How much does a good trigger matter to you?
- Thread starter irish52084
- Start date
I suppose if all you do is try and shoot little groups, then yea, it is. For the rest of it, not so much. A good hit, is a good hit, as long as the round goes where you were looking when the gun went off. Who cares if its a few mm's or cm's one way or the other?So shooting larger groups isn't an issue.
Oh, and as for the "misquote" on the "issue" thing I didnt have an issue with, that was in regards to the heavier out of the box Colt triggers, not shooting groups. I dont have an issue with shooting tiny groups, I got over that a long time ago, when doing so over and over got boring. Shooting a little more realistically is much more of a challenge, and a lot more fun.
I shoot primarily double action revolvers. I define a "good trigger" as being one that is smooth and consistent -- not necessarily ultra light -- but totally predictable in the way it performs. I detest gritty triggers and, to be honest, I've never been able to get used to, or like, the stacking Colt triggers that get heavier as the trigger is pulled. What I want to see in any revolver trigger is one that does not cause the gun to wobble or to deviate off line. I've owned a lot of revolvers over the years. A lot of them (Smith & Wesson all) have come with excellent triggers that need no modification. Once in a while I've come across a revolver that has a fantastic trigger out of the box. That's just happenstance. No two are the same in my opinion. Occasionally, I've had work done on a trigger and the objective has never been to lighten the pull so much as to smooth it out.
Youre in full agrement with yourself, I didnt say accuracy didnt matter.
Thats is what a trigger is for, making the gun go bang. And yea, I do want the rounds down range to go "where I was lookin'" when the gun went off, be it bullseye shooting, or something more practical, doesnt everyone?
guess I didn't get the memo that the ability to shoot something where being a few CMs off would cause a miss would be impractical. guess you should'a sent a copy to the 1/2 dozen squirrels I shot with my SP101 this spring. It seemed practical cause they usually build nests in unwanted places.
Dang your getting forgetful with getting these memos out. I didn't know if I shot in a bullseye league that I wasn't allowed to shoot action sports or take any training class or vise versa. I'd of thought they would have made that clear at one of the classes I took or at least mentioned it on one of the CDs.
And I guess I should have said if accuracy doesn't matter as much then the trigger doesn't matter as much.
Edward429451
Moderator
Have you ever noticed how they seem to teach surprise break, but a good trigger let's you take the surprise away and launch at an instant of your choosing?
Curious.
Curious.
4runnerman
New member
Basically it is like day and night.I am only speaking from the rifle side of it. The trigger pull and feel will make all the diference in the world to your accuracy. I was old school ( Just learn how to use the one you have). Till i entered Comp shooting and was given the chance to shoot a rifle with a trigger job. It is amazing how much your groups tighten up right off the bat. Since then i have set the trigger pull on my Savages down as far as they will go and my groups have gotten 40% tighter.
good trigger pulls
I have been shooting IHMSA silhouette competition for over 30 years, now,
and my production pistol, a BF 7 super mag, has an 8 OUNCE trigger pull!
Likewise, my Dan Wesson .357 Super Mag revolver also has an 8 ounce
pull on it. I did the trigger job on the Dan Wesson, myself, over 20 years
ago when I purchase it from Robert Gates. These are the kinds of trigger
pulls we use in metallic silhouette handgun shooting. Im talkin about the
single actionn pull on the Dan Wesson, of course.
I have been shooting IHMSA silhouette competition for over 30 years, now,
and my production pistol, a BF 7 super mag, has an 8 OUNCE trigger pull!
Likewise, my Dan Wesson .357 Super Mag revolver also has an 8 ounce
pull on it. I did the trigger job on the Dan Wesson, myself, over 20 years
ago when I purchase it from Robert Gates. These are the kinds of trigger
pulls we use in metallic silhouette handgun shooting. Im talkin about the
single actionn pull on the Dan Wesson, of course.
REAL important. I learned to do trigger jobs on my S&W's so I could get the most out of myself and the revolver. I generally keep my SD revolvers with a slightly lighter pull than "from the factory" and the ones I wouldn't carry for SD as light as I can make them and still have them reliably fire.
I just picked up a few of those Polish P-64's. Cheap and pretty descent CCW piece for the summer. But only after you replace the hammer spring and get rid of the 24lb. DA pull. At 24lbs. it takes less effort to club someone with it.
I just picked up a few of those Polish P-64's. Cheap and pretty descent CCW piece for the summer. But only after you replace the hammer spring and get rid of the 24lb. DA pull. At 24lbs. it takes less effort to club someone with it.
alienbogey
New member
VERY important.
Deal breaker important.
If it doesn't have an excellent trigger, or one that can be made to be excellent or better, then I'm not interested.
The more I've gotten into competitive shooting the more I've realized how important trigger control is and - guess what - the worse the trigger the harder it is to achieve.
Deal breaker important.
If it doesn't have an excellent trigger, or one that can be made to be excellent or better, then I'm not interested.
The more I've gotten into competitive shooting the more I've realized how important trigger control is and - guess what - the worse the trigger the harder it is to achieve.
My #1 priority for calling a good trigger as such is minimal reset which is why I actually consider my stock Glocks to have good triggers. My Hi Power meets the quoted description of a good trigger, but it may as well be a DAO with its long reset. I end up not shooting it very much.
like stocks (grips) and recoil, its an individual opinion
A good trigger matters a HELL of a lot, to me.
To me, a "good" trigger is one that doesn't make you pull the gun off target to get it to fire. It can be heavy or light, smooth or gritty, stagey or mushy, but if you can shoot it well, AND IT IS REPEATABLE, then its a good trigger.
That being said, smooth and light (within limits) seems to work better for most people, once they have developed basic skills.
Leave rifle triggers out of the discussion (we're in the handgun forum), and besides, other than generalities, rifle triggers are too different.
Note that the majority of the discussion so far has been about selfdefense/carry class guns, (natural given the dominance of this class of handguns) but there are other kinds of handguns as well. In my personal collection defense/carry/duty class guns (by today's standards) make up only around a quarter of my handguns.
.22 sport pistols, T/C single shots, single action revolvers and magnums make up the bulk of my handguns, and a good trigger pull on them is a necessity to get the most out of them. The rare ones that don't come with a fair to good trigger pull, get one, either from me, or from a professional.
If your handgunning needs are COM at belly to belly range, even a poor trigger will serve well enough. But if you are going to be shooting at greater range than that, (no matter what the target) you need to be able to hit, and a good trigger aids that immensely. A poor trigger (especially one that is not repeatable) actually works against you as the range gets longer.
A good shot can shoot a pistol with poor sights and a good trigger better than one with great sights and a poor trigger, for everything other than face to face combat at speed. And maybe even then!
One of the worst guns I have shot lately was a compact .45 GLock. While the feel of the trigger didn't really give me trouble, nor the reset needed, it was the fact that the gun fired at a different place in the pull, each time, apparently at random. Not repeatable. Pull, bang. Pull, pull, pull, bang. Pull, pull, bang. pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, bang. Pull bang. etc.
That gun went back to the dealer and went away. One can learn to deal with nearly anything, if it is consistant. That one, wasn't. And to me, that the deal breaker, consistancy.
I've got a Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt (7.5") with a sweet 12oz trigger. Been shooting it nearly 30 years, and can ring the rifle gong at 200yds offhand, regularly. On an auto, that light a trigger would be radically unsafe. I can shoot a 12lb DA pull reasonably well, but its not my favorite. Got some DA autos that have nearly 3/8" or more take up, to a nice 4-5lb pull. Shoot them fairly well also. Each class of gun gets its best from a slightly different "good" trigger.
But what makes a good trigger to you is not known to me.
A good trigger matters a HELL of a lot, to me.
To me, a "good" trigger is one that doesn't make you pull the gun off target to get it to fire. It can be heavy or light, smooth or gritty, stagey or mushy, but if you can shoot it well, AND IT IS REPEATABLE, then its a good trigger.
That being said, smooth and light (within limits) seems to work better for most people, once they have developed basic skills.
Leave rifle triggers out of the discussion (we're in the handgun forum), and besides, other than generalities, rifle triggers are too different.
Note that the majority of the discussion so far has been about selfdefense/carry class guns, (natural given the dominance of this class of handguns) but there are other kinds of handguns as well. In my personal collection defense/carry/duty class guns (by today's standards) make up only around a quarter of my handguns.
.22 sport pistols, T/C single shots, single action revolvers and magnums make up the bulk of my handguns, and a good trigger pull on them is a necessity to get the most out of them. The rare ones that don't come with a fair to good trigger pull, get one, either from me, or from a professional.
If your handgunning needs are COM at belly to belly range, even a poor trigger will serve well enough. But if you are going to be shooting at greater range than that, (no matter what the target) you need to be able to hit, and a good trigger aids that immensely. A poor trigger (especially one that is not repeatable) actually works against you as the range gets longer.
A good shot can shoot a pistol with poor sights and a good trigger better than one with great sights and a poor trigger, for everything other than face to face combat at speed. And maybe even then!
One of the worst guns I have shot lately was a compact .45 GLock. While the feel of the trigger didn't really give me trouble, nor the reset needed, it was the fact that the gun fired at a different place in the pull, each time, apparently at random. Not repeatable. Pull, bang. Pull, pull, pull, bang. Pull, pull, bang. pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, bang. Pull bang. etc.
That gun went back to the dealer and went away. One can learn to deal with nearly anything, if it is consistant. That one, wasn't. And to me, that the deal breaker, consistancy.
I've got a Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt (7.5") with a sweet 12oz trigger. Been shooting it nearly 30 years, and can ring the rifle gong at 200yds offhand, regularly. On an auto, that light a trigger would be radically unsafe. I can shoot a 12lb DA pull reasonably well, but its not my favorite. Got some DA autos that have nearly 3/8" or more take up, to a nice 4-5lb pull. Shoot them fairly well also. Each class of gun gets its best from a slightly different "good" trigger.
But what makes a good trigger to you is not known to me.
A crisp trigger
The average person dosen't know what a truely tuned trigger feels like. My friend has shot my pistoles and asked me why it shoots so well compared to his. I have cleaned up and stoned all my guns (do NOT try this yourself unless you are competent at smithing). The triger pull (pressure it takes to drop hammer) is less important than smooth and crisp. The trigger when pulled should feel like its on jeweled bearings, and when it releases it should be like breaking a pencil lead. This is one of the best things (other than lots of practice) you can do to improve acuracy in your shooting.
Capt. Tim
The average person dosen't know what a truely tuned trigger feels like. My friend has shot my pistoles and asked me why it shoots so well compared to his. I have cleaned up and stoned all my guns (do NOT try this yourself unless you are competent at smithing). The triger pull (pressure it takes to drop hammer) is less important than smooth and crisp. The trigger when pulled should feel like its on jeweled bearings, and when it releases it should be like breaking a pencil lead. This is one of the best things (other than lots of practice) you can do to improve acuracy in your shooting.
Capt. Tim
In combat when one is three time stonger than normal and hyped beyond what most people can imagine, a trigger means nothing. Learning how to shoot with any trigger is the best option. Pretend you are in a crisis when you shoot and focus on how to pull the trigger; and having a "tuned" trigger will be totally superfluous. I never concern myself with now the trigger works. They all work. There is a reason they are strong from the factory. So the firearm will shoot when you pull the trigger. They also know that if you need to shoot the firearm in a crisis, the trigger is not a factor.
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I would say its probably more, and broader experience on their part. There really is nothing wrong with a box stock Glock trigger.
Theres nothing wrong with a light, tuned trigger either (in the proper circumstances), but if its all you can shoot, then youre just limiting yourself, and your choices.
Amin Parker
New member
A properly tuned trigger is a beautiful thing. Anyone that have felt one will agree.
Like everything else, there is a time and a place for everything. Carrying a pistol with the action jobs my competition pistols have would not be appropriate. My defence pistols, although identical, will have a nice clean break that requires a bit more pressure than that on my competition pistols.
That being said, it is nice when you can go to your gun smith and order exactly the trigger feel you want. This is something i have been spoilt with.
I like a custom touch on my guns, however small. It makes the gun mine. The trigger is usually the first thing i will improve.
If the option is available, you might as well.
Like everything else, there is a time and a place for everything. Carrying a pistol with the action jobs my competition pistols have would not be appropriate. My defence pistols, although identical, will have a nice clean break that requires a bit more pressure than that on my competition pistols.
That being said, it is nice when you can go to your gun smith and order exactly the trigger feel you want. This is something i have been spoilt with.
I like a custom touch on my guns, however small. It makes the gun mine. The trigger is usually the first thing i will improve.
If the option is available, you might as well.