Trigger Control

[Bttbbob]

Being at the range all day Saturday and Sunday brought me to a revalation that I have always known but had to remind myself and my new instructor candidates.

Trigger control being one of the two most important aspects of handgun shooting. In the range watching over 50 people shooting, less than 10 % or only 5 people had proper trigger control.

Almost every one of the shooters that were having a hard time, was due to improper trigger finger placement. Half of the shooters had the finger buried to the first joint. The other half were using just the tip if the finger.

I should have taken video's of my observations but wasn't thinking about it.

To get a proper shot, trigger finger placement it critical. The trigger should hit the index finger midway from the tip of the finger to the first joint. Slack should be taken out of the trigger and the meat of the finger, before the mechanics of the trigger are employed.

Right handed shooters will pull low left and left handed shooters will pull low right without proper trigger finger placement and proper trigger control.

 

[justxboxin]

Your only supposed to use the the whole tip of your index finger . From tip to first joint . Anything other is doing it wrong

 

[Lowjiber]

Just watch Hitcock45 shoot...Anything!

 

[Rabbitcreekok]

Being at the range all day Saturday and Sunday brought me to a revalation that I have always known but had to remind myself and my new instructor candidates.

Trigger control being one of the two most important aspects of handgun shooting. In the range watching over 50 people shooting, less than 10 % or only 5 people had proper trigger control.

Almost every one of the shooters that were having a hard time, was due to improper trigger finger placement. Half of the shooters had the finger buried to the first joint. The other half were using just the tip if the finger.

I should have taken video's of my observations but wasn't thinking about it.

To get a proper shot, trigger finger placement it critical. The trigger should hit the index finger midway from the tip of the finger to the first joint. Slack should be taken out of the trigger and the meat of the finger, before the mechanics of the trigger are employed.

Right handed shooters will pull low left and left handed shooters will pull low right without proper trigger finger placement and proper trigger control.

Your statement is basically true for the current crop of striker fired guns. Most have trigger pulls of only a few pounds. A shooter like myself, a former LEO who carried a revolver as a duty gun, learned and shot with the distal joint on the trigger to overcome the eight to twelve pound pull required on double action revolver triggers. With many hours of dry fire, any shooter can train himself/herself to shoot with the trigger finger on any of the three mentioned locations. Of course the problem, in today's world, where we demand instant gratification, shooters won't put in the necessary dry fire training to become competent.

That is why so many shooters have trigger pull problems and it is not necessarily the point where the finger contacts the trigger. There are many highly successful competition shooters who shoot from the distal joint.

 

[SGB]

Very, very few people have the ability to self diagnose problems with their shooting technique. Even fewer will actually invest $$$ in the services of a professional Instructor to diagnose and help correct such problems.

 

[The_Outlaw]

Now here's a man who knows about proper trigger control and accuracy with a sidearm.....

 

[BobbyBJr]

I know I have the problem at times and for the life of me can't figure it out. At times I can shoot with the best of them and then at times everything is to the left. Yesterday I was shooting at and hitting the holes in the target made by my friend and today everything was 1 inch to the left. I can't for the life of me figure it out. Any suggestions? What should i practice?

 

[Shoobee]

Yup, sight picture and trigger control are the two most important factors.

And both require constant practice.

 

[trainor]

depending upon the type of action, size and strength of the hand, size of the gun's butt, etc, this "ideal" placement of the finger on the trigger often has to be modified a bit. Most people don't grip the gun far enough "into" their palm, resulting in a line of recoil that does not match the line of their wrist bones.

 

[kerb]

Just watch Hitcock45 shoot...Anything!

Kinda hard to argue with results huh? hickok45 sticks his finger in to the first joint if I'm not mistaken.. I think I remember a vid of his where he talked about it.

Trigger control comes from ... practicing trigger control.
I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but I don't care if you pull the trigger with the third joint of your big toe. If you can do it without disturbing the sight picture, your shots will go where you aim. It just takes practice, patience, and concentration.

 

[gymguy]

BTTBBOB, you make good points. One of the best ways I have seen to judge if your trigger control is correct is to balance a spent cartridge or a snap cap vertically near the front sight and then pull the trigger on an unloaded gun. If the cartridge doesn't fall off your control is good. Of course if the barrel/slide is not somewhat flat this won't work. You could fashion a substitute by inserting a snug dowel into the barrel that has a coin epoxied to the dowel to form a flat spot.

Another fault I have seen is using a gun with a grip that is either too big or too small that doesn't allow a parallel pull to the axis of the barrel. Guns with adjustable backstraps can go a long way towards fixing this problem.

 

[Rabbitcreekok]

Try placing a dime on the front sight and working the trigger. Or on the slide if the front sight is not flat enough. Really good trigger pulls will get you 100 without the dime falling off. I personally have never made it to 100 but am trying.