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Question For Good Bullseye Shooters
- Thread starter sjs
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Protocall_Design
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I can shoot fairly well with either hand, a little better with both together.
I am no longer a good bullseye shooter, but I was one many decades ago. Never shot in a bullseye match with two hands, of course, but it was very clear that two hands were faster, easier, and more accurate than one. Other than that, no great advantage.
Accuracy is the same strong hand or both, but I can go faster with two hands in USPSA or IDPA due to better recoil control.
Of course, fine accuracy is not required in most IDPA or USPSA shooting as much as in PPC or "bullseye".
If you have all the time in the world and can't achieve reasonable accuracy, that is a sign of lack of fundamental skills. Trying to go fast and keep accuracy separates the masters from the rest of us.
Of course, fine accuracy is not required in most IDPA or USPSA shooting as much as in PPC or "bullseye".
If you have all the time in the world and can't achieve reasonable accuracy, that is a sign of lack of fundamental skills. Trying to go fast and keep accuracy separates the masters from the rest of us.
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What he said.
I'm one of those freaks of nature---not ambidextrous per se----but close to it---and weird.
Left eye is master eye. I shoot well with either hand, but better right handed (and left eyed). I shoot long guns right handed and right eyed. I shoot handguns faster better with two hands----but like the man said, because of better recoil control. I write left handed. I throw right handed. I throw "like a girl" left handed. (No offense, lest I be flogged.) I bat left handed. It is the height of awkwardness for me to try to bat right handed. God forbid I should take up golf, but I'd swing those clubs left handed. I can use virtually any sort of hand tool equally well with either hand----which REALLY comes in handy!!
All this led to a tortured childhood at the hands of my well meaning father----who figured I should be one or the other----AND BY GOD YOU'RE GOING TO BE LEFT HANDED!!! So he bought a high dollar baseball glove for me---to be worn on my right hand. (See "throw "like a girl" left handed" comments above.) I could catch the ball just fine with my fancy glove on my right hand---and promptly took it off to throw the ball back. That led to great frustration and aggravation on his part---and to wishing I was somewhere else doing something else on my part.
The moral of this story is let your youngsters be what they are---unless it's against the law.
Ralph Tremaine
Left eye is master eye. I shoot well with either hand, but better right handed (and left eyed). I shoot long guns right handed and right eyed. I shoot handguns faster better with two hands----but like the man said, because of better recoil control. I write left handed. I throw right handed. I throw "like a girl" left handed. (No offense, lest I be flogged.) I bat left handed. It is the height of awkwardness for me to try to bat right handed. God forbid I should take up golf, but I'd swing those clubs left handed. I can use virtually any sort of hand tool equally well with either hand----which REALLY comes in handy!!
All this led to a tortured childhood at the hands of my well meaning father----who figured I should be one or the other----AND BY GOD YOU'RE GOING TO BE LEFT HANDED!!! So he bought a high dollar baseball glove for me---to be worn on my right hand. (See "throw "like a girl" left handed" comments above.) I could catch the ball just fine with my fancy glove on my right hand---and promptly took it off to throw the ball back. That led to great frustration and aggravation on his part---and to wishing I was somewhere else doing something else on my part.
The moral of this story is let your youngsters be what they are---unless it's against the law.
Ralph Tremaine
It depends.
To make a long story short(er), I feel that a two-handed grip is a crutch. Shooting may seem easier, but personally, I can shoot one-handed better than two under the right conditions. Weak hand support covers up a multitude of sins that you just can't commit with one hand, and gives you the perception of a steadier hold. But that crutch isn't going to fix something like improper grip and arm tension.
If I'm hobbled by a gun with a not-quite-match-ready trigger, then the crutch of my support hand covers up errors that would be induced by equipment.
With a clean trigger, though, the second hand is just a distraction.
PS--On arm and grip tension, I don't think that physical strength is relevant. If you have a weak person, and they squeeze with their hand, wrist, and forearm right to the brink of trembling, you're going to get good results. If you take a strong person, and they apply the same amount of force, which requires less effort because they're stronger, you get poor results, because their muscles aren't in the right state.
To make a long story short(er), I feel that a two-handed grip is a crutch. Shooting may seem easier, but personally, I can shoot one-handed better than two under the right conditions. Weak hand support covers up a multitude of sins that you just can't commit with one hand, and gives you the perception of a steadier hold. But that crutch isn't going to fix something like improper grip and arm tension.
If I'm hobbled by a gun with a not-quite-match-ready trigger, then the crutch of my support hand covers up errors that would be induced by equipment.
With a clean trigger, though, the second hand is just a distraction.
PS--On arm and grip tension, I don't think that physical strength is relevant. If you have a weak person, and they squeeze with their hand, wrist, and forearm right to the brink of trembling, you're going to get good results. If you take a strong person, and they apply the same amount of force, which requires less effort because they're stronger, you get poor results, because their muscles aren't in the right state.
Not a 'great' bullseye shooter...
But my best one handed stance is totally sideways like old 'dueling style'. I can face forward but given time, that's the stance I'd take for a one hand shot.
But my best one handed stance is totally sideways like old 'dueling style'. I can face forward but given time, that's the stance I'd take for a one hand shot.
Bullseye 2620
Member
One hand works pretty well for me at 25 yards. . .
I'm a "has been" bullseye pistol shooter. I've always been able to shoot a double-action revolver better two-handed and I always shot them double-action. I never shot my bullseye pistols two-handed, so I can't comment on those. I definitely can shoot much faster with self-defense pistols two-handed, but their accuracy isn't nearly as good as bullseye pistols. Accuracy really boils down to marksmanship fundamentals. Bullseye shooting really helps to instill those fundamentals. Trigger control is king in all kinds of pistol shooting.
I second the above. I have been known to fire revolvers single action in addition to double action.
stu1ritter
US Veteran
As an old bullseye shooter (retired) of some 50 years, I can shoot slow fire better with two hands. The lack of motion of the gun allows me to concentrate much harder on the sight picture and trigger pull. In timed and rapid fire I find that two hands disturbs my rhythm. If you've ever shot a Distinguished rapid fire leg match in non-windy conditions, rhythm is everything. After the first round with military ball ammo you can't see the target through the smoke and it's your rhythm and putting the gun back on your "table". The table is that place that muscle memory and body positioning has taught you the gun should be held to be center bull. It works very well with one hand but doesn't seem to fall in place with two.
Stu
Stu
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Hithev
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Plus sights alignment. Plus breath coordination. Plus your heart and mind..
In cowboy action shooting I elected to be a one-handed shooter, called Duelist category. It got to where I was doggone good one-handed but it is not precision shooting. When I needed to get precise I would go to two hands unless the rules said I could not. Sometimes we had to shoot some pretty small targets and the rules didn't let me change to two hands so I had to be good at it. Single action revolvers, remember, Old West style. It's not bulls-eye but it feels like it sometimes.
As for this:
I saw a kid on the news the other day, Little League I guess, playing catcher with just one arm! He lost his right arm as a toddler due to some disease. He would catch the ball and then flip it up, flip off his glove, re-catch the ball, and throw it to wherever it needed to go. He was lightning fast. Amazing what humans can do when they HAVE TO!
As for this:
I saw a kid on the news the other day, Little League I guess, playing catcher with just one arm! He lost his right arm as a toddler due to some disease. He would catch the ball and then flip it up, flip off his glove, re-catch the ball, and throw it to wherever it needed to go. He was lightning fast. Amazing what humans can do when they HAVE TO!
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That's sort of the difference. Action pistol is all about shaving time. Two hands lets you do all sorts of things, like (maybe, a slipping support hand can slow you down) control recoil better, and limiting the damage caused by speeding up good technique or purposely using bad technique to shave split times.
But Bullseye, even if two hands were allowed, has a fixed time. The shots are, for sure, difficult to make, but far from impossible. It's actually quite easy to train yourself so hard with one hand that using two is counterproductive.
If I don't clean a string, it's not because of anything I could have corrected by using a second hand. It's because I committed an error.
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Joe Hohmann
Member
Two-hand makes it easier/faster to get back onto the target, especially for calibers higher than .22. I see no big reason to shoot 1-handed unless you shoot in competitions.
usmc2427765
US Veteran
If you are shooting at paper, one hand is fine and sometimes required. If you are shooting at meat, two handed only and single action only. If you are trying to save your life or the life of someone you love, there are no rules.
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