Holding your pistol

[reddogge]

I've never owned a M/L pistol but own 25 military and other handguns of various calibers and types. I shoot all of them with a two hand hold offhand.

How do you hold your flint and percussion pistols? Single handed or two handed?

 

[jdixon]

Depends on the venue, hunting, two hand modified Weaver stance. If you are at a NMLRA match, it is one handed for all of the competitive shooting I have seen.

 

[Titus]

personally I hold mine as I would hold a rifle, only this one has an imaginary butt stock. Get real good results with it that way.

 

[FishDFly]

J.R.

Why are competive shoots all one handed? It seems that to get the most accuracy that they would be 2 handed.

You develope the most accurate load for a pistol and then handicap the shooter. It does not make sense to me.

RDE

 

[bigbore442001]

I shoot all handguns with two hands. It is just more accurate for me.

 

[Desert Rat]

I like the classic dueling stance... standing sideways arm fully extended other arm cocked and hand on the hip with a loud "You sir are a cad" :grin:


Of course the broad side of the barn is typically safe in this exercise. That's also probably why I mind my manners in polite company.


If I'm actually trying to hit something two hands are the way to go.

 

[Titus]

:rotf: :rotf:

 

[biliff]

Why are competive shoots all one handed? It seems that to get the most accuracy that they would be 2 handed.

You develope the most accurate load for a pistol and then handicap the shooter. It does not make sense to me.

Yeah, and Trap shooters would get much higher scores if they'd quit throwing those clay targets in the air and just place them on the ground and shoot 'em. :rotf:
It's a competition to see who can shoot the best with ONE HAND not to see who can get into the most stable position possible and shoot the best group.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

reddogge, I usually use two hands with a modified Weaver stance. Just remember when you're shooting revolvers with BP to not get either hand alongside the cylinder, as you normally would with say a .45 Auto. This will cause a powder burn :nono: .

Some BP Leagues have specific rules with regards to a one or two handed hold, and even that can very depending upon the shooting situaton at hand. In the league that I belong to we are allowed to use both hands, so we all do just that! Since I practice with my weak hand with centerfire arms, I could switch hands or put a BP revolver in each hand and make a smokescreen :shocked2: :rotf: .

Have fun and let us know how you do!

All the best, Dave

 

[peashooterJoe]

Have you ever tried the onehand with pinkie finger underbutt hold? OLD Timer showed me that hold years ago when I worked for Uncle, works pretty darn good for me (my scores improved)on Cap'n'Ball revolvers. I have small hands so big grips are a little arkward for me. The Flintlock I use the two hand hold.

 

[J.S. Colt]

The one-handed stance is the traditional hold used during the 19th century. It developed from the dueling position. Contemporaries of Wild Bill Hickok said he held the gun with one hand with his elbow "slightly bent". I can't argue with success, nor can I come close to his abilities even if I used three hands. I would guess that practice is the key, no matter how many hands you use!

 

[Slake]

I like the one hand hold, the duel posistion so to speak and agree with whom ever said practice makes perfect. The only time I use my other hand is when I'm shooting a handgun that is strange to me and I'm unsure of its power or occasionaly to steady myself to zero in on something I've just missed and then I hold the pistol and use the second hand as a cup for which to rest my shooting hand. I've seen many people injure themselves by sticking the second hand up where it shouldn't be.

 

[torn moc]

PC OR NOT PC...it dont matter to me cause I am trying to HIT what I aim at....
therefore I use 2 hand hold....

 

[[email protected]]

I normally shoot one handed for a historic reenactment perspective. I want to get a sense of "how it was."

 

[Coot]

When I joined the Navy (1965), all pistol training was for one hand shooting - by the time I retired, it had changed to two hands. Two hands is more accurate for most folks & I will shoot that way if I am trying for maximum precision. Since I learned with one hand & have shot a lot more that way, I still prefer it & am quite comfortable at matches that require the "traditional" way. Frankly, for black powder shooting in general, I am looking for my best results consistent with what I know of the methods and materials used "back in the day" rather that the best that can be obtained with modern methods. I consider it part of the charm of bp.

 

[Jac Spring]

I always thought that the one-handed method was taught as the pistol was considered a cavalary arm - and the other hand was on the lead or holding the sabre!

Ditto for infantry officers - they could use the left hand for the pistol and have their sabre in hand as well when afoot.

I've seen lots of cavarly and other war pics like that.

So the one-handed hold was considered di riguer for a gentleman.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Just remember about the "New York reload", a.k.a. a 9mm in each hand turned 90 degrees :rotf: :youcrazy: :shocked2: . All the best, Dave

 

[J.S. Colt]

Actually, the Cavalry considered the sabre to be the primary weapon, which is why it was positioned on the left hip and the pistol was on the right hip in a butt forwards cross draw holster. You drew the sabre with your right hand and the pistol with your left hand. Doesn't make much sense to me but, hey, it's the Army...

 

[Coot]

Actually, the Cavalry considered the sabre to be the primary weapon, which is why it was positioned on the left hip and the pistol was on the right hip in a butt forwards cross draw holster. You drew the sabre with your right hand and the pistol with your left hand. Doesn't make much sense to me but, hey, it's the Army...

A sword is worn on the weak side so as to make drawing it much easier. It would be very hard to clear the scabbard if worn on the strong (generally right hand) side. For most of the time that pistols and swords were worn together, the pistol was a single shot emergency weapon. The sword does not need reloading & so it would have been the primary multiple use, all weather weapon. Once revolvers came in, the sword became less & less important. Traditions die hard in the peacetime military & so the sword lasted well beyond its practical date.One of General Patton's early (1913) contributions was to design a new calvary saber. The US navy designed it's last cutlass six years after the Colt m1911 came out. The last calvary pistol to be designed is to my knowledge was the VIS 35 (in 1935).

 

[DanChamberlain]

To understand why we hold our weapons with two hands, vs the original intent of the handgun, you have to look way back to the design of the first successfull handguns. They weren't as much a handgun as they were a very short rifle. They were the first true "point and click" interface. The barrels were mostly long and when you stuck one out at the end of your arm, it was something akin to pointing a short cane. One didn't need considerable accuracy to "considerably accurately" place the ball center mass. Formal training was nonexistent. People with moderately good hand/eye coordination could shoot reasonabley well. With the advent of the percussion revolver, the guns were still of long barrel, the grips not so different from those of the muzzleloading single shots and the line of sight still straight down the barrel. Shooting them was an instinctive exercise just as it was in days of yore.

Hickock was able to shoot his Navy pistols well, because everyone who has ever shot a Navy pistol will be able to tell you, they point like lasers! They have terrible sights, but one can nearly close their eyes and strike a target with reasonable accuracy. I shoot my modern handguns two handed, but almost always shoot my cap and ball handguns one handed when headshooting squirrels at reasonable ranges of 10 yards or less. If They are farther than 10 yards...I let them go. If they were ner-do-wells...I'd shoot a mite farther.

Dan