TargetTalk

I don't really know much about guns, but I'm aware that people are taught to shoot handguns two-handed for stability. Why then would Olympians use a one-handed stance?

Because they don't want to be disqualified from matches for using two hands when the rules state you can only use one hand.

Because that's that way it's always been since it entered modern olympic competition.

As for why it was done that way 100+ years ago...

Theory 1: It was considered more gentlemanly. Any peasant can grasp a gun with both hands and hunch over the sights, but the aristocrats stood up tall, proud and brave.

Theory 2: It was common to teach pistol shooting one handed with the body turned sidewase to make a smaller target for the enemy. More recent teachings, like for the last 100 years or so, say it's better to be a slightly bigger target with a much better chance of hitting the other guy.

Theory 3: Because it's hard! Most precision rifle disciplines decide winners by, at most a few millimeters diffence. One handed pistol, even at the elite level, produces groups of shots rather than one hole slightly bigger than another.

Because you can't use two hands when you're riding a horse.

Because your other hand was holding the reins!
And sideways you are a smaller target.

It actually goes back to the introduction of pistols into dueling. Since formal duels were fought using one handed swords (unless you were in northern Italy during the Renaissance when two handed dueling became the norm using one rapier and a dagger in the off hand). With pistols the same one handed rule became institutional, along with the expectation of the use of smoothbore barrels, the use of rifling was seen as cheating for a century after it became the norm in other firearms. Thus the pistol was considered a ‘one-handed’ weapon and taught as such in militaries well into the late twentieth century. Jeff Cooper and the Southwest Pistol league are the prime source for the development of the ‘modern’ two handed approach.
Yeah I wrote an academic paper on dueling a few decades back.
Cheers — Dr Jim

I don't know the exact reason why they started shooting 1-handed, but there are some valid answers already given. I personally like it shot with one hand because it's harder and takes a lot of discipline to get good at.
I'd like to see an action pistol event where you had to shoot it all one handed, probably wouldn't get many action shooters wanting to join in.
Stan

See if you can find a local "2700" bullseye/precision match and watch the Rapid Fire stage of the .45 match. It's shot at 25 yards, strings of 5 shots in 10 seconds. Most action shooters I know think nobody can hit anything at that distance, much less with one hand.

Our *very* informal bullseye league permits two-handed shooters to compete, but they do so in a separate class from we one-handed shooters. While not traditional, nor within the official rules, this does attract some folks who would most likely not shoot at all if required to shoot with one hand.

That's fine by me. More folks equals more fun and more camaraderie. Our scores are not submitted to the NRA and we are there to shoot for the fun and challenge. As said above, one-handed shooting is HARD, and, for me, that's the attraction. If I knew I would shoot perfect scores every time I'd soon be looking for something more challenging.

FWIW,

I'll let you in on a Dirty Little Secret. You can shoot straighter with one hand than with two. There's less to get right. A second hand might be useful for recoil management, but not for accuracy.

Holding the pistol in one hand means you can have a much wider / stretched out stance. This pushes the sights of the pistol a fair degree further away from the shooting eye compared to holding the pistol in two hands. In turn, this allows the shooter to achieve a greater degree of precision in the alignment of the front and rear sights and their position in relation to the target, the net result being better accuracy. Two-handed shooting is good for close and fast shooting, but for precision shooting needing a high degree of accuracy over the sorts of distances that ISSF matches are shot at, single-handed shooting will beat two-hands every time.

Dr. Jim wrote: ↑Tue Jan 07, 2025 10:10 am It actually goes back to the introduction of pistols into dueling. Since formal duels were fought using one handed swords (unless you were in northern Italy during the Renaissance when two handed dueling became the norm using one rapier and a dagger in the off hand). With pistols the same one handed rule became institutional, along with the expectation of the use of smoothbore barrels, the use of rifling was seen as cheating for a century after it became the norm in other firearms. Thus the pistol was considered a ‘one-handed’ weapon and taught as such in militaries well into the late twentieth century. Jeff Cooper and the Southwest Pistol league are the prime source for the development of the ‘modern’ two handed approach.
Yeah I wrote an academic paper on dueling a few decades back.
Cheers — Dr Jim

This was very insightful, it's very interesting to think how different means of fighting had a sporting equivalent develop alongside it (archery, swords, pistol), thanks for posting this.

You are welcome. Sometimes my long ago academic life insists on resurfacing.

Cheers Dr Jim