DA trigger prep

[Stafford]

OK, not sure why this hadn't dawned on me before, but this is something I'm going to start working on in dry fire. Pulling the pistol from the holster and prepping the trigger so that as I present to the target the hammer is already back for the first shot with my Shadow 2.

 

I'm guessing that some competitors have fired one into the ground on the way to the target while prepping the DA, but I've never seen it happen. So, my guess is that DA trigger prep is being done by experienced competitors who are well practiced, and that less experienced shooters aren't doing it at all. I certainly have been one who wasn't doing it at all.

 

 

[Russty]

You have this backwards, I think. Practice and experience with the DA pull will eliminate the need to prep the trigger. Not a safe thing to do at speed under match conditions. 

[SGT_Schultz]

I am endlessly amazed at the excuses people make for their poor grip and trigger press and the workarounds they come up with.

 

Do look forward to reading about the OP's DQs.

[Racinready300ex]

I used to have a video by Jerry M. talking about prepping the trigger even on transitions. His goal was to never let the cyl. stop turning. We've all see those crazy records he set on back in the day. But this was probably a 8lbs DA pull for every shot, and the best revolver shooter in the world at the time. 

 

Lets think through it a little. I think this would only be practical if you're drawing and shooting from the start position. My last major there were maybe 4 stages I shot from the start position and draw time mattered. So 156 seconds to shoot the 11 stage match, 4 places to save what a tenth of a second on the draw? Assuming .4 savings in the match my percentage of the winner would of went up .22% still leaving me in 5th place. The slower you are the less that tenth will help.

 

I think your time is better spent elsewhere. Why risk lighting one off early and going home or worse for such a tiny gain? 

[Artemas]

Ernest Landon has multiple videos advocating this exact technique. I think the main one is his "don't fear the Double action shot" series. It does work ok on a 92, but the trigger on a CZ is a bit different. Going from a heavy initial take up then getting lighter near the break, can make it easy to over pressure and break the shot early having a poor hit at best, or a worst a DQ.

 

Overall I think it is a sketchy idea and the risk versus maybe saving a tenth of a second or or two is not worth it. A solid grip and some dry fire eliminates most of the issues with the DA press. An accurate sub second draw DA is very doable without prepping. When I made the switch from glocks to a shadow2, I struggled a bit for a month or two, but after that I did not notice it at all.

Edited October 19, 2021 by Artemas
english! what is it!?

[rowdyb]

Take a class with JJ, he is a very vocal advocate of prepping/staging the trigger on a DA gun during the draw stroke.

 

I may start my trigger press before the gun is fully extended but I do not prep/stage the trigger. Once I start moving the trigger,  I move it continuously, with constant/consistent speed and pressure.

[fyaman43]

3 hours ago, Racinready300ex said:

Lets think through it a little. I think this would only be practical if you're drawing and shooting from the start position. My last major there were maybe 4 stages I shot from the start position and draw time mattered. So 156 seconds to shoot the 11 stage match, 4 places to save what a tenth of a second on the draw? Assuming .4 savings in the match my percentage of the winner would of went up .22% still leaving me in 5th place. The slower you are the less that tenth will help.

 

I think your time is better spent elsewhere. Why risk lighting one off early and going home or worse for such a tiny gain? 

This, except maybe for classifiers if shooting USPSA....  Steel Challenge draw/first shot time obviously more important though.

[Racinready300ex]

 

It might help to know what kind of draw times we're starting with. There is probably more on the table from hand speed than trigger prep. 

 

 

[YVK]

19 hours ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

It might help to know what kind of draw times we're starting with. There is probably more on the table from hand speed than trigger prep. 

 

 

 

Hands to the sides, 25 yards draw on 8 inch steel usually is about 1.7 cold for me and after a few reps I take it down to 1.5, sometimes 1.4x, so make it 1.46 - 1.70 range. I forgotten what my numbers are on a Garcia dot drill. 

 

Technique described in the first post has had different names, prepping, press-out. When I first started shooting DA/SA, I was learning from people who advocated it so I did it that way. JJ told me to get on DA is even more aggressively than I had done.

I have mostly gone away from it though.

It is slightly faster for me but also less consistent. First, there is a tendency to break a shot as soon as gun is fully extended. Don't know why that happens but it just happens naturally. So if at the end of extension your sights aren't on, you miss. This is the reasons why some advocates of this technique bring the gun high up into a visual field and then press out on a target, vs shortest straight path from the holster. Second, if you started to apply trigger pressure before you finalized your grip pressure, you can displace the sights. 

Edited October 20, 2021 by YVK

[belus]

On 10/20/2021 at 7:21 AM, YVK said:

It is slightly faster for me but also less consistent. First, there is a tendency to break a shot as soon as gun is fully extended. Don't know why that happens but it just happens naturally. So if at the end of extension your sights aren't on, you miss. This is the reasons why some advocates of this technique bring the gun high up into a visual field and then press out on a target, vs shortest straight path from the holster. Second, if you started to apply trigger pressure before you finalized your grip pressure, you can displace the sights. 

I'm glad you shared these insights.
I don't prep the trigger, but there's more for me to gain elsewhere and I'm going to consider it insignificant at my skill level for a while.

[Merldizzle]

I’m learning how to press my new S2 straight to the back with DA, I’m not sure I understand this talk or prepping it? 

[SGT_Schultz]

13 minutes ago, Merldizzle said:

I’m learning how to press my new S2 straight to the back with DA, I’m not sure I understand this talk or prepping it? 

 

Prepping means to start pulling the DA trigger while the gun is on the way to the target.  There is quite a bit of nuance to it that I'm not going to go into.

 

Suffice it to say, it's not a universally recommended practice.