Get a Grip | Pistols

Pistol Grip Tips for Beginners & Experts

If you’re new to sport pistol shooting, you’ll be finding a lot of different advice out there about the best grip for achieving accurate target groupings. Depending on what discipline you’re competing in, advice on the best grip for your firearm is going to differ.

Prac Pistol shooters for instance focus on quick target acquisition and small groupings at speed and on the move. Field Pistol shooters on the other hand may look for consistency over different distances from a static position.

Not only are there different disciplines, there are dozens of different training styles and of course a huge variety of handguns. Add to this the individual shooters arm and hand strength, height etc, and you’ll find that some styles of grip may not be suitable for you.

With all that said however, there are different techniques we can all learn as sporting pistol shooters to help improve our skills and prevent bad habits developing. There are also some common elements to what constitutes a ‘good grip’ that most sporting shooters will agree on;

• Grip as high as possible
• Large contact area with the pistol
• Consistent Grip

When you begin sport shooting, it’s important to take your time with the basics and develop muscle memory and discipline for how you hold your firearm. Also, the more you shoot, the better you will perform as time goes on.

Although this video pertains to our American cousins that train from a combat perspective – more associated with Prac Pistol than Field Pistol, Single Action or IHMS – it is a great overview of the variety of elements that can make up a good grip that will ultimately improve your performance.

Click the image below to watch the video ‘Grip is Why you’re Missing‘.