I’m talking about yesterday’s post, and more specifically about this EwwChoob mini-video (which you should watch now if you haven’t already, because otherwise what follows may be incomprehensible).
As everyone here knows, I’ve spent most of my life shooting the 1911 pistol — most often the Government model, but a great deal of the Officer’s and Combat Commander model as well. There’s also been quite a bit of IDPA shooting, less so of competition, but mostly as training because I’ve always thought that IDPA is quite good practice for what one might encounter in a truly bad self-defense situation.
I am of course therefore well acquainted with the concepts of “indexing” (keeping the gun aligned with the shooting arm) and “breaking the grip”, i.e. moving the gun out of the “proper” firing hold — in this case, to reload magazines.
Let’s talk about that reloading thing for a moment.
While I have fairly beefy hands, my fingers are not especially long. So my shooting grip looks like this (please excuse the crappy photography):
As you can see, my thumb isn’t long enough to reach the mag release at all — which means that in order to drop the empty mag, I have to break the grip:
Not only has the grip been compromised, but the handgun is no longer indexed to my arm, being pointed both off to the side and upwards.
Is this important? No, it absolutely is not — because the only reason for indexing the gun and having a proper grip would be if I were about to pull the trigger, which I’m not, because I’m busy reloading.
Once the fresh mag has been inserted, my left hand immediately comes up to assume the combat hold, and it forces the gun back into the proper indexed position relative to my arm, and the grip back into the locked position for firing.
I have practiced this action countless thousands of times, both “dry” (i.e. with an unloaded gun and mag) and “hot” (fully loaded, in the act of actual shooting), and the operation is as flowing and mechanical as changing gears in a car with a manual transmission.
In other words, I can’t see what all the fuss is about. Of course all the approved positions are going to be compromised while I’m reloading, but who cares? As long as it all gets back to the proper upright and locked position* in time to fire the gun, everything’s fine and dandy.
Or have I missed something? (If I have, it’s probably too late to change anything anyway — some habits are just too ingrained to change.)
* even my shooting position is not in the “popular” manner; instead of locking my arm straight, I have my elbow slightly bent, in the manner of Jeff Cooper:
…because I’ve found that it makes it easier to shoot from cover, and quicker to reacquire the target from recoil. YMMV. (Caveat: it’s not for everyone, so adopt with caution.)
I probably sacrifice some accuracy thereby, but not enough to concern me — I’m shooting combat/IDPA, not Bullseye FFS.
I wholeheartedly agree with you Kim. When I saw this yesterday I immediately thought this was a solution in search of a problem. I was waiting for his solution to this, which never came, suspecting it might be using the left thumb to press the mag release. However that would make an administrative magazine change (where you wish to retain a partially full magazine) impossible.
Like you, and probably the Blessed Col Cooper (PBUH), I think this was unmitigated bullshit. Like you, I’ve been a 1911 fan for many decades and have several, and have never really thought about this at all. Since it’s pretty hard to think of something about pistol shooting that has not already been done before, I guess you have to make up stuff like this to boost your social media following.
Also, like the good Colonel, I eschew excessive gimcracks and geegaws on guns–things like extended mag releases. An extended thumb safety on a 1911 is fine, and I have bobbed the hammer (no beavertail, though) on my retro 1911 build and I pinned the grip safety (heaven forfend!) which Col Cooper would also approve of.
All the time we see these types of videos on YouTube of new techniques that are either likely newly made up or something that is being recycled that was never popular.
Breaking grip is not the end of the world.
In terms of IDPA my opinion is that is a rich and upper middle class man (and some women) game. I just cringe at people wearing these huge tactical vests that look like over size fishing vests and having a 500 to 1,000 gun with another 1,000 dollars in a trigger job and fancy sights and stippled grip etc.
While it is possible I find it doubtful that the majority of guns people use in IDPA are actually used for daily carry. Some for sure but not most I’m guessing.
Skill wise, I guess it could teach you skills to draw, shoot, reload etc faster.
Just not a fan of IDPA in general. That’s a whole nother topic for another time though.
Kim,
What you’ve missed is that his super secret technique for releasing a mag as teased in his video is absolutely vital to survival…of his YT revenue stream.
The indomitable Clint Smith–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ernRfsbX0Yg
If this is a problem, and you don’t mind using the most popular self-defense cartridge in thw world, one solution is the H&K VP9 or P30. Or you could go withn the USP for antique or specialty calibers.
Their magazine release system is an ambidextrous paddle, to be operated with either the trigger finger or the thumb.
I like my VP9 a lot, but I’ll admit the paddle takes some getting used to. Every other pistol I own has a thumb button, or a heel release.
When I finally switch to VP9 or P365 daily carry, I’ll quit worrying about reloads anyway. If I can’t do the job in 12 or 15 rounds, I’ll be dead. Its my revolvers and milsurp commie guns (and my .380) that worry me with their 5 to 7 round capacity.
Kim
Glad to see we agree on this – much ado about nothing, as I commented yesterday.
Inexperienced people go on about gear, stance, etc. Experienced folks tend to focus more on fundamentals and manual of arms.
Isosceles vs Weaver is one of those silly debates. Isosceles is better recoil control and I use it when I can. Weaver is better for working around cover and in confined spaces. Everyone should master both, along with single handed shooting with either dominant or non-dominant hand. Master the fundamentals — all of them — should be our mantra as shooters and coaches.
These days I only compete with revolvers. ICORE is my favorite, but I also play USPSA and Steel Challenge. Steel Challenge is a great father and child activity because the kids aren’t intimidated by tiny targets. My revolvers are basically stock, except for a fiber optic front sight and at home action work (in a former life I was lucky to be trained as a factory armorer).
I do own and shoot bottom feeders but not in competition. Bone stock. They work just fine. Open guns can be fun but they are finicky and demand intensive maintenance; sort of like European sports cars and voluptuous ladies — high maintenance and often fail to meet expectations.
As always, it’s the indian not the bow.
Re: The shooting arm being slightly bent – I quickly learned that I had to do so, when shooting a Ruger SRH in .454 Casull. Holding my arm stiff was forcing a flinch even faster than without. It was the only way I could recover from the recoil at all, since the arms took up most of the impulse, and not my head and shoulders.