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chabouk wrote:

Excaliber wrote:

chabouk wrote:

srothstein wrote:Now for the next important question in this line of thought. How many of you can draw your weapon from its holster with just your weak hand? For that matter, can you draw one handed at all?

I've practiced it, and I can do it, especially if I'm already on the ground.

It's another argument for carrying at 3:00, instead of farther back.

That depends on whether you use a draw stroke that reaches around your front or your back.....

True, that's a good point. But reaching around the back will put the draw stroke at odds with your holster cant.

True. I don't get a perfect firing grip right out of the holster, but the draw is reasonably smooth and a small adjustment en route to getting on target gets things squared away.

At the snubby class I was at last weekend we did quite a bit of one-handed shooting, aimed fire and from low ready. We shot both dominant and non-dominant single hand and with both hands dominant and non-dominant.

Two reasons to put your non-shooting hand on your chest while shooting unsupported.

1. This allows you to put some tension across your shoulders similar to shooting freestyle. This is important to minimizing malfunctions and it helps with accuracy.
2. If your free hand is on your chest it is less likely to get in front of your gun.

CompVest wrote:Two reasons to put your non-shooting hand on your chest while shooting unsupported.

1. This allows you to put some tension across your shoulders similar to shooting freestyle. This is important to minimizing malfunctions and it helps with accuracy.
2. If your free hand is on your chest it is less likely to get in front of your gun.

This is how we've been trained too. Good point - esp #2.

Last time I went shooting, I did try to shoot with my left hand (my weaker hand).

I used the classic WWII, Colt 1911 shooting stance. (I have a Glock 22)

I consistently missed the outline of the man on the target. My grouping was consistent though. About 5" left of the outline.

For one shot, I over compensated to the right, and hit the target approximately where the heart should be.

So I got that going for me...

The first few times I practiced shooting with my non-dominant hand my accuracy was terrible.

Over time, I now shoot MORE accurately with my so-called weak hand.

Yeah, it's a puzzle, but it's so.

I've an LEO friend who told me he's experienced the same thing...

Now, due to this thread I'll start practicing drawing with my weak hand as I never considered that idea - It's a very good one.

I made an observation, yesterday, that (while it may not necessarily have been correct) most likely wouldn't have occurred to me if I hadn't read this thread.

The wife and I were having lunch when a couple of park rangers walked into the restaurant. I remarked to her that one guy probably practised more with his off hand than the other. She asked why I thought that and I pointed out (not literally, of course) that while they both had pistol at 3 o'clock and taser at 9 o'clock, one had both rigged for regular draw while the other had his taser rigged for a cross body draw.

OH GOOD; I get to say my favorite joke ....

I always practice with only one hand because ... I DO EVERYTHING SINGLE-HANDEDLY
(I was born with only one hand)
However, I never practice with the other one I don't have.

I know what "weak hand" and "strong side" mean ... left and right, but I'm not sure which is my technically "weak hand" actually, because I'm mentally left-handed, but have no left hand; so I suppose my "strong side" is my "weak hand" too, since there is no other.

Life is fun

That's why I put sights such as Advantage Tactical Sights on my carry guns, so the slide can be racked to clear a jam; dump a non-firing dead/hard primer round; then chamber a fresh round etc with one hand only.
On guns that Advantage Tactical Sights aren't available for; I install "The Ledge" or other tactical type sights from Trijicon etc; and throw away those "snagless Novak copies" which IMHO are useless when you need to rack a slide on your belt, holster, forearm/other wrist, shoe or corner of a table/corner of a building etc etc; but can snag on a shirt while drawing; but won't snag when you re-holster? (sloped the WRONG way)

I prefer the Advantage Tactical Sights, with light orange rear and yellow front; and a laser; but on guns they don't make sights for; at least something like ...

Heinie LEDGE Straight Eight Night Sight Set
This sight set is for pistols and does not require modifications to the slide. It is a Heinie LEDGE Straight Eight design with a .156 wide and .120 deep notch. This sight design is great for one-handed clearance drills. The "Straight Eight" configuration is one tritium dot in the front and one tritium dot in the rear that aligns vertically for fast aquisition in low-light situations

One important thing to keep in mind: eye dominance doesn't change just because you change hands. Many people want to shoot with their weak hand and left eye, but that won't work unless you close your strong eye. You really need to look at changing your body position, because not only are you losing a support hand, you're trying to hold in a position that isn't natural. When you cross the center line of your body to align your sights with your strong eye, your (weak) grip hand wrist gets bent at a very poor angle.

One thing I've been trying, and it seems to work, is to turn my body toward my left (weak) side, so that my gripping hand crosses my chest and aligns the sights more easily with my strong eye. I still need to work on this, but it shows promise.

What's a 'weak hand' ?


-- Chuck Norris

G192627 wrote:What's a 'weak hand' ?


-- Chuck Norris

chabouk wrote:One important thing to keep in mind: eye dominance doesn't change just because you change hands. Many people want to shoot with their weak hand and left eye, but that won't work unless you close your strong eye. You really need to look at changing your body position, because not only are you losing a support hand, you're trying to hold in a position that isn't natural. When you cross the center line of your body to align your sights with your strong eye, your (weak) grip hand wrist gets bent at a very poor angle.

One thing I've been trying, and it seems to work, is to turn my body toward my left (weak) side, so that my gripping hand crosses my chest and aligns the sights more easily with my strong eye. I still need to work on this, but it shows promise.

One thing you can try is canting the pistol inboard a bit, like 30 degrees, to get the sights more inline with your dominant eye. There are some other things you can do, but it's easier to show than type.

G192627 wrote:What's a 'weak hand' ?
-- Chuck Norris

The one that paralyzes, instead of pulverizes.

fm2 wrote:

chabouk wrote:One important thing to keep in mind: eye dominance doesn't change just because you change hands. Many people want to shoot with their weak hand and left eye, but that won't work unless you close your strong eye. You really need to look at changing your body position, because not only are you losing a support hand, you're trying to hold in a position that isn't natural. When you cross the center line of your body to align your sights with your strong eye, your (weak) grip hand wrist gets bent at a very poor angle.

One thing I've been trying, and it seems to work, is to turn my body toward my left (weak) side, so that my gripping hand crosses my chest and aligns the sights more easily with my strong eye. I still need to work on this, but it shows promise.

One thing you can try is canting the pistol inboard a bit, like 30 degrees, to get the sights more inline with your dominant eye. There are some other things you can do, but it's easier to show than type.

They used to teach us that "gangsta grip" technique, but it never really worked for anyone.

The whole point of weak hand shooting is to simulate having your strong hand incapacitated. Your shooting hand can be rendered ineffective for shooting, yet not completely out of action. Explore the options of partial support while you're training.