How to Hold a Gun for Speed, Accuracy & Control

Learning the right way to grip a pistol will improve your aim and keep you safer on the shooting range. A two-handed grip is recommended under most circumstances, but there are occasions when it helps to know how to grip the gun with one hand. We spoke to professional firearms instructors to show you the best two-hand grips and one-hand grips to use, as well as tips on how to choose a grip and stay safe on the shooting range.

The Best Grip for a Handgun

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An illustration showing a two-handed thumbs-forward pistol grip.

Firearms instructor Mark Schneider says the thumbs-forward grip is the most correct and popular way to hold a pistol. Grip the gun with your dominant hand, then wrap your support hand around it. Put your dominant thumb on top of your support thumb so they both point forward at the target with the frame of the firearm.

Section 1 of 6:

Using the Thumb-Over-Thumb Pistol Grip (2 Hands)

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Place the gun securely into your dominant hand. Spread apart your thumb and index finger. Place the gun into the crook that forms, keeping the gun's back strap as high as possible. Lead firearms instructor Bryan Villella says, “You want a proper high grip on the gun as high up on the back strap as you can, as long as it doesn't get high enough to impede the action on the side.”^{[1]
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Bryan Villella
Lead Firearms Instructor

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- This grip is great for beginners. The thumb-over-thumb grip is not often used by professional sport shooters, but many beginners find it to be the easiest grip technique to master since it provides more stability and makes it easier for the shooter to control the gun during recoil.^{[2]
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Meet the wikiHow Experts

Bryan Villella is a lead firearms instructor with 9 years of professional experience and the owner of Don't Be A Sitting Duck in Kissimmee, Florida.

Mark Scheider is a firearms instructor with 18 years of firearms instruction experience and 10 years of security experience.

Roger Judd is a firearms instructor who specializes in teaching people how to safely use rifles, pistols, and shotguns.
Your middle finger should rest just below the trigger guard. For the time being, rest your index finger along the opposite side of the gun frame. Then, wrap your thumb around the grip. It should touch the top side of your middle finger from the other side.

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Wrap your support hand around your dominant hand. Notice that there is a gap between the heel of your hand and the tip of your fingers on the left side of the grip. Take your non-dominant or support hand and wrap it around your strong hand so that this gap is no longer visible.^{[3]
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- Make sure all 4 fingers of your support hand are under the trigger.
- Interested in handedness? Check out this quiz!
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Overlap your thumbs. Position the thumb of your non-dominant hand so that it overlaps with the thumb of your dominant hand.
- Tip: Use a firm grip, but don’t squeeze excessively. The most common problem with this grip is to “muscle” the pistol, or grip it too tightly. This makes the gun unstable during recoil, and if you aren't careful, it may end up twisting in your hands.
- If you’re firing a revolver, keep your thumbs off the cylinder. Schneider warns that “If you have your thumbs forward, there's a potential that you're going to put your thumbs actually on the cylinder itself, which rotates and can cause a malfunction.”^{[4]
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Bend your knees slightly in an “athletic” stance that allows you to be stable, but mobile. Use your dominant eye to look through the front and rear sights and align them with your target.^{[5]
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When it comes time to fire the gun, place your index finger on the trigger. The space between the tip of your finger and the top knuckle should be the only part of your finger on the trigger. Squeeze or press the trigger backward, applying constant pressure until the weapon fires.^{[6]
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Section 2 of 6:

Using the Straight-Thumbs Pistol Grip (2 Hands)

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Place the pistol in the crook between your dominant thumb and index finger. As with the thumb-over-thumb grip, the straight thumbs grip starts with proper placement in your dominant hand. Make sure that you keep your hand as high on the grip of the gun as possible.^{[7]
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- This grip works well for intermediate or advanced shooters. The straight-thumbs technique, also called the forward thumbs technique, is very similar to the thumb-over-thumb grip. The only real difference is the placement of your thumbs. This grip tends to be more precise and allows for a faster draw, but it can also be a bit more difficult to master for beginners.^{[8]
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- Schneider says, “The thumbs-forward firing grip…is a new, modern technique that’s very popular these days.”^{[9]
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Keep your fingers side-by-side with your middle finger lying just below the trigger guard. Keep your index finger on the opposite side of the gun frame. Wrap your thumb around the grip as you would do with a thumb-over-thumb technique. The tip of the thumb should touch the top side of your middle finger.^{[10]
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There will be a gap between the heel of your hand and the tip of your fingers. Schenider says to “take your left (non-dominant) hand and wrap it around your right (dominant) hand” to fill this gap.^{[11]
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Mark Schneider
Firearms Instructor

Expert Interview} Wrap it around the dominant hand from the opposite side, positioning the index, middle, ring, and pinky fingers over your dominant fingers.
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Line up your non-dominant thumb so it’s in front of the dominant thumb. “Take your right (dominant) thumb and put it on top of your left (non-dominant) thumb,” Scheider instructs. “Your thumbs are going to be pointed forward at the target, resting on the side of the frame of the firearm itself.”^{[12]
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Firearms Instructor

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- Both thumbs must be pointing forward. Note that your dominant thumb will no longer be touching your dominant middle finger at this point. Instead, it will end up resting on top of the side of your non-dominant thumb.
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Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and aim. Bend your knees slightly and engage your core to stay stable and agile. Use your dominant eye to look through the sights on the pistol, using your aligned thumbs to help you “feel” your target.
- Aiming both thumbs forward can feel strange to shooters who haven’t used this grip before, so it may take some getting used to.^{[13]
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Place your index finger so that the portion between the tip of your finger and the first knuckle rests on the trigger. Squeeze or press the trigger backward, applying constant pressure until the weapon fires.^{[14]
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Note that some pistols are more difficult to shoot with a straight-thumb grip. Not all guns are designed the same, so the same grip may not work on every single model of firearm you have. The following pistols aren’t ideal for the straight-thumbs grip:^{[15]
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- SIG: The dominant thumb has a tendency to ride up the slide stop and prevent the slide from locking open when empty.
- Glock: The shooter may push up on the slide stop with the heel of the support hand and lock the slide open prematurely.
- Browning Hi-Power: The dominant thumb can put pressure on the slide stop at the rear, and the non-dominant thumb can bang into the front of the slide stop during the recoil, thereby preventing the shell from ejecting.

Section 3 of 6:

Gripping a Pistol with One Hand

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Place the gun in the web of your dominant pointer finger and thumb. With your dominant hand, form a "V" by spreading apart your thumb and index finger. Place the gun into the center of this "V" with your non-dominant hand so that the front and rear sights line up evenly with your dominant arm.^{[16]
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- Warning: A one-handed grip can be difficult and even dangerous if not used correctly. You automatically have less stability when you only hold the pistol with one hand, but if you distribute the force of your dominant hand as securely as possible, this grip can work.
Make sure that you apply equal pressure with all three fingers, and use enough pressure to squeeze the grip of the gun into the back of your hand. Use your thumb to wrap around the other side of the grip, securing it in place.^{[17]
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Use enough pressure to cause your hand to tremble slightly. Then, relax it just a bit so that the trembling stops. Remember this amount of pressure; it is the proper amount of pressure you will need in order to make this grip style work.^{[18]
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Place your index finger on the trigger. The portion of your finger that lies between the tip and the first knuckle joint should be the portion on the trigger. Make sure that your index finger can pull the trigger without disturbing the other fingers.^{[19]
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- Remember the placement of your fingers and the amount of pressure you have applied. This is the right way to use a one-handed grip.
Stand tall and take aim at your target. Turn your body away from the target at a 90-degree angle and spread your feet about shoulder-width apart, keeping your knees straight but not locked. Raise your shooting hand to the target and hold your arm straight with the elbow comfortably locked but not strained. Think of the gun as an extension of your arm, like you’re pointing your finger.^{[20]
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Squeeze the trigger backward, applying constant pressure as the resistance builds. Keep squeezing straight backward (never to the side) until the weapon fires.^{[21]
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Section 4 of 6:

Which grip should you choose?

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Your grip ultimately depends on your hand size, type of gun, and experience. Everyone’s hands are different, so the same grip can feel super comfortable to one person or very awkward to another person. The major concern is to make sure the moving parts of the gun work properly, regardless of your grip. As firearms instructor Roger Judd explains, “The best grip…is the one that works for you. [You] want to make sure that the firearm functions, and that the slide doesn’t come back and cut you, that the hammer doesn’t come back and smash your hand, things like that.”^{[22]
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- He adds, “The type of grip also depends on the type of firearm. For example, revolvers have gases that come out of the side of the cylinder, and those gases will injure you if you have your hand too far forward. So saying that there's one grip for all guns is not necessarily correct.”^{[23]
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- As far as experience goes, a two-handed grip is easier to learn and control than a one-handed grip (although you can draw the gun faster with one hand if speed is important).
- In general, use a two-handed grip whenever possible. In a two-handed grip, your non-dominant hand gives your dominant hand support and stability as you fire.^{[24]
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Section 5 of 6:

Stabilizing Your Grip for Accuracy

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Keep your grip tight. As a general rule, you will shoot better if you grip the pistol with as much strength as possible while still maintaining the ability to control the trigger. It is important, though, that you only grip with your hands.^{[25]
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- When you grip the pistol, pay attention to what your shoulders and arms are doing. If they feel tense, you need to relax them. Your hands should be the only part of your body in which you feel the tension of the grip.
- You may find it easier to keep tension out of your arms if you grip the gun before your arms are in a shooting position. Push your arms out in front only after you have a secure grip on the gun.
- A pistol grip that is too relaxed will cause the pistol to recoil too much, but a grip that is too hard may mess with your sight alignment or cause your hands to weaken too quickly.
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Set your wrist. Position your wrists so that the heel of your non-dominant hand is as high and flat on the gun as possible. In doing this, you can ultimately support and control the pistol better.^{[26]
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- As a general rule, you want both hands to be as high up on the gun as they can be. You need to secure the center of weight or pivot point to prevent the gun from flipping over during its recoil. If you keep your grip too low, you will not be able to steady the gun at this point.
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Apply isometric tension when firing the gun. This technique is also known as the push-pull method. As you apply forward pressure with your dominant or firing hand, you should pull rear pressure using your non-dominant or non-firing hand.^{[27]
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- This technique reduces the amount of recoil you will encounter and can improve your aim.
- The supporting (non-dominant) arm should be bent with the elbow pulled down. The firing (dominant) arm should be fully extended with the elbow and wrist locked.

Section 6 of 6:

Safety Considerations

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Avoid tea-cupping. Tea-cupping, also known as the cup-and-saucer grip, is a somewhat popular two-handed grip technique, but it is also a fairly unstable one. It is not advisable to use it. Your non-dominant hand does not provide your dominant hand with enough support, and as a result, your aim is more likely to be skewed, and the gun is more likely to fly back during recoil.^{[28]
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- With a teacup grip, the dominant hand rests on the gun as it would with any other two-handed grip. The non-dominant hand rests below the dominant hand, essentially "cupping" it from the bottom. The non-dominant thumb is usually positioned somewhere around the middle and ring fingers.
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Do not cross your thumbs. While no experienced shooter crosses their thumbs intentionally, a beginner may make this mistake without thinking. When you cross your thumbs, you are putting your thumbs at risk for injury. The slide of the pistol moves back once you fire the gun. When you hold the gun in this manner, you place your thumbs in the path of the slide, causing the slide to crash into the thumbs at full force.^{[29]
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- A shooter with crossed thumbs holds both hands around the grip of the gun from either side. The fingers overlap in front of the grip, and the thumbs cross over each other from the back of the grip.
- Note that on most revolvers, a crossed-thumbs grip may be OK since they don’t have a slide that zooms backwards.

Expert Q&A

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Question

How do I properly grip a revolver?

Roger Judd
Firearms Instructor
Roger Judd is a Firearms Instructor based in Mesa, Arizona. Roger and his team at Concealed AZ have been teaching NRA, Arizona Concealed Carry, group and individual firearms training classes as well as promotional, corporate, TV & media machine gun events since 2008. As an NRA Instructor, Roger specializes in teaching people how to safely use rifles, pistols, and shotguns.

Roger Judd

Firearms Instructor

Expert Answer

When gripping a revolver, you need to be mindful of the gases that come out of the side of the cylinder when you fire. These gases can cause injury if your hand is far too forward, so your hand placement will be crucial. Think of it like you would grip a rubber hammer. When you swing a hammer, it hits the target and then bounces back, just as when you pull the trigger on a revolver, where there's an initial impact followed by a recoil. Use both hands for the grip: your dominant hand should wrap around the grip with fingers below the trigger guard and the thumb along the side of the frame, not over the cylinder. Then, support your dominant hand with your fingers below the cylinder and your thumb resting below your dominant thumb. Also, make sure that your dominant hand is positioned as high as possible on the backstrap of your revolver to reduce muzzle flip and improve overall control and accuracy.

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In one grip style, you say one problem is that shooters "muscle," or hold the grip too tightly. At the end of the article, you say, "Keep your grip tight. As a general rule, you will shoot better if you grip the pistol with as much strength as possible." Why the mixed info?

Community Answer

You want to hold the pistol very firm, but don't squeeze so hard that you start to shake or tremble.

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Should I lock the elbow of my dominant hand when gripping a pistol?

Peter Vos

Community Answer

No, but maintain a firm grip at all times.

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Warnings

Treat every gun as though it is a loaded gun, even when you know it isn't.

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Never point a gun toward another person or animal, regardless of whether or not there are any bullets in it.

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Gun safety is absolutely essential. Handle all pistols and all firearms with a proper amount of respect and fear. Doing so can mean the difference between life and death.

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