Trigger control and trigger pulltechnique

[Localizer]

I’m really bothered by the fact that I can’t consistently pull the trigger without disturbing the sight picture.

 

I can do it 90% consistently in dry fire, maybe 80% in live fire and even less in a real match condition.

 

Yesterday, during a very abbreviated dry fire session, I found I could get to 100% with any grip force only if I sorta angled my trigger finger as I pulled the trigger...like hook the trigger pull to the right (Right handed shooter).

 

A few comments/questions:

1. I’m guessing I haven’t actually solved anything.

2. Is this technique bad for my pistol (Tanfoglio)

3. What is a sure fire way to pull the trigger without disturbing the sight?

4. What’s the trick for doing it one-handed whilst shooting at a decent speed?

 

Thanks again in advance.

[PatJones]

On easier shots it's ok if you're sights move, just pull the trigger as fast as you can. As the shots get more difficult, you will need to be more careful with your pull.

Grip harder. Your hands should be tired after 15 minutes of dry fire. This will help hold the gun on target while you manipulate the trigger.

[Blackstone45]

I also find it impossible to keep the sights still when pressing the trigger really quickly (like 0.3s splits speed). But the front sight doesn't drift by much, and never leaves the rear notches. This would make it an appropriate sight picture for close targets. It really does feel impossible to eliminate any sympathetic movement in my other fingers when I move the index finger at speed. I know one way is to grip the gun harder with the support hand, as that helps reduce any movement. However this seems to cause the gun to recoil up and to the right. I wish I could dedicate hundreds of rounds in a session to test the effects of different grip tensions etc...

[MikeBurgess]

you wont hurt your pistol however you pull the trigger. I doubt that your impression of pulling the trigger to the right is actually whats happening if the sights are still when you do it, most likely you are actually pulling it straight back and it feels weird because its different than what you did before. regardless of how you do it the goal is to move the trigger and fire the gun without moving the sights too much to hit the intended target, many shooters use many different finger positions to accomplish this task, experiment and find what works for you and then do that.

 

 

[tdp88]

With the Tanfo I find it is a lot easier to pull the trigger without moving the gun by rolling through the trigger rather than pushing it like a button. Think of it as starting with 1lb then 2lb and so on but doing that quickly. Also, as stated above many people don't grip the gun hard enough with their support hand and have too much tension with their firing hand. When the sight moves or I start pushing shots it is almost always too much tension in my firing hand. 

[Jman]

What you need to discover is "acceptable sight alignment". Assuming you're practicing for a USPSA type match, let your front post "touch" the left then the right side of the notch during live fire drills. Same with elevation...half the post above and below the top of the notch. All from practical handgun distances (3-25 yrds) aiming at the A zone.  You'll find (with repetition) a large swath of acceptable sight alignment "space". Understand this and your gun won't care about your booger hook and bang button. Be safe...and enjoy the journey.

[Matt1]

Crush the gun with your support hand. Relax your strong hand. Pull the trigger smoothly.

Having an acceptable sight picture and not disturbing the sights when pulling the trigger are not the same thing.

If you haven’t already, read Ben Stoeger’s new book, Breakthrough Marksmanship.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lgh]

Do you have a curved or flat trigger? Some find one works better than the other.

[Tanders]

What part of your index finger do you use to pull the trigger?  I originally used the crease of the first knuckle, but awhile back I switched to using the very tip of my finger (even on double action shots).  This seems to be a lot more accurate since almost all of the pivoting action comes from the second knuckle which is desirable since any motion of the third knuckle (where the finger meets your palm) is going to push the gun sideways and disturb your sight picture.  As an added bonus, you will probably be able to fire faster split with the tip of your finger compared to the first joint.  Here's an excellent video by the late Michael Voigt in which he talks about this topic (skip to the 3:30 mark for a discussion about trigger control):

 

 

[Jman]

 Squeezers, pullers, slappers, "jerkers" and pressers dominate the GM class in action pistol disciplines. Grip, rip and move.