[fourdeuce82d]

I've also heard this called "catching the reset"- it refers to (in single action) pressing the trigger to the rear, releasing it just enough to reset it, and firing the next shot from there. In other words, not releasing the trigger all the way, and in particular not allowing your finger to lose contact with the trigger between shots, unless you move it into register.


I have been told be several different instructors that this is an aid in accurate, rapid fire- I have found it to be so myself.


Yesterday, a fellow whose opinion I respect, and who can shoot well, said that was a bad idea, that the main thing was to maintain a constant, pendulum like motion with the trigger finger- keeping it in continual motion, and not worrying about whether or not you maintain contact with the face of the trigger.


Thoughts?

[Obiwan]

"Catching the Link" is the best way to assure quick follow-up shots

Letting you finger come off the trigger leads to slapping and jerking...both are bad.

Your friend may be right about a lot...but not this

[SelfProclaimedExpert]

I can see the guys point. If you are actually defending your life, you might not reliably find that sweet spot and end up wasting precious moments.

What your friend is proposing is finding a smooth trigger techinique that is also completely reliable, rather than just quick.

I'd buy that for a dollar.

[QuarterBoreGunner]

'Catching the Link'

huh... I always thought of this as the best way to shoot Glocks.

Funny, I've never tried it with any of my other semi-autos.

[CWL]

I was trained this way to shoot M1911 .45ACPs. Not much work once you spend a little time to learn your gun. Also not much overtravel with my .45s anyway.

Perhaps your friend is a revolver shooter primarily?

[Drifting Fate]

I never heard the term "riding the link" - the link is under the barrel for crying out loud!

Anyway, in all seriousness, yes, that is how you should shot. Release the trigger just enough to reset the disconnect and you will become a faster, more accurate shooter.

No matter what, you don't want to loose contact with the face of the trigger. Once you learn where the reset point is and what it feels like, you will work it automatically without even realizing you are doing so.

[SelfProclaimedExpert]

The other guy wasn't necessarily saying to take your finger all the way off the trigger. He was just saying that using the absolute minimum might not be a great idea.

Failing to "ride the link" is usually known as "short stroking the trigger".

[EricO]

I believe in "catching the link" as part of a proper follow thru, and practice it. However, under recoil and the noise of shooting I sometimes wonder just how well I'm am doing it because I don't always "feel" the reset clearly during a rapid string. I'm just not as well attuned as someone who shoots many more rounds in practice than I. Whether I'm doing it correctly subconciously at this point I wouldn't know without another person viewing my reset or with the use of a video camera.

I used to play competive tennis at the junior college level/local tournaments, and ocassionally used video to watch the mechanics of my strokes. It's amazing how you may feel that you're doing it one way when in fact (verified by video) you're doing it entirely different. I always had fairly classic strokes but needed to generate more topspin on ocassion. I would tell my coach that I felt like I was definitely "getting underneath the ball" (to impart topspin) but when I viewed the tape I wasn't. I needed to strongly exagerate the motion to get the effect I desired.

Food for thought. I don't know if Bill Wilson has changed his trigger control, but I've read in past forum discussions that he didn't ride the link, but actually allowed the trigger to go past reset and also let his finger come completely off the face and then reacquire it for the next shot. In his old series of tapes about maintenance of various handguns (I own the 1911 version of this tape) Bill is on camera doing a bit of shooting and showing some techniques. In this video Bill allows his finger to come completely off the face of the trigger between rapid fire strings. I don't recall the specifics of Bill's achievements, but he was a top level competitor at one time. A tennis analogy of this would be Bjorn Borg. At a time when guys like Stan Smith with picture perfect strokes were around, Bjorn (with his exagerated Western forehand grip and two-handed backhand) certainly looked out of place. His record stands for itself! Gene Mayer, a guy with a two -handed backhand and forehand, dominated the doubles circuit for awhile also despite his "handicap."

EricO

[Obiwan]

"not worrying about whether or not you maintain contact with the face of the trigger"

No he doesn't say you HAVE to take it off the the trigger...merely that it does not matter.

To each his own...bad form IMHO