Switching from striker to DA/SA. Tips???

[fireman1776]

Picked up my first da/sa gun and have shot mostly glocks. Where should I begin on learning the da/sa? Any drills, tips or advice? 
 

Thanks 

[B585]

Ben’s drill.  Pull the trigger at the beginning of the beep and be done before the end without disturbing the sights.

[SGT_Schultz]

 

 

 

@fireman1776 I think these will help

 

After one year of trying to get used to striker fired pistols I've given up and gone back to DA/SA

[B_RAD]

Don't

[Guy Neill]

Dry fire.

 

[lwink]

Subscribed to this, have a beretta px4 that I like, and want to like more. 

[SGT_Schultz]

2 hours ago, lwink said:

Subscribed to this, have a beretta px4 that I like, and want to like more. 

 

Go watch Langdon's videos and put in the work.

 

 

[lwink]

24 minutes ago, SGT_Schultz said:

 

Go watch Langdon's videos and put in the work.

 

 

No doubt good stuff - the idea of starting trigger pull early was a thing I started naturally doing, was a good affirmation first time I saw these tips. And Langdon is also the place to go for your Beretta double action needs!

[SGT_Schultz]

18 minutes ago, lwink said:

 And Langdon is also the place to go for your Beretta double action needs!

 

True that

 

I just can't wrap my head around the hard wall and break of striker triggers.  I bought a pair of CZ P-10s because of all the hoopla about their triggers and just hate them. 

 

I'm so much faster and accurate with my tuned DA/SA CZs.  My P-09 is also noticeably more accurate than my P-10F.

[Eric_T]

On 11/23/2020 at 7:29 PM, B585 said:

Ben’s drill.  Pull the trigger at the beginning of the beep and be done before the end without disturbing the sights.

+1

I'm in the same boat as OP.  Was competing with a Glock and recently got a Shadow 2 OR.  I met with our local GM for training, and this was one of the first things he had me do, after the grip was taken care of.  Aim at a target with the finger just off the trigger, and when the beep starts, quickly pull through, with the goal of finishing before the beep ends.  See what happens to your dot or sights, and adjust your grip and/or pull accordingly.  I noticed improvement in DA accuracy after just a few reps.

[Racinready300ex]

I switched 3 days before Nat's....good plan right?

 

It's really not a big deal. The DA shot itself didn't bother me much at all. The transition from DA to SA is a little weird and certainly through me off a few times starting out. Now I've been dry firing it for a month and it's pretty natural. Just put in some time shooting it and you'll be fine. 

[fireman1776]

19 hours ago, lwink said:

No doubt good stuff - the idea of starting trigger pull early was a thing I started naturally doing, was a good affirmation first time I saw these tips. And Langdon is also the place to go for your Beretta double action needs!

I ordered an LTT 92 with his trigger job. I’ve been watching his videos as well. 

[fireman1776]

7 hours ago, Eric_T said:

+1

I'm in the same boat as OP.  Was competing with a Glock and recently got a Shadow 2 OR.  I met with our local GM for training, and this was one of the first things he had me do, after the grip was taken care of.  Aim at a target with the finger just off the trigger, and when the beep starts, quickly pull through, with the goal of finishing before the beep ends.  See what happens to your dot or sights, and adjust your grip and/or pull accordingly.  I noticed improvement in DA accuracy after just a few reps.

 

On 11/23/2020 at 8:29 PM, B585 said:

Ben’s drill.  Pull the trigger at the beginning of the beep and be done before the end without disturbing the sights.

Thank you for the specific drill. This is good and something I can work in dry and live fire. 

[facelessman]

On ‎11‎/‎23‎/‎2020 at 8:44 PM, fireman1776 said:

Picked up my first da/sa gun and have shot mostly glocks. Where should I begin on learning the da/sa? Any drills, tips or advice? 
 

Thanks 

 

As mentioned before, Ben's drill is perfect for this, and by all means spend some quality time becoming confident in your abilities for that first shot.

 

However, don't become consumed with that ONE shot to the point that the rest of your practice takes a back seat to it. It is ONE shot in a stage, and any unloaded starts mean your first shot isn't DA. A 10-12 stage level 3 match might have a couple of unloaded starts, and you might only have 8-10 double action shots out of 250-300 rounds. 

 

Also, I've seen too many malfunctioning DA/SA guns because someone was so worried about the one DA shot, that they created a magical 4lb DA pull with a super lightweight main spring that will not reliably set off primers, all because they were scared of that ONE shot at the beginning of a stage. 

[SGT_Schultz]

On 11/25/2020 at 6:27 PM, fireman1776 said:

I ordered an LTT 92 with his trigger job. I’ve been watching his videos as well. 

 

I tried one out at an indoor range today

 

You're going to liiiiiiiiiike it.

[R. Batt]

On 11/27/2020 at 3:14 PM, facelessman said:

 

As mentioned before, Ben's drill is perfect for this, and by all means spend some quality time becoming confident in your abilities for that first shot.

 

However, don't become consumed with that ONE shot to the point that the rest of your practice takes a back seat to it. It is ONE shot in a stage, and any unloaded starts mean your first shot isn't DA. A 10-12 stage level 3 match might have a couple of unloaded starts, and you might only have 8-10 double action shots out of 250-300 rounds. 

 

Also, I've seen too many malfunctioning DA/SA guns because someone was so worried about the one DA shot, that they created a magical 4lb DA pull with a super lightweight main spring that will not reliably set off primers, all because they were scared of that ONE shot at the beginning of a stage. 

This

Also, a lot of first targets are close ones so I don't think many people struggle with the transition after a little practice.

[SGT_Schultz]

The key to being good with a DA/SA pistol is to stop being afraid of the DA pull.  Stop worrying about partials, far targets, or no shoots.

 

Embrace the DA pull.  Make it your bitch.  Do a little work on your gun if it's terribly gritty and/or stacky but beyond that stop worrying about it being 8 lbs instead of 5.  Grow some man hands and hold that gun steady as you press continuously back.

[SWoody]

Pull. Then pull more! 

 

Seriously though, the best training I've done for handling the stock Shadow II DA pull is just dry firing it a ton. It seems unpleasant at first, but you'll quickly adapt. 

[MicahSwan]

On 11/24/2020 at 5:14 PM, lwink said:

Subscribed to this, have a beretta px4 that I like, and want to like more. 

I shot my first year in USPSA with a px4. I tried, but also realized the px4 has a really rough heavy trigger...
had no idea how bad it was until I moved to an S2 

[MicahSwan]

On 11/23/2020 at 5:44 PM, fireman1776 said:

Picked up my first da/sa gun and have shot mostly glocks. Where should I begin on learning the da/sa? Any drills, tips or advice? 
 

Thanks 

To get used to the the trigger when I first started it was a lot of Blake and bill drills in dry fire from the holster. Being honest about where my sights were when I pressed the first shot in DA. Then for every consecutive shot only letting the trigger out a few cm only, and not allowing the da to reset. This will teach you how the two feel different, and also aids in unnecessary trigger slapigg. Noting your shot splits in DA to SA, and SA to SA should begin to feel the same.    
Also learning how to trigger prep well helped.
 

[SGT_Schultz]

Here's your best DA training aid

 

 

[fireman1776]

I’ve been dry firing several days a week now and felt good about the da pull. But then during live fire I got trigger freeze several times. It was pretty cold and my hands were cold but the da press kinda got in my head towards the end of the session. I think I was trying to pull it differently and get on the trigger sooner and this pulling slower. More dry fire is needed! 

[facelessman]

22 hours ago, fireman1776 said:

I’ve been dry firing several days a week now and felt good about the da pull. But then during live fire I got trigger freeze several times. It was pretty cold and my hands were cold but the da press kinda got in my head towards the end of the session. I think I was trying to pull it differently and get on the trigger sooner and this pulling slower. More dry fire is needed! 

 

Try Ben's drill dry AND live, in the same session. I would do this back and forth during my live range sessions. 5 trigger pulls live, 5 dry, 5 live, 5 dry... The best part about that drill is that when done right (the process, not the outcome) you don't have time to freeze on the trigger. You're essentially teaching yourself how to slam/jerk the trigger without screwing up your shot. Concentrate on isolating that trigger finger motion from the rest of your grip. When done correctly, it's an exhausting drill physically for your hands, and mentally for your brain. 

 

You can change it up by using this at the end of a draw drill. Gun down low in a ready type position, on the beep, bring it up into your vision, establishing grip and slamming that shot. Make sure you practice this with doubles as well. You can change this up into countless variations. 

 

On a related note, I had been stuck in the pin/reset trigger manipulation for a long time (training scars from my LE training). I started doing the same drill, but in Single Action as well. Finger on the trigger, and finger just off the trigger, slamming through. This was actually a break through in my shooting, and things got a LOT faster, and surprisingly, a lot more accurate at speed. 

[matto6]

On 12/12/2020 at 5:28 PM, fireman1776 said:

I’ve been dry firing several days a week now and felt good about the da pull. But then during live fire I got trigger freeze several times. It was pretty cold and my hands were cold but the da press kinda got in my head towards the end of the session. I think I was trying to pull it differently and get on the trigger sooner and this pulling slower. More dry fire is needed! 

I have the same problem.  I dry fire like crazy and everything is wonderful. 

Then I go to the range and my brain freaks out.  My trigger finger pauses during the DA pull.  My arms flinch anticipating the recoil.  It's nuts.

I think dry fire only helps if you do it intermixed with a lot of life fire.  Otherwise your brain treats them as two different activities and the lessons from one don't transfer to the other.

That's the theory I'm going with anyway.  I'll let you know if it works for me.   

[matto6]

Also - this is not directly addressing how to learn a DA trigger, but this interview with Langdon is pretty interesting and got me jazzed up about DA/SA in general.

"It feels like cheating"
(Link is to 1:06 where he starts talking about this topic)
 

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by matto6