THE ROLE OF THE WRIST

The Importance of the Wrist

• The wrist of the gun hand is the most important joint in shooting a handgun. It can bend upward or downward, inward or outward. It also tends to go to its strongest position as the hand exerts strength.
• If the sight picture is adjusted by motion of the wrist, the wrist will most likely return to its strongest position as the trigger is pressed, particularly if the shooter has any anticipation of recoil. This will direct the shot away from the original point of aim.
• For this reason, the handgun should be grasped as firmly as possible, stabilizing the wrist in its strongest position. Adjustments in sight picture should be made by the position of the feet and motion at the other joints, such as ankles, knees, shoulders and neck.

• When the late Col. Rex Applegate contacted me to discuss point shooting in 1997 I was already sensitive to the role of the wrist from my experience teaching sighted fire. Col. Applegate very generously supplied me with a lot of material on the subject, including his 1998 book, Bullseyes Don't Shoot Back.
• On page 19 of that book, there is a photograph clearly showing the barrel of the gun aligned with the bone structure of the forearm as the correct position. This point is emphasized both with a black line superimposed on the photograph and with the wording of the caption.
• In his book, Kill or Get Killed, originally written during World War II, he stated, "At the time the trigger is pulled, whether it be a single shot or a burst, the wrist must be in a straight locked position and should not be flexed or 'cocked'." (Page 112 in the 1976 Paladin Press edition)
• In mid-1999 I was contacted by Matt Temkin, who insisted that I read Fairbairn and Sykes' Shooting to Live. I was intrigued to find in that book, originally published in 1942, a set of drawings (figs. 2, 3 and 4 on pages 21 to 23) which clearly depict that the barrel of the gun must point somewhat toward the outer side of the forearm if it is to point at the target when it is brought to the mid-line of the body.

~spwenger's Analysis

• I am more inclined to go with Fairbairn and Sykes on this point. However, being the modest soul that I am, I must disagree with these two venerable authors in one regard with respect to the angle of the gun barrel relative to the forearm and its relationship to the wrist:
  • They speak of bending the wrist to achieve the firing position.
  • I maintain that if the wrist is bent away from its strongest position, it will return to that stronger position under the greater muscle contraction at the moment that the gun is fired.
  • I believe that the issue is one of ergonomics - that you need to select or modify your handgun so that it naturally points correctly when you grasp it as firmly as you can.
• If you don't have access to the books that I have mentioned, the position of the gun in the hand to which I refer can be checked in the following manner:
  • Grasp the unloaded gun, with your finger out of the trigger guard and point it at the ground, about a foot in front of you, while facing in a direction where you will be able to raise it safely to eye level.
  • The gun should point straight to the ground. When you raise the arm to bring the gun to eye level, the gun will point straight ahead, giving you either a coarse body index on a target that you are facing squarely or a very rapid sight picture, with minimal flexing or twisting of the neck.
• A great deal of research suggests that most people will confront deadly threats by facing them squarely and will focus on the threat, rather than on their sights. If, like me, your primary shooting method is sighted fire, training in sighted fire with body mechanics similar to those used for unsighted fire will give you the greatest likelihood of hitting your threat under stress, whether you're using Plan A or Plan B.

First the website, now the book - DEFENSIVE USE OF FIREARMS Click image for further details