Handguard or gloves?

[Rick Riddell]

Which do you prefer? I've always liked the handguard but thinking these days I might want a nice set of gloves to round things out! If you are into gloves which pair do you have or better yet what would you recommend? There seems to be a ton of tacticool gloves out there to weed through!

[Daryl Corona]

I've used the $15 or so dollar batting gloves from WallyWorld. They last as long as the more expensive "shooter gloves", keeps your sweaty hands off the metal and your hands clean.

The handguards tend to wear the bluing if used on a regular basis.

[Brian Dudley]

Gloves.
Hand guards cover more forward of the forend and at the tip of it. Thats fine if you hold the gun out that far.

[James L. Martin]

I have used both , I think gloves work the best for me.

[Rick Losey]

gloves

Orvis upland glove work for me - but get them at a store- thickness varies a lot and i like the thinnest i can find

[Ken Hill]

Gloves. If I'm hunting it is a thin leather glove. If shooting clays a light cloth type glove.

[Daryl Corona]

My first post was what I wear for target shooting. For hunting gloves do yourself a favor and go to Home Depot and check out their deerskin work gloves. Get the snuggest fit you can as they will break in nicely, you can treat them to be water resistant and they allow you to extract fired hulls with little difficulty even 28 ga hulls.

[todd allen]

Golf gloves.

[Drew Hause]

Woolfolk Henderson and his Parker won the GAH with a 98x100 from 22 yards, the Amateur Championship of U.S. with a 99x100 from 16 yds, and the Amateur Doubles Championship of the U.S. with 90x100 from 16 yds. Have never seen an image without the forward hand glove. Also note "recoil boot".

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/19974446/406160205.jpg

In my opinion the "Top Gun" of the turn-of-the-century shooters Fred Gilbert with his DH SN 103649; no dolls head, no ejectors, 32” barrels at the 1904 GAH with a hand guard
More on Fred and others
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k2_50HPC18lm2BZmH5SlgYSptcngORnmLTZ5iiW-cpc/preview

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/19974446/383200165.jpg

1908 London Olympics. Walter Ewing (Individual Gold) and George Beattie (Individual Silver) of Canada with their Lefevers.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/19974446/412718822.jpg

My vote is quality leather golf glove on right hand to manipulate the shells and double triggers, and deerskin glove on forward hand

[Drew Hause]

Rolla A. Heikes was probably the best shooter with the most guns. He was the first industry representatives in 1885, with the Lefever Gun Co. In 1895-96, Heikes participated in 67 tournaments (despite having malaria in the summer of 1895) and was high gun in 60 using a Winchester 1893 slide-action. He defeated Fred Gilbert in 1896 at the 2nd "E.C." Cup "Champion Inanimate Target Shot of the World" in New York and was 4th in the GAH at Live Birds. Prior to using the Winchester, he shot a L.C. Smith. He defeated Charles Grimm on Dec. 6 1897 for the Cast Iron Medal using a Winchester 1897. He defeated Fred Gilbert for the "E. C." Cup at Chicago, August 13, 1898 with a score of 140 to 137 out of 150 targets, then successfully defended the "Cast Iron Medal" against Fred Gilbert at Eau Claire, Wis., in August and W.R. Elliston in Nashville in October.
In 1899 he used a Remington Hammerless Double to defeat E.D. Fulford for the "E.C." Cup in January and won the Sportsmen's Association Championship Trophy in the trapshooting tournament held on the roof of the Madison Square Garden in March. He used a Parker at the 1900 GAH at Live Birds, then went back to his Remington to win the first Grand American at Clay Targets held at Interstate Park in New York City June 12-15, 1900. In November 1900, he was using a new single trigger Remington hammerless double. He was part of the victorious American team in the June 1901 Anglo-American Clay Bird Match using a Parker.
He started 1902 shooting the Remington single trigger hammerless, then used a L.C. Smith at the Ohio State shoot and to take 3rd in the last GAH at Live Birds in Kansas City. He came back from Typhoid Fever in 1904 to take HOA at the Dominion of Canada Exhibition Shoot in Winnipeg again shooting a Remington. In 1905 he began shooting a Remington Autoloading Shotgun and was 2nd High Professional at the 1906 GAH.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/21690841/357566760.jpg

Not sure if he ever actually used his 1889 patent "hand protector"

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/21690841/389691387.jpg

[Chuck Bishop]

Gripswell makes a glove just for SxS shooting. The underside is covered in leather. You can get it in either left or right.

[CraigThompson]

When I was eat up with playing the trap and skeet games I used Bob Allen uninsulated gloves for a year or two . At the same time I bird hunted quite a bit and used the same gloves .

Now about the only birds I hunt are dove and will use some kind of light camo gloves but that's more to cover white skin then anything else . If I'm on a deer stand I usually wear cotton jersey camo gloves with the trigger finger removed from the right hand glove .

Now if I'm shooting clay targets I see no need for gloves .

Seems to me there's a transition to the whole thing . A time before you deemed the necessary , the time you used them and then the time you only wanted them for camo or warmth .

[Greg Baehman]

Gripswell makes a glove just for SxS shooting. The underside is covered in leather. You can get it in either left or right.
Where can you buy these today? I understand Gripswell went out of business sometime back--maybe a couple of years or more ago and I don't believe there are any left on the planet for sale. I've been searching for two years to find replacements for my Gripswell GS-12 gloves which are now virtually wore out.

[Bill Holcombe]

Hmm, i have never used glives or a handguard? Must be my unsophisticated Texas ways

[Tom Jay]

Golf gloves. Bought same glove in left and right.

[Dave Suponski]

I gave both Bob Allen and Grip Swell but it's gotta be cold as hell before I use them.

[Pete Lester]

I don't believe all hand guards are created equal. The ones sold by Galazan are not supposed to harm the finish on barrels and are advertised as such. I believe any damage to the finish caused by a hand guard comes from chemicals in the leather, probably tannic acid. I have used a Galazan hand guard for many years without issue. I had another one many years ago and it did affect the bluing and I gave it away.

[Kirk Potter]

I've heard good things about these.

https://www.chesterjefferies.co.uk/mens-gloves-the-clay-pigeon/

[Pete Lester]

Hmm, i have never used glives or a handguard? Must be my unsophisticated Texas ways

I am going to guess you never shot a round of trap on a very hot day, trap doubles or a short squad is even worse. The barrels will give you a 2nd degree burn in a second under those conditions.

[Gary Laudermilch]

A beaver tail forend solves the problem. When I searched for a dedicated clays repro I was pretty emphatic about having a bt. It only took me 5 years to find the right gun. Buying a pair of gloves is certainly quicker.

When shooting in the warmer months the barrels get so hot in one round of 5-stand that they will burn you. I've used LL Bean gloves for years. They are thin enough for dexterity but are tough as nails. I use them for early season hunting and they shed multi-flora rose quite well and they stand up to several years of use.

[Richard Flanders]

$10 mechanics gloves from Home Depot work just fine for hunting in cool temps and for all target shooting. The fingers fit nice and snug at the tips and allow you to handle shells and such. No need for expensive shooting gloves until it gets pretty cold. Browning makes a good thinsulate shooting glove that works very well for that. I do like hand guards too, especially for clays shooting. Forces you to hold your left hand well forward where it should be as per the Churchill method.

[Chuck Bishop]

Shooting in the cold is not the problem for me. Just about any insulated gloves work for me. I take the trigger hand glove off when it's time for me to shoot. The problem is in the hot weather that your leading hand can get burned on the barrels. I went to the Gripswell web site: http://www.gripswell.com/gs12.php
I got as far as the place to enter your credit card without any problem. Since I'm not ordering, I didn't continue. Don't know what would have happened if I entered the credit card info and completed the order.

Greg, I think I bought my gloves at Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays years ago. https://www.lvsclays.com/pro-shop/apparel-accessories/ You may want to give them a call and see if they have the SxS gloves. Maybe they would ship them to you.

[Byron Teates]

I always shoot with a glove for the barrels... I have shot just about every weekend for the last eight years. I have gone thru numerous "shooting" gloves and have decided that the Cabelas leather shooting gloves will last about a year. Allen gloves about 10-12 weeks...Florida humidity and sweat tough on gloves.

[Drew Hause]

Timely thread. To be 118-120 tomorrow and I'll be checking the barrel temps of two new fangled fluid steel and one damascus shotgun with an infrared thermometer at the beginning, middle and end of a round of skeet out at Ben Avery in the morning.
I can say there is NO WAY one can hold the barrels at the end of a round during Hell Season in the desert without a handguard or gloves.
Results to follow...if I can still use my digits ;)

[Greg Baehman]

I went to the Gripswell web site: http://www.gripswell.com/gs12.php
I got as far as the place to enter your credit card without any problem. Since I'm not ordering, I didn't continue. Don't know what would have happened if I entered the credit card info and completed the order.

Greg, I think I bought my gloves at Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays years ago. https://www.lvsclays.com/pro-shop/apparel-accessories/ You may want to give them a call and see if they have the SxS gloves. Maybe they would ship them to you.

Chuck, I don't understand why Gripswell's website is still operational, I see it was last updated in 2009 and their phone # has been disconnected.

I appreciate the link to Lehigh. I called them, but unfortunately they no longer have any of the Gripswell line of gloves left in inventory, nor has any other dealer that I've checked with. Too bad, as they are/were a top-of-the-line product.

[Bill Holcombe]

I am going to guess you never shot a round of trap on a very hot day, trap doubles or a short squad is even worse. The barrels will give you a 2nd degree burn in a second under those conditions.

I must hold the forend wrong or something. I don't really touch the barrels, the splinter just rests in my grip.

Last August i shot a full 4 rounds of skeet with my 3 frame, it was plenty warm that day.

[Pete Lester]

I must hold the forend wrong or something. I don't really touch the barrels, the splinter just rests in my grip.

Last August i shot a full 4 rounds of skeet with my 3 frame, it was plenty warm that day.

The time between shots is far faster on a trap field than it is on a skeet field. There is no comparison between those two games for heating up the barrels.

[Mike Franzen]

If you're shooting in warm weather and the barrels aren't getting hot enough to burn you, then you have a long interval between shots. 5 stand really heats them up. I bought a pair of deer skin gloves from Orvis. The shooting finger was slit and would fold back and attach itself with a magnet. I didn't like the fold back option so I just kept my finger covered. The problem was when I would reach into my pouch for a shell the magnet would grab one too and end up throwing it on the ground. I ended up buying the same glove without the mags. They're very thin yet very tough. I recommmend them.

[Bill Holcombe]

I don't have a gun to test this with, but I seriously don't believe my fingers touch the barrels when I shoot. My finger tips stay on the splinter. It doesn't surprise me that this might not be correct, I have been commented on before even with 870s and A5s that I don't really grab hold of the forearm.

I have shot trap and 5 stand and even crazy quail with parkers, but it has always been in the winter or early spring when we tend to shoot those.

[Dave Suponski]

Holding a gun by the splinter puts way too much strain on the forend lug under recoil. Place the gun loosely in your leading hand and wrap your fingers around the barrels. Hence the need for gloves for some

[William Davis]

Black golf gloves. They come in light weight and a waterproof that's a shade heavier. Most of the time just the barrel hand, winter add the trigger hand with thumb and forefinger cut out.

William

[Richard Flanders]

King: The Churchill method, and most other methods I think, have you pointing and guiding your gun to the target with your left hand. The further out you hold your hand, the more accurate your pointing is. It works.

[Drew Hause]

I'm sure a gen-u-wine metallurgist would be unimpressed, but here 'tis ;)

Test performed June 2017 at 8:00 am at the Ben Avery Clay Target Center in Phoenix.
Air temperature was 101 and humidity 14%. Haze but bright sunshine.

Guns:12g Benelli Ethos with 1 1/8 oz. 1200 fps factory load.
16g 1906 L.C. Smith 0E "Good 2 Rod" Damascus (used only one barrel for the 25 targets) with 3/4 oz. at 1200 fps reloads.

Barrel steel: Benelli Ethos barrel (likely but unable to confirm on Benelli website) cryogenically treated chrome lined AISI chrome-moly 4140 (Carbon .38% - .43%).
Chemical compositions of 3 Crolle and 1 Twist samples were similar to AISI 1002 – 1005 (Carbon .02% - .05%) low alloy steel by Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES). This would highly suggest that the iron component was wrought iron (Carbon .05% - .25%) and the steel was (very) low carbon “mild” steel.

Temperatures measured using an infrared thermometer at mid-barrel.
No difference in breech, 15”, or muzzle temps of 16g; 12g muzzle slightly cooler.

Prior to shooting but after guns in rack in full sun for 10 minutes:
Concrete pad Station 1 – 114
16g – 113
12g – 114

AFTER Station 4
16g immediately was 122 but cooled rapidly (in shade) to 112
12g cooled so quickly, also to 112, that unable to record immediate temperature

AFTER Station 8
16g 132 but cooled rapidly to 111 in shade
12g 128 but cooled rapidly to 111 in shade.
After another 25 targets the 12g again cooled rapidly in the shade to 111.

Impression for this non-statistically significant study:
1. No difference in heating between the two barrel steels.
2. The barrels rapidly dissipate heat.
3. Sun exposure contributes to barrel heating.
4. Pain occurs with contact exposure to 111 degrees; 30 seconds of 130 degrees will cause second degree burns to skin.
5. Avoid direct contact with barrels in Phoenix during Hell Season!