John McPhee on Trigger Control

[Leroy]

I totally agree with this under 1 caveat, your grip must be strong enough to counteract the force of pulling the trigger. Which of course means different triggers need different amounts of reactive force. My experience is that there are very few triggers that I cannot run very quickly while maintaining almost perfect sight alignment. When I add the bang and expected result into the equation is when my brain prevents me from achieving my expectations.

[SLG]

Do you just pull the trigger for the student, or do you use a ratchet (or something similar) as is demoed in the video? I've always just pulled the trigger for the student, and I've never had to replace a trigger bar.

I've used a screwdriver in the past. I'll have to up my game now and use a digging bar or something;-)

[SLG]

The experiment shown above is supposed to demonstrate good hits achieved with bad trigger control when anticipation is taken out of equation.
However, this....



...is also taken out of equation by such setup. In my mind, symp squeeze and inability to sufficiently isolate a trigger finger from the rest of them is more a trigger control error and not an anticipation error. I am unconvinced that this experiment proves much, other than that strong grip is good.

I think that's a good point, but I've found that most people can isolate their trigger finger well enough. It's their brain they have a harder time isolating. That may be a function of the type of students I've typically taught in the past though, so I wouldn't want to generalize too much.

[rwa]

In my mind, symp squeeze and inability to sufficiently isolate a trigger finger from the rest of them is more a trigger control error and not an anticipation error.

Fair enough. Still, it isn't the trigger finger coming straight back that is moving the gun. I think that is Shrek's point, but I can not speak for him.

[Eyesquared]

The experiment shown above is supposed to demonstrate good hits achieved with bad trigger control when anticipation is taken out of equation.
However, this....



...is also taken out of equation by such setup. In my mind, symp squeeze and inability to sufficiently isolate a trigger finger from the rest of them is more a trigger control error and not an anticipation error. I am unconvinced that this experiment proves much, other than that strong grip is good.

This. I agree that pulling the trigger straight back is not really an issue. However, I definitely do find that adjusting my trigger finger placement and my grip reduce the effect of sympathetic contractions.

[Failure2Stop]

There's a difference between 50 yard bullseye and 7 yard 3x5s at speed.

Absolute statements tend to be dangerous.

It's shades of grey, based on application and skill. Most people would tend to make more meaningful strides in performance by getting past anticipation as quickly as possible, and then learning the nuances of fine precision trigger control. The issue is that most aren't taught that path, and wind up focusing on skill attributes at the top end without mastering the "don't shove the gun" bit.

From Tapatalk:
Jack Leuba
Knight's Armament Company: Military/Govt Product Liaison
F2S Consulting: Director of Shooting Stuff

[GJM]

I am just doing a drive by on this thread, but Robbie (TGO) says (typically) left/right shot deflection is grip/stance, up deflection is triggering the shot early, and down deflection is recoil related. And, shots that deviate from POI, but are evenly distributed, are just going fast.

Robbie pushes you to see where your shots start to go, as your speed increase, and if there is a pattern, fixes that.

[SLG]

I am just doing a drive by on this thread, but Robbie (TGO) says (typically) left/right shot deflection is grip/stance, up deflection is triggering the shot early, and down deflection is recoil related. And, shots that deviate from POI, but are evenly distributed, are just going fast.

Robbie pushes you to see where your shots start to go, as your speed increase, and if there is a pattern, fixes that.

It is impossible for a shot to deviate from its point of impact, TGO or otherwise;-)

[GJM]

It is impossible for a shot to deviate from its point of impact, TGO or otherwise;-)

oh yeah, POA, that is the "P" I meant.

Funny thing on Robbie on trigger control -- stop, aim, jerk the trigger being his basic method. In response to, "Robbie, what if you can't jerk the trigger straight back, without disturbing the sights." Robbie's response … "learn to!"

[SLG]

oh yeah, POA, that is the "P" I meant.

Funny thing on Robbie on trigger control -- stop, aim, jerk the trigger being his basic method. In response to, "Robbie, what if you can't jerk the trigger straight back, without disturbing the sights." Robbie's response … "learn to!"

Exactly! But instead, people worry about all sorts of other things that they think makes them a better shooter.