Grip on a single action

[txbirdman]

In the past I've basically used 2 grips on handguns (1) the high thumb---thumb resting on the safety of my 1911 with the weakhand thumb pointing down the side of the slide (2) strong hand thumb tucked with weak hand thumb overlapping for both double and single actions revolvers. The other day I saw a video of a CAS shooter who advocated the "high thumb" on single actions. He placed his strong hand thumb against the recoil shield using it to push and control recoil while the weak hand fore finger was in front of the triggerguard with the weak hand thumb supporting the other thumb. He indicated that he would push with his thumbs while pulling with his weak hand. The more the revolver recoiled the more the push on the recoil shield to control the gun. He uses the weak hand thumb to cock the revolver so he doesn't change his grip. It was his opinion that the strong arm was more aligned with the axis of the bore and that there was less tendancy to cam the trigger with this hold.

I was wondering if others used a similar grip for the single actions.

[kelbro]

Yes, I use a very similar grip with SA and DA revolvers. .22 through .44Mag.

[txbirdman]

I don't think I can use this grip on a double action due to the cylinder latch getting in the way. I'm right handed.

[yondering]

The other day I saw a video of a CAS shooter who advocated the "high thumb" on single actions. He placed his strong hand thumb against the recoil shield using it to push and control recoil while the weak hand fore finger was in front of the triggerguard with the weak hand thumb supporting the other thumb. He indicated that he would push with his thumbs while pulling with his weak hand. The more the revolver recoiled the more the push on the recoil shield to control the gun. He uses the weak hand thumb to cock the revolver so he doesn't change his grip.

He's a CAS shooter, so he's shooting mostly powder puff loads. Try that with a heavier recoiling revolver, you'll stand a good chance of spraining your thumb and/or bleeding from under the thumbnail. It hurts.

[kelbro]

I don't think I can use this grip on a double action due to the cylinder latch getting in the way. I'm right handed.

I'm lefty. Didn't think about you guys that shoot backwards :)

And my thumb does not reach the recoil shield.

[txbirdman]

I gave it a try yesterday using my .44 Blackhawk with 10 gr. of Unique and a 429421 bullet. The technique actually worked quite well. The pad of my stong hand thumb was against the recoil shield and helped to managed the recoil. The "push/pull" technique is a benefit to my aim also. It will take some time to get use to gripping the revolver this way and it may not work well with heavy loads but I believe there's some benefits.