A hand injury put some things into perspective...

[adamBomb]

I recently injured my dominant hand via large laceration and couldn't use it well for about 2-3 weeks. During that time my pistols felt useless. Sure I have done some training one handed but knowing that my only option for home defense and CCW was to use my opposite hand only didn't sit very well with me. Just knowing how easy I could limp wrist it or whatever didn't help. Now I do have a revolver for home defense that I rotated in during this injury...but man it was really a wake up call. I wish I would of had a jframe for CCW. I've always liked revolvers but I definitely felt a greater need to them during this time.

[TXAZ]

I'm "very left handed" so it felt weird the first few times, but taught myself to shoot right handed after getting tired of catching brass in the face or inside the shirt with a couple of pistols.
Give it a try.

[briandg]

My left hand is just as dumb as a box of rocks, my entire left function is weak and confused, and I still try to train a little there is probably nothing more important than versatility in training, whether it's learning how to shoot in varying light levels, revolver and autoloader, varying sight types, bit h rifle and pistol.

Let a friend beat you up before practice, let him whack you on the head, bind the left hand, tied in a chair, on your knees, heck, try while neck deep in the water.

have you ever watched very technical, martial arts competition, not the bs mma or television rights? The genuine martial artists learn dozens, hundreds of strikes and blocks, work out, learn how to knock the crap out of anyone at any time, anywhere, but does the average, ordinary guy learn anything much beyond trigger control and other basic techniques?

Even the great competitors use pretty limited crazy, unexpected stuff.

A couple things that surprised me were two things I read years ago. One was about a test firing under a garage door. Competitors had to drop and nail three plates with a half foot gap.

Another test had two score busters. One required the competitor to retrieve his pistol from a car and he was tagged from the back seat. Later in the test a marked magazine had to retrieved and used co complete the course, but there weren't enough to complete the course. There were a full load of loose rounds a few feet away, those rounds were necessary to finish the course, it was an automatic failure if the competitors missed them. Not enough rounds to finish the course even with a perfect run.

[Mobuck]

I had double carpal release surgery in 2008 with the right done first. I'm not ambidextrous but not too bad as a lefty. I did some prep before the surgery date and found a holster that worked well enough for me and determined which pistol I could manage. Since my left hand was actually more affected than my right, I had so much loss of strength and dexterity that a double action was out of the question. I ended up with a Star BM(mid-sized single action single stack 9mm) for my choice of gun.

[adamBomb]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. My hand is 100% better now so its not an issue but its really put things in perspective for me. I am definitely going to increase my 1 handed training and might pick up a few revolvers this year. I've had my eye on a 642 jframe for a # of years anyway.

[kraigwy]

Back in the late 70s I got shot in my right hand, had several pin. After a couple weeks I taped it up and went back to work.

The LT asked me one night how I could draw my service revolver with my left hand. I did the most awkward reach around grabbing my revolver with my left hand.

He told me to get to property, draw a left handed holster, and I had to qualify before I could hit the street.

I did, went to the range and spent the 10 hour shift practicing. The next day I qualified, barely but I got to go back to work. Kept working at it until I could shoot expert again.

It changed my whole outlook on pistol training. Now anytime I teach a class 45% is strong hand shooting, 45% weak hand shooting and 10% two hand shooting.

I want to add, in my 20 years in Police work, except for the range, I've never was in a position where I had both hands free. Always something in the other hand, flashlight, notebook, mirror, door knob, other bandit, always something.

Shooting with either hand in SD is critical. As is shooting one handed.

[briandg]

Good point

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Years ago, I broke my left dominant wrist. Conveniently, I was signed up for an injured shooter class and did it with my right hand. I also was signed up for Mas' Stressfire class. Did it right handed. Nondominant hand shooting is not a big deal. Just practice it.

I even could shoot a 44 mag Desert Eagle one handed. Good sight picture, trigger control - same as the dominant hand. I dry fire and use my SIRT with my right hand quite a bit.

[Siggy-06]

I've broken my dominant hand's index finger twice and the middle once. I also cut the tendon over the index knuckle fairly deeply as well. Then theres just the common cuts and burns throughout the years. Luckily my CCW(an xds) is ambidextrous(mag release) if the need ever arises. Every range session, you should at least run 1 full magazine through your gun with your weak side hand, just to get a little more comfortable and learn your own limitations.

[bassJAM1]

I write with my left hand, eat with my left hand, but do pretty much everything else right handed including shoot. I’ve found the biggest difficulty when shooting a revolver left handed is the double action trigger. While I have relatively strong hands and fingers, it’s noticeably harder for me to use a revolver’s trigger left handed. I’ve started doing dry-fire exercises to help, but it’s still noticeable.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

That's an added interesting nuance on the striker vs. DA/SA debate if you have a safety. Another is the perceived need or not for an external safety. A gun like a Glock or M&P without a safety takes care of that. I've found that being a lefty - I can manipulate a Glock quite well with my forefinger. The trigger pull isn't a problem, either.

Also, with a hand out of action - reloading a semi is a pain but not that hard. Reloading a revolver is harder.

Of course, this starts the great debate that we are all wonderful shots and will take down 5 foes with five shots and/or the average fight only entails one opponent, so that guarantees your fight will only entail one opponent. Also, the opponent will probably run away anyway. However, your cliche mileage might vary.

Thus, I will opine that a good striker semi with no external safety and practice is optimal for injured hand usage. That's what I found when in that position for several months.

[Lohman446]

For me an old elbow injury has impacted feeling and to a degree coordination in my non-dominate hand. It's not unusable but it takes far more concentration to work with and really impacts my ability to respond to changes in the situation around me. I tried for some time to overcome this in other sports but there is no question I favor my dominate side. It's eye opening and annoying when I pay attention to how noticeable the difference is despite adjustments I have tried to make to address it