Pull? Squeeze? Press!
Trigger Discipline
“People are always telling me you don’t pull the trigger, you squeeze the trigger.”
“You pull a wagon. You squeeze an orange. You press a trigger."
Roy Jr. parked his old Ford pickup at the gun club parking lot. He expected to find the Senior Member reading a book as usual. The old man was in his regular place in the shade but instead of a book he was using an iPhone! Junior was shocked. In his experience, old people and modern technology did not work well together.
“Greetings, Wise One! I wanted to thank you again for the advice on selecting a hunting knife. I’d like some advice on shooting a handgun. By the way do you mind if I pet your dog?”
“It’s not a question of whether I mind, it’s a question of whether he minds. Let’s find out.” The old man snapped two commands to the dog. “Come! Sit!”
A double-action revolver with 11 to 12 lbs. of trigger
pressure exposes errors quickly.
Discipline
Roy Jr. knelt so he was at the dog’s level and held out a fist, talking soothingly but letting the dog make the first move. The dog sniffed the fist and seemed to approve, or at least not disapprove. Still talking gently, the youngster patted the dog. “I’ve got a piece of cheese in my shirt pocket, is it okay if I give it to him?”
“His nose has told him all about it already, but sure, offer it to him.”
The dog sniffed the cheese eagerly but didn’t move. “Why won’t he take it, does he dislike me?”
“No. He’s waiting for permission.” The old man waited for a long minute, then snapped his fingers. The dog immediately gobbled it down.
“I wanted your thoughts on handgun shooting, I shouldn’t have gotten sidetracked.”
“We weren’t sidetracked,” the Senior Member said. “I wasn’t watching the dog, I was watching you. You either have good instincts or someone has taught you well. The dog likes you. I trust his judgment. I sometimes make mistakes about people but dogs seldom do.”
Young Roy thought this over. “I don’t see the connection between dogs and pistol shooters.”
“There isn’t any really, except both need discipline. There’s nothing sadder than talent without discipline.”
“Are you saying you beat your dog? Is that what you mean by discipline?”
“I’ve never raised a hand to a dog, and seldom even my voice. By discipline I mean the ability to duplicate a successful performance. I’m too old to waste time with a dumb dog or person. Seeing you with the dog was enough to tell me you’re not dumb. I don’t know if you’ll ever be a good handgun shooter but I know you have the ability.”
Dave likes to press the trigger with the pad of his trigger finger,
placed squarely across the face of the trigger.
Pull … Squeeze … Press!
“People are always telling me you don’t pull the trigger, you squeeze the trigger.”
“You pull a wagon. You squeeze an orange. You press a trigger. Bill Blankenship, one of the greatest handgun champions ever, coined the phrase ‘positive pressure.’ Press the trigger straight back at a constantly increasing speed without imparting movement to the gun.”
“When you squeeze something, the whole hand moves. In a proper trigger press, only the trigger finger moves. The pad of the first joint of the trigger finger should be squarely across the face of the trigger. If you are shooting a semiauto pistol, there will likely be some trigger slack before the trigger engages the sear. Prep the trigger by taking up the slack. Prep, then press straight back in one smooth motion without hesitation until the trigger reaches a positive trigger stop.”
“Forward movement of the trigger finger allows the trigger return spring to move the trigger forward to reset for the next shot. Legendary speed shooter Ed McGivern said the rearward and forward movements of the trigger finger should be at the same speed. He said a full forward movement of the trigger finger was key to fast shooting. Balks, or ‘tying up the gun,’ almost always occurred when the shooter didn’t allow full forward trigger movement.”
“With enough repetitions, trigger press and release can become conditioned reflexes. You eat a forkful of salad — okay, meat loaf — without consciously thinking about it, and without accidentally poking yourself in the eye. Ideally, your trigger control should be similar. When the gun settles on target and the sight picture is adequate for the shot required, the subconscious lets the shot break.”
“How long does it take to learn?”
“Let’s say initially, 50 dry fire presses a day with full concentration, five days a week for 40 weeks. Then 50 a day, one day a week, for the rest of your life. When you get to be an old-timer, young fellows your age will be asking you for advice. And what will you say?”
“Discipline, my boy, discipline!”
