I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a shooter, instructor, or firearms “expert” blame a malfunction on limp wristing. Please, just stop.
Limp wristing is the gun industry’s version of gremlins. Gremlins, if you don’t know, were first “discovered” by pilots in the 1920’s. They are mischievous little mythical creatures. Every time an aircraft developed an unexplainable problem, it was blamed on a gremlin. If a plane crashed and no one knew why … a gremlin brought it down.
Well today, every time a pistol experiences a stoppage or malfunction that can’t be attributed to the ammo, certain gun companies immediately blame the shooter by saying he was “limp wristing.” It’s a catch-all that means absolutely nothing. It just pushes blame onto the shooter rather than admitting that guns sometimes malfunction.
A gun needs to work, and it needs to work particularly well when a shooter is under stress. So if there is a gun that requires a perfect grip, a gun that will only work if the shooter’s wrists are locked just right every single shot, then that is a bad gun design! Expecting a shooter to be perfect under stress is ridiculous. A gun design that requires perfect technique under stress is just as ridiculous.
We know that we won’t be perfect under stress. Our gear needs to keep working.
So the next time you or a student experiences a stoppage, don’t immediately blame the shooter. Guns malfunction. It happens. I’ve carried some of the most famously reliable guns, and they’ve had stoppages, malfunctions, parts breakages. It happens. Accept it, learn to clear the problem when it comes up, and drive on. But stop blaming gremlins.
Because either the pistol stopped working on its own, or it’s so finicky that you can’t rely on it when you’re under stress … Either way, the gun is at fault, not the shooter.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
One company in particular should just answer service dept phone calls w :
Lock your wrists/take off the lights/change your ammo and call us again next week.
Another company makes a good gun that I just can’t shoot. No matter how reliable it runs for whomever, they are jamamatics in my hands. Since I don’t have to jump through hoops to get other guns to work for me, I am not interested in getting better at jumping through any hoops for that gun. I like my wrists the way they are, and that’s good enough for the rest.
Todd,
You are right that some designs seem very prone to limp wristing. Ask me why I’ve completely given up on very short 1911s. :^)
However, sometimes the phenomenon is related to the shooter. My Glock 17 is as reliable as a rock for me, but I have seen other shooters, e.g., a child, limp wrist it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the two 3″ 1911s I’ve sold were completely reliable in the hands of someone else.
Lincoln
This is my first post here, but as almost always, I agree absolutely with Todd.
After hearing so much about “limp-wristing” that I wanted to yell at someone, a few years ago I decided to conduct come actual experiments. I used SIG pistols chambered for 9mm, 357 SIG, and 40 S&W.
The first grip I used was to hold the guns just tight enough in one hand to keep them pointed at a bowling pin about 7 yards distance. I bent my wrist and elbow at 90 degree angles (sort of a wrist lock position) and aimed carefully enough to hit the target. No malfunctions.
I then tried holding the guns by resting the butt in the flat palm of one hand and holding it upright with the thumb and index finger of the other. (That’s very dangerous, BTW, if the gun is loaded with more than one round.) When I fired the guns, it was difficult not to drop them, but I finally got the 9mm P225 to fail to eject. The 357 SIG and 40 S&W P229s, though, functioned fine.
If a gun does malfunction when held in anything close to a normal grip, it’s amazing to me that anyone, including the manufacturer, would claim that “limp-wristing” was an acceptable excuse.
Great article. Here’s a test I conducted this weekend, enjoy.
http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/tharmsen/Video/?action=view¤t=limp_wrist_test_2_0001.flv
Thank you very much, Tim. Excellent test.
Tim — that really was excellent. And better your thumb than mine! Thanks for linking it!
Sure thing Todd, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Yeah, my thumb and hand was sore as heck after a few hundred rounds shooting like that. My hand was a little tender and you actually see me flinch with the P226R as I started anticipating the shots due to the discomfort. 🙂 But I had a good time and I really wanted to share this with the shooting community.
I’m also tired of everyone blaming the shooter for malfunctions when it’s clearly an issue with equipment. When you contact Kimber for FTF issues, they almost always respond “make sure you’re not limp wristing”.
I’ve yet to be able to limp wrist a full size or commander sized 1911 in .45 regardless of how hard I try. If a 1911 falls victim to limp wristing, there’s something wrong with your weapon in my view.
I dunno, I watched a good handful of guns today jam on folks w/ crappy grips…and they all ran fine when I shot them (KelTec p-11, Beretta 92FS, S&W 4### 9mm, Glock 23). Somehow when I coached the shooters grip and extension, the problems disappeared….
No, not every jam is shooter induced, but of the guns that jam on my range…it’s about 20% dirty dry abused guns (but with a good grip), 60% bad grip/ limp wristing exacerbated by dirty dry guns, 15% tired mags/ extractors, and 5% guns needing serious repair.
Lube and a good grip seems to fix it about 80% of the time…just what I see, though.