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Column By: George Harris - Director of SIGARMS AcademyFitting the Concealed CarryPistol to the ShooterSponsored By:COLUMN By: kathy jacksonwww.sigarmsacademy.com 603-679-2003t the SIGARMS Academy, wespend more than fifty percentof our instructional time training thecivilian population in our wide varietyof Responsible Citizen programs. In allof these courses, the vast majority ofstudents show up with a handgun thatis too big for them. It seems that theaverage gun owner perpetuates theongoing theory of, “If some is good,more must be better.” Some of theequipment that passes through our doorscould only be concealed if the studenthas a Middle-Eastern tent maker as thecreator of their outerwear ensemble.Conversely, there are those that carry alittle handgun because it is “cute” andhave given little thought past that idea.Fortunately, the Academy has a largestock of loaner pistols and the associatedgear necessary to properly outfit thestudent. When selecting a concealedcarry handgun, we believe that handsize is the most important considerationfor the prospective buyer.More often than not, when we askour students for the primary reason thatthey wish to carry concealed, they saythat it is for personal protection. Withthat being said, there is a high likelihoodof firing the handgun if we have toproduce it for self-defense. Carryingthe thought one step further, we have toconsider that the objective of shootingfor defense is hitting what you intend tohit and eliminating the danger with asfew shots as possible. Statistics tell usthat an encounter where such violencemight occur is most often within a closeproximity and within a short time, andalso in a low light environment. Therefore,the handgun must be produced quicklyand be able to deliver effective fire invery close quarters without the luxuryof a clean sight picture and a smoothtrigger press. The likelihood of success inthis type of situation is greatly enhancedby having a correctly fitted handgun towork with, rather than something thatjust seemed like the right thing to haveat the time we selected a concealedcarry handgun.Let me be more specific as to howand why the correctly fitted handgun isso important to your success: Our naturaleye/hand coordination provides thebasis for success in a close and quickattack encounter. In the face of danger,our eyes are forced by our survivalinstinct to gather as much informationas possible about the object (or being)that is threatening our personal safety.This means that our eye focus is goingto be on the object of danger. We oftenrefer to this phenomenon as tunnel vision.Another protective response to this typeof situation is to extend our arms andhands toward the attacker. Throughour natural eye/hand coordination, thehands and arms are projected towardthe object of our visual attention as partof our survival mechanism. By having aproper fitting handgun in our hand(s), themuzzle of the barrel is naturally pointedat the area where our eyes are focused.Pressing the trigger will result in hits ontarget where the eyes are focused, with ahigh likelihood of eliminating the dangerto your personal safety.Fitting the handgun to the shooter’shand is so simple that anyone can doit without the help of others. There aretwo concerns that are separate, butrelate to one another that should beconsidered. The first is palm size, whichcorresponds primarily to the handgungrip circumference. The bigger the palmof the hand is, the bigger the grip thatcan be accommodated. The second isthe trigger finger length, which refers tothe index finger of the dominant hand.In order to press the trigger to fire thehandgun, the index finger must have fullcontact across the face of the trigger.The procedure for ensuring properfit goes as follows: First, make surethat you are working with an unloadedhandgun and that there is no ammunitionin the training area. Next, hold the handupright, as in shooting, and point at asmall object across the room (such as alight switch) with the index finger. Whilemaintaining that hand position, extendthe thumb parallel to the index fingerwith the remaining fingers extendeddirectly beneath the index finger. Next,seat the grip of the handgun in the webof the hand between the thumb andindex finger so that the muzzle of thebarrel points where the index finger ispointing. Wrap the three support fingersnaturally around the grip, holding thehandgun parallel to the index finger.Finally, be sure to point the handgun in asafe direction and place the index fingeracross the face of the trigger. The desiredresult is to have full contact across theface of the trigger with the end of theindex finger. If these parameters are met,the handgun will point where the eyesare focused through our natural ability ofeye/hand coordination.Volume 4 - May/June 2007 www.usconcealedcarry.comConcealed Carry Magazine 37