrapping the index finger around the trigger guard too. There are exceptions to every rule. I tried it and it upset the recoil of my gun. I also spoke with Max Michel about it too and he said much the same thing.

The concept of using it in conjunction with the index finger in front of the trigger guard might have some merit because they could offset one another. I subscribe to the KISS principle though, the less variables I have to deal with the better I like it. As Albert E said in my sig. "Everything should be made as simple as possible." The more variables you throw at something the more shit there is to go wrong. It's not to say that it can't be done and done well, but for most of us the less the better.

JT

Yeah, but that's just where I think it can be useful....at least for some folks. Hanging your support thumb out in the open, alongside the frame it's never going to wind up in precisely the same spot twice. It'll be close, with practice, but not perfectly the same and it can be altered somewhat by how your grip winds up for each draw. Obviously we don't always get a perfect grip, so that throws in a varible.

With the pedal, your thumb is always going to be in precisely the same spot, so the angle of your support wrist will always be the same. The angle of the support wrist has a lot to do with how the gun tracks in recoil. Change the wrist angle, you change how the gun reacts.

Just like anything else, it's not the right choice for everyone, but I know they work really well for me and my accuracy is normally solid. R,

[Pezco]

I have a *thumb rest [generic]* I'm dying to try, if I can only get the C-More screws loose!

[Tzygä]

Thumb rest is ok if you don't press it. It should only show your thumb for the same place every time. You could also use grip tape or something else to mark the place for your thumb if you need it. I don't use thumb rest any more because I feel that I don't need it. My thumb goes for same place anyway.

[Aloha Robert]

This is one of my favorite pet subjects and one I can speak authoritatively on.

The discrepancy of opinions on this subject is huge and largely due to misunderstanding of what that little thing on the non dominant side is really doing, but first understand the terms.

“Thumb Rest” is a generic term for just about anything you can put your non dominant thumb on and if you “rest” your thumb on it, it will NOT control recoil or decrease shot to shot time (decrease splits).

“*thumb rest [generic]*” is a trademark of E-TAC CNC, Inc. and by it’s design can dramatically decreases recoil and shot to shot time. It is designed to put the non dominant shooters hand in the correct anatomical position to easily control recoil with thumb pressure. The original idea behind the name was if you want to go faster you “step on the Gas” aka more pressure

Generic “Thumb Rest s” are all over the map with regard to position and most are wrong, or encourage old fashioned thumb position. So one shooter will say don’t press on it while another might find it helpful or harmful.

The real “*thumb rest [generic]*” should be pressed on forcefully which does a lot of great things including controlling recoil, reducing flip, gives a perfect grip every time, naturally increases grip of non dominant hand with resultant better trigger control because of much more relaxed dominant hand.

To the naysayers who say this alters the shooting style or takes some practice, they are right, but a few mags worth of amo is about what it takes to understand it and a few practice sessions to get faster with it.

Although today still a highly controversial idea with open shooters, Esteban from E-TAC and myself developed and promoted the “*thumb rest [generic]*” in the nineties.

BTW Eric G does not have a genuine *thumb rest [generic]*. His Thumb rest is from another company and similar to our earlier designs we discarded long ago. But he does appear to use it for recoil reduction to some degree as we had envisioned years back.

[Graham Brammall]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but the topic is spot on.

I have an Eric gold custom open gun and due to my small hand size trying to find a thumb rest that fits me is difficult, so, solution make my own. It's a piece of stainless 3mm angle welded to my slide stop which I then filled and polished to look respectable, it is a complete custom fit and works perfectly, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

[Aloha Robert]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but the topic is spot on.

I have an Eric gold custom open gun and due to my small hand size trying to find a thumb rest that fits me is difficult, so, solution make my own. It's a piece of stainless 3mm angle welded to my slide stop which I then filled and polished to look respectable, it is a complete custom fit and works perfectly, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Graham has the right idea, but curious the post says it is welded to slide stop but pic sure looks like welded to a thumb safety. For the absolute most recoil reduction the non dominant thumb needs to be close to axis of slide stop which is why most "thumb rests" dont work, they are too far forward. Putting pressure on the dominant thumb with thumb safety also works but is gunshmithing wise a little more difficult as unless the thumb saftety has support directly to frame, it will eventually fail on the axis. Also takes a little more practice to take avantage of recoil reduction with dominant thumb.

I love the comment about size, because our own desingn works extremely well with petite thru huge hands

[Graham Brammall]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, and I can assure you it is on a slide stop. Down here in OZ we dont always have the variety of parts available that our us counterparts have, which is a huge bummer. Can you post a pic of your thumb rest, I had a look on your GO Gun site but couldn't find one.

[Aloha Robert]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, and I can assure you it is on a slide stop. Down here in OZ we dont always have the variety of parts available that our us counterparts have, which is a huge bummer. Can you post a pic of your thumb rest, I had a look on your GO Gun site but couldn't find one.

I thinkGraham is trying to fake me out with images from Oz. First, he assure me that what makes him shoot better is attached to slide stop. no pic on gun but what is that little sqaure thing we see on thumb safeties but not slide stops? Who would have thunk it? My theory, eveyhting is name different there, only sounds the same.

Whateva, good for you Graham! And he has a good question what does a real *thumb rest [generic]* look like. Well I am sponsor member and am not supposed to post commerical url except on my forrum tent.

But on I can tell you if you hit our home page and select galleries, you get to look at 1911. All our rippers pictured have the orginal trademarked Gas Pedals.

Or if you look at page 26 of Sep/Oct Front Sight you will see it in action. Although a distant shot it does show the anatomically correct position of the thumb and more importantly the wrist for max good things happening from Open Gun. BtW is does help shooting on the move.

[Graham Brammall]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, and I can assure you it is on a slide stop. Down here in OZ we dont always have the variety of parts available that our us counterparts have, which is a huge bummer. Can you post a pic of your thumb rest, I had a look on your GO Gun site but couldn't find one.

I thinkGraham is trying to fake me out with images from Oz. First, he assure me that what makes him shoot better is attached to slide stop. no pic on gun but what is that little sqaure thing we see on thumb safeties but not slide stops? Who would have thunk it? My theory, eveyhting is name different there, only sounds the same.

Whateva, good for you Graham! And he has a good question what does a real *thumb rest [generic]* look like. Well I am sponsor member and am not supposed to post commerical url except on my forrum tent.

But on I can tell you if you hit our home page and select galleries, you get to look at 1911. All our rippers pictured have the orginal trademarked Gas Pedals.

Or if you look at page 26 of Sep/Oct Front Sight you will see it in action. Although a distant shot it does show the anatomically correct position of the thumb and more importantly the wrist for max good things happening from Open Gun. BtW is does help shooting on the move.

No I'm not trying to fake you out at all, when my frame comes back from plating I'll post a pic to show that it is definately on the slide stop, not to be picky but if you know any thing about Tanfoglios/EAA Witness, the photos clearly show it is a slide stop and not a thumb safety.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction on your site, I can now see what your talking about, the *thumb rest [generic]* looks good and although still mounted on the scope mount it does sit back a long way, out of curiosity how do you remove the slide stop? it doesn't look like it theres much room there.

[Aloha Robert]

From Gramham

No I'm not trying to fake you out at all, when my frame comes back from plating I'll post a pic to show that it is definately on the slide stop, not to be picky but if you know any thing about Tanfoglios/EAA Witness, the photos clearly show it is a slide stop and not a thumb safety.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction on your site, I can now see what your talking about, the *thumb rest [generic]* looks good and although still mounted on the scope mount it does sit back a long way, out of curiosity how do you remove the slide stop? it doesn't look like it theres much room there.

Ok I plead uncle, I dont know much about Tanfoglios, so that explains it. To answer your question, on our design it does requires removal to remove slide stop to field strip gun. It takes about 30 seconds if you go slow. You can mount ours on C more( or any other mount that is solid). On my personal gun, I had mounting holes drilled and tapped to FRAME and thru the C more. That way it is super solid, easily removes and does not affect zero of gun.

Although I am almost revealing trade secret, 3 Cheers to Graham for figureing out you HAVE to have a *thumb rest [generic]* very close to axis of slide stop (at least on 1911/2011). That is weakness of most other "Thumb Rests" They are in wrong position.

Edited December 2, 2009 by E-Tac CNC

[openmike]

Right or wrong it's a pipe dream for left handers. I've never seen one for the right side the gun......