Shock treatment to help with my trigger issue?

[SoCalNoMore]

Hello all,

I am close to installing a shock therapy system on my body to help me with my trigger issues. I am shooting a Glock 17 and need help. I am practicing to get better at Steel Challenge/USPSA/IDPA

Here is what I glean from my own observations;

I am left handed (no jokes, everyone is born right handed, just some of us learn to overcome the handicap)

My shots are going right of POA. I have large hands and long fingers so I think I may have too much finger on the trigger. I have tried to pull the trigger at an angle towards my palm and this does help, but I can not always do this when shooting a match as I am going to fast.

I think I am anticipating recoil. I have practiced with dummy rounds and notice I do push the muzzle down.

Short of electrocuting myself when I "push", what can I do to stop myself from this bad habit?

Note; When I shoot my friends race gun with all of the trigger work, I can shoot very well. But for the production class I am limited to what trigger mods I can do.

All input is greatly appreciated.

[CHA-LEE]

It sounds simple but you have to pull the trigger straight back. Placing your finger on the trigger in a position or angle that allows you to do this is very important. If you are jamming your whole finger through the trigger guard and mashing the trigger back at the first joint or between the first and second joints of your trigger finger you will never be able to pull the trigger straight back.

One thing that a lot of shooters don't understand is that depth of the trigger within the trigger guard, where the hammer/striker drops is VERY important. The trigger "Break Depth" needs to be tuned to your finger length and how your finger naturally lays on the trigger. Usually if the trigger is breaking too far back you will displace the sights to the left when you mash the trigger (POI going left of intended). If the trigger break is too far forward you will displace the sights to the right when you mash the trigger (POI going right of intended). This is for a right handed shooter, for lefties it will be opposite.

If your shots are hitting at the proper elevation but are excessively left or right then its usually a trigger break depth issue. If your shots are going Low along with left/right then that is usually a trigger mashing/flinching issue.

From what you have described it sounds like you have a trigger depth issue and you need to tune the trigger break depth to match your hand/finger size. For some pistols tuning the depth of the trigger break is easily adjusted, for others its not very adjustable and you have to use different size back straps on the grip to change the depth of your finger laying on the trigger. I don't shoot Glock's so I don't know what your options are with that pistol.

[CHA-LEE]

Oh yeah, and if you decide to put on a shock collar to shock yourself every time you mash the trigger please video tape it and post it up so we can all enjoy the entertainment

[SoCalNoMore]

Well, I am going to try some trigger parts from Ghost and Lonewolf to see if I can get what I need out of my setup before I begin the shock collar. If that does not work, video of the shocking will follow. Results will be posted soon :-)

[Olivers_AR]

Place a piece of brass on the slide and then practice pulling the trigger while keeping the brass on the slide. Note: Please make sure that its unloaded and cleared first!

Next have a buddy load a dummy round in your mag and then practice every shot, see if you flinch when the dummy round comes up.

[SoCalNoMore]

Place a piece of brass on the slide and then practice pulling the trigger while keeping the brass on the slide. Note: Please make sure that its unloaded and cleared first!

Next have a buddy load a dummy round in your mag and then practice every shot, see if you flinch when the dummy round comes up.

Those are great ways of identifying and issue and I have many thousands or rounds/trigger pulls using those methods. But I truly believe its in my head and I need to get it worked out. One thing I have tried that I learned in my basketball and drag racing days is to chew gum. Believe it or not its a great way to break a mental sub conscious issue.

[daves_not_here]

Speed used to bring out my glockitis (low left for right handers).

Here's some logic.

If you pull the trigger straight back there is no force to pull the sights off alignment. Right?

Regardless of finger position I concentrate on pulling the trigger straight back.

Here's a drill.

Bill drill into the berm. I'm saying to myself straight back, straight back...to keep myself concentrating on trigger pull.

Bill drill at 7 yards doing the same thing. I usually a tight group on the center of the target. It's lots of fun with steel.

Doing this drill I found that my speed was limited by pushing and getting tense which brought out the glockitis. It still happens every once in a while but I know what is going on. I've since picked up revolver and the Bill drill helped with that also.

DNH

P.S. The shock collar when you've been a bad boy might be a game to play with your girlfriend...

[MainlineSteve]

Use a more vertical trigger pull. Rotate your thumb further around the grip. To keep the grip comfortable, you will have to rotate your knuckles skyward. The end result is a more vertical trigger pull executed with the very tip of your index finger. Execute the trigger pull by keeping your most proximal knuckle up by the slide and then curling your finger, pushing your finger tip towards the center of your throat.

This will only cure left/right issues, not flinching. Lots of advice out there on flinching cures. I concentrate on making my main two objectives 1) slowly squeezing trigger all the way back until it bottoms out, keeping the sights on target until the trigger stops and 2) keeping both eyes open and engaged on target until the trigger bottoms. The gun going off is just incidental to this process. YMMV...

[kevin c]

A GM told me: "Imagine that the FS is attached to the trigger - pull the FS straight back through the RS notch into you aiming eye".

[CHARLES D]

I would love to see a video on the shock treatment. Try this method first before you start changing trigger mechanisms. Get a regular squirt bottle. The type you spray at a cat works fine. Fill it with water. Adjust the nozzle to where just a spray comes out.

Now the fun part. Slowly squeeze the trigger till just a drop of water comes out of the nozzle. You don't want it to spray or trickle out. Just a drop of water. Once you are consistent with the one drop of water coming out, open the nozzle up a bit. Work on it till you are able to open the nozzle fully.

I have used this method in the past when training students trying to pass quals for departments. All use Glocks with a NY trigger and most show improvement. If it doesn't work for you at least you have a new tool to spray cats with.

[Sac Law Man]

Here is my suggestion.. First, this anticipation is in your head. When you fire a shot and it goes right, what did you see, did you see your sight lift, were you able to call you shot? My guess is no! Are you blinking? You are most likely making the gun go bang. A flinch is really you making the gun go bang NOW, when your sights were perfectly aligned, as opposed to pulling the trigger and experiencing a surprise break.

Two drills that can help..First, load up a mag, alternating live rounds and dummy rounds. You will know when a dummy is coming, but after a while your subscious will not care and you will make the same trigger pull each time

Second, at 7 yards pick a target out and with your gun make a figure 8 motion over the target. The center of the figure 8 should be your target. As you approach the target start squeezing the trigger and dont stop moving the gun. The goal is to show yourself you do not need a perect sight picture to fire a perfect shot.

Edited September 4, 2013 by Sac Law Man

[daves_not_here]

The dummy rounds in the magazine tell a lot about anticipation and jerking trigger. A valuable drill.

Going to try the cat spray bottle. Gotta work on movers anyway and cats are good for that...

DNH

[SoCalNoMore]

Thank you all for the replies and suggestions. Dummy rounds is the trick. As Sac Law Man stated, it IS in my head and I do know this and random dummy rounds is helping. I do however install them randomly so I don't know when they are coming. It is quite amazing to see myself actually dip the gun upon when I "think" the gun is supposed to fire.

I will also try the figure eight and spraying my cat with the bottle.

I cant wait to break this nasty habit so I can get to "A" class.