Chapter Two
The Perfect Fit
It’s really pretty simple: your gun must fit your hand if you want to be efficient in shooting. The circumference of the grip, the distance from the back to the trigger, and even the shape of the grip’s cross section make huge contributions to comfort and performance.
We’re lucky to be talking about revolvers in this day and age as opposed to just a few decades ago. Back in the ‘70s, and even well into the ‘80s, very few revolvers came with grips that actually fit a shooter’s hands. Custom grip manufacturers existed, but there was no internet to help shooters find them. If the revolver owner didn’t read a gun magazine, or sometimes the ‘right’ gun magazine, he or she would never learn that they didn’t have to suffer with poor revolver fit!
Today we have a wide range of aftermarket grips available, and many more that can be had on a custom basis through the many gripmakers found on the internet. Technology has improved, giving us materials that simply weren’t available some forty years ago. We also understand more about the role of improved ergonomics in shooter performance.
Many of these changes came about because of the wave of ‘shall issue’ concealed carry that swept across America during the 1980s. The market for concealed carry guns, training, and accessories exploded, bringing new ideas and increased competition into what was a pretty hidebound industry. Were it not for that, we might not have seen the need for proper gun and hand fit achieve the recognition that it has.
The trigger finger rules all
When fitting a gun to a shooter I always start with the trigger/finger interface. I’ll talk more about trigger finger placement in a later chapter, but ideally the first joint of the finger should be placed on the trigger. This is the ideal point of leverage and muscle control, and fits the majority of shooters with the widest range of gun sizes.
The process starts by having the student place that finger joint on the trigger. Once that’s properly placed we work backwards to the proper grip. Once the trigger finger is in the right place it’s easy to see if the the rest of the hand fits the gun (or vice-versa, depending on how you look at things).
Using a verified unloaded gun, place first joint of trigger finger on trigger.
Work backwards, wrapping hand around grip.
Finish by grasping the gun firmly as you would if actually shooting.
With the finger placed properly on the trigger and the rest of the fingers curled around the grip, I check to see if the barrel lines up with the bones of the forearm. If the gun is too big for the person’s hand, the barrel will be pointing away from the centerline of the body. If the gun is too small, it will be pointing toward the centerline.
I’ve found that it’s easier for most people to shoot a too-small gun than to operate a too-large gun. To get enough leverage to operate the trigger, a person with small hands (such as mine) must rotate the hand toward the muzzle, bringing the finger further into the trigger for proper leverage. This puts the backstrap of the revolver, which is the center of the recoil impulse, not into the palm but on the outside edge of the base of the thumb. The first bone of thumb itself, which now sits on the top of the backstrap instead of alongside it, takes the punishment of the muzzle flip. I can tell you from experience that this is a painful situation in which to be!
If the barrel lines up with the forearm, the gun fits the shooter correctly.
Someone with hands that are a bit big for the gun usually suffers nothing more than interference problems. The large trigger finger often contacts the thumb as it strokes the trigger backward, throwing the gun slightly off target and necessitating careful attention to the sights. Some of this is alleviated through proper trigger control (which is coming up in Chapter Five), but very large hands on very small guns are always a problem.
That’s why, if a choice has to be made, I’ll recommend the smaller gun every time. For the best results, though, the fit should be as close to ideal as possible.
This revolver is too big for shooter’s hand, will result in loss of control and painful recoil.
If the goal is to shoot well, sometimes a different gun is the only answer.
How to deal with this mismatch? The usual fix is to find grips, either smaller or larger, that will better fit the shooter. By carefully choosing the grip it’s possible to compensate for a difference between the shooter’s hand and the revolver’s size, but sometimes that’s not practical (perhaps there are concealability issues) or even possible (grips aren’t available for the revolver in question or can’t be made small enough to make a difference.)
In those cases my recommendation is for the shooter to obtain a revolver with a different frame size, one that is more suitable for his/her hand. This isn’t always met with a welcoming attitude. We tend to get attached to our possessions, even more so if the gun was a gift or inheritance. I understand those issues, and sympathize with them more than you might think, but if the goal is to shoot well sometimes a different gun is the only answer.
The mystery of frame sizes
K-frame. J-frame. N-frame. D-frame. L-frame. E/l frame. To someone not intimately familiar with revolvers, talk of frame sizes seems like a foreign language.
Frame sizes are really nothing more than a shorthand to tell us into what general size category (or ‘class’) the gun fits. Unfortunately, unlike the automobile world, they aren’t standardized to compact/subcompact categories. Every maker has their own way of referring to frame sizes, and they aren’t always compatible. This makes it difficult to judge if any given gun fits a particular set of size parameters.
Smith & Wesson frame sizes tend to be the most universally used as reference points, and I won’t buck that trend. Let’s take a look at S&W frame nomenclature, then compare some of their competitors strictly in terms of size.
Their smallest frame size is the J series, which historically was a five-shot revolver chambering a .38 caliber cartridge. Over the years they’ve accommodated other calibers in different capacities and made of different materials, but the frame size remains largely unchanged. When small concealment revolvers are mentioned, particularly those intended for pocket or ankle carry, the gun almost invariably meant is some variation of the J-frame.
There have been several major variations in the J-frame lineup, referred to by the original model that had the feature set. These various model lines themselves are often used as descriptors even if the gun itself was never officially part of that line. There are the Centennials, which have internal hammers; the Bodyguards, which have shrouded, but still accessible, hammers; and the Chief’s Specials, featuring conventional external hammers. While not all J-frames were necessarily part of those lines, they’ve come to be used generically to describe the overall appearance and feature set of any given J-frame.
Virtually all of the K-frame
