Trigger Control - another training aid?

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mikemyers

mikemyers

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I recently became aware of something about dry-firing that was never mentioned in books, forums, videos, etc. Everyone talks about trigger control, applying pressure until the gun fires, without applying any side-pressure which would throw the shot off. I've been doing Keith Sanderson's dry firing drills for ages, and that's one of the things I'm working on.

I was doing the dry-fire drill with a 1911 Les Baer, and one out of five "shots" saw the front sight blade move slightly, usually to the left. While trying to figure this out and correct it, I noticed yesterday that if I was all set to "shoot", and instead moved my trigger finger forward, moving it off the trigger, the front sight blade moved slightly to the right That didn't make sense to me - the only explanation I came up with is that I was applying side pressure to the trigger, and when I removed the finger, the gun moved back the other way, due to the lack of side pressure from my trigger finger.

I don't know if this makes any sense or not. What I do know, is after playing around with this concept for a while, and making sure I could remove my finger from the trigger without the sight moving, it became MUCH easier to fire the gun without interrupting the sights. Once I changed what I was doing so the gun didn't move when I took my finger off the trigger, it was much less likely to move if instead I increased pressure until the gun went 'click'.

Maybe this is all 'voodoo', or the result of an overly active imagination, but I thought I'd post it here anyway. (...or maybe everyone already knows all about this - but I don't remember any mention of it.) People only talk about what happens as you're applying pressure to the trigger. Right now, for me, it's just one more test to make sure I'm not doing anything to the trigger except pressing it straight to the rear.
 
Any time I'm doing a "white wall" drill (dry fire with no time limit, gun aimed a white wall/no specific target, only goal of the drill is to execute a perfect trigger squeeze without disturbing the sights) my starting position is with the sights perfectly aligned and zero pressure applied to the trigger. I look for the sight picture to be maintained from the start of trigger pressure till the hammer falls.
 
I thought I knew what to do, and what to expect. I was simply doing more of Keith's drill to shoot at a white wall, having done holding drills for the past several weeks.

I was doing what 'ny32182' wrote, exactly as he describes it. Most of the time lately the sights didn't move. Every so often they did. I assumed (incorrectly) that I was simply not pushing the trigger directly back towards me.

Then, now that I'm dry-firing over and over for a full minute, I noticed that the front sight ONLY moved closer to the left edge of the rear sight - never the other way. That was puzzling. One time, I released pressure from the trigger to re-adjust my finger, and was amazed to find that the front sight moved in the opposite direction!

My best guess is that while I've been working at trying to apply pressure to the trigger aimed directly at me, at the same time I've ALSO been pushing sideways on the trigger without realizing it. It's not crooked fingers, it's a mistake I never realized I was making. (...and for me, now that I realize this, it's very easy to correct.)
 
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Great post and information. It makes sense that trigger finger could start applying pressure to the left while repeat firing. Thank you mikemyers!
 
I've always figured that a flat trigger could help prevent up/down movement of the handgun while the trigger is pulled, but I don't understand how a flat trigger would affect left/right movement.

Andy
 
My guess is that for whatever reason, it was me applying force to the left, but I have no idea how or why. I also know that now that I'm aware of this, the problem is corrected.

It's like fingers pressing against the side of a gun, which interfere with good shooting. Sideways pressure on the trigger probably also makes it more difficult to push smoothly on the trigger, pushing the gun straight back.

My "test" was releasing pressure from the trigger, actually moving my finger off the trigger. The gun moved sideways. If I wasn't applying force to the gun, it wouldn't have. It's an easy enough test for anyone to try - just dry-fire for 20 rounds or so, without thinking about this thread, but before you fire, move your finger away from the trigger. If the gun moves for you, you'll see it instantly.

Another thing I'm confused about, but am just accepting, is that my gun in my hands is FAR less stable when I grip it tightly with my right hand. That matches what I've read, that your trigger finger doesn't work properly unless the other fingers are relaxed. Of course, this is the opposite of what so many people write, who teach us to grip the gun firmly. Maybe they've just learned how to do it, and it's one more thing I need to learn. The list is already very, very long.

The nice thing about dry-firing for an hour or two a day, is that I start to notice things that I was oblivious to before. Another nice benefit is that my 1911 now fits my hand like a glove. Either the gun has altered itself to fit my hand, or vice versa. :)
 
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mikemyers said:
about dry-firing that was never mentioned in books, forums, videos, etc. Everyone talks about trigger control, applying pressure until the gun fires, without applying any side-pressure which would throw the shot off.
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It is being mentioned when they say to press the trigger straight to the rear. Any side pressure means you aren't pressing straight back.

This is another one of those things to a good instructor would detect from seeing you shoot and can easily confirm by watching how you apply pressure

I assumed (incorrectly) that I was simply not pushing the trigger directly back towards me.
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Actually you were not incorrect...you weren't pushing the trigger directly back

Another thing I'm confused about... my gun in my hands is FAR less stable when I grip it tightly with my right hand.

...this is the opposite of what so many people write, who teach us to grip the gun firmly. Maybe they've just learned how to do it, and it's one more thing I need to learn.
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They are different techniques, which address different requirements, to reach different goals.

A shooter who wants to make rapid repeated shots with acceptable accuracy will grip much more firmly than an Olympic Free Pistol shooter who is interested in consistent accuracy within much broader time limits...the difference between .25 secs vs. 90 secs between shots.

Most of their techniques are different with the one constant being trigger management
 
For practical shooting (USPSA): No one who is good has a death grip with their strong hand, because it removes dexterity from the trigger finger as you are saying. They are gripping down maybe 50% of their strength on their strong hand, and 70-80+% with the weak hand. That way, you are generating muzzle control with your weak hand, and your trigger finger is more isolated and freed up to make good trigger pulls.

For bullseye... I don't know, but I think you need advice from someone else.
 
Thanks for what you wrote. It helped me figure out even better what I was doing.


To understand what I was doing wrong, try this:
Hold the gun up in front of you, lined up at a target, and deliberately move the trigger finger onto the trigger, approaching the trigger at an angle rather than from directly in front of the trigger. The tip of the gun will move slightly to the left, and a shooter, not as smart as you, would naturally correct this by re-aiming the gun slightly to the right, to align the sights. Dry-fire the gun. For a good shooter, the gun may or may not move as the gun goes 'click'. Now release the trigger, and the gun will move back to the right, the position it started from before you touched the trigger. That, is what I was doing wrong.


Now that you've helped me figure that much out, the "cure" is obvious. I need to make sure that the position of the gun isn't disturbed when I first touch my trigger finger onto the trigger, before I even start to apply pressure. Doing this eliminates the problem.



In retrospect, it all sounds pretty silly. I had no idea I was doing this - my only concern was how I applied pressure to the trigger. I never gave a thought to how I put my trigger finger onto the trigger. Sometimes I'm very slow.......
 
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