Small hand revolver shooter

[DaTerminat'r]

All good revolvers shooters I know have big hands. Is it possible for short people with small hands to shoot N-frame revolvers at high level of competitiveness at USPCA/IDPA? Or are small handers better off shooting autos?

[OKFC05]

You have posed a false delimma based on inaccurate information.

IDPA/SSR is ruled by the K/L frames with speedloaders. I use the Pachmayr Pro Grippers on a model 66 at present. Strength and coordination are an advantage, but that can be inproved with training.

The most important factor in shooting IDPA/SSR is learning the correct grip, trigger control, and gun handling (reloads).
On some stages, you can spend as much time reloading as shooting.

In USPSA revolver, the model 625 with clips rules. Many different grips are available.

What I see most often is that a younger person will try a revolver and find, quite correctly, that considerable practice is needed to master the gun handling and reloads, so they quit. Practice reloads 20 minutes a day for a year and you will get proficient.

[David Sinko]

The late great revolver shooter Ed McGivern was known for having rather short fingers. There is an outline of his hand drawn in his book Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting. He used the tips of his trigger fingers to manipulate the trigger, which gave him maximum leverage and incredible speed. Jerry Miculek also contacts the trigger with the pad of his finger, and he has been known to shoot a DA revolver pretty fast too. Don't fall for the myth that you need to grind the serrations off the trigger and pull with the crease of your finger. Shooting a revolver well does require a lot of practice and dedication, but fortunately much of this can be achieved by dry firing.

Dave Sinko

[growr]

Size of your hand has NOTHING to do with performance. Find grips that fit YOUR hand and then dry fire a LOT. Also, have a set of dummy rounds to do reloads with your speed loaders or moon clips depending on how your gun is configured. It is practice...practice and more practice that makes a competitor a winner.
Sort of like the old musician's joke of "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice..practice..practice.
Also remember that perfect practice makes perfect. Practice things wrong and you will have learned them well but still wrong.
Randy

[APS]

*If* small hands mean weak muscle strength, then they'll have to build that up. If you have weak hand muscles you can't control the revolver properly while at the same time quickly pulling the trigger. But small hands might not necessarily mean weak hands.

[gr7070]

One's hands would have to be quite small to be hindered in competition.

Small hands are probably best suited for a K/L-frame. An N-frame can be shot with small hands. Not sure how small becomes a problem. Grips should make enough difference if the hands aren't abnormally small.

Give it a try. Or go straight to a K/L.

[No.343]

I'm only a lowly A class USPSA shooter, but I certainly don't have big hands. I'm only 5' 7", but I dry fire every chance I get.

[bpeddicord]

I also have very short and stubby fingers and I often shoot my 44 magnum N frames in IDPA with fairly hot loads (180 grain jacketed hollow point factory loads). I can just barely reach the trigger of my 629 with pachmayr grips, but by replacing them with Hogue grips, I can get a better purchase. I can't always beat the guys using 625s and full moon clips with my N frames, but I give them a run for their money, and I've never come in last in the revolver category.