Weaver Stance

[Rxtroll]

Greetings All,
In regards to this stance, at the "aim" position, I have been told to have my arms straight. But now I understand they should be slightly bent. Is it just a personal comfort thing?
V/R
Rxtroll

[herohog]

I find that when your elbows are locked, you are more jarred by the recoil. I also notice the muzzle is steadier with my elbows slightly bent. With them locked, I tend to tremble or shake a bit.

[allingeneral]

Most comfortable for me is to turn my shooting side slightly away from the target and let my weak-side arm bend slightly while not locking my shooting-side arm. Something like this, but my weak-side isn't bent quite this extreme...

[herohog]

Exactly the way I do it as well AllInGeneral.

[Rxtroll]

Thank you all very much. We shall be trying this at our next venture to our shooting range. BTW, we turn in our concealed carry paperwork today here in York County and then off to the gun show tomorrow in Richmond.
Again, thanks
RxTroll

[Bob]

I don't know much about stances but reading this thread I started thinking about how I shoot handguns. I don't necessarly aim, I like to point and shoot, many times I don't even bring my pistol up to eye level. I don't know if any of you tried this, it makes you fast and you can get pretty accurate if you practice. It seems natural to me.

I sometimes put up two or three targets and don't decide until the last second which one I am shooting at, at times I even place these targets as much as 4 or 5 feet apart.

I just thought I'd throw that out there and see what you all had to say. I'll qualify this by saying I never shoot in any type of match or competition just for my own amusement.

[gfost1]

Howdy, all,

The part that makes the Weaver stance work is that you pull slightly against the extended arm with the bent arm, thus providing stability. I don't remember exactly what the legs are supposed to be doing, but the idea is to have your body at a 45 degree angle to the target. I have heard that some folks tuck their elbow into their ribs for additional stability, but for some reason my body won't work that way.

Regards

[wbtrunx]

I need to work on this stance.
Thanks to Uncle Sam and his silly body armor, I'm used to a squared off, frontal position which I'm sure has a name that I don't know.

[Bags30]

I have done the Weaver stance for years and when I shoot a lot, I do well with it.
I recently started looking at some of the pro's and the ones I have looked at face the target and keep their arms straight (isosceles stance).
I found a You Tube Video of Todd Jarrett



He talks about this.

Jarrett say that it is easier to be consistent in keeping your arms straight than to find the right angle with a weaver.
When I used to shoot a lot I had good muscle memory and weaver worked well. Now that I don't shoot very often, weaver has been hit and miss with me. So, I thought I would give the isosceles stance a try with decent results but old habits die hard.
I picked up an Airsoft 1911 to practice in my garage.

[SgtBill]

Well I shot competition for more then 20 years and always faced off with my target with both arms locked straight out or known as the Isosceles stance. When you are faced with 12 rounds from a revolver in 25 seconds with a reload included at a 10 X ring that measures about 2 1/2" by 6 " you don't have time to make sure that you have the right bend in your arm or that you are at 45 degrees to the target.

P.S. People in the military are instructed to face straight on to the target so that they have the full benefit of their body armoure.
Bill

[RangeLog]

Your training and comfortability makes a huge difference in a real life situation.

Why Shooters Practice for the Real World: http://www.rangelog.com/Resources/TheRa ... fault.aspx

[mroyal98]

For defensive practice:

Don't forget to practice shooting with one arm while the weak hand is grasping something else. If you are caught in a fighting situation, you will often be steadying yourself by holding on to (for example) the rails of the stairs or the door jam of your car while aiming and firing with your strong hand. You may not have time to get in any stance.

Practice makes perfect.

[SgtBill]

For defensive practice:

Don't forget to practice shooting with one arm while the weak hand is grasping something else. If you are caught in a fighting situation, you will often be steadying yourself by holding on to (for example) the rails of the stairs or the door jam of your car while aiming and firing with your strong hand. You may not have time to get in any stance.

Practice makes perfect.

Marion I must disagree with you on this statement. Practice will not make perfect. You can practice doing the wrong thing all day and it will still be wrong. Perfect practice will make perfect. If you are in a fighting situation you should not need to look at sight's. Look at what you want to shoot and pull the trigger. This is instinct shooting and trust me it works at close range.
Bill

[Bob]

SgtBill. You just said what I was trying to in my post, instinct shooting.

Thats how I like to shoot a handgun.

[RangeLog]

For defensive practice:

Don't forget to practice shooting with one arm while the weak hand is grasping something else. If you are caught in a fighting situation, you will often be steadying yourself by holding on to (for example) the rails of the stairs or the door jam of your car while aiming and firing with your strong hand. You may not have time to get in any stance.

Practice makes perfect.

I have to agree that practice is the only way to hone skills - of course, you should always recreate the stress of a dangerous encounter.

Why Shooter's Should Practive for the Real World

http://www.rangelog.com/Resources/TheRa ... fault.aspx

[Dreamerx4]

My understanding of a Weaver Stance is as follows, you are facing at an angle to the target, and both arms are bent. Your support arm is pulling back on your strong arm pushing out, thus providing a nice strong grip.

A modified weaver is the same with the exception of having your strong arm straight and not bent.

[ProShooter]

Time spent at the range practicing your stance is so important when carrying every day. I'm glad to see the different folk's input here. I always recommend to my students that they follow up our classroom sessions with our shooting lesson program and so few actually take advantage of it.

[jadedone4]

My understanding of a Weaver Stance is as follows, you are facing at an angle to the target, and both arms are bent. Your support arm is pulling back on your strong arm pushing out, thus providing a nice strong grip.

A modified weaver is the same with the exception of having your strong arm straight and not bent.

I've shot Modified Weaver since 1994, thanks to JH (U.S. Capitol Police - Firearms Instructor) teaching this at Maryland Small Arms Range. I've also utilized the "push/pull" with strong hand pushing away from body, while weak hand pulling into body. It takes awhile to get this fluid, so like other here have said, practice practice and practice again.

[zephyp]

I prefer both arms straight. Triangles are by far the strongest shapes. I used to shoot weaver but changed up some time ago. I use the same principle with a rifle.

[Dreamerx4]

I actually use a "Modified Isosceles" For lack of a better term.

I had an instructor show me that is most instances when faced with a situation most times the human body will square off on the situation. This has been seen countless times from police dash cameras, and studied, wish I could remember and share, but I just can't. He taught us to not work against our body's natural reaction, but to work with it. So I now square off, bend my knees, lean forward, shoulders even with toes, and hold my arms straight. It is remarkably comfortable, and I truly hope to never have to find out if it works as advertised.

Try it, you may like it.

Either way, I agree, you should put it all to the test and see what works for you. I don't really like the weaver, but I like the modified weaver. I also am not super comfortable with a straight Isosceles, everyone is different so try them all.