Combining two responses into one:
burbank jung said:
Aguila. Is there any special advice you can give me about the .45? I've owned for probably 15 years and only put less than 40 rounds through it. ...
My primary advice would be to dry fire -- a lot. If you can, tape a very small flashlight or a cheap airsoft laser pointer to it so you can instantly see if the gun moves off the point of aim as you pull/press/squeeze/stroke the trigger.
I don't like to get hung up on the terminology of what you call moving the trigger to release the sear. It doesn't matter what you call it, what matters is that you do it smoothly, without upsetting the point of aim. After awhile, muscle memory takes over. But the adage that "Practice makes perfect" is wrong. If you practice doing it wrong, your muscles will learn to do it wrong, and then it's ten times more difficult to overcome the bad habit(s). The correct adage is "PERFECT practice makes perfect."
For shooting (rifle or handgun, but more for handgun because a firm grip is more critical) I advise students to get a Gripmaster. Best is to buy as et, so you can gradually increase the resistance. The Gripmaster allows you to train your hand muscles so the last three fingers maintain a solid grip while the trigger finger moves independently of the others. For some people this is natural -- for others, it's difficult to learn.
https://prohands.net/
I've read this book titled the Perfect Pistol Shot and it was very helpful. It's still a strange feeling to look at the target and then change your focus on the sights when where you want the bullet is the target.
Do you primarily shoot scoped rifles? The advice to focus on the front sight is THE standard for shooting for as long as I can remember. That's the way my grandfather taught me, that's what the riflery instructor taught us at camp when I was a kid, and that's what the U.S. Army taught when I went through Basic Training in 1966.
The front sight is the smallest of the three things your eye has to coordinate when shooting, that's why it's the part that should be in the sharpest focus. Whether you use a six o'clock hold or a center hold, you can't know when the sights are correctly aligned and on the target if the front sight is blurry.
I think trigger pull is one of the most common problems with pistol shooters. It's not even pulling the trigger 1000 times or whatever number to strengthen your finger muscles. It's consciously pull, press, stroking that trigger back enough times consciously that it become a part of your subconscious. You just do it, as Aquila said. I personally like the stroke because it confers the whole motion so you can be read for a follow up shot. The press in my mind. I have to consciously think of the force going straight through the center of the trigger, the frame of the handgun, two my eye. Okay for Bullseye but not rapid shooting. I know, everyone is different but this is part of how my mind is processing the shot.
Pulling the trigger 1,000 times (or 10 times, or 10,000 times) isn't about strengthening the trigger finger. If you need to bulk up the muscles in your finger to pull the trigger, you have a gun that needs help from a good gunsmith. The purpose of many trigger pulls (whether it's live fire, dry fire, BB guns or airsoft replicas) is to train the muscles so the trigger finger operates independently of the thumb and the other three fingers. For some people, the act of pulling the trigger (whatever term you apply to the act) results in simultaneously tightening the muscles of all the other fingers. That's what drags the muzzle off the line of intended aim. The importance of trigger time is to train the muscles in the hands (because with handguns, most of the time we use a two-handed grip) to hold the gun firmly while allowing the trigger finger to move withOUT any accompanying tightening of the muscles in any other finger.
Hope that helps ...
