Overcoming the million pound trigger?

[Justin]

I've been told that when shooting bullseye, you shouldn't even think about your trigger pull, that it should just happen. However, I'm having a hard time doing that. I'm using a good target pistol- a Smith M46. The trigger is light, with no problems. But when I'm shooting bullseye, I can't help but think about the trigger pull, and the more I think about it, the heavier the thing feels. It's a completely mental deal, and I don't know how to overcome it.

Any suggestions?

[Unisaw]

Does this happen during dry firing, or only during live fire? Just curious.

I shot bullseye for four years. I was always very aware of the start and quality of my trigger pull -- IMO, it is the break that is supposed to be a surprise. I was using a Model 41.

I'm anxious to see what others have to say about this.

[Steve Smith]

Justin, I can't imagine that bullseye pistol is any different than Highpower Rifle in this aspect. I think that every Master and above would tell you that he knows exactly when the trigger will break and surprise breaks are a thing of the past for him. Surprise breaks work for those who are learning to oversome a flinch and for the non-competitors, but you should be firing or dry-firing enough that you know exactly when the trigger will break. Once you know your trigger that well, you can put pressure on the trigger and then "will" the gun to fire when the sights are where you want them.

The surprise break prevents a jerk, but if your trigger control is good, then you can fire the gun at will and your POA and POI will be the same (assuming your sights are correct!) Eventualy it should come as a learned response...when the sight picture looks like "right" the gun fires. i'm not there yet, but I am to the point that when the picture looks right my brain says "Now!" and i cause the gun to fire. Good conscious trigger control will overmatch the surprise break.

Don't sit and wait for the trigger to break. Doing that will surely get you waiting for what seems forever, acid will build in your arms, you will tire, and the shot will not be where you want it to be. Time to learn something the AMU taught me. Be aggressive on the trigger. Don't jerk, but learn to fire it PROPERLY on your brain's command.

[wanderinwalker]

I think Steve is onto something. At my last Highpower league match I was using the aggressive trigger-control approach offhand and reeled off a 98-1X. (After the first 8 went clean, I started to think too much and "blew" a couple of 9s. ;) ) If you know when and where your trigger breaks, it is surprisingly controllable and repeatable. That way when you see that 10 you break it, instead of hanging on until you might get an X or an 8. I subscribe to having a little overtravel on my trigger just for this purpose (fortunately my Armalite came out of the box with this, whereas my brother's Armalite comes to a dead-stop after breaking). Take it for what you paid for it and with the notion that I have brought myself to Master-level Highpower shooter in one season by reading, experimenting and refining (my recommended method).

Good luck and good shooting,
~Nathan

[Island Beretta]

justin..could be you are developing what is called chicken finger meaning trigger becomes very heavy or pull feels eternally long till it almost feels like you can't fire the gun. This comes about from you having a fear about a miss and thinking too much on it.

Relax and just observe the shooting, forget scores!!

One drill I know for helping chicken finger is to fire the pistol within a time frame and then cutting that time down until you can almost will the gun to fire and you will fire without thinking about the trigger.

e.g. count to 20 and whilst doing so pull the trigger slowly and smoothly maintaining your fs focus only. The gun should fire within that time and just keep right on counting to 20. do this five times and check your hits only after the fifth shot. Of course you need to call your shots for each shot fired.

Then drop the count to say 10 and try to fire the pistol in this time maintaining the same fundamentals and strategy as above.

It will help believe me.:cool:

[Sunray]

If you're brain is worrying about the trigger you're not concentrating on the front sight. Put in a .22 snap cap and dry fire practice. Train yourself to concentrate on the front sight and forget the trigger.
Don't dry fire without a snap cap though. The 46 isn't made anymore and you may have trouble getting a new firing pin(although I'd almost bet a 41's FP would fit) and it'll bash a burr into the chamber. These guys have 'em. $4 a set.
http://www.22snapcaps.com/snapcaps.htm

[Chris Rhines]

Justin, here's what I did when I found myself being tentitave with the trigger. You'll need a timer with an audible signal - I use my PACT, but a regular old kitchen timer will do in a pinch.

- Hang a target at fifty yards and get set up.
- Set your timer for, say, eight seconds to start. Give yourself enough time to let the gun settle, but not so much that your hold starts to go bad. Eight seconds is 'bout right for me, you may need to go longer or shorter.
- Start the timer. Lift the gun, get an acceptable sight picture for a ten-ring hit, and press the trigger. Do this before the timer sounds.
- Follow through and call your shot.

This will help train you to be aggressive on the trigger, instead of waiting for the perfect sight picture (that never comes, does it?) You can do the same drill with dryfire at home.

Let us know how it goes.

- Chris

[ClarkEMyers]

Look to current literature but what I learned was based on the, beginning to show its age, Gil Hebard's Pistol Shooter's Treasury and the days when Bill Blankenship was the model.

There had been some discussion about a start and stop trigger pull as the gun moved over the aiming area. This was pretty much discarded as nice idea can't really make it work -for most people,

The then current consensus was to apply a steadily increasing pressure until the trigger broke and some talk of thinking of this as conceptualizing the trigger as being a hydraulic piston hooked to a gauge such that the gauge needle would smoothly accelerate to ever higher pressures - even some descriptions of dry firing rigs made up exactly this way with the gauge face visible.

More recently I've read some things from Don Nygord that I wish I'd known then.

In the circumstances as described I'd be leery of a convulsive jerk to fire or milking the gun to a let off. It is important to increase pull with just the trigger finger, while gripping tightly but not to the point of trembling, with the rest of the hand.

I'd suggest, though it may not be possible, trying one of the European guns with a broken wrist hold - this traditional hold, see dueling pistols, helps to isolate the trigger finger for many people.

[Justin]

justin..could be you are developing what is called chicken finger meaning trigger becomes very heavy or pull feels eternally long till it almost feels like you can't fire the gun. This comes about from you having a fear about a miss and thinking too much on it. This is exactly it! The weird thing is, it doesn't happen when dry-firing, only during live-fire. I've been trying to *not* concentrate on the trigger pull, but you know how that is. It's like trying not to think of a white polar bear after someone has told you "Don't think about a white polar bear." The best thing I've found is to think about other things- primarily sight picture, but also making sure my back and arm are straight.

[ClarkEMyers]

What happens with a blank aiming point? See Paul Weston on area aiming.

Might try holding and firing on the center of a blank sheet of typing paper.

[Steve Smith]

Justin, I guess I didn't use the right words (Chicken finger) but my fix is exactly what you do to get over it, whether you call it the Chicken Finger, the Right Finger Drag, or the Lyndy Hop. You can get past this "surprise break" BS.

Let me back up...you don't want to completely ELIMINATE the surprise break, but what you want is what the good Colonel called a "compressed surprise break."

[Island Beretta]

Steve: I think the challenge is more in resolving his fear of a miss or suboptimal performance rather than a surprise break issue. When you are really in the zone on your sight focus where you can track that front sight through the recoil cycle then you can have what BE calls automatic shooting where you 'look the gun off.' This what Justin needs to experience.

Justin: What is the outcome to date?

[Justin]

Shot last Tuesday and Wednesday. I think that just talking about it has made some difference. I'm still shooting about 3 flyers in slow fire, last time I had two sixes and a five that I ganked right as it happens.

Steve, your advice is right on, and when I get in the zone, it all just falls into place and happens.

I tried to be more aggressive on the trigger, but without consciously thinking about it. Even though I still had my average number of shots outside of the black (3) I shot more nines and tens.

[Steve Smith]

Justin, maybe this will help:

I realize you don't have the position experience that I have but try to relate to this.

For a long time I knew I could depend on my sitting and both prones to give me a Master score aggregate even if my standing was barely up to Expert. That's because I was shooting High Master scores everywhere else. One day at Perry I thought about that and said, "You're accepting lousy performace in standing because that's what you expect. Hold as hard as you do in the other positions and see what happens." Sure enough, I had a solid x/10 ring hold and shot a 98 for the next string. My standing performance continued to improve.


Sometimes, you just have to MAKE the gun stay still. Make sure your NPA is right, and make the shot the first time you see it.

[Jon Coppenbarger]

Steve said it and please follow it.
If you need help on some things all you need to do is ask.
I might not have a clue on firing pistols but the princibles are the same.

You being in the zone is what its about.
Anytime you are thinking about something other than your front post you are in trouble.
With your shooting experience you should know that and I know you do!
Here is what should be happening in your brain.
Your should have ONE and only ONE mental picture and its one you should have right now as we talk as you do not need to even have a fire arm in your hands to have it.
What that picture is the post sitting exactly were it should be to fire a perfect shot. once you do that and do it enough your mind will automaticly pull the trigger for you.
If you are thinking anything else while you are trying to shoot for example. Pull the trigger, or I am swaying or don't shot a 8 or anything else you are in trouble. Like this I want to shot a X and you are in the 9 ring and you are telling yourself I will pull the trigger when It gets into the 10 ring and WHAM!! the shot goes off while you are thinking that and you have a 9 right where you were thinking about moving it from. that is because you just said to pull the trigger. BAD, BAD , BAD
Also once you start to only do that and you only have that perfect sight picture in your mind when your front post gets to that point you have already pulled the trigger as you should only think X ring.
If you only think and acept X ring you can live with the 10's but if you acept like a 10 then you will have 9's and it goes down from there and that means your mind is not set on only taking a perfect shot.

Pratice it now and everytime you go out and I think you know how it will help you.

A example of that is my 600 yard shooting as for all my shots in the last 3 months or so I can not remember anything I pulled the trigger on other than a X. Do I get other scores Yes I do but they are not From me pulling a shot out in the 10 ring or 9 ring or 8 ring because I never shot one but they are from outside conditions that effected the shot like the following.
#1 wind pickups or letoffs
#2 slight light condition changes that cause a shot to go slightly higher or lower
#3 stupid things like not noticing your glasses have changed position
Things like that are things that can be caught and changed before you get ready for the shot and are easier to fix because you take care of them before your mind takes over for the perfect shot.
Thats your Zone.

Ask and it will help. have some tapes you need to listen to and will give them to you .

Jon