The CoC® Silver Bullet Hold: Rules & World Records
IronMind developed the Captains of Crush® (CoC) Silver Bullet Hold as both a training tool and as an event for grip strength contests: visually appealing and intuitively obvious, the CoC Silver Bullet Hold has been featured in grip contests from California to Russia, with stops in Finland, England, Ukraine...
Whether you think your hand is too big, too small or just right for a gripper, the Silver Bullet is perfect. Hold on as long as you can.
Mike Burke delivered the single most dominating performance ever seen in the grip strength world when he won the competition at the 2013 LA FitExpo in commanding style: Burke set world records on the Apollon’s Axle and the CoC (Captains of Crush gripper) Silver Bullet Hold, plus he pulled 117.5 kg on the Rolling Thunder, to tie Mark Felix for the win on that benchmark grip strength event. For his encore, when his hands should have been toast, Mike Burke certified on the Captains of Crush No. 3.5 gripper! When Mike Burke retired, he left big shoes to fill, and so far nobody has. IronMind® | ©Randall J. Strossen photo
Tanner Merkle on his way to setting a new world record of 30.98 seconds for the CoC Silver Bullet Hold using a Captains of Crush No. 4 gripper. IronMind® | Courtesy of Clay Edgin
Print a copy of the rules and referee form here
You'll find the CoC Silver Bullet and the CoC Silver Bullet Disc in our on-line store.
Visit IronMind®'s e-store for all the full line of IronMind Crushedto-Dust® Grip Tools.
Men's Current World Record Holder
Captains of Crush No. 3
| Dmitriy Suhovarov | 58.53 sec. | May 14, 2016 |
Men's Past World Records
Captains of Crush No. 3
| Kody Burns | 57.15 sec. | May 2, 2015 |
| Igor Kupinsky | 54 sec. | July 27, 2013 |
| Mike Burke | 53.97 sec. | January 20, 2013 |
| Alexey Tyukalov | 52.49 sec. | September 29, 2012 |
| Juha Harju | 46.6 sec. | September 9, 2012 |
| Mark Felix | 43.25 sec. | January 9, 2012 |
Men's Current World Record Holder
Captains of Crush No. 4
| Tanner Merkle | 30.98 sec. | January 27, 2019 |
Men's Past World Records
Captains of Crush No. 4*
| Gabriel Sum | 19.95 sec. | November 3, 2018 |
| Clay Edgin | 19.44 sec. | May 5, 2018 |
| Jesse Pynnönen | 19.12 sec. | February 3, 2018 |
| Alexey Tyukalov | 17.8 sec. | May 7, 2017 |
| Jedd Johnson | 15.32 sec. | February 18, 2017 |
| Clay Edgin | 5.62 sec. | January 8, 2017 |
*Started January 8, 2017
Women's Current World Record Holder
Captains of Crush No. 2
| Amy Wattles | 45.42 sec. | January 26, 2014 |
Women's Past World Records
Captains of Crush No. 2
| Amy Wattles | 30.05 sec. | June 30, 2013 |
| Elizabeth Horne | 23.22 sec. | September 23, 2012 |
The IronMind® CoC Silver Bullet Challenge: World Record Attempt Rules
- A genuine IronMind Captains of Crush® No. 2 (women), or No. 3 or No. 4 (men) gripper must be used.
- The gripper must be new, in an unbroken package and opened on the spot.
- Ordinary chalk (magnesium carbonate) may be used on the gripping hand, but nothing else is permitted (liquid chalk, for example, is specifically disallowed).
- A genuine IronMind CoC Silver Bullet weight may either be an IronMind CoC Silver Bullet Disc or an IWF or IPF certified (calibrated) 2.5-kg plate.
- The CoC Silver Bullet is inserted by the competitor no deeper than up to the top edge of the clear band, so that the script Captains of Crush® is legible, and so that all four fingers are in contact with the CoC gripper handle (dropping the pinky completely off the end of the gripper handle is expressly prohibited). The CoC Silver Bullet must be aligned with the handles of the gripper, which cannot overlap with the CoC Silver Bullet in what we call a three-point position.
- Using one or two hands, the competitor closes the CoC gripper in his/her own time so that the two handles hold the CoC Silver Bullet in place and once this position has been achieved, and only one hand is holding the gripper shut, the referee gives the signal to start the clock. If the competitor fails to get a secure hold on the CoC Silver Bullet, s/he is allowed one chance to reset it.
- The hand must be held with the gripper approximately vertical, and the referee may give one warning to correct the position. No contact between the lifting arm and the body is permitted.
- Time stops when the Silver Bullet drops from the handles or when the referee observes any contact between the pinky and the CoC Silver Bullet, or any other illegal position.
- Independent of the timekeeper, a referee (whose sole responsibility is the assure that the rules regarding placement, hand position, ect. are being followed) must officiate the attempts.
*Women's rules are identical to those followed by the men, except that a CoC No. 2 must be used, rather than a CoC No. 3 or CoC No. 4.
