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Trigger Complaints


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It seems all to often I see people so worried about triggers. I understand it does help having a smooth pull, but it seems like there are so many threads about how to improve it, how to fix it, and everything in between. To me, the trigger pull won't be the difference between an A and a D unless your shooting at a pretty good distance. It seems so much more productive to work on your technique then to blame trigger pull.

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I agree to an extent. If its good enough. I've heard the same thing said about stock Beretta and Sig triggers. But I don't see many national champions shooting either... Technique mixed with a trigger in tune with your fingers ability to squeeze without jerking.

My personal experience is this. With a stock 5.5lb Glock trigger I didn't have any problems. None. Till I started shooting that same gun more and more. I started realizing that the faster I tried to shoot, the more I would jerk the trigger. So I slow down and no problem. But also the further the targets, even with a slow aimed pull, I would ever so slightly jerk the trigger. My groups showed it.

Now like I said I didn't have any problem. I was shooting good enough. But good enough for what?

With a 3.5 lb trigger bar and a reduced power striker spring, all the sudden my trigger pull is just under 3 lbs. The reset is shorter. And the world opened up to me. I could dry fire on a spot on the wall and that trigger jerk was gone!

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I think a good trigger is quite important. You can be good or bad, but if you're shooting a crappy trigger, you probably won't do very well. The converse, however, is not true. Just because you have a good trigger doesn't mean you'll do well.

Would you rather shoot a 4MOA gun or a 1/2MOA gun? We'd all pick the 1/2MOA gun. You don't want to wonder if it's you or the equipment.

Darren

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I think that tuning a trigger to your physical requirements and shooting style is VERY important to maximizing your peak potential. Can I pick up any gun and pull the boom lever back until it fires? Sure. Can I shoot any trigger as good as one that has been tuned to my liking? No. This reality is why so many people complain about trigger setups.

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A wise man once told me... Most people don't miss because of how they aim the shot, they miss when pulling the trigger.

I would say that they missed because they STOPPED aiming when they STARTED pulling the trigger. This is something I noticed when I started shooting a revolver. shooting a realy nice trigger just lets you get away with more.

Mike

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I didn't understand when I first started shooting, but after years, thousands of rounds, and selling all of my double action pistols and Glocks, I've figured it out.

A single action trigger makes everyone a rock star.

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I didn't understand when I first started shooting, but after years, thousands of rounds, and selling all of my double action pistols and Glocks, I've figured it out.

A single action trigger makes everyone a rock star.

Glad is started on the SIG DA/SA platform, i think im a hell of alot better shooter for it.

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My take is can i shoot a 5.5lb trigger just as accurate as my 1.5lb trigger,yes. Can i shoot my 5.5lb trigger as fast and accurate as my 1.5lb trigger,not exactly but close. As CHA-LEE said i think the trigger is pretty important for all types of shooting.

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I got started on a S&W Sigma. (pause for dramatic gasping noises) It did have a very heavy, long and vague trigger pull. I made the best of what I had and learned to shoot it as fast as I could. When I finally switched to the M&P pro it was like night and day. I believe the trigger disciplin I learned on my sigma made me a better shooter. I do have people cringe and gasp when they feel my stock M&P pro trigger. It feels fine to me comparative to what I have had...

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I didn't understand when I first started shooting, but after years, thousands of rounds, and selling all of my double action pistols and Glocks, I've figured it out.

A single action trigger makes everyone a rock star.

Glad is started on the SIG DA/SA platform, i think im a hell of alot better shooter for it.

I started on DA/SA as well.

I dropped it as a solution to a non-problem.

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I didn't understand when I first started shooting, but after years, thousands of rounds, and selling all of my double action pistols and Glocks, I've figured it out.

A single action trigger makes everyone a rock star.

Glad is started on the SIG DA/SA platform, i think im a hell of alot better shooter for it.

I started on DA/SA as well.

I dropped it as a solution to a non-problem.

I still prefer it on carry weapons. You hear about "Glock leg". but you never hear about Sig leg=P

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  • 4 weeks later...

I think the biggest part of the problem is that people don't understand what "trigger work" really means.

The vast majority of folks you'll hear talking about it only comment on the weight-- and that's the part that will only mask poor technique, and isn't really that big of a bonus to those who have mastered the firing cycling.

You start talking about pre-travel, over-travel, rolling vs glass breaks, short reset, feedback, etc. and the same people look at you like you're speaking Martian. IMO, that's the biggest reason to start messing with a trigger-- weight is typically a secondary consideration, and/or positive consequence of making these adjustments.

Needless to say, those trigger characteristics are also much more helpful to what we do-- shooting acceptable accuracy at rapid speed.

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  • 5 weeks later...

In my short time in competitive practical shooting it appears to me that the mot important skill to master is trigger control - without it I can't see how the other things matter. What good are great transitions, amazing splits, super fast reloads ,etc if you can't hit the A zone or knock down steel due to poor trigger control? I'm about to have a trigger job done on my G34 which will address some of my trigger issues but the rest will have to come from proper technique. But no matter how you accomplish it I think trigger control hs to be number one. I tred an experiment at our club's last monthly organized practice - I attempted to run the stage as fast as I could without worrying about accuracy to see if I could move through the course as fast as our masters do . What I discovered is that I could shoot the course within 2-3 secs as fast as them but didn't even come close in accuracy, because I don't posses their trigger control, as well as other skills at this point. I'm also considerably older than most of them at 52 but I can stil move quickly, I just have a lot to learn about pulling the trigger correctly. For me it's all about learning perfect trigger control - than everything else ...

Edited by Nimitz
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To me, the trigger pull won't be the difference between an A and a D unless your shooting at a pretty good distance

I agreed up until this. No... Even then, the deciding factor is still your fundamentals. In no case is this not true.

Pick one:

a.) Lower the challenge to meet your current level of skill

b.) Raise your level of skill to meet the challenge

Which will end up with you being a stronger shooter?

As a C, B and into A class shooter I chased a trigger that was lighter, had a shorter reset, less pretravel etc. I thought a 2.5lb trigger with a 1/8" long reset would get me all the chicks. It didn't, really it was just an expression of how focused on speed I was at that time. If I had money, I would have wasted around $350 of it sending it to a gunsmith, but instead I spent 4 or 5 hours of my life working on the trigger. It was fun, I learned a lot about how the gun worked, but really it got me nowhere and I would have been better off dry firing.

Mid-way or so through A class I realized that it was all the same and that my equipment had nothing to do with my skills progression. I reinstalled the factory spring bringing my trigger back up to 10/4.5lbs (from roughly 7/2.5lbs). I made Master with it a few months later then switched to a Glock for various reasons. The Glock has an even heavier trigger (5.5lbs after I made it heavier to match my carry gun) and a reset about 3x as long and still, nothing has really changed about my shooting performance.

If I were really making a push towards a National championship, I might dink with my trigger a bit, just so I wouldn't have to worry about a higher degree of perfect trigger control and follow through. But as of right now my overriding purpose in shooting USPSA is to become a better shooter, and I think doing everything with the stock trigger helps with that. I'm not going to be winning any trophies, or smashing beer cans with them (:D) any time soon so trigger work is exceedingly hard to justify.

Do what you want though. If you want a better trigger, have at it. Don't take my word for it, figuring it out for yourself is always the preferred method, and the same might not even be true for you. This is a game, no need to get hung up on the little stuff :cheers:

Edited by DonovanM
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Thanks Donovan...Aftermarket isn't an option for my FN so I feel better about factory. After I dry fired your sig I longed for a better trigger. Hearing you went back to stock is interesting to say the least.

Edited by sroe3
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Ok, I would say that triggers are one of the key interfaces with the weapon and are very important. However, my shooting with a glock stock box trigger doesn't get any better when I shoot at slow fire speeds with a modified trigger. However, when I am trying to do hammered pairs on targets with a time crunch that is when it will show up. That extra time to prep the trigger, the overtravel and pretravel all take time to overcome. Right? So in a game where it's your score divided by the time (iirc) that half tenth adds up between shots over an entire match. And it's nice to not have a trigger that feels like your rubbing the sear on gravel. The more confidence you have in your weapon the better you will perform (positive mental attitude.)

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I'm learning that it's not the trigger squeezing that take the time, but it's seeing what needs to be seen that takes time. That and any inefficiency I have in my movements or uncertainty in planning that takes up time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm learning that it's not the trigger squeezing that take the time, but it's seeing what needs to be seen that takes time. That and any inefficiency I have in my movements or uncertainty in planning that takes up time.

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