Growing up, my bunny hunting buddy had a 4" Nomad...it was wicked accurate. That's where I learned you don't hold a auto with your thumb over your shooting hand. I tried to stop him, I was just 1/2 second too late. He was taking fine aim (from the car) on a bunny, and dropped his thumb over his shooting hand. I hadn't been taught about auto pistols at that age (12), but I quickly connected the dots and realized that slide was going to come back and smack his thumb... it didn't, it sliced. He ended up with 4 stitches on that thumb, and still missed the bunny.
Ditto.
My friend in high school had a Nomad and later on I bought a Challenger ($75 in 1969). He learned muy pronto how
not to hold it. Fortunately he didn't require stitches but did have a nice little scar across his thumb as a reminder.
I sometimes do duty as a Range Safety Officer at our club range during sight in days. I've learned to never offer unasked for advice to anyone no matter how much ammo they're wasting but will definitely stop and correct a noob holding a semi-auto pistol with the thumb wrapped over top of the shooting hand.
