[glockhokk]

I took my new Glock 42 to the range for the first time. Used three different brands of ammo and both supplied magazines. Had two FTE's. (one each from two different ammo brands) Not happy with that but I think I may have had a very weak grip on at least one of the shots. I have read about some of the early problems of the G-42 but a study of my gun's serial number and test fire "born on date" plus visual inspection of the gun itself leave me to concluded that this is an "improved version". I would, of course, prefer 100% functionality but I am not too upset about yesterday's performance. I should note that accuracy was excellent at 30 feet with all bullets grouping well slightly to the left of center.

So I have a couple of questions:

FIRST - Is limp wristing something that has been studied and proved by scientific method or is it supported only by anecdotal evidence, or in other words - stories from experience? What is your take on it?

SECOND - What would you make of my gun's performance on its first outing? Any reason for concern or do Glocks require a certain "break in" period? That is something else that I have never been sure of. I have never read literature that came with a new gun talking about a "break in" period. I have seen quoted here and elsewhere that 500 rounds is an appropriate number of rounds to break in a pistol. What do you think?

THIRD - Usually when I shoot a handgun accuracy may vary. The Glock, FN 5.7, and P-238 are among the best. (in that order) But with all of them my shots are to the left of bulls eye. Can anybody venture a theory as to why?

I have asked a lot of questions. I would be pleased if the experienced shooters among you would even venture to answer one. I really do appreciate it. You have my thanks in advance.

 

[refugeepj]

FOCUS on grip, locked wrist, locked elbow and strong support hand with thumbs forward. then report back.
some pistols require a couple hundred downrange to break in, but all require good fundamentals.

in addition, there are several other possible shooter errors.

we all need focus and practice. for me it is especially important to review the basics in the spring.
shoveling global warming means i don't shoot much for a few months.
use it or lose it.

 

[SandyE]

I

I took my new Glock 42 to the range for the first time. Used three different brands of ammo and both supplied magazines. Had two FTE's. (one each from two different ammo brands) Not happy with that but I think I may have had a very weak grip on at least one of the shots. I have read about some of the early problems of the G-42 but a study of my gun's serial number and test fire "born on date" plus visual inspection of the gun itself leave me to concluded that this is an "improved version". I would, of course, prefer 100% functionality but I am not too upset about yesterday's performance. I should note that accuracy was excellent at 30 feet with all bullets grouping well slightly to the left of center.

So I have a couple of questions:

FIRST - Is limp wristing something that has been studied and proved by scientific method or is it supported only by anecdotal evidence, or in other words - stories from experience? What is your take on it?

SECOND - What would you make of my gun's performance on its first outing? Any reason for concern or do Glocks require a certain "break in" period? That is something else that I have never been sure of. I have never read literature that came with a new gun talking about a "break in" period. I have seen quoted here and elsewhere that 500 rounds is an appropriate number of rounds to break in a pistol. What do you think?

THIRD - Usually when I shoot a handgun accuracy may vary. The Glock, FN 5.7, and P-238 are among the best. (in that order) But with all of them my shots are to the left of bulls eye. Can anybody venture a theory as to why?

I have asked a lot of questions. I would be pleased if the experienced shooters among you would even venture to answer one. I really do appreciate it. You have my thanks in advance.

I can only comment on 'limp wristing'. When I got my first gun, Glock 19, gen 4. As a new shooter, 'stove pipe' almost every shot. My 6'5" military husband fired it with one hand, np. We researched and found the term 'limp wrist'. Referring to weak grip. Gun is not stabilized. The more I practiced, with grip strength, stance in mind, it improved. I used this gun in a gssf match, worked 100%. When I get fatigued, I will start 'limp wristing', then I know it's time to stop.

 

[dudel]

Limp wristing is a bad term. A more accurate term is weak grip. A weak grip absorbs more of the inertia from a recoiling slide than a strong grip. If you take too much of the inertia out of the slide the weapon fails to operate correctly.

 

[refugeepj]

I

I can only comment on 'limp wristing'. When I got my first gun, Glock 19, gen 4. As a new shooter, 'stove pipe' almost every shot. My 6'5" military husband fired it with one hand, np. We researched and found the term 'limp wrist'. Referring to weak grip. Gun is not stabilized. The more I practiced, with grip strength, stance in mind, it improved. I used this gun in a gssf match, worked 100%. When I get fatigued, I will start 'limp wristing', then I know it's time to stop.

i am 67, and have acquired arthritic hands/wrists.
no problem with 9mm, 40S&W, 380, 45ACP.
after i couple hundred 10mm, time to police brass and go home.

 

[ShootingRooster]

The only time my 19 has failed was when my 13 y.o. nephew's 12 y.o. friend was shooting it. He was a little dude and it only happened to him. Otherwise I have had zero issues with any of my Glocks.

 

[Bruce M]

Sometimes it seems to depend on the gun and ammunition, but given a few different pistols and a few different kinds of ammunition, it is usually pretty easy to replicate the limp wrist failure. I am not sure that makes it settled science, but it is easily replicated and repeated in an experiment which I think is one of the foundations of proving an experiment to be valid.

 

[Wesley Jamison]

I do believe you are limp wristing. dudel is right in his comment: "Limp wristing is a bad term. A more accurate term is weak grip." I put several boxes through a 42 at a range when they first came out without a problem. When I let people shoot my 27 "which I have an extra heavy recoil spring in" about 20% will have this problem even though I have never experienced it.

 

[9x45]

The "chart" is for one handed Bullseye shooting, doesn't apply to shooting with both hands. Left, and limp, are both grip issues. Typical of newbies. You don't need a death grip, but just enough to resist the slide cycling. Hold your gun like this, and it will go away. Smaller Glocks are more prone to limping than full sized Glocks.

Not like this

screwing around trying to make it go limp, doesn't work for me.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSa5utWsxcI

 

[sciolist]

Grip is extremely important to pistol shooting. Think of it as though the gun was designed to be shot in a ransom rest, but you decided to substitute a human operator. Consider how much potential weakness and inconsistency that brings into the equation.

The threshold of grip required to really shoot well (especially with a light gun/heavy trigger) is significantly higher than the threshold of grip required to avoid malfunctions. But if you're just getting started and looking for basic function and your grip is not yet very well developed, you may have some malfunctions - especially with a completely stock Glock.

As you refine the gun/ammo/operator toward the goal of placing hits accurately at speed, grip-related malfunctions will disappear.

 

[Robgmn]

It's anecodotal on my part, but I had similar experience with my ten-year-old shooting my 238.
He had a few failures until I told him to hold as tight and as steady as he can.
I never had any problems with the same ammo from the same box.
Scientific? Not at all. But it fit the pattern.

I'll leave grip explanation to an expert (Rob Leatham video):

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MT6yfw4UDE

 

[flyover]

Limp wristing is a bad term. A more accurate term is weak grip. A weak grip absorbs more of the inertia from a recoiling slide than a strong grip. If you take too much of the inertia out of the slide the weapon fails to operate correctly.

AKA queering a Glock. I made the switch from a Colt 45 to a Glock 21. It does happen without the proper grip. Ask me how I know.

Like many have already stated, proper grip solves this problem.

 

[Locust414]

Light grip is issue for me. The first sub-compact semi-auto I ever shot or owned is the G26. I was not gripping it properly and it was acting out. I went back to shoot it; (after studying "why" it was not consistent), it never missed another shot. That was years ago now.

My first semi-auto was the G21 (I did carry a Colt .45 in the Army back in the day). I NEVER had that problem with G21. My second Glock was G26. That's when I learned of this issue (issue for me anyway).

So, yes, grip, for me, is very important. The world of semi-autos. One of the days I'm
gonna get me a S&W pocket gun in .357.

 

[FixedSights]

Holding the gun in a manner that allows the pistol to jump backward dramatically during recoil uses up some of that energy that is needed to be stored into the spring and released to chamber the next round. Think of it like running up the down escalator.

 

[Cpt.America]

FIRST - Is limp wristing something that has been studied and proved by scientific method or is it supported only by anecdotal evidence, or in other words - stories from experience? What is your take on it?

 

[CDW4ME]

If you were using "range ammo" try with hotter ammo.
There is a difference in ejection with 115 "white box" vs 124 +P HST shooting my 19.
My 32 (357 Sig) ejects cases with enthusiasm.

 

[ziggy2525]

I took my new Glock 42 to the range for the first time. Used three different brands of ammo and both supplied magazines. Had two FTE's. (one each from two different ammo brands) Not happy with that but I think I may have had a very weak grip on at least one of the shots. I have read about some of the early problems of the G-42 but a study of my gun's serial number and test fire "born on date" plus visual inspection of the gun itself leave me to concluded that this is an "improved version". I would, of course, prefer 100% functionality but I am not too upset about yesterday's performance. I should note that accuracy was excellent at 30 feet with all bullets grouping well slightly to the left of center.

So I have a couple of questions:

FIRST - Is limp wristing something that has been studied and proved by scientific method or is it supported only by anecdotal evidence, or in other words - stories from experience? What is your take on it?

SECOND - What would you make of my gun's performance on its first outing? Any reason for concern or do Glocks require a certain "break in" period? That is something else that I have never been sure of. I have never read literature that came with a new gun talking about a "break in" period. I have seen quoted here and elsewhere that 500 rounds is an appropriate number of rounds to break in a pistol. What do you think?

THIRD - Usually when I shoot a handgun accuracy may vary. The Glock, FN 5.7, and P-238 are among the best. (in that order) But with all of them my shots are to the left of bulls eye. Can anybody venture a theory as to why?

I have asked a lot of questions. I would be pleased if the experienced shooters among you would even venture to answer one. I really do appreciate it. You have my thanks in advance.

I'm not a limp wrist denier, but my Glock 42's are ammo sensitive. No problem at all with 1,000 fps self defense rounds like Hornady Critical Defense or 980 fps S&B branded FMJ.

With WWB flat nose, Herters/Cabelas sale ammo (I know, it's S&B with a Cabelas label), and Blazer, they hiccup a lot. My LCP shoots those all fine. Not the 42's.

 

[-JCN-]

Limp wristing failure is consistent with Newton's laws of physics.

You need a certain amount of energy along the slide axis to cycle the slide.

If you use up the energy in angular momentum out of axis of the plane (i.e. pivoting around a weak focal point at the bottom or middle of the grip), you lose the minimum required energy needed to cycle the slide.

Obviously the less margin you have (like with a new G42 with stiff recoil spring and low power cartridges), the more sensitive it is going to be to that kind of failure. It'll get better as the gun breaks in.

 

[dudel]

If you were using "range ammo" try with hotter ammo.
There is a difference in ejection with 115 "white box" vs 124 +P HST shooting my 19.
My 32 (357 Sig) ejects cases with enthusiasm.

With the right grip, even powder puff loads eject 100% (they just don't fly 20'!).

I have a very light 115gr 9mm load. I can shoot it from my G26 without a hitch. A buddy gets FTEs on every mag using the same gun and load. If he focuses on the grip, he gets 100% function. That's the purpose of the light loads, they teach the correct grip with very quick feedback.

Going to a higher power round, will help with cycling; but does nothing to improve the grip. With a bad grip, your accuracy will suffer.

 

[glockhokk]

Limp wristing failure is consistent with Newton's laws of physics.

You need a certain amount of energy along the slide axis to cycle the slide.

If you use up the energy in angular momentum out of axis of the plane (i.e. pivoting around a weak focal point at the bottom or middle of the grip), you lose the minimum required energy needed to cycle the slide.

Obviously the less margin you have (like with a new G42 with stiff recoil spring and low power cartridges), the more sensitive it is going to be to that kind of failure. It'll get better as the gun breaks in.

Thanks all for the answers. Your responses are right on point. The last line of the above quote is especially comforting.