Two handed hold tutorial.
In Cowboy Action Shooting, I use a drop-down Holster for the right gun and a cross draw for the left. The right hand pulls the gun upward, at the same time the left is reaching towards the rising Vaquero. They meet somewhere around the mid chest height. The left thumb is already close to or on the hammer by the time the gun is extended, and the hammer is cocked by the time I have a sight picture. I have Old Model Rugar Vaqueros in both standard and Beisley configuration. I don't feel any difference in the grip for one verse the other. But remember the hand is at a different angel. This also may affect the "soreness" of your thumb/wrist area.
SASS rules require the muzzle remain down range while drawing. for cross draw, you shift your hips, so the left pelvis swings forward about 3 or 4 inches. At that point your right hand has the grip and as you return your hips to the normal shooting position this pulls the gun from the holster, and it is raising to the shooting position/sight picture. You bring your left hand over in a similar motion to right gun drawing and cock the hammer.
I found for a little extra speed: The right hand is returning the gun to the holster and the left hand has grabbed the left gun from the cross-draw holster around the cylinder area (left hip forward at this point) and starts sliding the gun out as soon as the right gun is seated in that holster. As the left gun comes up the right hand grasps the grip, and the left hand rotates around and thumbs the hammer back about the time you have a sight picture. (With surprising little practice, these entire sequences are very fast!) [SASS rules require that only one gun be out of the holster at a time!]
My guns are all 45 Colt. Loaded with 200 grain LRNFP at about 750-800 fps (ww231 6.7 grain) The guns (4" standard, 5.5" Beisley) absorb most of the recoil but allow you to feel that you have fired (or not).
SASS/Cowboy Action targets are usually large and close, but at home you can control size and distance. My standard practice was to shoot the rifle targets with the revolvers after the match was over for an extra 50 rounds of smaller target practice.
Many ranges use knock-down targets, and it must fall to count, not just go "ding". A low hit with a 600 fps 38 Special, can count as a miss! I have merely grazed the low edge of such targets with my loads, and they fall with authority: ALWAYS USE ENOUGH GUN!
When my F-I-L got into the sport, he practiced sweeping back and forth to start cocking the hammer before he was all the way on target. When talking 10 handgun and 10 rifle shots, you are running into a few seconds. It is surprising how many scores are all within the same second! 1/100ths matter.
Ivan
