desirable trigger pull weight for home defense/CC pistols

I like around 3 and halfish. Matter of opinions. Some feel safer with heavier pulls, most like em pretty light for accuracy.
 
Well you know what you just opened.

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LOL. In all honesty it such a personal choice I don't think what other people prefer transfers all that well to other shooters. What I am comfortable with might not be what you are comfortable with.

For example today in a gun shop I overheard a young lady who was looking for a revolver with a manual safety. :eek:

I also think a lot depends on the type of gun you carry. Length of pull, up take etc all come into play along with actual pull weight IMHO.
 
desirable trigger pull weight for home defense/CC pistols
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Whatever you are used to!

Since I use Glocks with NY-1/3.5 connectors and DA revolvers 8 to 12 pound trigger pulls work fine. But being a 1911 man from knee high, I know I can handle a 4 lb short trigger if need be.

But, if you don't have much skill with a light short trigger, I'd avoid it.

Deaf
 
In an HD/SD pistol where there is likely to be a lot of tension and adrenaline, a very light trigger pull is a bad idea. Shooting an attacker in self-defense might be justified, but shooting a half-dozen bystanders by accident is not. I would go for 5-7 pounds SA and 12+ DA. I am aware that my own Model 19 has a 2 1/2 pound SA pull, but in a defense situation, I would be likely to be firing DA.

Some folks get strange ideas about trigger pulls, often from fiction. I recall one poster several years ago who stated flatly that he would never own a gun with more than a two ounce trigger pull, and that his Ruger SA had a pull of one and one-half ounces!! Obviously, he was "blowing smoke", but where he got such figures, I have no idea.

Jim
 
I'm with James K.

But as an aside, any of you ever try using an electronic trigger such as those on .22 target guns from Europe?

If ever the admonition about keeping the finger off the trigger meant anything, it does then. You just so much as touch
the trigger and bang!

If it could be measured on the one I tried, I'd guess 1/100th of an ounce pressure.
 
Guys also rarely know their actual trigger weights I would also add. I know a lot of my customers who check rifles in and 1911's in for work to be done say not to touch the trigger, they love it, its super light set at X amount of pounds. I can test it with an electronic trigger guage as well as NRA competition weights, and they are generally off by a pound or two... MOST people anyways.

A lot of companies get this by making the surface of the trigger greater, more surface area, gives us the impression the trigger pull is lighter than it actually is. On slow days at the shop we sometimes take bets at blindly guessing trigger pull weights than testing them, its easier said than done.:rolleyes:

To the OP's Question, I would say 5-6lbs area is fine for most SD shooters who practice regularly. I have a few 1911's with trigger pulls below that, but I don't keep them out for HD/SD much if at all. To keep things in perspective, most military and LEO sharp shooters / snipers have triggers set around 3lbs for field conditions. They don't need a bench rest trigger messured in oz's to make their hits, if they can do it with percision rifles at distance, I am pretty sure a few lbs over 3 at short range is pretty "light" for its intended use. I personally would rather deliberatly pull a heavier trigger aiming at a threat, than to accisdentally trip a light trigger while aiming at a POTENTIAL threat. Yes I understand trigger control and fundamentals, but you won't find many experts telling you to run a 3lbs or less trigger on a SD firearm.
 
Whatever you are used to!
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Exactly. For many years, I shot USPSA and IDPA competition every week, sometimes twice a week, and my guns all have/had 3.25# - 3.75# triggers; I wouldn't want to be in a dire situation with a trigger that was anything but!
I wonder about cops who carry a Glock with a 5.5# trigger, but compete with a 1911 with a 2# trigger?
Or someone who carries a DA/SA gun, but competes regularly with a SA or "safe" action gun?
I would not want to deal with indecision about safeties, pull weight, trigger travel distance, reset distance, etc.
 
While I agree with you Rick that we should practice with what we carrier primarily, about safety vs non safety ect.

I would have to say however stress from competition and stress from a real world force on force is much much different. Most people simply do not know how their body reacts under body alarm. I think of it as much like shooting rifles or shotguns at the range, you notice the noise, and the recoil. Transition over to the excitment when shooting at a live game animal in the woods, and most will say they don't remember the recoil or the noise.

That 12lbs double action trigger, chances are under stress you won't notice the difference from a 1lbs trigger.
 
I realize that what I'm about to say is outside the current popular norm, but here it is anyway.

I've never seen the need to reduce the trigger pull weights of a self defense pistol below factory specs for that pistol. If I can't handle the trigger on a particular pistol, I find another pistol I can handle. Cops in most jurisdictions are forbidden to tamper with issue (stock) pistol triggers, and many must even submit to a departmental inspection of the pistol's pull weights annually just to make sure they haven't been tampered with. My old outfit has done this for decades and still does it today. All 7,500 pistols get checked for this every year.

I don't have any objection to smoothing up a rough trigger, nor do I feel that reducing pull weights on recreational guns is a bad thing as long as they're safe. But lowering pull weights on a SD pistol can open up a can of worms in a civil suit, so I don't do it. I would recommend to anyone contemplating such a trigger modification to take a look at the civil trial atmosphere in their state and see what effect that mod may have in a civil trial following a defensive shooting. i.e. take a look at case law in your state and see what effect trigger modifications are having in civil court cases. Most states now have good in-state gun discussion forums that can easily answer that question for you. But until you can determine that it won't come back to bite you, I'd think hard before lowering pull weights on your SD pistol.

Again, I know I'm being more conservative about this than most.
 
S.A.: 4 - 5 lbs, and crisp as can be. Should break like a glass rod.
D.A,: 9 -12 lbs and smooth as can be. I'd rather have a 12-pound trigger pull that's glassy smooth than a 9-pound trigger pull that is creepy and uneven.
 
Depending on the particular gun, I would say the heaviest you can shoot well, certainly not the single action pull on a S&W revolver or similar.
 
In an HD/SD pistol where there is likely to be a lot of tension and adrenaline, a very light trigger pull is a bad idea.
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Absolutely. Most people overestimate their ability to remian calm, keep the adrenalin under control, and finely aim and shoot in a self defense situation, and most are too vane to admit it.
 
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