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Faster trigger finger!


3djedi

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Are there exercises or techniques to get a faster trigger finger?

My follow up shots are pretty slow. .3 splits.....occasionally .25

I feel like I just can't move my finger any faster!

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Test out your finger speed when simply blasting at nothing into the back berm. If your splits are significantly faster then you know that you are getting distracted by something or are waiting for something when shooting at targets. Its easy to get distracted by things while shooting at targets. For example, many people think they are calling their shots when in fact they are simply waiting for the sights to return to an aligned state on target AFTER the shot breaks. That is not calling your shot. They get tricked into thinking that if the sights are on the target after the shot breaks then the hit should be there when it broke. This is just one example of getting distracted by something or observing the wrong thing while shooting and it wastes a decent chunk of time.

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During dryfire, do bill drills on a white background and don't let the front sight move at all. You will be able to see a lot of wasted movement in your trigger pull. After awhile of dryfire, do a bill drill during live fire. I saw my splits drop down to .15 from .18.

As the posters above have said, you need to be relaxed and have your trigger reset be as short as possible. Delicate short quick movements will win over trying to pull the trigger harder and faster.

Edited by Roons
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I went the COC (captains of crush) route a year ago and haven't looked back. Hurt my hands a few times due to trying too hard and often. When I first got them I could a only close the 100lb a half dozen times and the 140 once with my strong hand only. Now I can do 7strlng hands and 5 weak hands on the 140lb and looking to buy the next step up.

Made a huge difference in my gun handing. That and lifting free weights. And no I'm not a gym rat beefcake kind of build/guy... I'm just a regular everyday normal guy that works in an office all day.

Shooting IPSC has actually bettered my health you could say. For the last three years I've had a reason to work out and eat healthy and actually see some results of my hard work. Give em a try.

BTW... Just noticed your not a "dude". If you try hand strength trainers I'd start lighter than guys. I think guys probably have a stronger base to start with and your just going to hurt yourself if you try and match them. My wife is on the 80lb and working towards the 100.

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Awesome. I am a "dude" though. Lol maybe you're talking to the poster above you. I use the captain's of crush as well. I think I have the 150 200 and 250. Helps a ton with recoil control.....not so much with trigger speed...

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Awesome. I am a "dude" though. Lol maybe you're talking to the poster above you. I use the captain's of crush as well. I think I have the 150 200 and 250. Helps a ton with recoil control.....not so much with trigger speed...

Ha... I was... Sorry... Typing before morning coffee looks like NOT a good thing for me.

I would still bet that cramping is a muscular issue. Unless you've damaged nerves which you'd obviously know about.

You shooting something with a long trigger pull? I'd be hard pressed to cramp up on my 2011 with its eighth of an inch, 3lb pull. I have locked up though trying to shoot too fast while too tense and ending up not getting the reset.

Edited by Psynapse
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Some great advice above, If it is just a finger strength issue I'd recommend that you dry fire a stock DA revolver like I do to build up my finger strength. During a 7 yard bill drill I can shoot .18-.20 splits no problem with the occasional .16 or .17 split in there with my competition revolver. Good luck

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't laugh ! [emoji13] but I get cramps in my trigger finger when I go faster! So I exercise my trigger finger with this device pe9ujazu.jpg [emoji115]

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Are these exercises helping?

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  • 2 weeks later...

One thing that will slow down your trigger squeeze is moving your finger muscles in two directions. You shouldn't need to do this - what you want to do is to relax your finger after the shot breaks, and let the trigger reset spring move your finger forward for you. You should actually maintain the slightest rearward pressure on the trigger while the reset spring is moving your finger forward. As soon as you feel the reset click, you can begin squeezing again.

What you end up with when using this technique is more of an oscillation than when you use your muscles to move your finger in two directions. The reason this is faster is that when you feel the reset click you dont have to waste time switching directions and activating a different set of muscles. You're in a position to almost instantly respond to the reset when riding the trigger forward. As soon as you feel the shot break, instead of switching directions and muscling your finger forward, you relax it and let the spring move the trigger forward, and you simply ride it forward without interfering with it. Trigger reset becomes a passive action on your part.

Here's a video of using this technique when using a Sig P226 with a 4lb SA trigger. This was a carjacking drill, and the first couple times I was just getting used to the idea of shooting from this position - it was pretty awkward actually (and a ton of fun!). The video guy starting recording my "good" one late, but the last 5 rounds I shot were caught on tape. You can see that shooting using this trigger technique works, even when in a highly awkward shooting position. I was actually shooting behind me and over my shoulder while twisted sitting in a car seat with bend arms, turned wrists, almost no support grip, and absolutely no sight picture. I definately couldn't hit anything much beyond contact distance shooting from this position, but I was still able to operate the trigger very quickly despite all the goofyness involved. The splits on the last 5 shots were .117 .137 .137 .145 - or 5 shots in .536 seconds.

It takes some time to figure out how to do this, but I suspect that most people who can shoot under .15 second splits are actually using this or a variation of this trigger technique.

Edited by Jshuberg
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  • 2 weeks later...

Your reset needs to be as short is you can make it and still function.

This is a myth. I run my 1911 triggers with the overtravel screw backed right out and full take up and will run .13-.14, heck I can run .14 on a stock M&P Pro or most any pivoting trigger with a 4lb or less trigger.

I've tried every variation of length of overtravel and it made no difference to the speed of my splits.

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