# How To Make Sure Your Handgun Fits You



## Cait43 (Apr 4, 2013)

When deciding what's best for you, comfort is a factor, but it's not the definitive method of fitting a handgun. Just because one grip or another "feels good" doesn't mean that you've got a proper fit.
How To Make Sure Your Handgun Fits You


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## HK Dan (Dec 22, 2010)

Well Cait, given that most people dont know horw to properly hold a handgun, I'd say that grip comfort is the LEAST important factor. Fact is if you can reach all the controls without shifting, its good. You'll get used to any grip with time and training. As my dear old German grandmother used to say "You get used to hanging if you hang long enough" (She WAS german) LOL


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## Cait43 (Apr 4, 2013)

HK Dan said:


> Well Cait, given that most people dont know horw to properly hold a handgun, I'd say that grip comfort is the LEAST important factor. Fact is if you can reach all the controls without shifting, its good. You'll get used to any grip with time and training. As my dear old German grandmother used to say "You get used to hanging if you hang long enough" (She WAS German) LOL


Your grandmother was 100% correct..... However I think most would want a suit that fits rather than one that is either too tight or baggy....... Why go through the pain of getting used to a misfit.... Since there are hoards of different size/caliber handguns isn't it better to start with a weapon that fits a buyer instead of taking time to learn to live with it.........


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

While actively avoiding DIScomfort is probably a good idea, like HK Dan, above, I am also not sold on how important a good "feel" is, when compared to the whole package. I've seen far too many folks pick a handgun based on how good it "feels" to them when handled in the shop, only to find:

- it is unreliable.
- it severely pounds them with recoil when fired.
- it whips/bounces/recoils excessively for the caliber because of a high bore line (in relation to the hand/arm).

Glocks are a good example of this. Most folks dislike the feel the first time they handle them, mainly due to the sharper grip angle than many other handguns. But that sharp grip angle gives the advantage of a lower bore line and reduced muzzle flip compared to competing designs with a high bore line. If you hold your hand out in front of you and make a fist (to simulate holding a handgun grip), then change the angle of your fist to simulate a sharper and less-sharp grip angle, you can clearly see the top of your fist drop to a closer alignment with your arm when you tip it forward to simulate a sharper grip angle. When Glock first came out, there were very few popular centerfire pistols with a sharper angle; now variations on grip angle are more common than ever before. You can "feel" a different angle in the gun shop, but you CAN'T "feel" how it affects flip/bounce/recoil until you shoot the pistol. When you shoot it side-by-side with high-bore-line pistols, the difference can be significant, with a clear advantage going to the Glock. But a lot of folks never get to that point because they thought it "felt icky" in the store, or it didn't feel like "Grandpa's old .45", so it just COULDN'T be any good.

I'm also one of the old codgers who, once enlisted into our Armed Forces, was handed a pistol and taught to shoot it well, no matter HOW we "felt" about the "feel". Until this very day, I absolutely HATE the original skinny wood grips found on K-frame S&W revolvers; I think they must have been designed to fit the paw of an ape in the zoo. However, I learned to shoot that old USAF-issued model 15 revolver stupidly well, DESPITE the crappy grips. It's only at the highest levels of shooting skill that perfectly matching a grip to your hand becomes important; for a beginner, as said above, as long as you can reach the controls, it fits just fine. Once you can plunk 9 out of every 10 into the bullseye with a stock pistol, you can start worrying about improving the fit of your pistol to get shot #10 in with the rest. Until then, someone with little to no experience in pistol shooting, telling me how the pistol "doesn't fit" them; or even an experienced shooter who won't try something new that shows obvious advantages, just makes me shake my head.

Most of the above rant can also be applied to how a trigger "feels", too. If you learn to shoot well with a crappy trigger, you can shoot ANY pistol well. If you learn to shoot with a Colt Python, you're going to be disappointed (and handicapped) when shooting anything else.


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## Glock Doctor (Mar 14, 2011)

My US Marine Corps, 'uncles' taught me to pick up any weapon and, then, use it well. I was never given a choice of what handgun to use. I used whatever was handed to me.

How do you fit a handgun?

(1) Ideally, you don't want the trigger's face to extend beyond your trigger finger's distal joint while you're properly gripping the pistol; (BUT, it's not impossible to use a handgun well if it does.)

(2) You don't want to have, 'too much thumb' on the backstrap; (Consequently, you don't want the backstrap to be wider than the web of your hand.)

(3) You don't want to have to shift your hand in order to use the magazine release; (BUT, again, it's not impossible to use a pistol well if your gun hand thumb can't quite reach the mag. release. All ya got 'a do is use your support hand thumb, instead.)

The most subtle consideration to choosing a pistol that, 'fits' you well is to immediately answer the question, '_How well (or not) does this handgun point?_' Examples? I'm able to shoot a Glock pistol well; but, the Glock design is an inherently bad, 'pointer'. I'd rather work with a 1911 frame, anyday!

The finest pointing pistol I've ever used in my entire life is the Smith & Wesson Model 29 with a partially lugged, 8 3/8" long barrel. The Smith Model 29 is closely followed by the Colt, 'Peacemaker' (Single Action Army) with a 7 1/2" barrel. With either one of these guns, and inside 15 yards, I don't even bother to aim. I, literally, just point and shoot!

So, what's the toughest gun to point that I have ever used? ....... Springfield XD's.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

Sometimes it is quite interesting to view other folks on a range when I go shooting to see their hold, their stance, and their firearms. Most of the ones I see at the range I frequent most often are rather polished at this, but some do exhibit holds that are incorrect when compared to current teaching methods. A fellow next to me last week was tea cupping his revolver and when he pulled out a pistol to shoot, his grip had his left thumb over the tight thumb joint which put his left thumb behind the slide. His thumb was saved by the slide because he did not hike his right hand up tight to the gun's beaver tail and the pistol had a rather high bore axis. This is a bad habit but I suppose he'll learn if he ever fires a low bore axis pistol and looses a chunk of skin from his thumb.

As another poster pointed out for himself, I also much prefer a low bore axis and find that pistols with higher bore axis's are problematic for me. I have shot and can shoot them (I currently own two like this), but for my more serious range work and for carrying, I find the highest bore axis I am willing to go with is a Smith and Wesson M&P. Hold one up to a Glock of equal caliber and you'll quickly see that the Glock does have a lower bore axis.

Hold, handling, feel, and use are all very personal criteria and are therefore difficult to cubbyhole. We can offer our opinions as to what is best or better, but in the end, it is a very personal issue. I don't particularly find the XD series to be my cup of tea (yes I do own one), but many others do. I have very real reasons for this, too. I carry one of my gen3 Glock 23's on a daily basis, but also find that the new gen4 G17/G22 frames have a fabulous feel and really great handling for me. Personal thing... the way it ought to be.


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## OldManMontgomery (Nov 2, 2013)

*Sidearm 'fit' is important.*

Cait, that is a pretty good article on 'gun fit'. The gentleman writing it seems to have actually examined the problem and made some good points about 'fit'.

This issue became serious to me a number of years ago when I realized my hands were just a bit smaller than many. (The largest sidearm I can comfortably handle with one hand is a Government Model. Glocks feel like a 1x1 furring strip.) One of the 'tests' I suggest to anyone purchasing a sidearm for defensive carry (concealed about town or just around the house) is the pistol can be not just 'fired' with either hand, but comfortably controlled with either hand. (For instance, shooting a Glock with both hands is not a problem; shooting one weak hand only feels very precarious. Yes, your results will differ.)

I rather like revolvers. As DJ Niner mentioned, the grips on the older Smith & Wesson revolvers - the original 'service' grips and the later 'magna' grips - are insufficient for normal human hands. In both instances, the grips allow - force - the middle finger into the recess behind the trigger guard; this forces the trigger finger to overlap the middle finger, which in turn makes the muscles controlling the fingers involved to twist in a rather unnatural way. (The older Colt DA revolver configuration was worse, by the way.) Further, in recoil, the trigger guard tends to bang into the second knuckle of the shooting hand; rather uncomfortable if the recoil is serious.

This can be fixed rather quickly by the substitution of replacement grips which fill in the area behind the trigger guard. However, these grips come in different sizes, depending on the size of one's palm and length of one's fingers.

Yes, one can shoot a K-frame S&W revolver with the factory grips in the same sense a person can go for a long hike with shoes half a size too small. It is more difficult than need be.

However, one should not mistake proper fit for comfort. Over the years, I've handled (owned in some cases) sidearms that 'felt good'; until they were fired. I've experienced 'comfortable grips' that were unmanageable in shooting precisely or in rapid fire. I've also had grips that seemed 'odd' at first, but served very well when shooting.

"Fit" is important to a new shooter; it makes the job of learning the skill a bit easier. Sometimes, a lot easier.


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