Shield 9mm range report, 1H shooting

[zeddic]

Hi all, I have been happily breaking in my brand new shield for the last 3 weeks and have no problems with accuracy and handling shooting with both hands. Today I attempted to shoot 1 handed to see how I would fare and I have to say this is the hardest gun I have ever had to shoot 1 handed! Shooting weak handed and using the 7 round mag was extremely challenging. Given enough time I was able to put shots inside a 6 inch circle at 7 yards but it was tough getting back on target for follow-up shots!

I wanted to know my capabilities with the gun in self defense scenarios including if I had to shoot 1 handed and with the results today it really got me thinking. Anything outside 7 yards is a very difficult shot for me unless I had an infinite amount of time to line up the sights and slowly pull the trigger. It's definitely something to be aware of in the future if there was ever a need to shoot 1 handed.

Does anybody have any suggestions to improve 1 handed shooting (other than practice of course)?

 

[robkarrob]

First your weak hand is weaker. You need to do hand and arm exercises to improve the strength of that hand/arm. The next option is to dry fire with the weak hand. Do this until you can consistently pull the trigger with a dead still muzzle. Last and most important, is as you wrote, you need to practice, as practice makes perfect, or close to perfect.

As a former LEO, we had to complete qualifications using, strong and weak hands. I was reasonable as accurate with my weak had, only slower to get on target and back on target. We also had to use our strong and weak eye, which also adds to the training. If you work at it, it will become second nature to shoot with your weak hand and weak eye.

Bob

 

[ccpacker]

Ditto the above.

 

[zeddic]

First your weak hand is weaker. You need to do hand and arm exercises to improve the strength of that hand/arm. The next option is to dry fire with the weak hand. Do this until you can consistently pull the trigger with a dead still muzzle. Last and most important, is as you wrote, you need to practice, as practice makes perfect, or close to perfect.

As a former LEO, we had to complete qualifications using, strong and weak hands. I was reasonable as accurate with my weak had, only slower to get on target and back on target. We also had to use our strong and weak eye, which also adds to the training. If you work at it, it will become second nature to shoot with your weak hand and weak eye.

Bob

I do strength exercises for the weak hand already (since it is part of competition shooting), but I guess the shield being a smaller gun which makes it harder to hold on to really exposes the difficulty even more. I have been able to shoot my full sized guns weak handed fairly well but I found that shooting the shield was exponentially more difficult and required much much more concentration to get acceptable hits. This is the first time I have shot a compact gun like the shield weak-handed and I was surprised at the level of difficulty.

Do you shoot your weak hand at an angle or try to maintain vertical alignment of the sights? I find shooting at an angle makes it easier to mitigate recoil but also increases the difficulty of getting back on target for follow up shots. Also, what kind of hand/arm exercises do you do? Is it just part of your dry firing routine?

 

[MP1SG]

Hi
Lets face, if we have to shoot one handed (Non shooting hand i like to call it) we dont have a weak hand LOL

Things are bad, they way I train is that I grip the weapon as firmly as possible try to muscle down the recoil and use my front sight only. Again if we are forced to use one hand things are bad, Its time to get nasty and do what u have to do to win. Muscle the weapon down muscle the recoil and use the front sight

Just my 2 cents

1SG
out

 

[robkarrob]

Very simple exercises. I do 10 pound wrist curls, then reverse wrist curls. Isometrics opposite to the recoil direction (down), for my wrists and arms. This really helps recover times. I do foam rubber hand squeezes, for grip strength in fingers and thumbs. I do all until I fatigue the muscles, in the order stated. I do three sets of each, three times a week, as I sit and watch TV. Takes about 15 minutes total. It is amazing how much these exercises have helped me. My recovery times has been greatly reduced and my groupings have been reduced significantly. I shoot mostly one handed, unless I am looking for extreme accuracy.

I take a normal left handed grip, for weak hand shooting. Even though I am right eye dominant, I use my left eye for sighting, when shooting left handed. That is the hardest part, training the left eye to be dominant. My right eye wants to take control.

Bob

 

[zeddic]

Very simple exercises. I do 10 pound wrist curls, then reverse wrist curls. Isometrics opposite to the recoil direction (down), for my wrists and arms. This really helps recover times. I do foam rubber hand squeezes, for grip strength in fingers and thumbs. I do all until I fatigue the muscles, in the order stated. I do three sets of each, three times a week, as I sit and watch TV. Takes about 15 minutes total. It is amazing how much these exercises have helped me. My recovery times has been greatly reduced and my groupings have been reduced significantly. I shoot mostly one handed, unless I am looking for extreme accuracy.

I take a normal left handed grip, for weak hand shooting. Even though I am right eye dominant, I use my left eye for sighting, when shooting left handed. That is the hardest part, training the left eye to be dominant. My right eye wants to take control.

Bob

Great tips! Thanks! I'll have to try the left handed left eye shooting next time!

 

[RussC]

Hi
Lets face, if we have to shoot one handed (Non shooting hand i like to call it) we dont have a weak hand LOL

Things are bad, they way I train is that I grip the weapon as firmly as possible try to muscle down the recoil and use my front sight only. Again if we are forced to use one hand things are bad, Its time to get nasty and do what u have to do to win. Muscle the weapon down muscle the recoil and use the front sight

Just my 2 cents

1SG
out

Mp

Thanks for the tip. I can only imagine if faced in a life situation the adrenalin will make weak things become strong.

Russ