Interesting Article on One-Hand Shooting...

...from John Farnam, via The Truth About Guns (the quip isn't up on John's site yet):

Comment: Even I am amazed at the number of shots that are fired via strong-hand only during the NTI [National Tactical Invitational]. Statistics from police shooting appear to support that observation, even though we’re all trained extensively to draw and fire using a two-handed technique. I’m not at all sure I understand why! I’ve always found flat-gripped pistols (like the 1911) to be more inherently accurate than round-grip ones, at least for serious shooting. We are apparently irreversibly into double-column pistols, but pointability obviously continues to be directly linked to the degree to which the grip resembles a flattened oval. /John

There was a time in my career when I unequivocally believed in two-handed sighted shooting no matter what. That was. of course, before the widespread use of simulations and force-on-force...reality intruded on my preconceived notions! One thing we see regularly in our state-of-the-art scenarios we put together for THE BEST DEFENSE is the necessity of using the non-shooting hand for blocking, for controlling kids/Spousal Unit/bystanders, for tuning light switches off and on, for opening doors, etc. In other words, in the Real World we often have tasks that require a handy-dandy standard-issue primate hand, leaving only one hand to operate the gun.

BTW, I was pretty pleased with the Survival Sheath System shoulder holster/S&W 329/CRKT knife set-up I used for hiking yesterday. As I mentioned, in concealed exceptionally well beneath a vest (I wore a lightweight fleece vest and an LL Bean lightweight down jacket over that) and carried very well...after about 10 minutes I didn't notice it at all. I had the shoulder holster made a while back as a handy carry-all for California-ish places should I have to exit quickly.The original plan was to create a lightweight revolver/lever gun combo that was legal in most jurisdictions around the country, excepting of course Snowplow Bloomberg's Urban Paradise. That's the rationale behind the revolver and the lever gun, avoiding both capacity issues and "assault rifle" nonsense.

As usual, the reality of work interceded with my project...I got the 4-inch 329 exactly the way I wanted it, with a super action job by the great Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision, who also added a gold bead front sight and an shallow-V express-style rear sight blade. I removed the Rube Goldberg S&W locking device and put on Hogue "Tamer" grips to make the little 25-ounce monster reasonably controllable. I usually carry the gun with the 200-grain Corbon DPX .44 Specials, backed up with Buffalo Bore velociraptor-killers, 255-gr Keith .44 Magnum "Reduced Recoil." Got a kydex IWB and the shoulder holster set-up.

Still to round up, a break-down lever action. ideally one of the Wild West Guns' Marlin conversions with a 16.5-inch barrel and an Aimpoint T1 forward mounted in a scout configuration. Add a sling and a nice fitted Storm Case for everything, throw in a skateboard backpack for discrete transport of the broken-down rifle, and — viola! — a lightweight, portable get-you-home-no-matter-what kit!