Top Shot Champion Chris Cheng demonstrates for beginners how to properly grip a semi-auto pistol. Firearm instructors and experienced shooters are encouraged to watch and share these tips with newcomers to the shooting sports.
Safety and Training
NSSF Video: How To Properly Grip A Semi-Auto Pistol
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Jeff Cooper is rolling over in his grave. That technique may work well for Mr. Cheng in his competition shooting…but it is a far cry from “real-life” defensive combat shooting technigue that Jeff Cooper taught at Gunsite. Those of us who have actually used a handgun in a combat scenerio know and appreciate the difference.
Small .380 pistols can allow interference between the support hand thumb and the trigger finger and affect the aim as the trigger is pulled. This can be best detected by dry firing and watching the front sight on these small pistols. Use a support hand grip that positions the thumb away from the trigger.
Young mister Chris Cheng gives good advice for new shooters. However, instead of his attitude that this is the ONLY way to grip a semi auto, it should be viewed as a starting point for someone to develop what works best for them. I’m sure he will, later in life, discover that things change with age. Mobility, body aches and pains, and decreased eyesight are but a few of the things with which shooters will contend as the aging process takes it’s natural course.
I add that you could also use the thumb of your supporting hand on the serrated front trigger guard as well, depending on the size of your hand relative to the handgun, the length of your fingers and the sharpness of the frame angle and the length and resulting of the “open space”, and the comfortable (for you based on practice) of the placement (forward or backward) of the support hand on the handgun.
Good video. One question. Instead of having the index finger of your supporting hand so high and close to the line of movement, why not place it on the (usually) serrated front of the trigger guard? This allows your support hand to use the index finger to counteract the recoil better at a point of more mechanical leverage and uses the more tense support hand greater stability when aiming.
Correct me if I’m wrong? But it Looks Exactly like A “Golfers Grip”…