Guest Post: The Trigger Press
Posted on March 30, 2011 by Katie in In Words
Our friend Alan from TexasGunTalk.com shares a lesson from his many years of experience in the post below. He has some great pointers for new shooters on learning to properly work your trigger finger to help increase your accuracy, and even includes a video at the bottom of his post.
If you have any questions for Alan, leave them in the comments below and we’ll see if he can help us out again!
Every new shooter will at some point have trouble with accuracy. It gets frustrating at times and seems like you’re doing everything textbook, but those darn bullets just seem to go anywhere they want, and nowhere you want! One vital mechanic in shooting a pistol accurately is the trigger press, and it can be mastered with a little know-how and some focus.
A common practice amongst novice shooters is to pull the trigger with the interior digit of the finger; essentially stuffing the majority of their finger in the trigger guard. For the vast majority of semi-automatic guns on the market you will want to only use the “pad” of the trigger finger which is the portion underneath the nail bed. This allows you to have finite control over a lighter trigger and avoid pulling your shots off target horizontally.
However, for guns that have long and heavy trigger pulls like a Ruger LCP (Small .380 Auto), or most revolvers, the novice’s have it correct. Due to the heavy and long pull it is advantageous to use the interior digit of the trigger finger to pull the trigger. The extra leverage affords you significantly better control over the trigger.
The Ruger LCP
Now, when you get on the range you must achieve mental focus and attempt to push out everything else. Take all the noise, the recoil, and any anxiety and stuff it into a mental box and mail it to Timbuktu. Get your grip set, line up the sights, and put all of your mental focus into the front sight. Focus so intently upon the front sight that it occupies every thought; the front sight becomes the sole existence in your world. We love the front sight and the front sight loves us.
Once you’ve enveloped yourself in the front sight begin to press the trigger to the rear in a slow and steady fashion. If it is not moving, don’t rush it… continue to slowly build pressure on the trigger. Remember that front sight, continue to put pressure on the trigg… BANG!
If executed properly the shot should have surprised you. It surprised you because you allowed the gun to go off, instead of making it go off. This is known as a “Surprise Drill” and is the key to building a perfect trigger pull.
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Great tips! For a novice shooter who’s a visual learner the video at the end was especially helpfull. You read about trigger reset and the effects of squeezing vs. yanking the trigger but it helps so much more to see it. Thanks for another great article!