April 2nd, 2025
6minute read
Technique trends can happen in all sports and all disciplines.
That includes handgun shooting, whether the goal is competition victory or defense against violent attacks.
Maybe its time to take a look at it again?
Can mastering the crush grip help improve your accuracy on the range? In today’s article, Massad Ayoob examines the skill and offers his opinions on its usefulness.
The Crush Grip
Watch people shooting handguns at targets.
Why does that happen?
A major cause of the phenomenon is that our fingers are sympathetic.
Here we see a solid two-handed grip on a Springfield Hellcat RDP. If you have a hard, or crush, grip on the pistol, your trigger finger can move without a sympathetic response from the rest of your fingers.
This tends to pull the muzzle down and toward the open part of the firing hand.
Old-time firearms instructors recognized it before any of us were born.
How can we cure milking?
Try this exercise. With index finger separate from the rest, relax your fingers … Image: Gail Pepin
The simplest and quickest cure, I respectfully submit, is the maximum force grasp on the pistol.
Heres how it works.
You dont even need to hold a pistol to understand the principle.
… and then rapidly work your trigger finger. Note that the other fingers reflexively close along with it. This is “milking” in action. Image: Gail Pepin
Take your empty gun hand and watch it closely.
Now move your trigger finger quickly as if you were shooting rapid fire.
Youll notice that the other fingers are flexing with it.
The late Bill Jordan advocated a very hard grip on a handgun. Shown here is his bookNo Second Place Winner.
Now, tighten the three lower fingers as hard as you might, and launch the trigger finger again.
It will be the only finger that moves.
The rest are trying to, but they cant, because theyre already at maximum closure.
How much hand strength should you use? “All you’ve got,” modern training legend Tom Givens tells his students. Image: Gail Pepin
Voila!The instant cure for milking.
Voices of the Past
Theres nothing new about the crush grip.
Thats why I call it a lost secret instead of a new discovery.
Dry fire with crush grip (here on Springfield Armory XD-M 5.25), and then … Image: Gail Pepin
I knew Col. Charles Askins, Jr. and learned a lot from him.
He once wrote that the shooter should use a grasp that could crush granite.
I knew Bill Jordan.
… when you take your hand off the gun, checkering should still be impressed on the palm of your hand. Ditto when live-firing. Image: Gail Pepin
He was something of a mentor.
A wizard with the double-action revolver, he was also a WWII combat veteran.
He told me he advocated a very firm grasp on the handgun.
In his excellent book, world champion and instructor Ben Stoeger explains why he recommends extremely hard grasp.
I knew Col. Rex Applegate.
A part of his shooting system was what he called convulsive grip.
Todays Experts
For those who want to hear from more modern sources, consider this.
Brian Enos and Rob Leatham popularized the 60/40 grasp many years ago.
Brian, if I recall correctly, has recommended a very firm grasp on his popular shooters forum.
Backing off pressure if a hard grasp causes tremor has always been a concern.
If the dot in your optic looks like a streak, just aim with the streak.
Tom Givens (Rangemaster.com) is one of the great trainers and up-to-date scientific researchers of our time.
Ben Stoeger is a self-taught Grandmaster and a world and national champion.
Gripping your gun very firmly is going to offer you quite a bit of recoil control.
The gun is going to behave very nicely for you in recoil.
The sights lift and return to the same spot.
If a violent offender grabs at your drawn gun, remember that action beats reaction.
Give it a try.
When your hand comes off the pistol, the grip checkering should be imprinted on your palm.
The crush grip has a lot going for it, particularly for defensive shooting.
