The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Grip: Thumb on top of safety? (and other questions)

Willie D · November 29, 2007, 02:30 AM

I've been experimenting with different grips and stances recently after watching that Todd Jarrett video. I only have about a year's experience shooting pistols and I'm not very good at it (much more comfortable with rifles). I have a Ruger MK2 and just got a CZ75.

I had been shooting with a Weaver stance, left foot forward, weak eye closed. I'm trying out a square-to-the-target stance, keeping both eyes open, sometimes thumb on top of safety like Jarret, sometimes not. Sometimes shooting with corrective lenses, sometimes not (I don't wear glasses everyday but my eyes are on the brink).

Maybe I'm fooling with too much stuff at once. I think I've gotten better with the .22 using the square stance and a high thumb but possibly worse with the 9mm. I can get 20 shots with the MK2 mostly within a 4" area at 7 yards. With the CZ I usually get the 1st DA shot an inch or two NW of the bullseye, a few shots grouped a few inches under the bull around 7 o'clock and the rest seem to scatter all over the paper.

I bought the CZ and changed stances at the same time and I've yet to shoot a good group with the CZ. I did better with my old EAA Witness when I used the weaver/dynamic tension sort of stance with one eye. The test sheet for the CZ said it had a 9 cm spread at 25m so it probably isn't the gun. Maybe I'm having problems with the CZ's sights or possibly even having trouble with the new targets at my range that are more like hollow rings than traditional bullseyes.

Any comments, suggestions or reading/viewing recomendations would be appreciated.

November 29, 2007, 02:30 AM	#1
Willie D Senior Member Join Date: June 24, 2007 Posts: 1,149	Grip: Thumb on top of safety? (and other questions) I've been experimenting with different grips and stances recently after watching that Todd Jarrett video. I only have about a year's experience shooting pistols and I'm not very good at it (much more comfortable with rifles). I have a Ruger MK2 and just got a CZ75. I had been shooting with a Weaver stance, left foot forward, weak eye closed. I'm trying out a square-to-the-target stance, keeping both eyes open, sometimes thumb on top of safety like Jarret, sometimes not. Sometimes shooting with corrective lenses, sometimes not (I don't wear glasses everyday but my eyes are on the brink). Maybe I'm fooling with too much stuff at once. I think I've gotten better with the .22 using the square stance and a high thumb but possibly worse with the 9mm. I can get 20 shots with the MK2 mostly within a 4" area at 7 yards. With the CZ I usually get the 1st DA shot an inch or two NW of the bullseye, a few shots grouped a few inches under the bull around 7 o'clock and the rest seem to scatter all over the paper. I bought the CZ and changed stances at the same time and I've yet to shoot a good group with the CZ. I did better with my old EAA Witness when I used the weaver/dynamic tension sort of stance with one eye. The test sheet for the CZ said it had a 9 cm spread at 25m so it probably isn't the gun. Maybe I'm having problems with the CZ's sights or possibly even having trouble with the new targets at my range that are more like hollow rings than traditional bullseyes. Any comments, suggestions or reading/viewing recomendations would be appreciated.