I have really neglected one handed shooting a lot. I just forget about it at the range and when I remember, I’m already low on rounds. It’s also not my favorite thing to do. However, I’ve been taking my 10 month old son out a lot with me, and he’s always occupying one of my hands. I also carry a Shield 45 and began to question how well I’d shoot it with one hand. I was concerned about potential limp wristing and jams. The last thing I need when shooting one handed would be a failure to eject due to limp wristing. (That being said, I sometimes forget how light shooting the Shield 45 is). So I realized I needed to practice this. I went to the range today with the intent of practicing one handed.
I used this technique and it works really well for me, so I thought I’d share. Worked really well for my Shield 45. I was accurate at self defense ranges, I had 0 malfunctions. Now I feel very comfortable with the idea of using one hand if I had to.
This is an awesome technique, a few years ago I saw a video for this technique and thought, that sounds ridiculous until practicing it on the range! But like every other skill it needs to be perfected with practice.
I’m not sure about the actual self defense situation but for competition or targets no problems.
Lot to think about when bullets are flying in my direction. Like he said it’s going to feel goofy! Thank goodness I’ll never have to test out my theory. But works well on static targets.
Thinking about it anatomically, it makes sense. The humerus (upper arm bone) is a single bone. The radius and ulna (lower arm bones) twist over each other as you rotate your wrist. In his demo by pushing the gun out horizontally the radius and ulna are crossed (feel your arm; the inside bone goes over the outside bone) but when you only rotate your wrist the bones are now stacked one on top of each other. In that aspect it could counter recoil more effectively.
In reality what is the difference between the two step process and the single stick it out there process other than an extra step? Mebby I missed something.
This is a damn good technique. But it works (even in self defense scenarios) great if you shoot John Lovell’s two handed technique, meaning - you lock your elbows.
I don’t do it exactly this way, instead of locking the elbows, I’m pressing hand palms together. Taking non dominant hand off, shooting arm stays in exact great position. No adjustments needed. Most important part, as Mr. Lovell showed, - non dominant hand HAS TO touch your dominant pectoral muscle area to counteract movement.
I’ve been introduced to this method last year and it has been working for me perfectly.
EDIT: Very helpful for one hand shooting - dominant leg has to be moved forward and it handles most of the body’s weight. This way you keep balance, eliminate extra movement and mitigate recoil.
The U.S. Army made us practice one hand pistol & cross shoulder familiarization fire in the event that a Soldier was limited with or injured on the dominant side of the body.
One technique that worked for some was “self bracing”.
Establishing a self taught way to “brace for blast” & muzzle strength from a hand held.
For the shoulder if possible was finding a supporting structure for opposite shoulder sighting.
Once I injured my dominant hand by attempting to exchange a bulb in a vehicle rear signal lamp because the paint “glued” the lenses cover to the assembly. The screw driver slipped shanking my dominant hand punching 1/2 way through. The vehicle was being dispatched to the range the next day.
By the following morning I had limited compromised mobility / muscle control. This range we were on was for qualification that counted towards promotion points. If I jacked it up I’d have to wait 6 months to try again!
I decided to go for it instead of pushing for a medical profile from the Battalion Medical Officer that would limit my required participation.
What I did personally: When holding my pistol with my Non-Dominant hand I aimed a slight hair lower than I normally would but with a very firm grip. With that, I took my injured hand placing it across my body supporting my arm pit to control the jolt. Lastly, I slightly turned my body where my arm would have additional support against my body.
In the end it worked out ranking “Expert” on my pistol.
We all cannot solely depend on another persons technique, although it may open up a method that perhaps can be a platform to build on. Some questioned my approach & several scoffing remarks of “You’ll never qualify like that, that is foolish as hell…”
At the end of that range I went and got my profile because the injury was getting worse. I had to qualify, I needed those points to make it to the promotion board.
Now whenever possible- I practice my technique that worked for me for “muscle memory”.
Hi all. Thinking that the current group-think using two handed and related stances and the drill of draw and holstering is good and all. (here it comes) BUT real life situation would really dictate that the one handed draw and running or moving fast in a conflict is really more prevalent then the group-think wants to admit. What happen in the dark of night when glass shatters and someone is coming in your house, When you leave local shopping center at night getting to your car, or heavens help us at a church shooting. A need is there to start teaching,(not talking about) one handed shooting, weak handed manipulation of weapons. Yes in the beginning learning the basics is essential, proper grip and stance and ammo loading, weapon safety, holstering etc etc. All this is good, but the bad actors don’t follow rules and what is really needed is more realistic training to handle this aspect, that really is only talked about a bit in CCW and other classes. More then likely you will be caught slightly off guard when something does happens and clarity of thought goes quickly and tunnel vision sets in. Training should take over and get you thru if you have had some training and some luck. It is and has always been the roll of dice as to how a situation will play out, life has no guarantees. Two handed training should be taught along side one handed or weak arm handling of a weapon. This is becoming a major issue now as the current time are more violent then ever. Talking about it is not doing any good, not everyone has hundreds of dollars to do 3 day pistol course. Smaller courses at local range should cover such topics, it will be a life saver! With millions of new people now entering this New world to them, it would help us all. Training should be emphasize now more then ever. Help a fellow member, starting a conversation to help us all.
