The Question:      Do you think that it is safe for me to shoot a firearm (22 cal semi-auto) Upside down using my pinkie finger?

The reason for the question is that my hanai son who is 25, Corporal in the USMC, 3 trips to Iraq, Expert with rifle, but very little experience with any handgun.
   He says that shooting upside down is Un-Safe.
   His shooting experience started when he joined the Marines.

 I say that based on my experience(over 40 years of shooting handgun, rifle and shotgun) that it is safe.
.
And apperantly the club honchos agree since they let me do it.

Interested in hearing your comments.

What would be "Unsafe" about it, the firearm will still function properly.

I would think the major concern of shooting the gun upside down would be the risk of recoil kicking the gun out of your hands.  Seeing as it's a .22, that is very unlikely.

Edit: the guys at KHSC probably wouldn't want you to test out your theory there. 

Unsafe?-Yes, because the it is not designed to be used that way.
Will you be injured for doing it?-Maybe.


Its like using a knife upside down. It will work but its unsafe, and totally useless.

I feel the politically correct answer is "it's unsafe".

From a practical point of view though I don't think there's such a huge gap in safety that it could be called "unsafe".  You can consider a gun "unsafe" if you imagine the shooter as some deranged schizo. Same thing for shooting upside down. If you imagine the shooter as some inexperienced which-way-goes-boom-george newbie, the moment you take it off safe it becomes "unsafe", much less trying to shoot it upside down.

IOW, safety is dependent on the shooter. It may be safe for OG, but not safe for me.

Unsafe?-Yes, because the it is not designed to be used that way.
Will you be injured for doing it?-Maybe.


Its like using a knife upside down. It will work but its unsafe, and totally useless.

I agree. It's not about if you can/can't do something with an item, but its about whether that item was designed to do it in that manner. Popping a motorcycle up in a wheelie can easily be done, now who would consider this a "safe" way to ride that motorcycle?

On that same basis though, you can consider shooting a right-handed weapon as a left-handed shooter as "unsafe" based on conflicting design principles. Or a right-hander to shoot his right-handed handgun in a left-handed stance. I agree with you for the most part though, if it's not designed to do it, chances are there are safer ways to do it.

We can consider writing a poem safer than the act of shooting a gun, or popping a wheelie, or jumping off a plane, or driving, or swimming in the ocean for that matter. So when we leave the realm of seemingly invulnerable safety, it's down to the person's training and experience as to what level of "safe" he is currently capable of.

Don't get me wrong....I can't see a single damned reason why you would ever want to shoot your handgun upside down. Maybe you horrible twist your arm, but your nerves are still viable and you're able to grip and fire your gun, and you're training for that incident... 

But I cannot see that as being "unsafe" as a rule.

Just whatever change is left in my pocket!

What about the guy who sees you doing this and decides to try it out with his gun.

Hey, they make guns for lefties too! And ambi!

Even among my long time friends, I am being told "not a good idea".

However, I did everything as Safely as I could  make it.  Very limited gallery of people.

I can understand your concerns.

But, if people do not try to do things perhaps differently, the envelope would not be pushed
   and we may Never learn for them.  What works and what doesen't.

"One small step for man, A gian leap for mankind" Well, maybe not,  But, I've always danced to a different tune.

Never know unless you try, and I do know MY limitations.

I think your placing to much weight on t his OG ... honestly, who cares if people see you doing it, if the gun was designed to do it, etc...

Your doing it as a trick shot (hence the trick!) go out and shoot upside down 1000 times till you can get it perfect.  Next time bring stretchier balloons they were wooping my ass.

Tell them you're auditioning for Top Shot season 3 and you want to be prepared for whatever challenges they throw at you. 

Operationally I think it's safe as in I don't think you will drop the rifle, etc.

However the problem I have is that you cannot determine where the shot is going.  If you are "reasonably close" to a berm, then yes probably safe, but not a good idea.  However if you are far from a berm then I feel it goes from a bad idea to unsafe handling.

People who enjoy / practice tactical shooting understand that situational demands may force you to use a firearm in an unconventional manner.  Conceptually, I don't see a problem.  As long as you can maintain control of the gun, that's fine.  One thing to realize, though, is that the pinky does  not move independently of the ring finger, not truly.  I can see a case where the gun slips or twists in an unexpected direction, causing you to grip it more tightly, and inadvertently making you deliver firing pressure to the trigger.  Just make sure that you always follow rule #1!