Posted: 8/29/2014 10:06:07 PM EDT
|
First off, I'm new so I hope I'm doing this correctly. be gentle! :-) I am curious about working on my trigger finger. Specifically, I bought a SIRT laser training handgun (LINK) and when pressing slowly I'm very good, but when I speed it up, my front sight moves to the left until the trigger breaks, and then it moves back to 'zero' if you will. It's much more prominent the faster I shoot it. The problem is I don't know how to fix it. Everything I've tried doesn't seem to make a difference. Any advice? Thanks in advance! |
| The faster you go the mire prominent your faults will be. Try a little more finger on the trigger. I tell my students to fine tube their finger placement by moving over one live at a time until it becomes perfect. A "line" I'm talking about is in their fingerprint- ring, loop, or ridge. Follow through is extremely important also, often not consciously thought about like it should be when in the early stages if training. |
|
There's a pic here showing trigger finger placement. I find I have better luck the more finger I get into the trigger http://progunfighter.com/trigger-control/ It's great that you are dry firing with the laser setup. If you can make good trigger presses slowfire, get a shot timer or download one for your smart phone and start putting a par time on your trigger presses. Here is also a drill below that will help you: This is a 3-string "ball and dummy" drill. Load a mag with about half live ammo and half dummy rounds (mixed up randomly - the idea is you don't want to know what is coming next). If you don't have dummy rounds, find a training partner who you will have setup your gun after every trigger press so you don't know if you have a live round in the chamber or not. I shoot this at 25 yards on a B-8 bullseye target. If you're new, you can probably move up to 10-15 but I wouldn't go any closer than that. String 1: Slowfire. One round at a time. You are trying to shoot the tightest group possible or highest score possible. Make a smooth trigger press, and pay attention to your sights - especially when you get a click instead of a bang. Your sights SHOULD NOT MOVE. Don't be quick to tap-rack, this is a diagnostic drill. Follow through, breathe, bring the gun down, and do it again. Score and paste target when you are done. String 2: From the holster. Set a par time of around five seconds, delayed start, depending on your skill level (a free timer app on a smartphone works fine for this if you don't have a real timer). Mags are loaded the same way (ball ammo and dummy ammo interspersed randomly) but now you are forced to make that trigger press a little faster - which makes it harder to do without disturbing your sights. Again, pay attention to your sights especially when you get a click instead of a bang. Score and paste when done. String 3: (this came from Larry Vickers). Same ball and dummy loaded mag. Set the par time so the start and finish beep sound like one continuous beep (usually around .5 seconds), delayed start. You will begin with the gun on target, sighted in, slack out of trigger. When the timer sounds, your goal is to have your shot off before the sound stops. This is the hardest string because you have to break the shot instantly - making it much harder for you to do without jerking the trigger and moving the sights out of alignment. Dry fire is AWESOME - keep at it. Run this drill at the range now and then, however. It's easy to make good trigger presses when you know you have an empty gun. When you know the gun may go bang instead of click - that's where it gets tough.
|
|
Thought I'd give all those who replied an update. Went to the range tonight and did the ball and dummy drill for the majority of the evening. Wow....my flinching was noticeable and prominent. After about 3 magazines I got it 'figured out' that I can't keep flinching. REALLY tightened up my groups, even out to the 25 ft I was shooting 3" groups, which I was pretty happy with. Thank you all for your input. I really can't thank you all enough. |
|
Quoted:
Thought I'd give all those who replied an update. Went to the range tonight and did the ball and dummy drill for the majority of the evening. Wow....my flinching was noticeable and prominent. After about 3 magazines I got it 'figured out' that I can't keep flinching. REALLY tightened up my groups, even out to the 25 ft I was shooting 3" groups, which I was pretty happy with. Thank you all for your input. I really can't thank you all enough. Good work. The truth is that shooting a pistol is 80% mental, 20% technique. Keep practicing slow and smooth - dry and hot - and you will develop the muscle memory to do it faster and reliably. Put the sights on the target, and pull the trigger without disturbing the sights. Everything else is something we do to screw it up. Keep the trigger pulled rearwards while the slide cycles. Reset the trigger by easing foward until it resets and pull again. Maintain front sight focus. Two sight pictures (before/after) for 1 shot is follow through. I preach to my folks - slow is smooth and smooth is fast. It takes 3k+ perfect repetitions to make it reflexive and then regular maintenance work to keep it there. Shooting is a perishable skill. Keep at it! |
|
Thanks for the update, glad the drill was helpful. It's a great drill because not only are you diagnosing your problems, you're actually learning as you press the trigger. The other thing to keep an eye on is your grip. Grip and trigger control go hand in hand. Don't get sloppy with it, make sure you have that gun locked down. I would argue most people don't grip the gun as hard as they should. Especially watch to make sure you aren't "cheating" on the grip in dry-practice. And TDunn is completely correct - the mental side of shooting is huge - even after you have the mechanics down good. Good luck and have fun! |
|
Quoted:
First off, I'm new so I hope I'm doing this correctly. be gentle! :-) I am curious about working on my trigger finger. Specifically, I bought a SIRT laser training handgun (LINK) and when pressing slowly I'm very good, but when I speed it up, my front sight moves to the left until the trigger breaks, and then it moves back to 'zero' if you will. It's much more prominent the faster I shoot it. The problem is I don't know how to fix it. Everything I've tried doesn't seem to make a difference. Any advice? Thanks in advance! That is most likely not so much the movement of your trigger finger, as it is a lack of solid, strong grip from the rest of your hands. Pulling on the trigger with 4+ pounds of force is, of course, going to try to move the pistol. It's the job of the rest of your hands to keep that from happening. Use a proper grip, and further develop your hand/finger strength. |
|
Quoted: Keep at it! Quoted: Keep at it! First things, first. EXCELLENT information and advice. It all makes perfect sense, and I appreciate your willingness to share. Recent student of mine invited me to join a faux NRA league to get people out of the houses in the winter up here. Plus it helps promote the sport. Has about 10 people from 3M main office attending regularly. GF, ex-coworker of mine and I decided to join. Shot qualifications (to establish a handicap) on Tuesday evening, and the league manager (my former student) puts it all on a website, etc. so people can keep up to date on it. Even image scans every target so you can review them. I chose a brand new, Ruger 22/45 for my gun instead of my EDC Glock 19. GF initially chose her G19 because she wanted to get better with it. She later decided (after practice rounds) to also use the Ruger. She has a terrible flinching problem...or so I thought. More on that later. |
|
Long story short, GF shoots the 25ft distance, 10 rounds, 3 targets. I shoot the same. (The targets are ridiculously small, but man it forces you to push your fundamentals) GF ends up shooting the highest score out of the entire league of 212 (not necessarily so smart, as it limits her handicap) and I came in 2nd with 200 (possible 300). We'll see how well the season goes, but I already ordered a new sear, magazine disconnect removal bushing, and a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot for it (to help out with the vision issues). I've been bitten after just one week...looking forward to learning the finer points of shooting; first hand. As an instructor, I preach practice drawing, dry firing, etc., but honestly fail to do enough myself. I'm hoping to alleviate that this winter at home and the range. I have a shot timer on my smart phone, but it's not the best at picking up every round fired, but I could use it for running drills, draws, etc. I'm contemplating asking the GF for a GOOD shot timer for Xmas. Any recommendations? Any tips for bullseye shooting would be appreciated as well! |
|
Looks good! I know a number of really good women shooters. I think part of it is they lack the machismo attitude that guys have - like we are supposed to be born with the innate ability to shoot well, and listen to instruction well and can really be good fundamental shooters. As for timers - my favorite is the PACT club timer. It is really simple to use, quick to set par times, has enough features to be handy but not so many it's tough to use. It's all you need and nothing you don't. I've had mine for over 10 years. A few months ago, the buzzer died. Sent it back to PACT and they fixed it no charge. Just paid shipping. |
