Pulling the trigger straight back . . .

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Prof Young

New member
Okay, so I've done enough handgun shooting now that I very much understand the need to pull the trigger straight back. I've read a bunch of posted stuff on this website and looked at other websites for advice and training. What I've come up with, in terms of conclusions is:

1. Every hand gun fits one's hand differently . . . at least a little.
2. Because of point one above, a shooter has to learn what constitutes the best placement of his finger on the trigger for that particular gun.
3. A person has to shoot the same gun (using same ammo) much more than just casually to be consistently on target at any distance much over ten yards.
4. It's a heck of a lot of fun learning all this stuff.

What else? Talk to me . . .

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
1. Dry firing. A LOT of dry firing.

2. These things:

GmMain.jpg


http://www.prohands.net/products/gripmaster.php

Unlike the old style grip exercisers that build strength but don't do anything else, the Gripmaster type exercisers allow working each finger independently. This allows shooters to work on holding three fingers in a tight grip while moving the trigger finger without clenching the muscles in the other fingers. They are available in four different resistance levels, so you can work your way up to developing a secure shooting grip while still maintaining good trigger control
 
For one thing, you cannot make your trigger finger move straight back. It is hinged at one end. You can only limit the sideways movement by moving your knuckle outward, but not completely eliminate it. Finger length and the position of the break of the trigger itself may hinder you as well.

Your contact point with the trigger is also rotating. This is one reason smooth triggers can be better than grooved triggers. A smooth trigger lets your finger glide across it and limits sideways movement. A grooved trigger has too much lateral traction.


The other thing I have a lot of trouble with is sympathetic movement of my other fingers.

Hold your hand with your fingers curved like you are holding an invisible gun (with space between your fingers and your palm).

Now move just your trigger finger and watch your other fingers.

I find it difficult to keep my other fingers from moving, especially the middle finger.
 
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And . . .

Thinking about this more, technically the trigger can only move straight back, but what we are talking about is not allowing any sideways pressure on the trigger as it is pulled. The sideways pressure, of course, is what moves the gun slightly off target. Fun stuff . . .

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
1. Dry firing. A LOT of dry firing.
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Watch the sights for movement. And don't pick the best trigger in the safe for this kind of practice. I pick the worst I have--it makes the others seem very easy to control properly in comparison.
 
Stance, grip, sight picture and trigger control are the fundamentals of pistol shooting. If you are moving the gun sideways with your trigger finger, you are doing it wrong. All your trigger finger does is wiggle front to back, and your weak hand steers the gun. Hold your gun like this. And if you are serious about learning how to shoot, not just putting holes in a box target from behind a bench while standing still, take up competition shooting.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJKKt_1T_oI
 
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Weak hand steers!

"Your weak hand steers the gun." I hadn't thought about it like that. Hmmm . . . Thanks. Maybe I need to look for a pistol club that does competition shoot.


Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
The basic principles I discuss below apply to both handguns and rifles.

  1. The first principle of accurate shooting is trigger control: a smooth press straight back on the trigger with only the trigger finger moving. Maintain your focus on the front sight (or the reticle if using a scope) as you press the trigger, increasing pressure on the trigger until the shot breaks. Don't try to predict exactly when the gun will go off nor try to cause the shot to break at a particular moment. This is what Jeff Cooper called the "surprise break."

  2. One wants to place his finger on the trigger in a manner that facilitates that. Usually, the best place for the finger to contact the trigger will be the middle of the portion of the finger between the first knuckle and the fingertip, and that part of the finger should be perpendicular to the direction in which the trigger moves.

    • With some triggers, e. g., heavy double action triggers with a long travel, that placement might not provide enough leverage to work the trigger smoothly. In such cases, the trigger may be placed at the first joint.

    • In either case, the trigger finger needs to be curved away from the gun sufficiently to allow it to press the trigger straight back without the trigger finger binding or applying lateral pressure to the gun. If one has to reach too far to get his finger properly on the trigger (or turn the gun to the point that the axis of the barrel is significantly misaligned with the forearm), the gun is too big. (For example, I have a short trigger reach and can't properly shoot some handguns, like N frame Smith & Wesson revolvers double action.)

  3. By keeping focus on the front sight and increasing pressure on the trigger until the gun essentially shoots itself, you don’t anticipate the shot breaking. But if you try to make the shot break at that one instant in time when everything seem steady and aligned, you usually wind up jerking the trigger.

  4. Of course the gun will wobble a bit on the target. It is just not possible to hold the gun absolutely steady. Because you are alive, there will always be a slight movement caused by all the tiny movement associated with being alive: your heart beating; tiny muscular movements necessary to maintain your balance, etc. Try not to worry about the wobble and don’t worry about trying to keep the sight aligned on a single point. Just let the front sight be somewhere in a small, imaginary box in the center of the target. And of course, properly using some form of rest will also help minimize wobble.

  5. In our teaching we avoid using the words "squeeze" or "pull" to describe the actuation of the trigger. We prefer to refer to "pressing" the trigger. The word "press" seems to better describe the process of smoothly pressing the trigger straight back, with only the trigger finger moving, to a surprise break.

  6. You'll want to be able to perform the fundamentals reflexively, on demand without conscious thought. You do that by practicing them slowly to develop smoothness. Then smooth becomes fast.

    • Remember that practice doesn't make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.

    • Practice also makes permanent. If you keep practicing doing something poorly, you will become an expert at doing it poorly.

  7. Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of the gun firing "by surprise." They feel that when using the gun for practical applications, e. g., hunting or self defense, they need to be able to make the gun fire right now. But if you try to make the gun fire right now, you will almost certainly jerk the trigger thus jerking the gun off target and missing your shot. That's where the "compressed surprise break" comes in.

    • As you practice (perfectly) and develop the facility to reflexively (without conscious thought) apply a smooth, continuously increasing pressure to the trigger the time interval between beginning to press and the shot breaking gets progressively shorter until it become indistinguishable from being instantaneous. In other words, that period of uncertainty during which the shot might break, but you don't know exactly when, becomes vanishingly short. And that is the compressed surprise break.

    • Here's an interesting video in which Jeff Cooper explains the compressed surprise break. While he is demonstrating with a handgun, the same principles apply with a rifle.

  8. It may help to understand the way humans learn a physical skill.

    • In learning a physical skill, we all go through a four step process:

      • unconscious incompetence, we can't do something and we don't even know how to do it;

      • conscious incompetence, we can't physically do something even though we know in our mind how to do it;

      • conscious competence, we know how to do something but can only do it right if we concentrate on doing it properly; and

      • unconscious competence, at this final stage we know how to do something and can do it reflexively (as second nature) on demand without having to think about it.

    • To get to the third stage, you need to think through the physical task consciously in order to do it perfectly. You need to start slow; one must walk before he can run. The key here is going slow so that you can perform each repetition properly and smoothly. Don't try to be fast. Try to be smooth. Now here's the kicker: slow is smooth and smooth is fast. You are trying to program your body to perform each of the components of the task properly and efficiently. As the programing takes, you get smoother; and as you get smoother you get more efficient and more sure, and therefore, faster.

    • I have in fact seen this over and over, both in the classes I've been in and with students that I've helped train. Start slow, consciously doing the physical act smoothly. You start to get smooth, and as you get smooth your pace will start to pick up. And about now, you will have reached the stage of conscious competence. You can do something properly and well as long as you think about it.

    • To go from conscious competence to the final stage, unconscious competence, is usually thought to take around 5,000 good repetitions. The good news is that dry practice will count. The bad news is that poor repetitions don't count and can set you back. You need to work at this to get good.

    • If one has reached the stage of unconscious competence as far as trigger control is concerned, he will be able to consistently execute a proper, controlled trigger press quickly and without conscious thought. Of course one needs to practice regularly and properly to maintain proficiency, but it's easier to maintain it once achieved than it was to first achieve it.
 
It helped me quite a bit when I stopped using the word "pull" and the word "squeeze" from describing trigger manipulation. If you think pull, you will jerk / pull the shot. If you think squeeze, your entire hand tightens. I use the word "press". You press the trigger straight rearwards into your palm. Pull and squeeze are actions that make you think of something forceful. You don't want to be forceful. Press is a gentler word. Be gentle on that trigger. Right or wrong, it works for me.
 
A shooter has better leverage with his trigger finger on the lower part of the trigger, than one that is on the middle or upper part of the trigger
 
3. A person has to shoot the same gun (using same ammo) much more than just casually to be consistently on target at any distance much over ten yards.
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I disagree with this

proficiency with a firearm is perishable to a degree but to say a person cannot stay on target is a little dramatic. Speed may suffer, group size may suffer marginally but if you can hit in the black of a target today then I see no reason a person cannot do that a year from now, 10 years from now. That is assuming that your eyes, physical strength and dexterity are near the same. Some LEO's only qualify once a year and not many fail quals.

A person is generally better and more skilled with practice and I am a proponent of practice and training on a regular basis for that reason.


As far as trigger pull goes.. I try not to overintellectualize the process. Is it important?..sure. I am very familiar with how my trigger breaks and although I do not ride the reset, I am contingent of the reset. When people ask me how I pull the trigger I just tell them "i pull it".. I cant really get more detailed than that and have never really been critical of triggers in general. At the same time I guess it is fair to say that I have never been a high precision shooter and a group that I can cover with my fist has always been good enough.
 
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"...you cannot make your trigger finger move straight back..." Can too. Isn't the whole finger, just a wee part that is usually just inside of the biggest part of the pad does move straight back. Having a handgun fit so that part of your finger naturally comes to the trigger makes an enormous difference.
"...These things:..." Are half a rubber ball you paid a buck for in a dollar store. Their purpose is to strengthen your grip. Each finger doesn't need to nor do you want it to operate independently. Main gripping is done with the thumb and middle finger anyway.
 
T. O'Heir said:
...Each finger doesn't need to nor do you want it to operate independently....
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Wrong.

The trigger finger must operate independently of the other fingers, which are themselves independently gripping the gun.
 
For one thing, there is a lot of difference between the grip and index finger placement in shooting, say, an S&W Model 41, and shooting a Model 642 DAO. The first requires only light pressure by the first ball of the index finger; the rest of the index finger should be out of contact with the gun. The second requires heavy pressure by the second ball of the index finger and the third ball of the finger will always be contacting the gun, and the tip of the finger will be touching either the thumb or the off side of the grip. So advice to "use the tip of the finger and lightly press the trigger" just won't work with a Model 642.

As to not knowing when the gun will go off, that is good advice for a beginner, but I can only say that I know when the gun will go off because I make it go off, even in DA firing.

A straight back pull is fine for that Model 41, and the gun and grips are set up for it. But the 642 should be gripped with the middle finger all the way up into the grip; for good DA firing, grip adapters and fillers are neither necessary or very good. The hand should be bent at the wrist and the trigger pulled back and up, not straight back.

Jim
 
That method works well for someone who has practiced a lot and is shooting a fairly light, short trigger.

It's a recipe for miserable failure for someone who isn't an expert and is shooting a gun with a trigger pull that is 3 times or more than the weight of the gun.
 
I run my Glocks the same way as Leatham and they are nowhere near a 3 lb trigger nor as short. Also my Kahr CW9 and my Shield, it's not Bullseye.....
 
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