Anyone find they shoot better DA than SA?

[chaim]

For a while I was unable to get out shooting very much. When I did I mostly shot 9mm because it was cheaper. So for a while my revolvers were neglected.

Lately, I've been shooting my revolvers again and I am falling in love with them all over again.

I am noticing something that I had forgotten about. I seem to be more accurate in DA mode than when firing SA (I haven't measured it so I have no objective numbers, but at minimum I feel like I am more accurate and thus I'm more confident/comfortable in DA mode). It really seems counterintuitive to be better in DA mode than SA mode (even in quicker shooting) .

Does anyone else find they shoot their revolvers better in DA than SA mode? Of course, I guess I could just be a freak too.

 

[Frenchy]

I am more "group" accurate shooting SA. Of course that is for deliberate target work with my 6" barreled, adjustable sighted revolvers.
For 25 yards and in, my shorter barreled "combat" style guns are used on full silhouette targets in DA mode, only concentrating on the 9 and 10 zones.. Bullseye accuracy (slow) vs. Combat accuracy (fast)...Both have their place.

 

[Dr.Who]

Nope, I can shoot with better control and faster than most can shoot DA. Learned while in SASS and now use it in IDPA. The split second that it takes to set the hammer allows you to focus on the front sight and score the hit. I hold with the right and cock with the left thumb. Enjoy....

 

[10-Ring]

I'm the lazy sort & when shooting revo's I just didn't like cocking back the hammer
Huges sense of satisfaction shooting DA revo's as they were intended

 

[Jim March]

There's a potential explanation for this: assuming you're GOOD with a DA trigger, most guns really can shoot DA better than SA.

To understand why, unload your revolver, close the cylinder and hold it up sideways. WATCH your muzzle direction just in case, and stroke it through a DA pull...watch how far back the hammer comes.

Now cock it. And the hammer comes back FURTHER.

Never noticed that before, didja?

What it means is, on a DA stroke there's less "lock time" - the time between the sear going off and the gun actually firing, due to the shorter travel time in DA. This miniscule "delay" ("lock time") directly affects accuracy. It's why bolt-action rifles are consistently more accurate than a levergun, even if they're in the same caliber and otherwise of similar quality: boltguns have one of the shortest lock times of any gun action type.

So your DA/SA revolver really is potentially more mechanically accurate as a DA versus an SA .

Congratulations: only a very good shooter would notice.

 

[ruger357]

I do a little better with sa.

 

[Kahr carrier]

I actually do better shooting a revolver Da ,but thats usually the way I shoot it ,Unless its a single action.

 

[Marko Kloos]

I hardly ever use the SA mode on my wheelguns, and my J-frame is a Centennial and doesn't offer that option anyway. I shoot better with a DA trigger. The trigger pull on a good DA trigger makes for an almost Zen-like shooting experience. I found that shooting DA revolvers a lot will greatly improve your shooting technique with other handguns as well.

 

[Blueduck]

I'm better group wise single action but do have friend who is better double action, so I guess it does happen.

Never noticed that before, didja?-Jim March

All these years, and nope I didn't. More than the accuracy issues that explains while playing with light springs and hard primers why my rounds went off singleaction but genereally not doubleaction. Thought it was just one of those things too weird to bring up Thanks!

 

[Tamara]

Anyone find they shoot better DA than SA?

Yes, because I get a lot more dry practice in with DA revolvers than anything else. Glocks you have to cycle the slide, P7s you gotta squeeze the squeezer, 1911s and SA wheelguns you gotta thumb the hammer back. Not DA wheelguns; with DA wheelguns, you can just sit and *click*click*click* for hours on end.

 

[MoNsTeR]

For me, SA = groups, DA = patterns.
If you're really better with DA I think it means you just suck at SA!

 

[charleym3]

I shoot a little better DA than SA and here's why I think it happens.
In DA I pull all the way through. In SA I have a slight tendency to anticipate the recoil and dip the muzzle. I hate to admit it, but it is true.

And yes I had noticed the hammer thing before when I was dumbfounded as to why I was getting misfires in DA but not SA after I changed the spring in my GP-100.

 

[YodaVader]

MUCH better at single action. A lot easier for me to stay on target with a 3 pound pull as compared to a 12 pound pull.

Shooting something like metallic silhouette it would be extremely difficult for me to make hits on any of the animals firing double action. Years ago when I did compete in metallic silhoutte I NEVER once saw anyone competing with a revolver shooting in the double action mode. The distances were 40 , 50 , 75 and 100 meters.

For target shooting one hand style like we do in the local pistol league - there are a lot of revolver shooters and they ALL shoot in the single action mode. The range is 50 ft.

So , at least in these two shooting disciplines, where extreme accuracy was desired, everyone felt that double action offered them no advantage.

But I have nothing but admiration for those who can shoot double action groups at any kind of distance - be it 50 ft or 50 yards. When I was practicing double action the best I could muster was keeping most of my shots in the black at 25 yards of a standard NRA slowfire pistol target. I shoot less double action these days since my defensive handgun is no longer a revolver.

 

[bountyhunter]

The reason some people shoot better DA than SA has to do with trigger control. The DA pull is about 12# (6 - 7# on a tricked out gun). As you pull the trigger, you have a fairly steady pressure at the point where you are breaking the trigger and firing, so there is no abrupt change in trigger pressure required to fire. Firing SA requires the trigger finger to go from zero pressure to about 4# to break the shot: big change. That can cause a sympathetic clamping action in the right hand as the muscle force is applied which moves the gun (usually low and left).

 

[9mmepiphany]

yup shoot DA much better than SA...well at least out to about 50 yards.

just more practice shooting DA from my PPC days and back when we carried wheelguns on duty. i originally switched from SA to DA on the 50 yard strings to avoid anticipating the trigger break and to maintain consistent grip pressure with the off hand. i'll still go SA if trying to hit the plate at 100 yards.

 

[JoeHatley]

All the time...

It's all in the grip and trigger control....

Joe

 

[mikey357]

...what Joe said...about uniformity in GRIP and TRIGGER CONTROL....mikey357

 

[MoNsTeR]

Firing SA requires the trigger finger to go from zero pressure to about 4# to break the shot: big change.

Heh, only if you're doing it wrong!
You don't go from #0 to #4. You go from #0 to #3, double check your sight picture, then go from #3 to #4. Or do a controlled pressure increase from #0 to #4 over a second or two. Either way, it's never a sudden change.

I still don't understand how you could have less whole-hand motion with DA than SA. SA you're moving your trigger finger about a millimeter. DA you're moving 2-3cm, causing much more in the way of sympathy movements in your other fingers, and disruption of your hold. Plus, unless you have a nice S&W or a super-smithed Python, the weight of pull over its length will not be even, making it extremely hard to make your pull a single smooth motion.

 

[9mmepiphany]

it is not that there is less movement. it is about the DA trigger pull, when excuted properly, causing the grip/movement to be more consistent...there is no trigger pull without movement of the gripping hand. consistent movement. be it a squeez or a jerk will resualt in consistent shot placement.

if the trigger pull isn't smooth all the way through, you owe it to yourself to have it tuned. not every trigger pull can be light, but they can all be smooth

 

[Thirties]

Thank you all for starting and contributing to this very interesting and informative thread!

THR is a special place indeed!