On Pearce grip extensions

 

Pearce grip extensions are very popular for subcompact handguns like the Glock 26/27 or Springfield XD subcompact.  It's basically an extended piece of plastic that replaces your magazine's baseplate and gives your pinky a place to rest when gripping the gun.

I'm not a big fan.  There's nothing wrong with them, but it's a solution in search of a problem (which happens to cost at least around 6 bucks per mag).

Try this: grab your left wrist with your right hand.  Try using all five fingers gripping equally hard.  It will actually feel somewhat weak and your hand will feel like it's getting tired fast. Take your index finger out of the picture by relaxing it.  The grip will get much stronger.  Then take your pinky finger out of the picture by relaxing it a little.  It's still making contact but just not pulling hard compared to the other fingers.  The grip will get stronger(at least it does for me).   This is pretty common way of gripping when training wristlocks in martial arts.

Why does this work?  To be strong, your grip needs to have good alignment, with all fingers besides the thumb pulling in more or less the same direction.   Your index finger doesn't grip well with the others because it isn't aligned with the other three, so it's gripping on a different vector than they are.  If you look at your knuckles, your middle finger, ring finger, and pinky knuckles are on a line, that the index knuckle is not on. 

Your pinky finger is also not aligned with the middle and ring fingers relative to the thumb. 
If you touch your pinky fingertip to your thumb tip, or otherwise pull your thumb and pinky towards each other, your hand is sort of folded in half, which is not a strong, natural position.  If you touch your middle and ring fingertips to your thumb, it forms a natural O shape that is comfortable and strong.

I think that people who feel uncomfortable shooting a subcompact without grip extensions are trying to grip hard with their pinky, leading to discomfort when they can't get a firm grip with it.  If you just relax your pinky, which is preferable, then it doesn't really matter either way.

For the record I have an XD 9 subcompact that I have shot with or without Pearce grip extensions and it makes no difference to me.  Just my perspective, not saying I know anything about anything, or that what works for me is best for everyone.

When I took a handgun shooting course from Louis Awerbuck, he mentioned the same thing; he sees no need for grip extensions, and in fact they hinder people by tempting them to grip hard with the pinky.

Gunsmith Cats

I was searching imfdb for CZ75s being used in media and one of the links was to a manga/anime called Gunsmith Cats, about a sexy female gunsmith/bounty hunter. What!?  That's about ten kinds of awesome.  It looks to be pretty authentic too with regards to the guns.  I'm not sure where the cats come into it, and I'm not sure I approve of the heroine working with the ATF.  But still, will check it out.

The CZ-75 was also used in the terrific one season wonder Space: Above and Beyond.

Gun safety and Rule #1

Gabe Suarez has a blog post about 'combat gun safety' here:
http://www.warriortalknews.com/2010/05/true-combat-gun-safety.html

Rule One: Treat All guns as if they were loaded. Notice I did not say the traditional - All Guns Are Always Loaded, because truly they are not. Yet, guns are useless if they are not loaded. So we always begin with the assumption that they ARE loaded. When handling the piece in an administrative manner - we first check it to verify its condition and if necessary, we unload it. We always run a hot range. If you can't be trusted with a loaded gun why are you even in class?

I couldn't agree more.   I don't know how many times I've heard someone tell me some spiel about "All guns are always loaded period, and you need to know that it's always loaded in your heart" or "How can you tell if a gun is unloaded?  Trick question! All guns are always loaded!"

I don't believe in trying to deceive myself, nor would that work on me.

Grant Cunningham has a similar view on rule 1
http://grantcunningham.com/blog_files/01cd852e1047ef52554640508d2bf118-258.html

While Rule #1 logically admits that there is such a thing as an unloaded gun, it asks us to pretend that it doesn't really exist. This is important, as the rule only makes sense if the state of being 'unloaded' exists, but it implores us to make believe that such a state doesn't really exist. This situation is called cognitive dissonance: holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously. It's a state of mind that humans don't tolerate all that well.

If one accepts the fallacy that an unloaded state doesn't exist, it becomes clear in the mind that the remaining three rules apply only to loaded guns. After all, the first rule says that there is no such thing as an unloaded gun; therefore, the other three rules can apply only to loaded guns, because - remember! - unloaded guns "don't exist."

[...] One of the best shooting instructors I know - Georges Rahbani - has done just that. He acknowledged the problem and dealt with the issue by eliminating what I'll call "Traditional Rule #1" from his curriculum. Instead, he teaches that any and all guns, loaded or unloaded, are treated to the same standards, which he calls The Three Commandments of Gun Safety