Hooked/Square Pistol Trigger Guards

4T5GUY

4T5GUY

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I’m confused.

In another section of this Forum, it seems that they are mostly disdained, hated and sometimes even removed. (Novak custom upgrade.) Limited holster choices?

In 2011 I ordered the then newly re-introduced Colt Mustang. I have a few old and “newer” Colts and always wanted a Mustang. When it arrived it was an XSP. Poly frame with hooked trigger guard and an integral ACCESSORY RAIL. What? 👎 I was very disappointed back then but since I have really gotten to like and appreciate this .380. Still looking for a flashlight to go on the accessory rail. 🤡

Looks like most if not all of the current manufacturers offer examples with hooked/squared trigger guards. At what point did they become unpopular and when did they not only gain acceptance but become standard?

Jim
 
Thank Paris Theodore (ASP pistol) for the hooked trigger. guard.
 
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Hooked trigger guards were all the rage during my IPSC days back in the 80's I guess it was. All the "cool kids" had them on their 1911's. I was never a "cool kid" but boy did I want to be one. That hooked trigger guard was going to make me an instant championship contender. That an a half dozen or so magic talisman's. Practice? Oh heck no. That was for sissies. I couldn't afford practice. I needed a hooked trigger guard.

Alas they first gun I remember owning with one was a Glock of one kind or other. It was OK, but the gun was defective. I shot it about the same I did everything else. Poorly.

I still think that squared off trigger guard is kinda cool though. :D
 
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As CajunBass noted, combat shooters in the 1980s adopted a grip style that hooked the index finger of the support hand around the front of the trigger guard. The idea was the forward leverage point would provide an improvement in recoil control for faster follow up shots. This led to textured, squared and hooked trigger guards.

Eventually most folks learned that technique wasn't really superior at all, and went back to a normal grip, with the fingers of the support hand under the trigger guard. Also, the real estate in front of the trigger guard got taken up by weapon mounted lights for most tactical operators.

The style has endured on some guns, even though the technique has been relegated to the dustbin of history. Not that someone won't drag it out at some point and try to claim it as their own 'new' wonder grip... ;)
 
I think Armand Swenson was one of the first gunsmiths doing it to 1911s and I always thought they were ugly and still do.
 
I have four with squared or hooked trigger guards. A 6906, and two Taurus TX-22's have the square and hooks. My new Ruger RXM has a semi-squared trigger guard with no hook. I'm kind of "meh" on the hooks, use a standard two hand hold on them and all other semis.
 
I never use them and never received training using them, but they don't get in the way. I have a buddy who shoots handguns well and he uses the squared off front of the trigger guard for his non-shooting index finger.
 
Hooked trigger guards are UGLY. There are pistols that I won’t buy because they have a hooked trigger guard.

Like the 3rd brake light and the green vest, the weak hand index finger on the trigger guard was one of those good ideas that really didn’t do much, except look like it was going to do some good. And now it just won’t go away.
 
Hooked trigger guards are an affectation whose time has passed…but some like them. I don’t really care much one way or the other…but some are truly bad in the aesthetic sense. The Beretta 92 trigger guards are not offensive to me but the Taurus 92 series are…their trigger guards are too thick where the Beretta is slimmer. I know…no big deal. I think the Sig P220/226 series as functional but not objectionable.

I also don’t like 1911s with the trigger guard removed or a “Fitz’d” revolver either. Those are a safety issue as much as an aesthetic thing for me…but others like them. That’s what makes this hobby so great…we all like something different or unique.
 
Just a few special guns in the collection, I am a bit biased :D

img_7631-jpeg.728641
 
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