Shooting With Your Weak Hand Isn't Optional, Instructor Says

Paul G. Markel argues that running your handgun with your support hand alone isn't a niche skill for injured shooters — it's a basic competency every defensive gun owner should build, and his latest Shoot On piece breaks down how to actually train it.

Key points

• Gun choice matters: Markel says a compact striker-fired polymer pistol beats switching to a revolver, since DA triggers are harder to master and reloading a wheelgun one-handed is brutal.
• Sights and controls: he recommends steel rear sights with a square 90-degree edge (not snag-free slopes) so you can hook them on your belt or holster to rack the slide one-handed.
• Dominant eye fix: if you're forced onto your off hand, Markel says cant the pistol 30 to 45 degrees toward your dominant eye and just focus on the front sight.
• Trigger press over speed: he pushes deliberate dry fire and a surprise break, echoing Delta Force founder Charlie Beckwith's line that method beats speed for its own sake.
• Reload under stress: Markel outlines trapping the gun under your arm or pinning it behind the knee, then using the classic tap-rack sequence against your belt to run the slide.

Quick take

This is the kind of drill that exposes gaps fast — if you've never tried a mag change or a malfunction clear with your support hand only, you'll find out exactly where your technique breaks down. Markel's suggestion to split practice into thirds across two-handed, strong-hand, and support-hand work is a simple way to build this into a normal range session instead of treating it as an afterthought.

Read the full story: shoot-on.com