doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Get a grip

I almost passed on Chris Batha's offering in the latest SSM, due to the innocuous name of it. But, I figured, why not? I've always enjoyed Batha's writing, and have found him to be knowledgeable in the nuts and bolts of shooting. Nowhere has this been more true than his article on shotgun grips and their effect on shooting.

I won't go into great detail, preferring to let everyone read for themselves his article, but will say that his insight as to why O/U guns are more naturally shootable was very enlightening to me. I have found, over hundreds of thousands of rounds, that I shoot O/U guns better than S x Ss. Not that I WANT to, just that I do. Most of the shotgunning world is realizing the same thing, it appears. His reason for this, as pertaining to grip, is spot on. The way we grip the forend with our leading hand is the issue. S x Ss cause the palm of out hand to be up, O/Us cause it to be more vertical. When we have one hand in a different plane from the other, we are doing something a bit unnatural, as we swing the gun.

Try this, as I did, with no gun. Extend your forend hand, hold the other back about where the grip would be, in the vertical position, just as it would hold the grip. With the palm of the front hand up and the palm of the rear hand vertical, swing, as swinging on a bird. Then immediately try it with the front hand vertical, about like it would be gripping an O/U.

I can tell the difference in the way it feels. Much more natural, and "together", with the palms bot relatively vertical. Very interesting. I think Chris is onto something here.

SRH

Stan:
In my humble opinion, this is nothing more than Palm Reading for shooters. If it works for you, good. If it helps Batha sell a piece of copy, all the better. If it has a physiological basis in reality, great.

But the way I see it (and I've tried what you suggest) BOTH palms of the left hand are facing UP in either case. With only the fingers of your left hand curled a bit more abruptly to hold an O/U forearm.

If your right hand is poised for a straight hand grip, POW or acute pistol grip is immaterial I suppose.

Still, if this theory makes you think you can hit more targets with an O/U, may God bless you... and Chris Batha.

May infinity now open its doors...

I think people way "over grip" forends on SXS's.....hence the advance of the fatty beavertail.....they use their arms more instead of using their whole body to swing the gun as a fluid motion......

Using the index finger as a guide on the tip of the splinter forend works just fine for me, with the other finger tips on the wood only of the forend is all one needs to hold and guide a SXS, too many folks wrap their fingers around the barrels etc. and hold it like it's an axe......but this is just my opinion.

To take this premise to its logical conclusion, it would be an interesting experiment to make a one off sxs forend that has a handle sticking straight down, and see if scores improve. I doubt they would, but the strange looks you'd get at the range would be priceless!

Activities requiring eye/hand coordination with the palms in different planes while holding an object:

Baseball - batting
Golf - driving
Farming - scythe (old days)
Farming - yo-yoing weeds (old days too)
Hand held grinders - as in metal work
The two handed tennis swing

The Weather Channel doesn't sell weather data, it sells commercials.

Best,

Mike

Tommy Gun forends...that's the next target shooter's edge. That and those rocking chair bottomed tennis shoes, burning incense, and a rabbit's foot in your right pocket.

What about O/Us with 25" bbls? I here that's the ultimate combo.

Order one today....

OWD

Interesting post Stan.

I just read the article (I slowly read and savor my shooting magazines) and was thinking of tactfully writing a post on how I disagree with Mr. Batha.

Now, Chris has probably forgotten more about good shooting technique than I'll ever know, but two things really bothered me.

First, the photos of the meaty grip around the little stocks' wrist seem to inaccurately portray a point - because neither hand nor gun are actually in shooting position. The photos depict a death-grip on the wrist, as if the gun is being single-handed handed to someone.

The second object I had was related to his forend-grip comments. I was taught that the forend isn't there to be gripped. I guess, since it's checkered, in theory, it was - or could be - but I feel much better reaching past the forend and holding the barrels - pointer finger straight out and resting between the two barrels. With this, I know with the stock sitting correctly and my cheek on the stock - where I point is where the shoots.

I typically read these mags a couple times, so maybe I'll have more after I reread it.

Disagree, Mike. I just drove three golf balls across the highway into the woods, and my grip puts the palms roughly in the same plane. Ditto for a baseball bat. You honestly grip a golf club and a baseball bat with the palms at right angles to each other? Shotguns are totally different anyway. The fore-end hand does the leading and guiding when swinging a gun. It should provide the control of the barrels. The hands are nearly two feet apart on a gun, together on a club or bat.

I also mounted my Perazzi several times, just as I do when premounting before calling for the bird. I have a habit of wrapping my left thumb over the rib (I am right-handed, and have medium sized hands) when mounting the gun. This automatically puts my left palm roughly vertical, not perfectly so, because a little of my palm is under the left bottom edge of the fore-end. Then, when I'm mounted I lay the thumb alongside the top edge of the fore-end with my fore-finger pointed right down the axis of the barrels. This leaves three fingers to wrap under the fore-end and curl slightly up the right side. It is a very secure grip for me, and has been working quite well for some time now. The left palm is not perfectly vertical, but MUCH more so than when I grip my S x Ss.

I cannot believe you guys who actually try the experiment I suggested cannot tell the difference. To me it is like night and day, and trust me, I am NOT one who is easily swayed by the power of suggestion. It just feels much more natural and right to me.

I shoot my S x Ss pretty well, for an old fart, and compete with them as often as I can. Use them for birds a lot, too. But, the swing just does not feel as natural, much as I love them. Come on fellas, try it with an open mind and try not to be defensive about these guns we all love so much.

SRH

Buckeyes work a lot better than rabbit's feet.

SRH