Can you shoot without blinking?

[Uncle Peter]

When I first started shooting I'd blink all the time, even when I wasn't shooting and someone else was shooting. Eventually, that passed away.

 

[Manco]

Trigger prep is all before the shot, follow through is after the shot.

Trigger prep to putting pressure on the trigger, a bit less than enough to make the sear release. Your goal is to lessen the additional pressure required to break the shot when your sights are on the target.

This is a lot to take in...I should start a thread and just describe the whole thing...just give it a try.

I've tried similar techniques, but found that finessing triggers in any way distracts me from what I'm doing visually and tactically. So what I decided to do was simplify my trigger handling and combine it with the safe habits that I try to use all the time. Basically, every first shot is done straight from the "finger-safe" position along the frame, and followup shots all involve allowing the trigger to travel all the way forward and then pulling it all the way back again.

Maybe I'll revisit this stuff someday when I'm satisfied with my other skills, but it seems so gun-dependent that I'm reluctant to work on it, and I'm not sure what advantages it has to offer anyway. That's just me--others may find that it helps them a lot, and in that case they should go for it.

BTW: revolvers are shot completely the opposite way

I shoot revolvers and autos the same way--pull the trigger, let it go, repeat if necessary.

 

[9mmepiphany]

pull the trigger, let it go, repeat if necessary

That is certainly the basic way

I don't disagree completely with how you shoot a pistol either, it is certainly the way I would train someone with whom I have limited time to work. Prepping the trigger is an advanced technique for folks who want to shoot accurately at a rate of 5 shots per second or faster

 

[BK]

I'm glad that this thread is filtering into the discussion that I've been needing.

I feel like I can already see huge improvements in the concept. It's hard to describe, but what I'm starting to vizualize is, the trigger pull, almost as an hourglass type of scenario. I hope I'm not getting it wrong, but if you look at an hourglass, one portion is deminishing, while the other is increasing. The way I've adapted that image is that, while I'm pressing the trigger, my focus on the trigger pull deminishes simulateously as the focus on the following the shot, increases. It begins with focusing on the trigger reset and tracking the sights, pretty much at the same time. Heck, I might be way off, but I'm anxious to get out in the pasture in the morning and flesh some of this out.

BTW: revolvers are shot completely the opposite way

Yeah, you're telling me! I decide to post this topic, when I don't have a semi that is handy to shoot!! I think I should be able to wiggle my way through some of this though.

Just the fact that my thinking has changed course, has gotten me excited to go out and shoot some more with this new perspective. I hope others who are reading this can add something to their shooting skills.

 

[Fishslayer]

Somebody told me to try to watch the muzzle flash to help with follow through.

I probly blink when firing my KP90 bottom feeder but that's because it tends to bounce hot brass off the barrier & into my face. (Yes, I wear eye protection, but still...)

 

[TheProf]

Here's how to cure the blinking problem. When target shooting...identify the target...right before pulling the trigger...purposely enlarge your eyes as the gun fires...so that you see the muzzle flash. Purposely enlarging your eyes at the moment of trigger pull...that is the key. It will counter the muscles used in blinking.

 

[fourdollarbill]

Only if I try not to blink. Any other time I'm not focusing on the blink just my next shot.
One blink that lasts a millisecond is not going to cause you loose focus or the sight.

 

[Manco]

That is certainly the basic way

I'm not dismissing what you described, of course, but sometimes basic is better under stress. For high-level competition, the advantages are clear. For defense, it's a personal choice, in my opinion--if you're sure that you can do it consistently under stress, then fine, but I have no such confidence in my own ability to do so; it's the fine motor skill aspect of it, not a confidence issue in general by any means.

Prepping the trigger is an advanced technique for folks who want to shoot accurately at a rate of 5 shots per second or faster

Currently, I can do a little better than 4 shots/second. Would I be more accurate and/or faster if I used the more advanced trigger manipulation techniques? Probably somewhat, but pulling the trigger has so far not been my main limiting factor. If it ever becomes that, which I doubt, then that would mean that I had more potential than I realized, but probably not. In other words, I'm not saying that I'm so good that I don't need these techniques--I'm saying that I seriously doubt that I can ever be good enough to truly have a need for them. If I'm wrong, then I'd consider learning them, but then again, I don't have the greatest fine motor skills.

Like I said, if prepping the trigger and related techniques really help some folks, then great, but I just wanted to add my own perspective to the subject. It's not something that I personally would work on from the beginning, and maybe the same is true for some other people even if you have enough time to work with them.