Kickin' ass with Hogue grips

Last Saturday, I picked up a universal Hogue grip from Turners to put on my Springfield XD.

I wanted to shoot better, and thought it would probably help. (and if it didn't, I was only out $10; plus, I could try the grip on future handguns) It took me about 15 minutes to get the grip on and adjusted, and I took a knife to the back of the grip so it wouldn't hold down the grip safety. (I was a little worried that the cut for the grip safety would compromise the strength of these very tight-fitting grips, but I noticed no widening of the hole, or loosening of the grips yet) When I finally wrapped my hands around the new grip on my gun it felt very odd, but I knew the true test would come from a visit to the range.

When I hit the range I picked up some black silhouettes for the first time, knowing that white silhouettes would allow me to see my groups, and cause me to subconsciously aim toward them.

As soon as I started shooting I noticed that the noticeable kick on the whitebox 9mm I use for target shooting was lessened at least 20%. They say that in order to manage recoil, you need only get as much flesh on the gun as possible, and now, it seemed the Hogue grips were making that possible! I enjoyed minimal recoil and quick sight re-alignment for the rest of the visit.

I don't know if it was the black silhouettes, or the grips, or a combination of the two, but I shot better for those two hours than I've ever shot before. After I got comfortable with the grips, I started knocking out the X, since I was never one to waste silhouettes, I put them out to the maximum distance (50 feet?), so I'd have to work harder to keep the shots in the X. After I got my trigger control down, I started knocking the X out of the targets at the maximum distance, shooting off-hand. I fired off 100 rounds total, but half or a third were fired one shot at a time at the max distance. I'd shoot, draw the paper in to see where I hit, mark the hit, then put it back out, and shoot another one. I was "in the zone" as they say. It rocked. I can't wait to get back to the range soon to see if I've retained this ability.

I'm glad I can shoot my XD so well, since I know I'm going to spend a bit of time learning to shoot my 1911 well.