Using middle finger as trigger finger?

[MatthewVanitas]

Greetings. I'll say in advance: I'm sure many witty comments can be made in reference to the title. But since they're all so obvious, there's not much point, right?

In any case. I'd heard in the past that some shooters had experimented with using the middle, rather than index, finger to pull the trigger. I believe some people had toyed with a technique in which the index finger is used to instinctively point the firearm while the middle finger operates the trigger.

Has anybody had any success with this? Are there any skilled shooters who ever use this technique?

Just moderately curious. Take much care. -MV

 

[Hal]

You owe it to yourself to try it....

Whatcha gonna do if you get into a need to shoot,
and you got a busted finger?

That's not the best time to see how it works.

 

[esheato]

I'm practically ashamed to admit it, but...

...I've played around with this "technique." Mostly just goofing around and I'll tell ya what I've discovered. It sucks. For one, the pointer finger is much more dextrous and better with the fine motor skills which are required for a clean trigger break.

Try it for yourself, but I guarantee you'll come back to the traditional grip.

Ed

 

[SapperLeader]

Sounds Intriguing I guess. The only scenario I can imagine using my middle finger is one wheremy index fingers were disable and I had to relearn to shoot using the middle finger. Just playing around with it, I dont feel like I have nearly as much control over the movements of my middle finger in comparision to my index fingers. Plus, that only leaves two fingers to hold the grip, which doesnt seem that secure.

 

[Zach S]

I've practiced it on occasion. If I hurt my trigger finger in a gunfight I'm pretty much screwed because I shoot equally bad using my middle finger as I do my left hand. I can shoot my glock left handed, but I carry a 1911.

 

[lbmii]

I have thought about it for shooting very small autos but I am concerned about the slide pinching the index finger.

 

[Henry Bowman]

Jack Ruby successfully used it when killing Lee Harvey Oswald.

 

[Sheldon]

I think two things would be detrimental about that hold. One is that you would lose overall gripping power on the pistol due to having less fingers on the grip. Second is that I think your "pointing" finger will tend to push up against the pistol as your middle finger pulls the trigger and throw your shots off.

 

[Correia]

Any of you guys remember that guy back in the old days of TFL who kept going on and on and on and on about this technique. He even sold a special shelf you could mount on your grips to rest your trigger finger on. I didn't put much faith in the man's advice because he also promoted the use of Oven Cleaner as an alternative to OC spray.

Try this. Hold your hand out. Trigger finger extended, rest of the had clenched loosly like you would grasp your gun. Now try to pull your flip the bird finger like you are pulling a trigger. What does your top finger do? It sympathetically twitches. What happens when it is resting along the side of the gun and it pulls inwards?

 

[pauli]

it doesn't do a darn thing you can't train it not to do.

manual dexterity is something humans do better than just about any other creature on earth. we've got dextrous hands and huge brains controlling them. we (well, most of us) can *touch type,* for god's sake. holding one finger immobile while articulating its neighbor is strictly a matter of practicing.

getting bitten is another matter, but can also be solved on a gun by gun, hand by hand basis.

 

[Jim K]

The technique is sometimes used by women and others whose index fingers are not strong enough to pull the trigger. There are two drawbacks.

In a revolver, the index finger can extend beyond the front of the cylinder and gas and lead escaping at the barrel-cylinder gap can injure it.

In an auto pistol, the index finger can interfere with the moving slide and hang up the gun, injure the finger, or both.

I well remember the guy on TFL who promoted the middle finger idea. I concluded that his idea had some merit, but that his obsession took him beyond any reasonable discussion.

Jim

 

[Mikul]

When I hurt my trigger finger, I shot using the middle finger. It made a dandy trigger manipulator, but it took longer for me to get a good grip on the gun. The last two fingers do not give as positive of a grip all by themselves. Accuracy was at least as good as my normal finger.

 

[Standing Wolf]

It's a dumb idea that everybody ought to try once just to verify it's a dumb idea.

That saidâ„¢, I'd love to be able to work the trigger with my least or ring finger, and use the index finger to solidify my grip. That would probably require an electronic trigger of some sort, and would add weight and bulk, and I assume it would take awhile to get the hang of controlling the trigger that way. Still...

On second thought, if there were a significant advantage in the idea, somebody would have made a pistol incorporating it by now.

 

[Locus]

I recall reading something about this in an article about some of the Chinese broomhandle Mauser copies. Not sure how true all of this is, but the guy was saying the troops under various warlords at the time would use a sideways middle-finger grip in close range fights. Sideways because the Mausers would eject shells straight up, and middle finger/pointing grip because it was easier to aim quickly at very close range.

I suspect it wouldn't work very well on most guns due to the grip, and would really only be suited to an emergency situation where your trigger finger is damaged or something like that. I tried it with a Beretta 92FS at about 7 meters once. No big deal, just had to watch the slide, and I couldn't aim very well of course.

 

[Pappy John]

I tried it to get a better handle on one of those NAA mini's and OF COURSE my fore-finger was past the BC gap.....talk about a blood blister!

STOOOPID!! STOOOPID!! OUCH!! STOOOPID!!

 

[mattf7184]

As stated when you want accuracy it doesnt work.

I know many paintball players (at least before in the tournaments when I played) used the middle finger since for some reason you can shoot faster when using it and most of the games I've played where spray and pray lol.

 

[Treylis]

I didn't put much faith in the man's advice because he also promoted the use of Oven Cleaner as an alternative to OC spray.

I've never had any experience with OC spray, but I have had some with oven cleaner... and, man, is that stuff harsh! My lungs burned from the inside for quite some time, bleh, but it wasn't exactly incapacitating.

 

[mattf7184]

I wouldnt wanna get sprayed with anything on the bottle that says do not ingest lol

I know many people keep cans of red spray paint instead of something more non pc so they dont get hassled.

 

[roscoe]

I have heard that some people who cycle their Enfields fast pull the trigger with their second finger and keep their index finger on the bolt. Apparently it helps to cycle the bolt quickly.

 

[Nightcrawler]

This is third-hand information, I've heard of a cop who used to do this. But, only because his trigger finger was shot off by a perp....

 

[GunGeek]

It's called Point Shooting, the site is down as I post this but check out:

http://www.pointshooting.com/

 

[sturmruger]

This is almost as crazy as the Gangsta shooting. I can see that for people that are missing a digit this technique could come in handy, but other then that it seems like a waste of time.

 

[lbmii]

Gun Geek,

That is an interesting site you posted. The statistics are very interesting. I am a passionate point shooter myself with my Clock 35 and Kel Tec 3AT. They are defensive firearms and I practice with them as such. However I use my index finger as the trigger finger. I practice on falling plates.

 

[Correia]

Lets recap:

Cons:
1. Weaker grip.
2. Sympathetic twitch of your top finger
3. Can't use a revolver
4. May cause your auto to malfunction
5. Sucks for accuracy
6. No respectable trainer, ranked competition shooter, police department, or military unit on earth teachs or uses this technique.


Pros, and I'll nitpick these.
1. Stronger trigger pull. Get a better trigger or get stronger.
2. Jack Ruby used it to shoot a defensless man from a couple of feet away! And it was captured on film!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Middle trigger finger

I tried the drill of pointing the index finger and "pulling" with the
middle finger. My right index finger moved very slightly, but my left
index (trigger) finger DID move instintively and uncontrollably in
sympathy with the middle finger.
Shooting right handed with a Charter Arms AR7 Explorer II pistol,
I did better using the middle finger technique than using the
usual index (trigger) finger. Of course this gun has very odd
grip and balance.
Sometimes my right index finger arthritis is bad enough to make the
middle trigger finger technique worth practicing.