Back into the 1911s

[dbateman]

I understand checkering and the high round count training days

It's only an issue if you have girl hands.

[JHC]

Not being sarcastic. Well, maybe a little:-)

I certainly understand why some people like checkering, I'm just not among them. I find that my grip strength is sufficient to hang onto a pistol under all sorts of conditions. The harder a gun recoils, the less I want checkering. My hands are not saddle leather, but they don't smell like lilies either. I find that most of the people who like checkering, stop liking it about 2/3'rds of the way through a 1000 rd training day. By day 3, they can't shoot effectively at all, and by day 4, they really regret being there at all. Not to mention that when your hands are wrapped like a mummy, it's too late for any good shooting to happen.

There are people for whom that isn't true, but they seem to be the exception, ime.

I'm sure that's right! 4 day pistol shooting course! I might to that once in my life. My world is 200 rounds a week. My two day Hack school with a RTF2 G17 was fine - but by the end of day two on the heel of my strong hand palm it was planed down to pretty raw skin. Which was cool; because I didn't have two more days of shooting it ahead.

[JHC]

Only those with smaller hands or no? I ask because 1911s with slim groups tend to feel a bit more square and I recall JHC's comment A while back about how the square shape of the HK USP in Dexter quite well for him even though it didn't "feel" that great.

say what?

Square Glocks, USP, 2011s I like. I've gotten so habituated to such grips that for my 1911 I'm thinking of trying to find the thickest grips I can. Using the rubber Pack's now.

[1986s4]

I think it's nice to have choices and every pistol/hand combination is different. I would also echo the cautions on over exercising the muscles/tendons of the hands and forearms. I work with my hands, always have, either through sport or earning a living yet I got tendonitis once in my right forearm. Very painful and it took a long time to heal.
On my revolvers I like the rubber grips offered by several makers, keeps the gun from squirming around during my not so rapid, rapid fire. My Beretta wears Hogue rubber slabs, not the finger grove style and my 1911 wears the Magpull plastic grips, no further checkering required so far.

[TCinVA]

I understand checkering and the high round count training days but lets be honest wouldn't you want to have that on a defensive gun?

Not really. At most something like the dimpled texture shown earlier would be desirable, but I just don't find that a rough texture there really adds much to my ability to control the gun. My right hand is completely wrapped around the gun making a lot of contact. I also tend to get what Todd once called a "freakishly high grip" so the gun is anchored pretty solidly in my right hand. Because I have absurdly shaped hands (my palms are actually considerably longer than my actual digits) I find that my left hand doesn't have enough room. A more aggressive texture right where the base of my left hand thumb contacts the pistol really helps lock in my grip and aids in control. The checkering on the front strap...indeed even the rough texture on my P30's front strap...just serves to tear at the skin on my right hand without doing much to aid in control.

Physiology is going to play an important role, here. I get solid contact all around the grip of the pistol even when I'm squeezing front to back. Others may find that the inside of their strong hand loses a little bit of contact with the side panel of the pistol when they squeeze, so the front and backstrap might be their primary contact points on the gun and extra purchase in those areas might be desirable. I find that I get solid enough contact on the side of the pistol and on the backstrap with the heel of my hand that frontstrap checkering is largely useless to me.

I would love to have a doohickey that looked like a pistol grip that hooked up to a machine and could quantitatively measure how you gripped a pistol. I bet that we'd find a considerable amount of variation from person to person in where, exactly, they are really "gripping" the gun...and that would explain a whole lot.

The way I grip a gun, I find the frontstrap checkering to be annoying even in dryfire.

[JHC]

To add to your commentary, I really don't want squirm in the wet or worst case, bloody. My HK45c turned into an eel during a range session in the rain.

Gen 3 Glocks do the same in high heat and humidity or rain - I skateboard tape those on the front strap. RTF2s and to a somewhat lesser extent Gen 4's are much better in this regard.

I'm trying to keep that thing anchored for a course of fire but I don't even pursue 500 rds per range trip.

[SAWBONES]

Word of warning: take their recommendations about not over-training very seriously.

Applies across the board on weight-training/resistance exercise, not just for grip.

The tendency seems to be to do too much, too often.

Back on topic, regarding overly-sharp 20 LPI checkering on some 1911 front traps, I've found that very slight blunting of the points can help reduce discomfort without decreasing traction.

[HCM]

say what?

Square Glocks, USP, 2011s I like. I've gotten so habituated to such grips that for my 1911 I'm thinking of trying to find the thickest grips I can. Using the rubber Pack's now.

Gotta love Siri !

I have XXL hands and with slim grips the 1911 grip feels rectangular to me. They point well but I'm finding they make controlling muzzle flip a bit more difficult. Trying to figure out the feel vs performance thing.

The rubber Pac's are great for shooting but seem to work better coming out of a duty type rig- from concealment I've found they increase my chance of getting a handful of shirt.

[BWT]

I don't have a ton of time to post right this second (which begs the question should I?).

However, I'm with Tam. If you're on a FBI HRT and you need to have a rock solid grip in all conditions (rain, snow, sweat, blood, etc.) and any type of clothing, to make a shot or several; 20 LPI is good. Even for a few hundred rounds; it's tolerable. It is that high for a reason and I think it works admirably.

ETA: However, if you're a high volume shooter. It's not ideal. Your hands will callous with use and that gun if you use it professionally and regularly.

I doubt in a non-school environment a shooter would benefit from regularly weekly practice shooting past 200-300 rounds per session. However, I'm not a SME or a pro-shooter.

[jetfire]

Applies across the board on weight-training/resistance exercise, not just for grip.

The tendency seems to be to do too much, too often.

Absolutely agreed. Even moreso if you're 30+ because the body doesn't quite recover at that age like it did when we were all 18 and immortal.