Trigger jerk and Lightweight Pistols

[Bartholomew Roberts]

One thing about the Hi-Power, I've never seen a positive word about the trigger design. It has a lot of takeup and a long, soft reset as well. However, I have a LOT of time shooting them and I shoot them well. They are more maintenance intensive though and lately I've been shooting my Glocks more often.

It seems that over time, I've developed the habit of just gripping the pistol firmly and slapping that Hi-Power trigger like it owes me money. And on single action, steel frame pistols like the Hi-Power or 1911, this works for me. The sights barely move and I can get 0.19-0.23 splits using a single sight picture and still be on an 8" plate at 7yds.

However, when I go to the Glock 26 - or pretty much any modern, lightweight polymer-frame handgun, it takes about 1,000 rounds of slow, concentrated effort to undo my habits and correct my tendency to shoot low and left - even though some of these pistols have short, true single-action triggers that are better than the Hi-Power.

Does a steel frame act to mitigate trigger slap? Or is some other factor at play here?

 

[g.willikers]

One a couple of podcasts of American Warrior, Mr. Rob Leatham discusses this very subject.
Go to http://americanwarriorshow.libsyn.com/ and do a search for his name.
Very informative, for sure.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Hmmm, interesting podcast. If I understand his point correctly, it probably isn't a frame issue but a trigger issue. You can't shoot a Hi-Power to reset because the reset is too soft and too long, so you end up shooting it just as Leatham describes. Most of the polymer frame pistols have a short, positive reset so maybe I'm seeing that issue because I am trying to shoot to reset on those pistols.