Grips and Stances

Even though the rain had abated and the sun baked the moisture from the ground, I found myself alone at the range this afternoon. I had planned to shoot a bit with Frieda again, but she had other things to attend to. Since I was alone at the range, I worked on controlled pairs with my two Teflon coated 1911s.

A double tap or "hammer" is a bit different than a controlled pair. When a shooter fires a double tap, he fires off the second shot as soon as the muzzle of the gun settles, without reacquiring a sight picture. With a controlled pair, a flash sight picture is achieved before the second shot is squeezed off. It doesn't always result in greater accuracy, and if the truth be told, most people do a blend of the two.

I have found that the isometric grip I use places the muzzle back on target efficiently. To use that grip, the shooter should wrap his support hand far enough around the other to provide for a firm backwards pull. The knuckles of the support hand should be over the first joint on the primary hand's fingers. Then, as the shooter aligns the sights, the primary hand pushes forward while the support hand pulls back. The pistol is enclosed in a fleshy vise like grip. The grip quickly springs back to it's original configuration after the pistol recoils. While Jack Weaver is generally credited with the two hand shooting grip, many believe it was Jeff Cooper who introduced isometrics into the equation for recoil management. It really doesn't matter where it came from, it works for me.

You can learn more about the big three classical stances at this link.