Learn › Track 02 · Equipment & physics
Grips & fitting
The grip is the only part of the pistol that touches you for the whole match. Wood can be shaped to fit almost any hand, which raises a question: how far may you go?
Think first: A friend builds up his grip so it reaches around the back of his wrist. His hold is suddenly much steadier. Will it pass equipment control?
- Yes: adjustable grips are allowed
- No: the wrist must stay visibly free, and the grip may not reach beyond the hand
- Only if the extension is made of soft foam
What the rules allow
A grip may be shaped, carved and adjusted, as long as it stays a grip for the hand and not a support for the arm.
A few more rules sit around the grip:
Adjustable grips are allowed. Compressible materials are not.
No adhesive between hand and grip. Chalk, talc or magnesium are fine.
Nothing on the pistol wrist: no bracelets, watches or wristbands on the shooting arm.
The grip limits shown above apply to all air pistols. A new official grip diagram applies from 1 July 2026. Grips are among the items checked in post-competition equipment control, and a grip that fails means disqualification.
Sizes and hands
Grips come in sizes like gloves. One maker offers right-hand grips from XS to L and left-hand grips from S to L. Every major maker sells left-hand versions, and the rules apply to left-handers in mirror image. If you are left-handed, ask for the left-hand grip whenever you try a pistol.
The grip also decides how the pistol points. A good fit lets your hand settle in the same place every time, and lets the pistol aim at the target without your wrist bending. The grip lesson covers how to hold it; here you check whether the grip fits.
The eyes-closed test
There is a simple check for fit: raise the pistol with your eyes closed, settle, then open your eyes and see where it points.
Think first: Each time you do the eyes-closed test, you open your eyes to find the sights 10 cm right of the target. What does that tell you?
- Move the rear sight left to compensate
- If your wrist is straight, your stance is off: move your feet. If you must bend your wrist to get on target, the grip is steering you
- Grip harder so the pistol can’t drift
Modifying a grip
Most grips need some work: a gap filled here, a pressure point taken down there. Removing material is easy to understand. Adding it is where rules come in.
Think first: There is a gap under your palm, and you want to fill it. Which choice keeps the grip legal?
- A soft foam pad glued in place
- Hard filler, shaped and sanded to your hand
- Tape wrapped around the grip and your wrist
Work slowly: take a pressure point down a little, shoot with it, then decide. Material is quick to take off and slow to put back. Each time you add filler, check the result against the limits above: top of the hand, heel rest, width and a free wrist.
- The wrist must stay visibly free; nothing may touch beyond the hand or encircle it.
- Heel rest at least 90° to the grip, top-of-hand part at most 40 mm, width at most 50 mm. New diagram from 1 Jul 2026.
- No adhesive and no compressible material. Chalk, talc and magnesium are allowed. No watch or bracelet on the shooting arm.
- Eyes-closed test: straight wrist but off target → move your feet; bent wrist needed → fix the grip.
- Modify with hard filler, a little at a time, and log every change.