Great work on this @RJ
This type of data is invaluable to us.
Great work on this @RJ
This type of data is invaluable to us.
Glad I came across this, it definitely jives with what I've settled on for fitting me best. I'm in the P365/G43 size range and it's unfortunate as they are less mechanically robust than I'd like to carry but the perfect size for carry and shooting efficiently. I guess it's a case of taking the sour with the sweet, eh?
S&W K frame targets, earlier type, are about perfect to me. The Pachmayr K round butt compacs work for more discrete use on the 2 1/2" 19.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
I'm glad if it's of use. If there is something specific you are looking for in re: more data, let me know. I can slice and dice this fairly easily.Originally Posted by rhamre
I've been on a quest for all the datapoints and information that people were collecting from hand turkey drawings to make a custom grip.
The data you provided seems to be good supporting information that they were basing the end result grip on, but I feel there's still a few missing pieces to the puzzle.
If you have anything in that regard, posting it or sending it to me would be greatly appreciated.
I agree, I'm certain there are more nuances then are made clear from RJ's data but I feel it's definitely going to get most people in the ballpark to a large degree.
Will do. I had posted some follow up notes which drew some commentary in the "Part 3" of this. The discussion starts more or less at post #50, here:
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....=1#post1508145
As well, our @Doc_Glock is another resource, he is a hand surgeon and shooter and probably has forgotten more about hands and their dimensions than I will ever know.
Generally, the theme of the comments and feedback I got back was that folks offered other data points (hand breadth, finger length, etc.) but I was never quite sure how to define it so as to be able to collect meaningful data. So I was left with "Grip Circumference" as a poor, least-worst selection that most people could relate to, at least in terms of glove size, another catch-all measurement.
And then of course there's the, "can you even really do this" concept. In other words, give the vast subtle differences in hand anthropometry that exists in the human population, and the extensive and varied grip / trigger / breadth dimensions that firearm makers use, is it even possible to make a meaningful choice in hand gun size for a sample N = 1 person? What some may miss (or I didn't emphasize enough) in this "hand size" project was that I wasn't, really, aiming for sizing a gun for an experienced person; what I was trying to do was to offer some way the steer a person new to guns to a potentially "good" selection, that would at least give them a fighting chance of using the pistol effectively, much as people go into a shoe store and look for shoes in their size. I think in general industry does a pretty poor job of that, to be honest.
Anyway, thanks for topping this thread, I haven't thought about this for a while, but I do find this stuff interesting, and I appreciate the interest from a person actually in the ah firearm business.
Last edited by RJ; 04-21-2024 at 07:36 AM.
I had to think for one second what this meant, but I get it now.
Explains why my 7.5 hand has always loved double stacked Glocks.
Left hand: 7-3/4” to 7-13/16”. This is my “dominant” hand, for writing, and many skilled/detailed tasks. This is my better “Glock hand.”
Right Hand: 7-1/2” to 7-5/8”. (I kept getting slightly different results.) My right arm is dominant, for things like throwing, and using larger tools. I reckon this is my “Other Dominant” hand. I decided to carry on my right side, in 1983, when I had to pick a side, for duty handgun training, while attending a police academy.
Yes, I have noticed that bigger guns feel better, in my left hand. Somewhat smaller guns are better for my right hand. A problem that I have is that my index fingers seem relatively short, in relation to my middle fingers. A handgun that feels “perfect,” when I handle it, may have a reach, to the trigger, that is too far for my index finger. My right index finger is about 1/2” shorter than my right middle finger. My left index finger is about 5/16” shorter than my left middle finger. (My right index finger is starting to bend/curve, with age, which is not helping.)
The chart does confirm why I have found the Beretta 92/M9 to be too large, for either of my hands.
I wonder about the 1911 being in the XL category of guns. With slimmer grips, a flat MSH, and several lengths of shorter- and longer-reach triggers, the 1911 is amazingly adaptable to quite small hands. (Personally, I like a flat MSH, and a long-length trigger.)
The SIG P226 and P229 were too big for me, until the optional slimmer tigger, with a shorter reach, was introduced. Even then, the huge “decocker hump” on the P229 made it right on the ragged edge of being too voluminous, for my hands.
My general-purpose autoloading pistol is the Glock G17, Gen4. I traded-away my G19 pistols, in 2020, for kinder, gentler pistols. I was more accurate, with the larger G17, because the G19 grip did not reach the “heel bone” of my hand, which meant one less point of firm contact. Then, my right hand aged-out of ever wanting to shoot service/duty-level cartridges from any pistol that did not reach that firm point of contact.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
Reply With Quote