Trigger Finger Wandering

[Petrov]

Hey guys, I shoot left handed with an S&W 627 with stock houge rubber grips.

When I shot my trigger finger always migrates from the pad of the finger to the joint.

Is there a way to remedy this?

Also I tend to grip the revolver really high with my small hands so my trigger finger and the trigger are not at 90 degrees when I am pulling the trigger back, is this ok?

[Toolguy]

The pad of the finger is for shooting single action. The inside crease of the joint should touch the edge of the trigger for shooting double action. It is good to grip the revolver high. What you need to do is experiment with (no ammo) pulling the trigger straight towards your nose, pulling to the left and pushing to the right. Watch what the front sight is doing at all times.

Find the way of pulling that leaves the front sight sitting centered in the notch of the rear sight all the way through the pull. When you find what works, practice that till you can get it right every time. Then practice some more till you can't get it wrong. Do this aimed at a blank wall or space of all one color with no target to aim at. What you are looking for is the relationship of the front to rear sight. If you can get really good at this the size or distance of the target won't matter. This is executing the basics. It is all you really need to know to shoot high scores.

I shoot a .44 Magnum this way standing to 200 yards in competition. I'm pretty sure it works.

[AusPPC]

Excellent advice there from Toolguy (that I need to follow a bit more myself).

You definitely want to engage the trigger with the first crease of your index finger. I gave up on shooting revolver in the early days because I used the pad of my finger (like I was 'taught' from all the auto shooters) and could never get rid of the left-to-right wobble, especially in rapid fire.

Don't worry about not being at 90 degrees between your hand and the trigger, there will always be (and kind of has to be) a bit of an angle. The curved shape of the trigger provides some compensation.

[Petrov]

Thanks guys. At the range I went from a custom Ruger MkIII with 8" sight radius to a 4" 627. My groups went from 1.5" 6 shot group to 10" 8 shot groups on the revolver, but it does have an 8+ pound pull.

627 trigger felt stacking and I polished all the internals and moving parts taking care not to remove any of the surface hardening and it made a huge difference.

I think I am going to leave the trigger alone for now and see if I can get my groups to shrink with practice.

Revolvers is a whole another world. At least I got the moon clip reloads down without looking at em, just do it by feel and I have gotten pretty fast.

[PatJones]

You need to see the moonclip in. Otherwise you're just hoping.

[Petrov]

I follow the moon clip in with my thumb and feel the edge of the brass and the edge of the cylinder, so far this tactile feel has been pretty good.

[Carmoney]

I shoot revolvers with the distal joint of my index finger, and for that reason I prefer smooth narrow triggers. I am probably with the majority on this. But keep in mind there are some excellent revolver shooters, including Miculek, who contact the trigger with the pad. Those shooters generally prefer serrated triggers.

My point: There is no one "correct" way to do it. In the action shooting sports, the goal is to pull and reset the trigger quickly without unreasonably disturbing the sight picture. If you can achieve that task, the means are sorta irrelevant.

[alecmc]

I personally just use the pad of my finger on the trigger, and I prefer the .400 wide smooth triggers.

Carmoney is right, Especially with revolver - there are so many ways to go about shooting, pick whatever works for you and practice the hell out of it.

Though, personally I found if I I had my trigger finger to deep onto the trigger My shots would start to get a little jerky and go low left.

[AusPPC]

A good point was made about trigger actuation in 'action' matches, which is a specific application. For faster splits and a faster reset, I'd probably agree using the pad works. When I shoot IPSC and the targets are close, then the pad works and I'll sometimes use it.

For the precision type matches, for me personally, I absolutely get better results using the crease of my finger. When there is time to stage (or at least not rush) the trigger and the 10 ring is small, using the crease gives me smooth and linear control over the trigger stroke. The heavier or less tuned the trigger, the more this holds true.

Toolguy had a good summary - dry fire at a blank wall and use whatever method minimises sight wobble.

[Petrov]

Thats the thing I cant really get my the pad of my finger on the trigger unless I really bend it and contort it and on the rebound it slides in the crease.

[AusPPC]

If starting with the pad means the trigger throws you to the crease, than that's not ideal. You want the compression and the reset to be performed with the same part of the finger. Sounds like if you want to use the pad, you'll either need to reduce trigger weight to prevent it throwing your finger around, and/or, have the trigger serrated and widened to achieve the same thing.

As was mentioned above, the older style flat serrated triggers are probably the way to go for pad shooting.

[BBeavers]

If you trigger finger wanders with the stock grips, you might try a some that are fit to you specifically. In the "war" between trigger control and grip strength, I have found if a grip only allows me to pull the trigger using the middle joint of my finger no matter how hard I grip the gun, my trigger pull is consistent.

I had a set of Herrett stocks made for my 627 and it made a huge difference in trigger control, recoil management and overall comfort. I know people who will tell you the same thing about their Hogue big butt grips too.

Most revolver shooters will let you try out their gun; that way you don't end up with a drawer full of grips you won't ever use!