Training With Trigger Reset?

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gunnutery

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I've been hearing more about "trigger reset" in training, specifically in law enforcement training. I've know about trigger reset and have tried it off and on at the range, but it's hard to overcome the habit I'm used to (normal trigger pull).

I realize people would be more accurate using this method in a safe, sterile environment, but is it logical or practical to include such a tactic while training for a lethal encounter?

Perhaps I'm just hitting the age where I'm skeptical of new fads and trends. Perhaps I'm just not wanting to change what I've already grown accustomed to. Or... am I raising a valid point? In a stressful deadly force situation, (even with lots of training with trigger reset) would one be able to use it effectively or just revert to the normal length of pull training that they started with?

Thoughts?
 
All triggers have to be 'reset' after a shot. If you just hold the trigger back after the shot goes off you cannot shoot again (F/A excluded). The trigger must move forward to reset the mechanism so that the next shot can be fired.

There used to be a school of thought that minimal movement in trigger reset was desirable in order to lessen the chance of moving the sights off target. The idea was to ease off of the trigger until you felt/heard the trigger reset and then stop right there. That's fine for target shooting and with a single action pistol it works very well. Not so well with other types of pistols, and since it is a fine motor skill there are problems with it in defensive shooting.

Problems arose when this technique was used with DA/SA and Safe-Action pistols. With these guns there is a chance that if you do this type of reset the trigger won't totally reset and when you squeeze for the next shot the trigger is frozen or locked up.

To counter this someone decided to teach the shooter to let the trigger move forward to the end of its travel and then pull the trigger back to the sear. Fine and dandy, trigger-cocking revolver shooters have been doing that since time out of mind.

Another problem is that someone also decided to name the technique 'Trigger Reset' as if it were something totally new.

As far as I can see, it's just a different name (and not a very good one) for Col. Cooper's 'compressed trigger'.

Your finger should be OFF the trigger until your sights and muzzle are on the target and you have made the decision to shoot.

AFTER you have fired the shot part of the 'follow through' is to reacquire your sight picture, reset/compress (release the trigger until it moves all the way forward then come back to the sear) the trigger in preparation for the next shot, should it be required. ie., If you fire three shots you will have FOUR sight pictures/trigger resets.

It's nothing new, just new terminology for the same old thing.
 
I do it, but thats how I was taught.

It also depends on what I'm shooting, my Sig rifle has an awsome trigger with a very postive click on reset. Some of my other rifles not so much.

I think it does help if your going for better groups, the les movement the better.
 
Yes, my Glock 22 also has a definate click upon the return of the trigger about halfway. My wife always likes shooting that way. I'm not opposed to the concept, I just don't want to change my defensive training to it, because I don't think I'll be thinking about letting the trigger go forward only a little bit in stead of the whole way in a self defense situation.

I'm just leery of going to a shooting school and be prodded to shoot that way in a combat training situation for a couple days (only to toss it out the window after I leave the class). It just seems like it would complicate matters in shooting when I can already do that, the class would be to learn tactics, not "new" shooting techniques.

A couple guys I work with had gone to a class that was teaching this "new" idea and it sounded like they were really hounded on to shoot that way. It just didn't sit well with me and it made me curious if many people were starting to do it.

Thanks for the input.
 
I'd do whatever works for you, if it doesn't improve your shooting don't do it.


I just do it because I learned that way and it feels natural at this point.
 
i'm not sure what it's like in the mid-west, but letting the trigger out to the reset point before re-applying pressure has been in common use in defensive shooting since the 80's...hardly new. when you say a "normal trigger pull" are you talking about pinning the trigger to the rear until your sights come back down from recoil before releasing it all the way forward and then beginning the trigger stroke again? i don't think they even teach DA revolver shooting that way anymore.

i have never heard a technique called "trigger reset", it isn't a verb. trigger reset or trigger resetting is releasing the trigger to it's reset point without coming completely off the trigger. i'm pretty sure that what Cooper called his "compressed trigger/press" is now referred to as Trigger Prep...that is taking the excess travel out of the trigger prior to release (it is similar, but not the same as staging a revolver trigger).

releasing to the trigger to the reset point and prepping the trigger is a huge step forward in avoiding flinch or slapping the trigger when trying to fire quickly...it isn't a target technique, but it is used in competition like USPSA and IDPA because it allows accurate shots at the rate of about 4-5 rounds per second

my suggestion is to try it at the class to see if your shooting improves, what could be the downside to putting shots on target faster ?

the hardest thing to get students try is the thumbs forward grip...it just takes a while to wrap your mind around it, but it's becoming more common
 
Probably 90% of my range time or training time is done with the same gun, a double-action, striker fired, Tupperware gun.

So, having thousands upon thousands of rounds through this gun using the shortest distant reset has become second nature. I know where the reset is, I know the distance, I know when I can press the trigger again. I don't have to think about it. I am by no stretch of the imagination a good shooter in my opinion but I have trained to a level with my gun that I know how it operates and am past the point of "deciding" how I will operate it, it just happens.

I think everyone should pick one of their guns, maybe it's their only gun, and train the absolute best they can with that gun. At least one of your guns should be able to be run by you under stress in a second nature sort of way, you don't think about it, you just do it.
 
Yes, I have done the large bulk of pistol work with a 1911 pattern from the beginning. When using my BHP, which is a fine piece, I tend to choke because the reset is longer. I now have a 1911 pattern in .40 S&W and 9mm for practice.
Best,
Rob
 
I guess I should've clarified my definition of "trigger reset," but it's the only term I've heard for it.

By "trigger reset," I mean, after you've fired the first shot, keep holding the trigger all the way back until your sights are on target, then let the trigger move forward just enough to reset the trigger.

By "normal trigger pull" I mean, letting the trigger move foward all the way before firing the next shot.

I didn't realize it had been taught for so long and had so many different names. Thanks for all the input.
 
thanks for the clarification

the "trigger reset" method you just described isn't part of the "modern method"...too slow. the modern method now taught has you reset while the gun is in recoil with you releasing the next shot as soon as your sights return onto the target. if your sights aren't automatically returning onto target, your stance/grip is "off"...you're fighting your gun

i haven't used what you describe as a "normal trigger pull" since i entered LE back in 1979. they taught us at the academy to release the trigger while in recoil too...granted this was with revolvers

shooting in competition is even more advanced in it's trigger management
 
People have to be taught to do this?

I thought it was just simple mechanics to use the trigger as minimally as possible to function the firearm when rapid firing.
What is minimal differs with each gun. I learned this with toy guns as a child and was doing it with pistols anytime I rapid fired from the first time I fired my own gun.
It comes naturally when trying to shoot quicker, and would seem like something one would have to train not to do, not the other way around.

One problem with actually teaching officers this method could be some will keep their fingers on the trigger after it should have been removed.
I think it kinda promotes taking the slack out of the trigger even when not intending to fire, which of course leads to the occasional negligent discharge.
After all it is almost the same thing, just in reverse.
After having fired the gun the trigger is only allowed to go forward to almost the same point that it would have been able to travel in reverse before discharging the firearm (with a very slight difference).

I think this promotes keeping the booger hook on the bang switch, especially after firing some rounds. With the trigger slack removed after reset and assessing the situation.
The muscle memory will be to leave the finger on the trigger at about the reset point even after the need to fire has passed. Which is just a hair away from firing again.
Which is going to lead to some ND and unintended shots being fired on occasion. Which may strike both other officers who have changed positions or moved in, or a suspect when not intended and the need for lethal force has passed.
 
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Which is going to lead to some ND and unintended shots being fired on occasion.
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Cooper's compressed trigger press isn't for everyone...and certainly not for the casual shooter. it does require a certain amount of practice and desire to be a more efficient/better shooter
 
and certainly not for the casual shooter.
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What do you think most officers are? Most are not gun people. They qualify.

They are going to rarely shoot, but shoot the way they are taught. If that includes having their finger on the trigger and depressed before or after shots, it is definitely going to lead to the occasional discharge of the firearm when not intended on a regular basis.

Many officers pull guns on suspects many times for every time that actually requires a shot to be fired.

Even of those who are "gun guys" or get more training like the "SWAT" type units. If clearing a building how many of your team mates do you want with their finger on the trigger any longer than necessary? How much risk of being shot by a team mate do you want? Fields of fire in close quarters only accomplish so much.

Or even of casual gun owners. How many should be investigating that suspicious noise with their finger anywhere near the trigger or wanting to go to that spot muscle memory has conditioned them to? When their family member or pet startles them suddenly?


How many should stand there with the gun ready to discharge and finger on the trigger and halfway depressed after just being involved in the use of lethal force? As the adrenaline courses through their system and each heavy heartbeat is pulsing on their fingertips?
If they trained that way that is going to be what happens for several seconds following such a situation.

It conditions people to be comfortable with their finger on the trigger, but that is not such a good place to be especially in high stress situations. Situations that are often very different from those during training.
 
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With a little practice, and a decent revolver, like a smith or a colt, "and others". You should be able to cock the weapon by evoking just enough pressure to spin the chamber to the next "empty one" without dropping the hammer. Similar to single action. Practicing this "with an empty pistol", over time will allow you the ability to keep the weapon on target, and cock it without dropping the hammer until you are ready. This is how I fire revolvers, unless it's a double tap, in which case it's just a faster version of the same technique. The same can be done with an auto pistol, only of course it must be loaded in order to allow a single action pistol like a 1911 or a glock, to fire. It will work with some DA pistols, "yours ,may vary", I the "reset" is just taking up the slack in the trigger. But unless you shoot often, this is somthing you should not attempt under a real life situation. You can get very good at rotating the cylinder on your carry revolver with practice. The trick is to apply just enough force to cock it without snaping the cylinder and doing damage to the gun by dry firing certain models. Snap caps or similar devices should be used in some guns that are not meant to be dry fired.
 
Your finger should be off the trigger until your sights and muzzle are on the target and you have made the decision to shoot.
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do you mean for each shot or do you make an exception for follow up shots?

it is hard to imagine you're advocating removing your finger as your gun goes into recoil and not placing it back on until your sights have returned onto target...that would be like worrying about your holstered muzzle sweeping people behind you when carried in a horizontal shoulder holster
 
My post was in reference to Zoogster worrying about SWATers clearing buildings and homeowners investigating a 'funny noise' and blasting the family cat. That's where the 'decision to shoot' part comes in.

Keep your finger off the trigger until you have identified a target and you have made the conscious decision to shoot. When you decide that you have achieved your goal and no more shots need to be fired, take your finger off the trigger.
 
I guess I should've clarified my definition of "trigger reset," but it's the only term I've heard for it.

By "trigger reset," I mean, after you've fired the first shot, keep holding the trigger all the way back until your sights are on target, then let the trigger move forward just enough to reset the trigger.
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This is very slow, fine for target shoting.

The most efficient way (which also avoids trigger slap) is to allow the trigger to reset, then take up slack while the gun in is recoil so when the sights are back on target, the trigger is already prepped. Of course, this applies only to follow up shots. If you are assessing/scanning or deciding to stop shooting, the trigger finger comes completely off the trigger and straight along the frame.

So, multiple shots in competition or defense, prep the trigger in recoil. Once you decide to stop shooting, get the finger off the trigger. Under adrenaline dump, I don't see waiting to begin the reset/prep until after the sights are back on target vs. during recoil as being a safety issue. If you are shooting multiples, the finger is on the trigger pointed at your target either way.

Shoot until you decide to stop, then get the finger off the trigger completely.
 
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