Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
I really ought to take a camera to the range. The expressions on people's faces when they hand Frankenstein back to me are well worth recording.
Despite Frankenstein's cosmetic shortcomings, it does have a clean, crisp, light trigger of about 3 lbs 14 oz. The importance of this can hardly be overemphasized.
NOBODY, repeat nobody, shoots as well as they can with any other trigger. When I let people take a practice shot with my old 870,it's like the Heavens open, the choir breaks into Hosannahs, and sunlight shines down as never before.
Here's why...
Unless one gets a new shotgun costing several thousands of dollars,or an old one of good make, it's practically a given the trigger is excreable. It's heavy, muddy, overtravels, creeps and in general is the kind of thing one hopes one's enemies have on their weapons.
Chances are an old hardware shotgun made before WWII and sold new for $10 has a better trigger than a brand new midgrade auto, double or pump.
Back then, the makers took pains to get this right. Now, with the almighty bottom line ruling, it's cheaper to make guns with lousy triggers. And, it avoids any possible litigation from fools over an issue of a "Hair" trigger.
Ruger lost a lawsuit over this. The weapon was a handgun, but the idea's the same.
A recent range session had me trying out a few guns owned by friends. Without exception, the triggers were heavier than the weapon itself. Not all are so bad, but very few are good.A few were gritty, nasty and impossible to control well.
As to why we need good triggers....
Bad triggers are harder to control. That means it's harder to get it to go bang at the best millisecond in the swing. Timing is crucial, and bad triggers screw up our timing. If they're really bad, making them go bang can even jerk us off the target. This is egregious whether it's a clay, game, or an assailant.
Ask the next top shotgunner you see if he/she has a heavy,nasty trigger on what hey used to shoot their way to the winner's circle. Regardless of make or game, it's clean and light.
The fix is neither terribly difficult nor costly.
A decent smith can get MOST shotguns into shape for less than $50. And,a qualified smith is essential, for the same reason most folks shouldn't do their own brake work. Bad work here is dangerous. A clean SAFE trigger of about 4 lbs is my choice, and recommendation.
Again, let a good smith do it.
For what it's worth, some recently made Express triggers I've tried ran less than 5 lbs, and were clean enough. The otherwise excellent Beretta and Benelli autos have terrible pulls. Angle Port and such advertise cleaning these up to about 3.5 lbs, but their packages run well into 4 figures.
Anyway, if you get your trigger done and do not note improvements in your scores, life expectancy or bag, lunch is on me...
And maybe some info on technique is in order.
The most obvious bad shooters tend to jam their forefinger into the guard as far as possible. amd use as close to the base of the finger as possible. Part of this is adaptation to those heavy triggers.
The closer to the tip of the forefinger the better. If you can get a good grip and reach the trigger with just the tip, you have better control and a nice delicate feeling. I've trouble getting there, so the first crease on my forefinger goes on the right edge of the trigger and I work at pressing it straight back. The ONLY part of the hand that should be moving in relation to the shotgun is the forefinger. Too many folks use a spastic grab,a clenching of the whole hand.
I work on my technique at home, using a SA handgun with a medium heavy but clean trigger. Latest one is a Ruger Blackhawk, the old thumb buster type. After checking that it's empty EACH AND EVERY time I pick it up,I get a good grip, align the sights on a blank wall and attempt to press so lightly and straight back that the sights stay in alignment as the hammer falls. Good for other firearms also.
Despite Frankenstein's cosmetic shortcomings, it does have a clean, crisp, light trigger of about 3 lbs 14 oz. The importance of this can hardly be overemphasized.
NOBODY, repeat nobody, shoots as well as they can with any other trigger. When I let people take a practice shot with my old 870,it's like the Heavens open, the choir breaks into Hosannahs, and sunlight shines down as never before.
Here's why...
Unless one gets a new shotgun costing several thousands of dollars,or an old one of good make, it's practically a given the trigger is excreable. It's heavy, muddy, overtravels, creeps and in general is the kind of thing one hopes one's enemies have on their weapons.
Chances are an old hardware shotgun made before WWII and sold new for $10 has a better trigger than a brand new midgrade auto, double or pump.
Back then, the makers took pains to get this right. Now, with the almighty bottom line ruling, it's cheaper to make guns with lousy triggers. And, it avoids any possible litigation from fools over an issue of a "Hair" trigger.
Ruger lost a lawsuit over this. The weapon was a handgun, but the idea's the same.
A recent range session had me trying out a few guns owned by friends. Without exception, the triggers were heavier than the weapon itself. Not all are so bad, but very few are good.A few were gritty, nasty and impossible to control well.
As to why we need good triggers....
Bad triggers are harder to control. That means it's harder to get it to go bang at the best millisecond in the swing. Timing is crucial, and bad triggers screw up our timing. If they're really bad, making them go bang can even jerk us off the target. This is egregious whether it's a clay, game, or an assailant.
Ask the next top shotgunner you see if he/she has a heavy,nasty trigger on what hey used to shoot their way to the winner's circle. Regardless of make or game, it's clean and light.
The fix is neither terribly difficult nor costly.
A decent smith can get MOST shotguns into shape for less than $50. And,a qualified smith is essential, for the same reason most folks shouldn't do their own brake work. Bad work here is dangerous. A clean SAFE trigger of about 4 lbs is my choice, and recommendation.
Again, let a good smith do it.
For what it's worth, some recently made Express triggers I've tried ran less than 5 lbs, and were clean enough. The otherwise excellent Beretta and Benelli autos have terrible pulls. Angle Port and such advertise cleaning these up to about 3.5 lbs, but their packages run well into 4 figures.
Anyway, if you get your trigger done and do not note improvements in your scores, life expectancy or bag, lunch is on me...
And maybe some info on technique is in order.
The most obvious bad shooters tend to jam their forefinger into the guard as far as possible. amd use as close to the base of the finger as possible. Part of this is adaptation to those heavy triggers.
The closer to the tip of the forefinger the better. If you can get a good grip and reach the trigger with just the tip, you have better control and a nice delicate feeling. I've trouble getting there, so the first crease on my forefinger goes on the right edge of the trigger and I work at pressing it straight back. The ONLY part of the hand that should be moving in relation to the shotgun is the forefinger. Too many folks use a spastic grab,a clenching of the whole hand.
I work on my technique at home, using a SA handgun with a medium heavy but clean trigger. Latest one is a Ruger Blackhawk, the old thumb buster type. After checking that it's empty EACH AND EVERY time I pick it up,I get a good grip, align the sights on a blank wall and attempt to press so lightly and straight back that the sights stay in alignment as the hammer falls. Good for other firearms also.
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