I have a 1911 w/ a 4" bbl. I am new to pistol shooting and have been working on my grip and my trigger squeeze. I would like to hear people's thoughts on the best way to grip a 1911 and what is the best trigger technique.

Perhaps to prime the discussion, I'll refer everyone to a 10 year old thread from another forum: http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/general-chit-chat/59427-went-shooting-today.html Half way down, a guy cut-and-pastes an old thread where people gave a guy advice on these topics. I enjoyed reading it, but wasn't sure that all the advice was consistent (gee, imagine that happening on the internet!!)

I, personally, was getting target hits at the 7 o'clock position. I found this chart which indicated that I was likely mashing the trigger:


Since then, I have been experimenting with hand positioning and grip pressure. I may be gripping the gun too tight, but some folks think that won't lead to poor accuracy as long as I am not increasing pressure at the point of firing, or just as I begin firing. Does anybody think the trigger break should truly be a "surprise?" How important is the positioning of your thumbs--is it a problem if a right handed shooter crosses his left thumb over his right, rather than stacking them parallel?

What else do you all think is important?

the chart you have is more for 1 handed hold in nra bullseye type shooting although some of translate to IPSC type. There will probably be many posts with advice, but you could start going to Brianenos.com and reading their grip, shooting posts from some of the best rather than trying to repeat it here.

First thing I'd try would be another gun to try and see if it's me or the equipment.

...it was me...

My accuracy is not terrible these days. So, I'm not posting this to fix a particular problem. I just want to see what folks here think about the best/proper techniques.

The gun needs to be in line with the forearm, it needs a very firm grip, and the trigger needs to be pulled staright back. The off hand fits over the gun hand in front of it, not under it. E

I know one bad habit I'm trying to break is anticipating the shot. This seems to come about after a long session shooting.

My second bad habit I'm working on is learning to shoot with both eyes open.

As to griping, I take a light to moderate grip. I don't grip like I'm choking a chicken to death. I use both hands with a slight bend in the elbows. In other words, I don't lock the elbows. I try to be relaxed and go with the flow of the recoil. I'm also now using the isosceles triangle for shooting.

What E said. Plus, pushing out with your gun hand while pulling back with the support hand (that is over the gun hand) tends to reduce the effect on the point of aim from small factors.

I have a Hogue finger grip on my pistol which I think helps me with muscle memory. I have found that if I draw the gun and have a poor grip I can't hit worth a darn. But if I assume a right hand grip and then use the left hand to hold/touch any exposed grip and point both thumbs at the target, r over l, it works pretty well. I will sit in front of the tube and repeat presentations and it helps. There is an almost deliberate pause while gripping the gun with the left hand (not a long pause). I have seen other shooters do it and it seems right when I do it as well.

I'll comment on squeeze. It always helps me to focus on pressurizing equally the part of the palm that contacts the grip safety/MSH area exactly as much as the trigger face, i.e., rather than thinking trigger only, think of both at the same time, as if they are both triggers simultaneously.

Waders,

You may find that loosening your strong hand and tightening your weak hand will help. Yes, a proper grip should be "50/50" but a shooter has to do what a shooter has to do and we're all a little different.

If you're new to handguns I highly recommend some snap caps and have somebody load your mags for you. That will really help eliminate anticipating the shot. When you go "click" on a snap cap your body won't lie to you. Will make a shooter be honest with themselves real quick like.

I'd steer clear of the Weaver stance... That's just based on my experience.


Travis

Also, MOST shooters do better with the strong thumb over the weak thumb IME.

You can grip the pistol too tight. For training purposes put the pistol in your right hand and squeeze it as hard as you can. See it go left? Now put it your left and squeeze. See it go right? Same principal when actually shooting only not as exaggerated.


Travis

I had the same problem when I first started shooting pistol. This grip is what helped me.

http://youtu.be/ysa50-plo48

For practice purposes, I made some dummy rounds. That way I could load my own mags and not know which rounds would go 'click' rather than 'bang.' That was very helpful. I also found that dry-firing at home was a big help.

Good video, but man, he must have substituted the word "finger" for "trigger" and "pistol" a half dozen times. You have to switch the words around in your head to what he meant in order for it to make any sense.