Ruger Training Videos - Proper Grip

[Warbirdnut]

I noticed that the thread on videos had been closed. It reminded me of some of the videos that I've found from Dave Spaulding on the Ruger Firearms Channel. I thought all are pretty good. Here is one on proper grip.Enjoy!

[Hawkmoon]

Oh, Gawd. I am VERY disappointed in Dave!

Barely half a minute into the video, and he repeats and perpetuates the myth that a firing pin safety "fouls up" the trigger (to use his words). Strike one.

Notice that at 1:45, when he first shows putting the gun in your hand, his right thumb naturally goes below the lever of the extended thumb safety. But then he'll go on to tell us that a high-thumb, thumb-forward grip is the "right" way to grip the gun. He says the thumb is held high "to engage the thumb safety," which conveniently ignores that fact that the vast majority of 1911s don't have extended thumb safeties with long levers for the thumb to engage. At 2:55 he says that keeping the strong hand thumb high and tucking the support hand into the gap allows him to engage the thumb safety "whether it's up or down." Untrue -- just look at his grip -- once he's locked in, and the safety lever is down in the fire position, there's no way his right thumb is going to get under the lever to push it back up unless he relaxes his grip.

Sad ...

[Warbirdnut]

Oh, Gawd. I am VERY disappointed in Dave!

Barely half a minute into the video, and he repeats and perpetuates the myth that a firing pin safety "fouls up" the trigger (to use his words). Strike one.

Notice that at 1:45, when he first shows putting the gun in your hand, his right thumb naturally goes below the lever of the extended thumb safety. But then he'll go on to tell us that a high-thumb, thumb-forward grip is the "right" way to grip the gun. He says the thumb is held high "to engage the thumb safety," which conveniently ignores that fact that the vast majority of 1911s don't have extended thumb safeties with long levers for the thumb to engage. At 2:55 he says that keeping the strong hand thumb high and tucking the support hand into the gap allows him to engage the thumb safety "whether it's up or down." Untrue -- just look at his grip -- once he's locked in, and the safety lever is down in the fire position, there's no way his right thumb is going to get under the lever to push it back up unless he relaxes his grip.

Sad ...

Good catch on the video. I took a look at that again and I see what you're talking about. I was wondering about that. Seems like his left hand is too high up on the gun to get his thumb under the safety. Looks like I may need re-evaluate my grip and get that thumb back down under the safety.

I think DSK pretty well sums it up the whole trigger thing here

Regarding the controversy involving getting a decent trigger pull on a Series 80 gun, it is only of importance if the gunsmith attempts to create a super-light pull (under four pounds) for target or competition use. In defense/carry guns where a four-pound or heavier pull is necessary, the added friction of the Series 80 parts adds little or nothing to the pull weight or feel. A good gunsmith can do an excellent trigger job on a Series 80 and still leave all the safety parts in place

[Spyros]

I'd place that threshold to 3.5lbs... not because it's OK for a defensive pistol to have a trigger that light, but because I know for a fact that you can have a 3.5lb trigger with a working trigger-actuated firing pin safety, that works beautifully.

The real threshold might be even lighter, but I didn't feel like getting my Para P18.9 any lower than 3.5lbs. That's with its factory 21lb mainspring.

[dakota1911]

Nice video. I don't hold a 45 exactly that way but it is good to see different ways to hold one and try different things to find out what fits your hand(s) and body the best for the type of shooting you will do.

[Warbirdnut]

Yea, I'm finding out that there is a few different ways to hold a 1911. I've been using a "thumb high" hold. I read a bit about the grip when I ran across some info on Col. Jeff Cooper.