1911: 1H Accuracy

[Sauer Koch]

The other day at the range, I had been shooting my DW A2 with two hands, and doing ok, but decided to try some 1H shooting. The distance was maybe 6-8 yds; I was amazed at how much better I shot with one hand. Does this say more (negatively) about my 2H technique, than my 1H proficiency?

I wasn't expecting that to happen, so it was quite a surprise. Maybe it was just a fluke...I need to try it again, and compare.

Has anyone else had this happen?

[LSP552]

Sometimes when we try something "harder" we tend to focus more on the fundamentals. It's pretty common to see people shoot better on dim light courses than during the day because they pay more attention to the things that matter.

[Rex G]

I will “amen” what LSP552 said. I cannot say, with certainly, that it applied to your experience, at that moment in time, but I believe it to be generally true.

It is also possible that one can have a faulty support-hand technique, that makes things worse. I have had this happen with Glock pistols, especially the G19, and have struggled to find a solution. I believe I will need live, one-on-one coaching, if I choose to keep using the G19, but that may soon become moot, as my aging wrists are growing weary of shooting light-weight 9mm pistols.

I have seen/heard that two-handed shooting is more about grip control, and one-handed shooting is more about trigger control. This makes sense, because a firm-enough two-handed grip will be more likely to keep the muzzle on-target, regardless of a somewhat faulty press of the trigger, whereas a one-handed grip has much less contact with the surface of the weapon, and therefore less stability, so the perfect trigger press becomes much more important. And, of course, the perfect trigger press is more mental than physical, which brings us to what LSP552 said, about paying more attention. :)