The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Grips Don't Matter Much to Me But They Do Matter

Rangerrich99 · March 19, 2017, 07:20 PM

To a certain extent, I agree with the OP; a person can adapt/adjust to almost any grip, as long as they are willing to put in the time.

That said, In recent years I decided that although I could adapt to almost any grip while at the range, this wasn't going to work for me in a real SD situation.

My moment of truth came while practicing draw-and-points with my Beretta 96F. Now, when shooting slow, aimed fire at the range, I readily adapted to the just-a-bit-too-large grip and could shoot good groups with it all day.

However, when I tried to draw and point quickly, I found that my sights were almost never properly lined up, nor was the gun itself secured most of the time in my hands. And most troubling of all, my index finger usually was just barely able to hook over the trigger face (in DA). And sometimes I couldn't do that.

I discovered that I almost always had to make a slight adjustment right after the draw as my support hand came in from the side. And if I tried to point shoot, the rounds were scattered all over the target. In the end, I realized that the grip on that gun was just a little too big for me to trust it as a SD/HD weapon. A few months later I sold it in favor of a SIG P229, which has a slightly smaller grip, and is almost perfect for my size hands.

So while I can usually figure out how to adapt to most any gun grip, for SD/HD purposes, I have decided that grip size and shape are extremely important criteria in choosing what arms I'll carry/purchase. Any guns that aren't consistently point-able become non-carry guns or range guns.

This is actually one of the principle reasons I don't carry my Glock 19 on a regular basis. Something about the grip (it's not too large) perhaps just it's shape, doesn't lend itself to consistent point-ability for me. If I had a situation where I had to just draw, point, and fire with it, I'd had almost no idea of where the rounds would go. On the other hand, with my 1911s or my 229, or even any of my revolvers, at close range without using the sights I can repeatedly hit a sheet of paper at 15 ft. With the Glock, I just don't have that level of consistency, so it's not going to be a primary carry weapon for me.

Ymmv.

March 19, 2017, 07:20 PM	#16
Rangerrich99 Senior Member Join Date: March 20, 2014 Location: Kinda near Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,254	To a certain extent, I agree with the OP; a person can adapt/adjust to almost any grip, as long as they are willing to put in the time. That said, In recent years I decided that although I could adapt to almost any grip while at the range, this wasn't going to work for me in a real SD situation. My moment of truth came while practicing draw-and-points with my Beretta 96F. Now, when shooting slow, aimed fire at the range, I readily adapted to the just-a-bit-too-large grip and could shoot good groups with it all day. However, when I tried to draw and point quickly, I found that my sights were almost never properly lined up, nor was the gun itself secured most of the time in my hands. And most troubling of all, my index finger usually was just barely able to hook over the trigger face (in DA). And sometimes I couldn't do that. I discovered that I almost always had to make a slight adjustment right after the draw as my support hand came in from the side. And if I tried to point shoot, the rounds were scattered all over the target. In the end, I realized that the grip on that gun was just a little too big for me to trust it as a SD/HD weapon. A few months later I sold it in favor of a SIG P229, which has a slightly smaller grip, and is almost perfect for my size hands. So while I can usually figure out how to adapt to most any gun grip, for SD/HD purposes, I have decided that grip size and shape are extremely important criteria in choosing what arms I'll carry/purchase. Any guns that aren't consistently point-able become non-carry guns or range guns. This is actually one of the principle reasons I don't carry my Glock 19 on a regular basis. Something about the grip (it's not too large) perhaps just it's shape, doesn't lend itself to consistent point-ability for me. If I had a situation where I had to just draw, point, and fire with it, I'd had almost no idea of where the rounds would go. On the other hand, with my 1911s or my 229, or even any of my revolvers, at close range without using the sights I can repeatedly hit a sheet of paper at 15 ft. With the Glock, I just don't have that level of consistency, so it's not going to be a primary carry weapon for me. Ymmv.