Here is a question up for discussion for anyone who can answer it. One of my buddies emailed me this exchange about holding a handgun:

 

Don't ask why, but I've been trying to figure out the origin of the 'gangsta horizontal gun stance'--you know, the one from the movies where they hold the gun sideways. Is there any good reason, ergonomic or otherwise, for holding a gun sideways, except maybe when firing blindly around a corner? The answer is apparently no (and in fact there are plenty of reasons not to in terms of accuracy, etc.). 

So why? And which came first, the Hollywood portrayal or actual street usage? Well, here's one theory as to the origin. I'm not sure I believe it, but haven't heard one any more plausible:

"You know why they hold the gun sideways, don't you? A bunch of Hollywood stuntmen and actors got tired of the fact that automatic pistols tend to eject the cartridge back and up. It's not usually a problem when you fire bullets at the range with safety glasses. It is a problem when you're on camera with no eye protection. Add to the mix that blank cartridges are often packed with three times the powder to get that great muzzle flash and bang the audience has grown to expect. So the cartridge is ejected three times hotter and with three times the force. So now all those actors hold the gun sideways because, let's face it, hot brass in the face is unpleasant. Those gangsta wannabes holding the gun sideways learned to shoot by watching movies. They didn't learn to shoot by actually shooting somebody. So be thankful they're showing off their ignorance."

http://blogs.smh.com.au/entertainment/archives/videohead/005613.html

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I passed this on to a friend of mine who is a licensed gun dealer and gun collector. This is what he wrote:

i do not have a clue about where this originated from.  the claim that blanks have 3x the powder is false.  there is a blank called a "three in one" because it can be used in rifles (1), pistols (2), and revolvers (3).  so i doubt the explanation is valid either.  btw: it is called "canting" your gun.  bad habit. 

 

Does anybody have something to add about whether the physics of firing a gun in a sideways position tends to promote or degrade accuracy or some other aspect of performance?

This technique was primarily used by left handed people to prevent the ejected cartridge from hitting them in the face. Your Welcome.

Strictly from an accuracy standpoint-------hand guns are typically is "sighted in" in a vertial positon & they allow for some recoil that will cause the impact to be higher than other wise expected. Therefore holding a handgun tightly with two hands will often cause it to shoot "lower" than it will with one hand because the recoil does not effect the bullet as much.  holding a handgun "sideways" will typicall cause the bullet to impact to the right or left of the aming point, probably the worst condition for accuracy.........When was the last time you saw a target shooter hold in any positon other than strainght up!

"effect" ?

"your" ? sheesh.

 here's a similar point that always bothered me. We get recoil and gun jump and inaccuracy largely because yrs and yrs ago they put the handle below the barrel, so the resultant rearward force from firing is above the point of anchor- the hand- and thus tends to lift the gun.

 Why not position the barrel right in line with the arm, as best you can, so that the rearward force has little or no lifting effect?

Total degradation of accuracy.  Some gangstas are now holding them upside down for some reason, good news for the rest of us.

Those of us who are left handed have had the shells flying by, but not so much as to twist the weapon to avoid them.

The only time I could ever see it being even moderately useful is when firing two handguns at the same time, to make a zone of fire.  The wrists and elbows would be a bit more comfortable, like handle bars.  Of course, at close range, making a zone means you'd probably have more than one target to focus on, which also degrades your accuracy.  I'd probably choose one upright and one sideways (lesser hand) picking targets with one, and using the other for scare tactics only.

Go to a range, take 50 rounds - go five upright, five sideways, back and forth.  Your accuracy will "improve" for sideways, but never even come close to upright unless that's the only way you've ever fired the weapon.

 

In the hood there is very little concern for accuracy. Most of the time it's not even about hitting the target but about the drama of it all. Therefore, one, understanding projectile motion, would hold a pistol sideways to either collect the caps on their way down or to keep them far discharging to far off to the right, which could encumber the collection of said evidence. It's really about theatrics, though.