Hand strength in corelation to marksmanship

[AndrewSimonsen]

Quick question for those that are training for a high degree of accuracy with a pistol, do you find that increasing your hand/wrist/finger strength can contribute to improvements in your overall accuracy?

[Cliff Hargrave]

Not really. The only time I have seen wrist and grip strength come into play is with very small females, and we probably get 90%+ to qualify within one week of training. You just have to force yourself to concentrate and keep a tight grip and stiff wrist. Once you can control the weapon, additional strength doesn't matter.

[AndrewSimonsen]

I asked because I have very limited experience with firearms and saw a toy gun looking thing designed to increase the strength of the trigger finger. Claims made in the advertisement were that by strengthening your grip you could improve your aim considerably. I usually only fire a rifle, or shotgun once or twice on the summers so I wasn't sure if the claim had anything to it.

[Dennis Monk]

I asked because I have very limited experience with firearms and saw a toy gun looking thing designed to increase the strength of the trigger finger. Claims made in the advertisement were that by strengthening your grip you could improve your aim considerably.
100% unadulterated hawgwash.
Good aim comes from repetition and proper body mechanics.
The average trigger on a semi automatic runs from 3 pounds in single action, and 8 pounds or so in double action. Obviously some models and makes will vary. That is all the force you need. When pulling the trigger on a pistol you should only be using the very first pad of your finger, and the pull should be directly back to you (as much as possible). No amount of strength in your trigger finger will affect this. Now, I did work with a guy that had to leave law enforcement because he had a degenerative condition in his hands where he progressively lost all strength due to his body not producing muscle mass in his extremeties at all. That is a whole other story though.
Basically good aim, or better yet efficient shooting, comes from a combination of proper sight picture, grip, stance, breathing, and a repetition of all in a successive manner.

[TonyU]

Actually Dennis they can go as high as 12 pounds, especially in in Sigs.
Juts thought I'd point that out. :D

[Cliff Hargrave]

But my Sig is so smooth it feels lighter :)

I do remember some off brand crunch-n-ticker (as Jeff Cooper would say) that had an 18 pound first pull.

Even so, the point is you need an adequate amount of strength to handle the weapon and most normal people have all they need.

[Dennis Monk]

Actually Dennis they can go as high as 12 pounds, especially in in Sigs.
Juts thought I'd point that out. :D
Are those the "specialty Glocks" and such that are sold in fascist regimes such as New York and New Jersey? :D

[WhiteBeltJones]

How about for firing successive shots? Would hand strength help in compensating for recoil?

[Cliff Hargrave]

How about for firing successive shots? Would hand strength help in compensating for recoil?

Well yes I guess, but technique/shooting stance is what really does it. I am sure it applies to shooting just like martial arts, sometimes physical attributes can make up for poor techinque, but not consistantly.

Sometimes after 8 hours at the range some of our recruits start to get lax on grip, wrist, and stance but that is to be expected after shooting all day. When it comes to real life shootings, or competition, you are just not going to be shooting enough to get fatigued.

[TonyU]

What you need is a firm grip. Equate that with a firm handshake and you'll understand it.
No need for a death grip.

[dcm4136]

Well yes I guess, but technique/shooting stance is what really does it. I am sure it applies to shooting just like martial arts, sometimes physical attributes can make up for poor techinque, but not consistantly.

Sometimes after 8 hours at the range some of our recruits start to get lax on grip, wrist, and stance but that is to be expected after shooting all day. When it comes to real life shootings, or competition, you are just not going to be shooting enough to get fatigued.

Just want to echo what Cliff said. The only time that I have found strength to effect accuracy is when fatigue becomes and issue. Unless you are a competive shooter, a normally healthy adults strength should be perfectly fine.