1. MECHANICS OF THE KNUCKLES OF THE HAND

If you hold a piece of 1 or 2 inch pipe loosely in your right hand with your palm down, and then grasp it firmly, you will find that it will tip down on the right side and up on the left.

That happens because the knuckles of your ring and little finger where they meet your hand, will have rolled forward and down. They will no longer be in alignment with the knuckles of the index and middle fingers.

You can test this without a piece of pipe.

Hold your hand out in front of you, palm down, and make a relaxed fist.

Then clench your fist tightly. And as you do that look at the knuckles of your ring and little finger where they meet your hand. They will move or roll down and forward some.

The third knuckle of the ring finger and the little finger, are hinge joints which can rotate some. And with their movement, the ring and little fingers will clamp down and give tenacity to the grip.

The same knuckles of your index finger and your middle finger, are not hinge joints. They are stable.

So, when you grip a gun firmly, the knuckles of the index and middle finger will remain in place, and the knuckles of the ring and little fingers will roll forward.

The ring and little fingers will clamp onto the grip and twist it down and to the left some. As a result, the gun barrel will be pulled down and to the left with the muzzle taking a nose dive.

Note, the grip of a double stack gun that is also big for the hand, may prevent the ring and little fingers from moving and clamping down and result in a weak grip.

2. MECHANICS OF THE LOWER ARM AND HAND

If a gun is grasped, and then shoved full out, the gun and barrel will rotate left. And with full extension, the muzzle will take a slight nose dive. That is due to the arrangement of bones and muscles of the lower arm and hand.

Here is a note from Applegate's Kill or Get Killed about that..."the student may shove the gun forward when firing. This causes the barrel to point downward..."

You can test this yourself as well.

Clench your fist tightly, and shove it out to full extension. As it reaches full extension, the hand, wrist, and lower arm will rotate to the left, and your hand will tip down some.

According to Applegate, the nose dive of the muzzle, will be more pronounced with the .45 because of its design and the angle of the grip.

To counter this, he said the muzzle should be raised up some and the wrist should be flexed to the right, to bring the gun barrel in line with the arm.

3. MECHANICS OF THE TRADITIONAL GRIP

The "traditional" grip is made up of the thumb, the web of the hand, and the middle, ring, and little fingers. The index finger is supposed to stay aloof from the gun.

Also, the traditional grip calls for the thumb to be placed along the side of the gun but without pressing against the gun.

Now, the thumb and middle finger form an unbalanced pincer with the middle finger being lower down in the hand.

So, when the gun is gripped and pressure is applied with shooting, the middle finger will twist the gun around to the left.

And the stronger the grip pressure, the more the gun will twist.

Also, a heavy trigger pull can result in added twisting. Such as with double action, where the trigger is used to both cock and fire the gun.

4. APPLEGATE

Applegate said the the gun should be kept perpendicular with the belt buckle (indexed on your centerline), and that the barrel should be kept level.

He also said that the grip should be applied when the arm and gun are down at your side and extended. And when the gun is raised for shooting, the shoulder joint should be used as the fulcrum. That will avoid the left twist and muzzle dive when the gun is pushed out to full extension.

Applegate also said that in a combat, you will be grasping the pistol in an almost convulsive grip.

In Kill or Get Killed, he said that..."in the midst of battle excitement, a man instinctively grips his weapon in this manner and certainly does not take time to hold his breath, line up the sights, and squeeze the trigger."

..........

So what is the average home defender to do, to counter shooting low and to the left in real life threat situations?

Well, a two handed grip may help, but that is doubtful. As per the NYPD's extensive SOP 9 study of police combat, officers with an occasional exception, fired with the strong hand.

You may practice, practice, practice until you reach the skill level of SWAT type shooters.

You also might try grabbing your gun, placing your index finger along the side and in line with the barrel, and just pointing at an object.

Surprise!

You will find that you have a strong and level shooting platform with no left twist or muzzle dive.

It will be made up of your opposing thumb and index finger, the web of your hand, and the ring and little fingers. The middle finger is used to pull the trigger.

You can try and squeeze the begeebers out of the gun if you wish and all you will do is add to the strength of the grip.

Also, extending the index finger along the side of the gun, helps to mechanically extend and "lock up" the wrist, which adds more strength to the grip, improves recoil control, and minimizes the tendency to shoot low and to the left.

And that brings into this discussion, the AIMED Point Shooting or P&S method which is covered on other pages.