Shooting With Gloves

[smoothshooter]

Why are so many of these guys doing handgun shooting videos always wearing gloves when they shoot and it is not cold?
Do think it looks cool? (It doesn’t)
Are they afraid of messing up their manicures?

 

[waffles]

Without any example of what you're talking about, I could think of improved grip, comfort (some handguns do have rather aggressive grips or frontstraps that some don't like), precaution against hammerbite like I used to do on my pre-A1 1911, or being in a situation where they might otherwise want gloves for any other manner of tasks where gloves are helpful, but are also shooting a gun.

I don't really shoot with gloves on, but who cares if someone wears gloves while shooting?

 

[LVSteve]

Bit of cush for their palms and wrists?

 

[Imissedagain]

Super Magnum 460/500 shooters wear them so when the gun shatters their hands they have all the parts to take to the ER and you do not bloody up the range.

When asked by the newest member of the USAF Hazard Survey Team why do we wear rubber suits and gloves, as the HE will blow you apart or the radiation might melt you, my reply was that it makes it easy to carry your melted remains home.
He laughed.

Pro baseball players only wear gloves as it extends their reach a bit.

Golfers
Batters
Sailors
Race car drivers
Lever gunners who don't wrap the levers.
Racquetball
Soccer goalies.
etc etc

Old pic of Rogue Wave grip under construction designed to fit with thin gloves.

 

[tops]

Super Magnum 460/500 shooters wear them so when the gun shatters their hands they have all the parts to take to the ER and you do not bloody up the range.

One of my partners in crime said too always shoot guns like that with one hand. That way you only ruin one hand. Larry

 

[twodog max]

I have to plead guilty to sometimes wearing a glove shooting. Ruger single actions beat the crud out of the knuckle of my middle finger. Also use them at times shooting lever guns for the same finger gets banged up levering the rifle. Getting old and soft I suppose.

 

[wnwitzell]

Diabetes has made my skin very thin and prone to blisters. Particularly at my thumb web. So I wear a fingerless bicycling glove when shooting 357 and 44. Otherwise I end up with a huge blister. It does make me look kool though.

 

[Babysitr]

after 40 yrs in the truck shop, these old skinners get some foam lined Bob Allens with the trigger finger part cut off, during the winter trap league (pull trigger)..some light gloves with a couple small grip .357's,maybe with the 1892, not real often

 

[Gamecock]

10-4, twodog. I wear them with some guns to protect my hands.

I have an actual pair of 'shooting gloves' I bought from Cabelas many years ago. I bought them for late season pheasant hunting. More protection from weather than gun. Only time I wear them shooting now is the left hand glove when shooting my S X S shotgun, as barrels get hot and I can't avoid touching them with my fore end grip.

I have a pair of mechanics gloves I bought from Lowes/HD a few years ago. Firm Grip Utility. They are quite thin, which makes them excellent for shooting gloves. Adequate protection without bulk or loss of feel.

 

[URIT]

I enjoyed Imissedagain's list of gloves. I thought about boxers, but their gloves are actually mittens.

 

[Imissedagain]

Diabetes has made my skin very thin and prone to blisters. Particularly at my thumb web. So I wear a fingerless bicycling glove when shooting 357 and 44. Otherwise I end up with a huge blister. It does make me look kool though.

I was just telling a buddy that the reason his skin is thin and bruises easily is from years of steroids to control asthma.
Started smoking cigarettes as a teenage. No longer smokes but carries an Oxygen machine these days.
USAF vet from the '60s.
No way to reverse the skin condition but skin cream helps.
Sad but true.

 

[Mule Packer]

Do think it looks cool? (It doesn’t)
Are they afraid of messing up their manicures?

Yes to all of the above. At least to this guy.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I got into the habit of shooting trap & clays with golf gloves on.


They helped out my grip, kept my hand sweat off the metal parts and my skin from
the powder residue on the hulls, from shooting 100 to 500 rounds of ammo in a afternoon, from my O/U shotguns.

 

[CB3]

Wearing gloves while shooting is not just for show. There are definite practical purposes. I think “Operators” (and maybe wannabe’s) may wear them for training because they can envision times when they may actually have to shoot with gloves on in a real life threatening situation.

If they wear them in cold weather for the 90% of the time they are not shooting, with no time to remove them before a sudden engagement, then it is wise to practice that way too.

I have grabbed black metal magazines that had been left out in the hot summer sun and immediately regretted it. The metal parts of guns can get very hot, either from shooting or the sun. Gloves reduce such discomfort.

If it is not cold but an operator wears gloves to otherwise protect himself during his work, then again, training with them on makes sense.

It is interesting to see non-glove wearing shooters at the end of a day’s 4-500 round shooting course sporting 2, 3 or four bandaids around their hands. Gloves prevent this. In addition to the top of the knuckle slamming tight onto the bottom of the trigger guard (proper high grip), overhand racking 70+ times a day will chew up the support hand.

So, if you shoot just a few mild rounds at a temperature controlled indoor range on each outing, gloves may seem unnecessary. However, if you are practicing with high round counts for serious offensive/defensive purposes where you may wear gloves, practicing that way is not tacticool, it’s intelligent.

Shooting with gloves is different. Being (very) familiar with how it feels makes a lot of sense. Kind of like knowing how to operate a manual transmission. Most of the time, you don’t need the skill, but when you do, you had better be skilled at doing so.

 

[H Richard]

I have arthritis in my hands. When shooting trap and skeet I use a thin "compression" gloves which handles the recoil better, and reduces the pain I feel with every shot. Also the reason I no longer shoot any hard kicking handguns. My 45's are relegated to "target" loads, and .357's are for self defense emergencies only.

 

[old bear]

I no longer have any desire to shoot anything powerful enough to require the protection of gloves. I do sometimes use gloves to protect my manicure

Really, my shooting now a days is, limited to practice for a real-world event. If that happens, I don’t think I’m going to have time to “glove up.

 

[625-7]

I enjoyed Imissedagain's list of gloves. I thought about boxers, but I wear them around my waist

fixed it for you

 

[Bro. Dave]

I am old and on an anti-clotting medication so bruising is always an issue for me. Sometimes I look down at my hands/forearms and wonder how in the world did I get a bruise like that and not know how?

Anyway, thin shooting gloves have become a helpful habit for my recreational shooting, which, fortunately, is all the shooting I have done to date in my life. So far, I've never fired a firearm in self-defense.

I also wear some protective gloves while cleaning my guns, not only to protect against the chemicals, but help protect against the pinches, bumps, and abrasions I seem to get.

Not everyone gets the privilege to live this long.

 

[SmithNut]

I have arthritis in my hands. When shooting trap and skeet I use a thin "compression" gloves which handles the recoil better, and reduces the pain I feel with every shot. Also the reason I no longer shoot any hard kicking handguns. My 45's are relegated to "target" loads, and .357's are for self defense emergencies only.

Bingo......

I've been wearing these more and more over the years and they are great for shooting and just about any other light duty use. Definitely not for warmth in the snow as they are not totally waterproof.....

 

[jeffrefrig]

Sometimes I wear one when shooting .44 magnum. It helps keep that trigger guard from beating the heck outta my middle finger. Recently I found a new set of rubber stocks and it keeps my finger away from the trigger guard. Of course, I wear a tight black pair of gloves so I can look like Little Joe, too.