They do not lend themselves to natural mobility which is needed for close quarters work such as clearing rooms or going up and down stairs. And they provide limited gun retention capability as the gun is normally extended well out from the body with one or both arms in a rigid or stiff position.

The wrist lock grip, as described below, can enhance the suppression of recoil and provide for improved mobility and weapon retention.

Note: For safety purposes, the finger used to pull the trigger should not be placed within the trigger guard and/or on the trigger unless one is going to shoot. In the following photos, the middle finger is shown placed within the trigger guard to show that it is possible to do that.

The Wrist Lock Grip:

The strong hand grips the gun normally, and the weak hand fingers grab and lock onto the wrist of the strong hand from above (fingers on the top with the thumb on the bottom).

When the weak hand is positioned as stated, one can readily stop the strong hand from being raised up against it. Try it yourself.

As such, the grip provides a marked improvement over other grips in its ability to help dampen and suppress recoil forces.

Further, grip strength is enhanced when the hand and wrist are extended, so the Wrist Lock Grip, which helps keep the strong arm hand and wrist extended, will enhance the strength of the grip. It will also help limit low left shooting.

Caution:

Note that the wrist lock grip shown just above shows the fingers of my left hand going over and around the wrist. If your hand is placed on top of the wrist, it may well be bitten by the slide. In 9/06, I was using a gun that was new to me. And since I had had no problems before with a variety of pistols, I did not check the clearance first. And I got bit. So check first.

In a real confrontation, you may not grab your wrist just right, so if you can not safely shoot your gun with your weak hand placed on top of the wrist, the wrist lock grip may not be for you with that gun.

..........

With the Wrist Lock Grip, the gun will be held up in a ready-to-shoot position, and it will be pointed down range.

Also, the elbows will be in close, which in turn, covers the armpits with the upper arms for improved chest cavity protection.

The grip allows for full mobility and at the same time, it provides a strong and flexible shooting platform.

Gun retention ability will be enhanced because the gun will be held reasonably close to the body in a strong grip.

In a CQB contact situation, the weak hand (left), elbow can be used to strike a threat. As the strike is made, the gun muzzle will automatically point towards the threat and the gun can be fired.

If the strong hand (right), elbow is used to strike a threat, the muzzle will not automatically point towards the threat. However, the gun will be positioned away from the threat.

As the gun will point frontally, if a threat attempts a frontal contact, the threat can be hit with a forward punch or shot.

If you are in stacked formation and about to enter a room, the gun muzzle can be pulled to the left by moving the elbows to the left. At entry, the elbows can be brought back and the muzzle directed to the front.

If you bring the gun up and out from your body, the gun sites will be at a normal focal length for ease of use if conditions are such that you will be able to see and focus on them.

The strong and flexible shooting platform provided with the wrist lock grip, is similar to that of the CAR or Center Axis Re-Lock system. CAR employs a semi bladed stance, and a similar but different grip.

The CAR system grip keeps the gun up and close to your body and it utilizes a semi Clam Shell like grip.

Paul Castle, the CAR originator, said that once the technique is introduced and used properly by trainees, they are sold on it. The transition to it is very fast once they see how rapidly and accurately they can print on a target. Their speed and accuracy increases as does their tactical advantage.

A Test Of The Wrist Lock Grip:

When I brought this subject up on the web and asked for inputs from shooters who may have used it, the response I received from some gun "Gurus" and trainers was immediate and VERY negative. I got comments such as: "You must be a moron! -or- "using that grip will result in your hand being cut or fractured!" Two web moderators wouldn't even allow the post to remain, they erased it. So much for open minds in the gun community. :) :)

On 4/21/01 I went to the range and used the Wrist Lock Grip when shooting a Glock 17 in 9 mm (my first time shooting that gun). I used 9 x 14 inch targets placed at a distance of 15 feet.

The Wrist Lock Grip worked fine. (Weak hand fingers over and grasping strong hand wrist from above with thumb grasping from the bottom.) I had no problem. There was good hand/wrist clearance from the slide.

It didn't even come close to hitting me. The pictures above are of a S&W and KHAR pistol. You can see in the picture of the S&W, that the slide is well above my wrist.

Shooting was solid, comfortable, and quiet in that the recoil was well controlled.

I also used AIMED Point Shooting, or the P&S.

No sights, no trigger squeezing. Just point your index finger at the target and pull the trigger.

Point-n-pull, point-n-pull....hit, hit....

When I used a standard Clam Shell like grip, there was noticeably more recoil and muzzle jump with firing. I did not have a video camera to record the shooting for slow motion playback to note differences. However, I felt there was a noticeable difference which would show clearly in a video.

Also, I used my patented aiming aid, which is a little shelf that sticks out from the side of the gun, and helps keep your index finger parallel with the gun barrel and away from the slide. It also helps with support the gun.

Here is a portion of an e-mail I received from a Police Officer who made a test of the Wrist Lock Grip..

"I was so impressed with your article in American Police Beat, that I went out today and practiced the new grip you wrote about. I have had a problem lately with my trigger pull and mostly put my bullets low and left (or all over the place!)

I tried both the partial and full wrist lock grips and I am sold on the partial!

(With the "full" wrist lock grip, the strong hand wrist is facing down.)

Out of 55 shots, I put 48 of them in the kill zone!! Very good for me!! It greatly improved my accuracy with little or no recoil.

I tried the full wrist lock, but didn't like it much - it felt awkward to me and it was harder to control the pistol.

However, the partial is terrific and has really helped my shooting! Thank you so much!! I can't wait to show it to my instructor!!!

Happy Cop in ....!"

In the APB article, I suggested two variations of the Wrist Lock Grip. One was a Partial Wrist Lock Grip as detailed above, and the other was a "Full" Wrist Lock Grip where the strong hand is rotated so that the palm side of the wrist faces down. I would have had no problem using that grip with the Glock, however, I did not test it out in live firing - I just forgot. The officer who made the test, did try it, and she did not like it.

If you test out the Wrist Lock Grip (and of course at your own risk and expense), BEFORE you try a live fire test, BE SURE that the slide on your gun will not hit your weak hand and/or wrist. To do that, lock the slide back, and try the grip/grips to see if your weak hand and/or wrist, which will be atop and grasping your strong hand wrist, can get hit.

IF THERE IS A CHANCE OF THAT, DO NOT ATTEMPT A TEST!!!

Always practice safe gun handling.