Proper Handhold for air pistols

[rsfrid]

Most powder burning handgun shooters know (or have heard) about proper hand hold and good shooting form for best accuracy and consistency. Bad or inconsistent hand holds will result in wide groups, POI not where desired, and even missing the target. Glock shooters especially have trouble with this. All of this applies equally to air pistols. In fact longer dwell times make hand hold form even more important. Where to rest each hand makes a big difference in where the pellet lands.

There have been many articles and even books published describing the factors of proper hold so I won't discuss here. Look up books or articles on pistol target shooting. I have been guilty of forgetting the principles when I switched from powder burner pistols to air pistols and only recently "rediscovered" them. Casual hand holds might sometimes get "tight" groups at common pistol shooting distances of 7-10 yards, but to get truly tight groups even at these close distances requires good holding discipline.

The Following pictures were taken after I "rediscovered" my proper handhold for pistol shooting. I don't always get groups like this, but then I didn't always get good groups when shooting powder burners in NRA Bullseye, either.

 

[follownoone]

Nice shooting.

 

[JamesD.]

All I can say is very cool & thank you.

I'm going to have to try my EVO-10E at 8 yards off hand, bag rested. See how I do in comparison. I have it set up for 20 yards. 


I very well may keep this if I impress myself or anyone else lol. Was thinking about selling it but let's see if rsfrid's post inspired me enough. Thanks for the honest post. 

 

[steve-l]

I cannot overemphasize the importance of correct and consistent grip. The OP is very correct. He is also correct about the difficulty of shooters with the Glocks. The grip sensitivity is due to the poor balance these pistols have. Pistols that are nose heavy are far easier to shoot accurately because they are less sensitive to poor trigger work.

 

[rsfrid]

@JamesD: same rules as powder burner Bullseye shooting — get the best ammo, sort the pellets at least by weight, adopt a perfect hand hold and do the same regime every single time. There's a reason the grips of your pistol are such a weird shape and it's not the cool factor. It's so that your hand fits perfectly and repeatably. Every time I shoot an 8 or lower, it's because my grip changed. Oh, and breath — it helps your vision.

 

[MikeVV]

Agreed too.

Although it becomes much less...fun sorting pellets, weight and or diameter.

It also much less fun shooting by stick, or bag, or bypod. That's the gun doing all of the work. I've found it much more enjoyable to include myself into the mix and do MY best at hitting the best bullseye. We all know that todays guns can outshoot most of us...outta the box.

Because of my slightly larger hand size, I've modified most all of my guns grips to better suit my hand, in one way or another.

Mike

 

[boscoebrea]

some call it a hand weld instead of a hold...nothing beats consistent....

Great shooting....

 

[Brent]

The best gun in the world is just a fancy paper weight if we don't do our part. Study your art and perfect your form to be the best you can be. A wise old man taught me long ago that Practice makes permanent not perfect. Good practice with the right form makes perfect.

 

[MikeVV]

The best gun in the world is just a fancy paper weight if we don't do our part. Study your art and perfect your form to be the best you can be. A wise old man taught me long ago that Practice makes permanent not perfect. Good practice with the right form makes perfect.

Neither permanent OR perfect...IF...you don't continue to practice the art.

I shot firearms most every weekend, years ago. Friends grow apart, I moved 45 miles away from a couple of guys that were left that I shot with, two others moved away. Then the outdoor, non-range shooting areas, got taken away by the forest service / government. My firearms shooting dropped to basically "zero".

Then retirement came. Then...air guns came ! While I still had the basics of how to shoot in my head, I had to start over with "good" practices and learn new, and relearn old skills to be satisfied with my shooting. I shoot free, or off hand, so getting back my old skills was very important to be able to shoot the air guns well. It DIDN'T come back over night.

My biggest awakening, that I found, is that while you need a firm grip on a fire arm (especially depending on the caliber) to shoot well, air guns seem to prefer a light hand hold for accurate shooting. Even the very solid, heavy duty Edgun, Lelya, a light hold will tend to produce better bulls eye's than a tighter hold.

And the same I found for air powered (PCP & springer) pistols / hand guns. While the grip "hold" is (should be !?) the same, you don't have to squeeze nearly as tight. Just enough to have a solid hold and not...drop the gun !

MY...biggest difference, is 30 and 45 or so year old eye sight, vs. 71 year old eye sight ! Iron sights were fine during my fire arms shooting days, now everything (even my left over firearms) have some sort of red/green dot or prism sight to aid my target acquisition. Even with a couple of different pairs of glasses, no more iron sights here.

Mike

 

[steve-l]

As I became older and my eyesight deteriorated when using iron sights, I had to use my reading glasses to get a clear in focus front sight. That became a training blessing in a way. This forced me to focus on the front sight, not the target. I could still shoot tight groups, but I could not always tell you where they would be!

 

[boscoebrea]

I know,and good peep sights are the same way to me....like wow....surprised in a happy way.