Shooting Glove

[monadnock#5]

:shock: Anybody out there use a shooting glove for heavy recoiling hand cannons? I just picked up a Ruger Redhawk, 5-1/2" barrel. I still haven't put more than 12 boolits through it. Between the muzzle flip and the smack in the web of my hand, about all I can claim is that all rounds hit the berm.[smilie=1:

In the meantime I'll work on putting together a couple of loads at .44 spcl velocities. And yes, I know that's OK, as I watched a Dirty Harry movie recently, the one with the vigilante cops. While Harry was shooting at the indoor range, one of them asked about his loads. ".44spcl, for controllability." No... c'mon Harry, say it ain't so!!!:-D

Anyway, while at the range, I continued shooting with a S&W 629 6-1/2" barrel. When my right hand couldn't take it anymore, I fired with my left and shot my best group of the day, 1.225" c-t-c @ 50ft. Nearly fell off my stool.:shock:

Ken

[mooman76]

I have used a glove on occation. Usually when I am shooting a gun that doesn't fit my hand that well rather than because of recoil. A thin leather glove does just fine for me . I don't think it should take much to help allot.

[longhorn]

P.A.S.T. gloves work well for me.

[shooting on a shoestring]

There are lots of softer, squishy, recoil taming grips on the market, some like Hogue are not much more money than a good shooting glove. Grips will always be on the piece, very important if the handgun ever gets pressed into service in a hurry (which is the main reason I see to have a handgun). I would not want to go into battle gloveless after learning to shoot the piece gloved. Grips, you don't have to worry about finding them when you need them.

Also grips can do a much more taming than a glove.

I do think you are on the right track of backing the velocity/recoil down to a level to match your current shooting skill/developement. That's a great reason to handload. Then you can raise the recoil as you find better grips (or glove) and become used to the recoil.

Also I believe learning to shoot a handgun with either hand as you mention, should be common practice for all who shoot. It spreads out the hand fatigue or damage, and leaves you able to shoot well in situations one handers get ah...left out. Had a relative that had to fire left handed out of his car window as he drove and fended off a car full of bad guys on a New Mexico highway. After his incident, I learned to shoot with either and both hands. Took some time, determination and lots of rounds, but it worked.

[waksupi]

I had a .44 that ate my hand. Went to a sporting goods shop, and got a batting glove, for the appropriate hand. Worked, and was a hell of a lot cheaper than buying the same glove, with some gun makers name on it.

[454PB]

In my opinion, a good shooting glove is just as important as hearing and eye protection. I first used batting gloves, then a pair of PAST gloves, and finally got a set of Uncle Mike's, which are the best. The middle finger is covered to beyond the center knuckle, which is the joint that is damaged when shooting hard kickers.

I damaged my middle finger knuckle many years ago, shooting a Ruger SBH with that damnable square back trigger gaurd. For years I had bone chips floating around in that knuckle.

Now after many 10's of thousands of rounds of magnum handgun rounds, I don't shoot any cartridge with more recoil than a .357 magnum without my shooting gloves.

Even with the shooting glove, my Ruger SRH in .454 Casull will pull the skin loose on the inside of my thumb after 50 rounds of 325 gr. boolits at 1500 fps.

[Poygan]

I bought a pair of bicycle gloves with the cut-off tips. Actually not so much for recoil protection as it is to make winter shooting more comfortable. The cut-off tips reduces the "awkward" factor in reloading.

[BCB]

I also use the P.A.S.T. shooting gloves with my SRH 44 Magnum and heavy reloads using the 429650 (315-320 grains) slug. Even more recoil is noted with the same bullet and the 445 Super Magnum and hefty charges of 4227 or WC-680 for M.V.’s of 1550+ fps from a Super 14” Contender. When the hammer falls on this reload, there is never a question as to whether there was primer failure!!! Twenty-five or 30 of these hammers are more than enough for me. The P.A.S.T. gloves sure do absorb some of the recoil…BCB

[dubber123]

My brother bought me a PAST when I got my .475. I don't use it often, but it really helps with the recoil, and saves on the skin. One thing I have noticed, if you are shooting groups, it can change the point of impact from a bare handed hold. The leather seems "grippier", and can hold the gun down more in recoil. It can be noticeable with hard kickers, my load is a 440 hardcast at just under 1,350 fps. in a 4-3/4" barrel, and anything that alters grip can lead to vertical stringing.

[wiljen]

I bought a pair of fingerless gloves at the woodworking shop that are designed to absorb vibration for people who work with large planers, routers, etc. They have a padded palm and do help with 45-70 contenders and the like.

[44man]

I bought the largest pair of PAST gloves made and it takes all I can do to get them on and a half hour to peel them off. I gave up on them because of the size. Make sure gloves will fit by trying them on, don't mail order them.
The grips work better anyway. I have no problems with Pachmayer's on my Rugers and my BFR's don't bother me at all. I never had a problem with the Super Redhawk either. It just depends on the size of your hands.

[dubber123]

44man is right about the size, and maybe the PAST's run smaller, I have a tough time getting into mine also, maybe thats why 9 times out of 10 I don't bother with it. If it fit better, I might use it more. If you like the rubber grips, they are probably a better alternative, but I don't care for the looks of them on a S/A revolver.

[Lloyd Smale]

my take on shooting gloves is for the most part i dont use them. In my earlier days I tried about all of them and what worked as good as anything is a thin leather glove with the trigger finger cut off of it. Problem with gloves of any kind is that they interfere with your grip and put a differnt amount of friction between your hand and your grip. It wil effect point of impact of a bullet so if your going to practice with one you should either check your sight adjustment using just your hand or hunt with the glove too. Biggest trick to shooting big bore handguns is finding a set of grips that work for you. I find in a bisley that dustin linebaughs alterations to a bisley grip maybe be small but they make a big differnce in comfort when shooting a big gun. Same thing with a Da gun finding a set of grips that work for you make all the differnce in the world. Alot of guys preach rubber grips make heavy guns more comfortable but i find it just the opposite. to me in a really heavy kicking gun there worse. they will tear the skin right off of your hand. Its hard to beat a good wood grip that is in a design that works for you and tweeked a little to fit your hand properly. To me they give just the right ballance between the rubber grips having to much traction and the synthetic grips like micra from having not enough.

[wonderwolf]

I agree with the grip argument here. Gloves are good for some...I wear just plain fingerless leather gloves if I'm going to do a lot of shooting mostly to keep my skin from peeling on the skin pads on my hands.

Try some different grips and pair them with a glove...if its a target gun you won't be using it for defense in a hurry. I have a nice set of houges that fit me well on my "defense" gun...and even if that thing ever barks in the name of defense I won't notice the recoil, the noise or the muzzle blast all that much as it is.

[9.3X62AL]

A lotta good commentary here, esp. the bit about neoprene doing damage to hand skin in harder-kicking handguns. Been there/done that! I still like neo, but it has its down side too. I'm also glad to hear that I'm not the only one who has to use Vise-Grips to peel PAST gloves from his hands. They work all right for the purpose, but a PITA to put on and take off.

[44man]

Good fitting wood grips are wonderful. The important thing is to fill the gap behind the trigger guard and to match hand size. I love wood!
I use rubber because of the cost. I really like the Pachmeyer's and no matter how much recoil my guns have, I have never hurt my skin or knuckles with them. I might have to replace my .44 grips soon though. The rubber behind the trigger guard is worn away and I see steel peeking out. (57,650 shots to date. Subtract what was shot with the wood grip panels though???) I kept track of the bricks of primers shot from the SBH, amazing amount, amazing gun. I am not doing that with my BFR's but they will outlast me by a wide margin.

[monadnock#5]

My humble thanks to all those who posted on this thread. I picked up a racket ball glove over the weekend to try. It's thin and sticky, and comes one per package. The sporting goods store had all types of gloves, but this one seemed about right for my purposes. I also found bicycle gloves in my archives that will get a try if the racket ball glove doesn't work out. I see Midway is running a sale price on PAST gloves, but as per 44man's advice, I am reluctant to purchase them without trying them on first.

I will also keep an eye out for a decent aftermarket grip for my beast.

Thanks again.

Ken

[Johnch]

IMO skip the PAST glove
Buy a Unckle Mikes glove
Mine has lasted 5 years of shooting , including hunting in the rain

John

[lovedogs]

Each to his own, I guess. I've used both the PAST and Unk Mike and like the PAST the best. I use them in practice as I fire more rounds than when hunting. A few rounds aren't bad but many rounds bare-handed will get uncomfortable. I've also learned that they are sized tight so in the future will buy one size larger if I can find them.

[Lloyd Smale]

lovedog those gloves are made to fit extreamly tight. It helps to counter some of the problems i discussed such as inconsistant gripping and the glove slidding around between the gun and your skin. I preached for years just using a leather work glove with the fingers cut out of it but found it effected poa more then even a shooting glove did because it fit to loose. Ive shot big bores for many years and jumped into them full bore when i got hooked. I used to sit and shoot 300 full bore 500 or 475 linebaughs in one sitting off the bench and belive me have tried everything to reduce the bleading. Some things helped and some didnt. For the most part the ones that helped werent practical in the field and removeing them changed where my gun hit to point of aim offhand and required adjusting sights. You may laugh at me for it but what its come down to for me and a long day of shooting big bores ( something i try not to do much anymore due to medical problems from doing it) is just put a couple bandaids in stategic places on my hand. Also one of the biggest eye openers is a properly designed set of grips. I shake my head everytime i shoot a linebaugh with a set of grips that dustin linebaugh has tweeked. The changes are small but amazing in there effectiveness in taming one of them. Ive told many people that if you shot a big bore bisley with his grips on it once youd be selling guns to pay to have him fix all of yours. One more topic ill touch on and probably shouldnt because its more a matter of prefernce but ive found for me anyway that a bisley that is slightly round butted does wonders for saving wear and tear on my hands. I know of others that cant stand them though so try one before you grind on your gun.

[Mohillbilly]

Yup hard to beat properly shaped grips, I care little for soft rubber, but admit the SRH will eat those big dog loads all day and not hurt me.If I use a glove, it is a slim leather one with the trigger finger cut .I like a real light colored glove and only use it for shoot'n.If the glove gets dirty,I get another, as a gritty glove eats blue fast....