Handgun Grip Angle: Practice, dummy!

I've recently come to the conclusion that, with few exceptions, handgun grip angle and so called "ergonomics" are just about the most pointless thing to consider when shopping for a pistol.

Why?

For two reasons.

1.  The new shooter.  If this is truly a new shooter, then he or she has little or no fundamentals to draw upon.  His evaluation of a grip angle may be done while gripping a pistol incorrectly.  We've all seen the actors in cop procedural shows that grasp handguns way too low on the grip, or even those actors that think it's good practice to put your thumb directly behind the slide of a striker-operated semiautomatic.  These are over-dramatized examples of improper grip... but if you don't know how you're supposed to hold a gun then how on Earth do you suppose you're going to know if it fits right when you are holding it?

2.  The serial gun buyer.  The guy who is looking for the "perfect gun."  The guy who spends $500-$1000 on a gun and runs it for half a dozen range trips before getting bored with it (or blaming supposed deficiencies of the gun for less than optimal results downrange), then spends another $500-$1000 on another gun, and another half a dozen range trips with that one.  This guy doesn't have 10k rounds through any 1 of his guns, and any one of his guns is barely past the break-in period before he's drooling over the counter at the gun store again.  This guy listens to the Glock "grip hump" bashing, all the praise for the 1911 grip angle, but probably couldn't tell you what gun was in his hand if you blindfolded him and tested him... with his own handguns.

I've seen phenomenal Glock shooters.

I've seen phenomenal 1911 shooters.

I've seen phenomenal CZ/Witness shooters.

I've seen phenomenal revolver shooters.

I'm worse than the people in any of the above 4 categories that I'm citing.  Heck, the revolver shooter I see regularly at the steel matches outshoots my times, using his revolver, and me using my XD.

I guarantee that there is a common thread with all those shooters above:  They all have tens or hundreds of thousands of rounds through the same gun or at least the same platform.  They all took classes using those same guns (though now they are the people that TEACH the classes).  And they spend more time practicing draws and magazine changes than they do learning about the latest Glock or 1911 blessing/curse/fad.

After tens of thousands (or even a few thousand, depending on practice techniques) of rounds, it doesn't matter if you're shooting a Glock with "an unnatural grip angle" or a 1911 that "feels like St. John Browning poured its blue steel goodness into your hand and it molded to your form..."  You'll have an instinctual feel for where your thumbs and hand webbing are supposed to have contact with your pistol.  You'll instinctively know how that relates to your sights, and how your hand should feel for presentation of the top of the slide to your eyes for targeting.

What matters, then, for gun shopping?

Access to control surfaces.  Slide release, magazine release, safeties, decockers, the ability to clear a jam quickly.  Do you have to release a positive grip on the pistol to accomplish any of these tasks?  If so, you need to consider a different platform.

I've watched my complaints about my XD vanish, one by one, for each thousand additional rounds I put through it.  I used to have a pretty strong dislike for this pistol, and even had apprehension about putting it back on my hip.  It's been up for sale twice with no takers.

Now, I just don't care what pistol I carry.  I could just as soon trade my XD for a 1911, a Glock, a Browning Hi Power, or a Beretta 92.  As long as I can run a few hundred or a thousand rounds through it to learn it intimately, it doesn't matter. 

The Southpaw Conundrum

Been practicing magazine changes this week, after being so close to the 100 second barrier last week at TNS that it hurt!  Mag changes appear to be my slowest point to work on for now.

As a stinkin' southpaw, to operate the safety on my current preferred pistol (a CZ-75B in 9mm), I have to shift my grip slightly so that my index/trigger finger can scrunch back to the mag release, push the release, insert a new magazine with the right hand, re-shift my grip back around, drop the slide release (if locked back), then re-address the trigger.

I need to eliminate those two grip shifts.  They cost me at least 10 seconds throughout the course of the TNS match on all 4 stages and the several mag changes required.

I pulled the Springfield XD9 out of the safe in response to this.  There's a lot of things I don't like about the XD product line:  In general, I dislike striker pistols.  I dislike trigger-dinguses.  There's something not quite "right" about the contour of the grip on the left side of the grip safety, it grinds against the index finger metacarpal uncomfortably in a way that a CZ or 1911 does not do.

However, it DOES have an ambidextrous magazine release.

I've been practicing using my left thumb to release mags.  Almost no grip shift and as I practice, the shift becomes smaller and smaller.  Less attention to detail with my left hand, so I can focus on moving my right hand more quickly to the belt for a fresh magazine.

I need to find a suitable way to rig a 1911 with an ambi mag release (looking into the Smith & Alexander ambi mag release), as well as a CZ.  Or, I need to find a new pet 9mm platform with ambi mag release controls and all the features I like of the CZ-75 series.  Fabrique-Nationale's FNX-9 looks like a potential contender.  Not sure what else is out on the market.

In the meantime, though, the XD9 is back on my hip and on rotation for TNS.

Back to Steel

I went back to steel 2 weeks ago.  Ran the CZ-75 with Winchester WWB factory 115gr FMJ ammo.  Got done in 112.71.  This week, I took some cheap reloads (mixed brass, CCI small primers, 122gr LRNFP bullet) that I cooked up.  I was worried about them because I hadn't had time to shoot them at the range prior to coming out, to see if they might not work properly. 

No need to worry.  100% reliability.  They shot cleaner than the WWB.  I cleaned the gun tonight (two weeks ago, as well), there was just a smidge of carbon blowback inside the slide and at the barrel's ramp.  Leading down bore was gone after 15-20 passes with a bronze brush wet with Hoppes.  Very quick and easy cleaning.

Time tonight was 104.09.

I did some light 'smithing work on the CZ, too.  I replaced the factory front sight with a fiber optic one.  Mounted the slide in my drill press and drilled out the necessary hole in the replacement front sight post.  100% successful, no problems encountered at all.  POI = POA still.

I need some heavier CZ magazines, though:  Even with the drop-free mag brake, completely empty mags don't always drop free.  Gonna have to find a few mags with extended base-pads that are heavy enough to fall free.  I guess it's okay if they take a few more rounds, too.

Shooting the CZ in "Limited" division, loading mags to 16rd capacity, holstered with safety on and single action first shot.  If I were to shoot in "Production," I would have to limit myself to 10rds in the mags and first shot would have to be DA.  At least, that's how I understand it.  Still trying to fully figure out the divisions.

3rd Time High Power

So, I shot my 3rd match.

357-2x out of 500.  This match used three different targets:  200 yards for standing/seated, then 300 reduced for prone and 600 reduced for slowfire prone.  Much like the Legacy match that was my first match.

Standing was awful.  49-1x.  Seated improved, from improved control of my front leg elevation via my trigger-foot under my supporting leg.  84-0x.  Rapid prone suffered from a change in ammo, to a box that was left out in sunlight and a different batch of bullets with different OAL.  Center of group shifted 3 MOA down and left, and the group blew out from my customary 3-4 MOA to almost 6 MOA in size.  Score on rapid prone was 62-0x.  Slowfire prone was 162-1x.  Took some doing to get myself back onto a proper zero after the fiasco with the alternate ammo.

Lessons learned:
- Don't change ammo through the match.  Use the same load recipe or retail manufacturer.
- Don't leave ammo in the sun.  It can contribute to variable points of impact of otherwise consistent ammo.
- The M14 does seem harder to shoot standing than the AR-15.  I really need to work on standing, more.

Goals:
- More standing practice.  Rimfire at 6MOA increased squares to begin with, then transition to centerfire using the targets we bought as a group.
- Reloading discipline.  Same brass with same bullet with same powder charge with same primer, to the same OAL, and take enough of that one load to complete the match.

2nd time High Power

So, I shot a CMP match at the Buckeye Joe Foss range a few weeks ago.  This time I shot a 411-4x out of 500, and used my M14 rifle.

Interestingly, as my body position transitioned from horizontal (prone) to vertical (standing), my groups got worse.  Part of this was probably due to the gusting winds that I estimate exceeded 15mph and pushed the muzzle sideways... but I also think some of it is inherently due to the different designs of these rifles.

The AR has sights that are very high above the bore.  This lends itself to very upright shooting positions without canting the upper torso, and the pistol grip gives improved control over the horizontal twist of the gun in wind.  At least, that's my working theory right now.

I'll test that theory sometime later this summer, and take both rifles out for some testing during the windy monsoon season here.

Anyways, I'm happy to see my scores climb 44 points from one time to the next.  The breakdown was disappointing to me, though:  184, 96, 77, 54.  The standing just murdered me, and I had 3 shots escape the bull entirely, though still on paper just outside the 5 ring to the bottom left (the wind was coming from my left and I would push into it, only to have it let off as I squeezed the trigger).

I'm thinking that in high wind, I need to "squeeze" less and firmly pull, more quickly.  From standing, at least.

Seated was quite blatantly a lack of practice on my part.  Bad NPOA, stringing my shots down and left.  More seated dry-fire practice is in order.

Shooting another match in Payson this weekend, so I think I can add another 30+ points.  Haven't decided if I'll shoot the AR-15 with the new NM 0.050 front sight post, or the M14 again.  Probably the M14, but we'll see.

First Time High Power

I was expecting to shoot better, being involved with the Appleseed Project as an instructor for about 2 years. 

I shot a 367-1x out of a possible 500.  Rifle was my franken-AR, here:

Cavalry Arms Mk-II lower with Del-Ton A2 1:9 twist upper, Hogue free-float handguard and home-brew front sling swivel.  USGI cotton sling.

I tried to run the course with a Center-Of-Mass (COM) hold on the target.  I typically try to shoot all my rifles with a COM sight picture, since I feel that a 6 o'clock hold is dependent on angular hold-under rather than absolute distance hold-under.  If you hold 3 minutes low at 200 yards, that's 6 inches.  If you hold 3 minutes low at 500 yards, that's 15 inches.  An NRA bull is always 6 minutes of angle, so at 200 yards it is 12 inches, while at 500 yards it is 30 inches.  If you shoot with a 3MOA hold-under, your POI will always be 3MOA high... which is 6 inches at 200 yards and 15 inches at 500 yards.  Your sight picture changes on a "real" target, as a result of that.  A 20" human torso (a threat) will require a belly-button hold at 200 yards, and a mid-thigh hold at 500.  (Obviously sight adjustments come into play here, too).

So, I've decided next time I will bow to the game, and shoot a 6 o'clock hold.

I also noticed that I have a hard time differentiating the front sight from the target, even though I focus on the front sight.  I need more contrast between the two, and I need the front sight to be smaller.  So, I ordered a 0.050" match front sight and I also will blacken my front sight with a match or lighter for higher contrast in the future.

Next, I will be shooting some inexpensive 55gr reloads in the future for 200y reduced courses of fire.  The 55's shoot better than the retail 62gr ammo I shot last weekend... vertical stringing was less.  More consistent case length, powder measurement and crimp strength resulted in more consistent velocity, I think.

Finally, I will be going back to my Turner synthetic 1907-style sling.  I definitely noticed some heart-pulse in my sight picture with the GI cotton sling, when looped up.  I was even using a padded cloth shooting jacket.  I see less of that with the 1907 sling due to the loop/keeper arrangement.

I was hoping to break 400 this last weekend, but I'll just have to break 400 next time out.

Obama's Budget Deficit: This cannot stand.

The annual budget of the United States has been about $2.9 trillion dollars (that's the 2008 numbers I could find).

According to the Treasury department, our payments on the interest every fiscal year has never been larger than $400 billion dollars (usually down towards $300 billion), until 2006 with Bush's Medicare drug benefit and the increased costs of the Afghanistan campaign.

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/ir/ir_expense.htm

2007 saw us have $429 billion in deficit-related interest spending.
2008 saw us have $451 billion.
2009 saw us have $383 billion.

So far, in FY 2010, we have paid $164 billion in 4 months (October 2009 to Jan 2010).  Simply multiplying by 3, we get $492 billion.  However, that is too naive a final number.

Obama is proposing a $3.8 trillion dollar budget.  That's an additional $900 billion of debt over the $2.9 trillion dollar budget that we didn't have in 2008.

That's $900 billion on the national debt, not the deficit.  The interest payment on that, at perhaps 3%, is $27 billion dollars.

That's more than the entire budget of NASA, in debt obligation.  NASA has less than $20 billion for its operating budget.

So, if Obama gets his budget, or even close to it, we will breach the $500 billion debt obligation threshold in our budget.

That makes the deficit payments (and really just the INTEREST payments on the deficit) a larger line item on the annual budget than the Department of Defense.  The DoD operates with $481 billion dollars.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/rewrite/budget/fy2008/defense.html

This cannot stand.  The center will not hold.

The interest component of our nation's annual budget will be the second largest item on our budget.

With DoD at $500 billion, the interest at $500 billion and Social Security at $650 billion (http://www.socialsecurity.gov/budget/FactCard2009.pdf), that's $1.65 trillion out of $2.9 trillion of the Bush underfunded budget.  When we start to consider what it means to borrow $500 billion to $1 trillion dollars a year and adding that to our existing interest payments as a component of the budget, it quickly becomes apparent that this cannot stand.

Adding insult to injury is the well documented tradition in Washington to fund projects and NEVER de-fund them.  If the budget for one year is $3.9 trillion, then it will be at least $3.9 trillion forever more.  That's a trillion of borrowing every year.  And an additional $30 billion of interest (at 3%) tacked onto last year's interest bill.  And, whatever capital payment might be in place against the actual working debt.

Fight, people.  Take this up with Congress, with the President.  With your governor and state legislature.  Beware any deficits in any budgets.  We are on such a financial precipice that our country is in jeopardy.  Drunk-spending Washington will not stop.

Success

Well, sort of. 

All my rounds fed successfully, without any cleaning of the firearm between stages.  No failures except for one I caused by myself:  I thought I fully inserted a mag and it ran for 7 out of 8 rounds, but it turns out it didn't secure itself on the mag catch.  I guess it's a testament to Wilson 47D magazines if they can feed my gun without being fully seated.

124.28, despite about 10 seconds of fussing with the one mag problem.

Next week, the 9mm's.  Starting with the XD9 since I have a decent kydex holster for it.  Need to get one for the CZ-75, still.

Progressing at Steel

Last week I improved to 121.24 seconds, and ran flawless for 3 out of 4 stages as far as reliability was concerned.  I was all set to break 100 seconds, actually.

Then I shot the last stage and came across some rounds that turned out to be too large in crimp diameter, measuring 0.474" across at the mouth.  Grr.  Argh.

So... this week I went through 200 rounds that I made on my Dillon Square Deal B, and hand-chambered them in my Colt Government 1991 barrel (removed the barrel from the slide to do this quickly and easily).  Of those 200 rounds, 182 seem to chamber reliably.

I have those 182 rounds set aside.  I will run them in my 5 known good magazines (3 wilsons and 2 ACT's).  In theory, I should run a flawless night, and hopefully clear 100 seconds tonight.

In theory.  :-)

I also cleaned the lube-sludge that oozes out when loading .45 with lead bullets, so the chamber should stay cleaner longer.  I'll also run the bore snake through it once between the 2nd and 3rd stages, just as a preventative maintenance issue.

More Steel

Well, I'm finally shooting halfway decently at the steel matches.

Last time I went, I ran the course in 142.32, right-smack in the middle of the pack of D-rank shooters.  All the Grand Master shooters are still running the same courses in about 45 seconds with the tricked out race guns in the space-man holsters.

I had one gear issue that appears to be caused by my lead roundnose reloads.  I wasn't flaring the case quite enough and I was getting wax/lead residue on the case mouth, affecting headspace.  I changed my press to flare the case a bit more, and I went out and tested the results this last weekend.  The cartridges look cleaner and function just fine.

So, that should save me about 10 seconds hopefully.  Put me closer to the top of D-class if my reloads work properly tonight with no malfunctions.

Also got a really good pointer last time:  To build speed, I need to assume that my shot is good and bring the gun down out of recoil and onto the next target immediately.  Right now, I am bringing it down out of recoil and preserving sight picture onto the previous target, like I do with rifle shooting.  I'll try that tonight.

So tonight will be my Colt 1991 government pistol.