How light is your trigger?

[DJM3808]

Single Stack is going about 2lb+. My limited and open guns are going to be about 2.5.

Most of the local open guys have sub 2lb jobs. they feel pretty nice but I can't get there without hammer follow and thats the last thing I need.

As long as its crisp, clean and short I'm not sure the actual weight makes a big difference till you get up there?

[kgunz11]

I like a light trigger, it camouflages my anticipation very well.

[HSMITH]

I like a light trigger, it camouflages my anticipation very well.

LOL, premature is a matter of perspective.

I shoot 1.5 pound triggers on all my guns, the pull might be 5 pounds but the break is only a pound and a half when I do it right.

[kgunz11]

I have been shooting really light triggers for a long time now, mostly attached to a butt stock. I have a hard time making a heavy trigger fire. I broke one once when the safety was on. I just kept pulling and pulling expecting it to fire at some point. It was a friends rifle at the range, in a .300 RUM, and I refused to snatch the trigger. I'm not at all afraid of recoil. Due to my experiences shooting bench rest and long range rifle, being use to the light triggers often found on those guns, my finger is really sensitive. I can break a 4 oz. trigger and feel it the whole time when most guys have problems with them. Since I am use to lighter triggers, a 4lb trigger takes me forever to break as it feels like it is 30 lbs to me.

[DonT]

1lb-12oz for both open and limited.

[JThompson]

9 Major Open 2011 is 4.0 pounds, Limited 2011 is 3.5 pounds, I keep all my 1911/2011 type guns between 3 and 5 pounds. I shoot better if I have a trigger I can aggressively prep, then break the last pound and a half when I want to break the shot.

There's is something to be said for Howard's thinking on this. I can't tell you how many times I broke a shot during, what I thought, was prep. Also, on the long shots it's nice to get the tension straight on the trigger and then just pop the last pound when the wobbles zone is good. I've didn't realize it, but I pin the trigger on those long shots too.

EDIT: 2lbs - 2.5

The other side to that coin is for trigger slapper... the light trigger helps cover some sloppy trigger work by breaking before you upset the gun to much.

Edited January 6, 2009 by JThompson

[BSeevers]

1 7/8 Open

2 1/4 Lim

3 1/2 Prod

But who's counting?

[GentlemanJim]

9 Major Open 2011 is 4.0 pounds, Limited 2011 is 3.5 pounds, I keep all my 1911/2011 type guns between 3 and 5 pounds. I shoot better if I have a trigger I can aggressively prep, then break the last pound and a half when I want to break the shot.

There's is something to be said for Howard's thinking on this. I can't tell you how many times I broke a shot during, what I thought, was prep. Also, on the long shots it's nice to get the tension straight on the trigger and then just pop the last pound when the wobbles zone is good. I've didn't realize it, but I pin the trigger on those long shots too.

EDIT: 2lbs - 2.5

The other side to that coin is for trigger slapper... the light trigger helps cover some sloppy trigger work by breaking before you upset the gun to much.

You say that like trigger slappin is a bad thing

Jim

[Tzygä]

I use for all my STI guns [open ones and limited ones (here in Europe standart)] from 1.5# to 1.75#.

[Glen517]

2 1/4 # on the limited gun since my wonderful gunsmith worked his magic on it. I never knew a gun could shoot so good.

[Chris Keen]

I have the same gunsmith here as Glen517 & Bseevers and have tried it as light as 2 1/4 lbs on my LTD gun, but recently have been keeping it right around 2.5 lbs.

[XRe]

The other side to that coin is for trigger slapper... the light trigger helps cover some sloppy trigger work by breaking before you upset the gun to much.

When done correctly, a slap will not upset the gun. A slap is not a violent motion - its a controlled, precise movement. A trigger jerk is a different story (which is what most people are doing when they think they're slapping - they're snatching at the trigger). Someone who does a true slap is going to want a good amount of overtravel on the trigger, though - the trigger bottoming out is what disturbs the gun more than anything else.

That said - think about this. If your trigger pull weighs more than your gun, you stand a greater chance of disturbing the aiming point through trigger manipulation than you do with a lighter trigger. Its a simple physics thing. Proper trigger manipulation basically eliminates it, but the heavier the trigger vs. the gun, the less tolerance you have...

Different people have different sensitivities in their fingers and feel the pull weight differently. Some folks spend a lot of time on a heavy trigger for work purposes, and cannot stay familiar with a really light trigger, too. Most folks I've run into, though, when introduced to a light trigger, and given a bit of time to get used to it, will show improvement in all areas of their shooting, simply because the trigger is easier to manipulate...

[lrsitter]

2 - 2 1/2 on open/limited guns

about 4 on production

seems to work for me

[Matt Cheely]

I don't go below 2.5lbs, can't milk the trigger enough on the hard shots and I start cranking off "unanticipated" shots if it's any lower.

[larry cazes]

2.5 lbs standard on ALL of my SA handguns.

[RH45]

The other side to that coin is for trigger slapper... the light trigger helps cover some sloppy trigger work by breaking before you upset the gun to much.

When done correctly, a slap will not upset the gun. A slap is not a violent motion - its a controlled, precise movement. A trigger jerk is a different story (which is what most people are doing when they think they're slapping - they're snatching at the trigger). Someone who does a true slap is going to want a good amount of overtravel on the trigger, though - the trigger bottoming out is what disturbs the gun more than anything else.

That said - think about this. If your trigger pull weighs more than your gun, you stand a greater chance of disturbing the aiming point through trigger manipulation than you do with a lighter trigger. Its a simple physics thing. Proper trigger manipulation basically eliminates it, but the heavier the trigger vs. the gun, the less tolerance you have...

Different people have different sensitivities in their fingers and feel the pull weight differently. Some folks spend a lot of time on a heavy trigger for work purposes, and cannot stay familiar with a really light trigger, too. Most folks I've run into, though, when introduced to a light trigger, and given a bit of time to get used to it, will show improvement in all areas of their shooting, simply because the trigger is easier to manipulate...

XRE--I totally agree with you!

[Shadow]

The other side to that coin is for trigger slapper... the light trigger helps cover some sloppy trigger work by breaking before you upset the gun to much.

When done correctly, a slap will not upset the gun. A slap is not a violent motion - its a controlled, precise movement. A trigger jerk is a different story (which is what most people are doing when they think they're slapping - they're snatching at the trigger). Someone who does a true slap is going to want a good amount of overtravel on the trigger, though - the trigger bottoming out is what disturbs the gun more than anything else.

That said - think about this. If your trigger pull weighs more than your gun, you stand a greater chance of disturbing the aiming point through trigger manipulation than you do with a lighter trigger. Its a simple physics thing. Proper trigger manipulation basically eliminates it, but the heavier the trigger vs. the gun, the less tolerance you have...

Different people have different sensitivities in their fingers and feel the pull weight differently. Some folks spend a lot of time on a heavy trigger for work purposes, and cannot stay familiar with a really light trigger, too. Most folks I've run into, though, when introduced to a light trigger, and given a bit of time to get used to it, will show improvement in all areas of their shooting, simply because the trigger is easier to manipulate...

XRE--I totally agree with you!

Me too!!

[steveyacht]

I have all of my triggers set to between 3 and 3.5 pounds. That includes my Kemen, a target shotgun.

[newopen GM]

My Open gun, my Limited gun and my Buckmark are at about 2 pounds.

My S&W M&P is at about 2.25 pounds.

[Josh Biondi]

My four Edge have all 1 pound trigger set. I done it by myself and actually the older trigger job has 76540 rounds and works until now very well, light and safe.....

[SKR]

I am also in the pound category. I can still prep the trigger and wait for the proper shot to break.

[fasteddy]

CRISP trigger job in my SVI 38S open gun..dot comes straight back to POA.

[tk2]

2 lbs is about right for me. My open gun was at about 1 1/2 lbs and I really liked it, but the hammer started falling. Since then my gunsmith has been setting the triggers at about 2 lb and that works pretty well also.

[Flatland Shooter]

Both open guns are a hair under 1.5#. Each hand fitted with quality parts. One gun has well over 25,000 rds since she was tuned up. The other is a little newer.

For both guns I also have fitted backup parts as a set (Koenig hammer, EGW hard sear, SVI disconnector and sear spring) that also come in just a hair under 1.5#.

Bill

[srf]

Too light a trigger for my shooting style finally caught up with me...

This was a big discovery for me last year. I don't care who did my triggers - I could make 'em follow when they were set around 1.5lbs. It dawned on me that maybe there was something about how I manipulated the trigger that caused the hammer to follow. So I decided to go in the opposite direction. I set my open pistol at 2.5lbs and my limited at 2.75lbs. These weights allow a good prep and trigger return. My splits are better now, and way more consistent, compared to when I was using a light trigger, and the hammer does not follow. I'm not knocking a light trigger, but it's not the be all end all for me. Being agressive on the trigger and the pistol working 100% allows me to really focus on attacking the stage.