Old School Revolver Cop Question

[SamAdams]

Hello - this is a question for LE folks who were on duty when d.a. revolvers were the standard issued sidearm -
Were you trained to keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot back then ? Were you trained to rest your trigger finger along the side of the frame like today's pistol shooters ? Thanks

[Dagga Boy]

When dinosaurs walked the earth we were taught to keep the finger on the trigger....because if your finger was in register as advocated by those idiots in Arizona it would get you killed and was "slow". We also were trained not to use sights out to seven yards, because you "can't see your sights in a fight". Of course at the academy when I got caught using my sights at close range,mI was "cheating". Yep, that whole winning thing. I was one of the first people who really used a finger off the trigger as a normal means of working and that was 1988. I have opined that the advent of the Glock in law enforcement is what really made places change training to encompass the Modern Technique safety rules.

[SamAdams]

Thanks nyeti - very interesting.

Did many cops and departments use the 1911 back then ? Was there much talk out there about training folks on the different trigger finger discipline required for the 1911 ? Of course, there was a draft back then and I imagine many in LE had experience as G.I.s with the 1911. Or did they just go 'cocked & locked' and trust that the thumb safety would prevent a Bang till needed ?

[Chuck Haggard]

My job was still issuing the Jordan holster, which had an exposed trigger guard specifically so you could get your finger onto the trigger more quickly.

Somewhere in the first few years everyone started to get the idea that this was a very bad idea.

[Wayne Dobbs]

My job was still issuing the Jordan holster, which had an exposed trigger guard specifically so you could get your finger onto the trigger more quickly.

Somewhere in the first few years everyone started to get the idea that this was a very bad idea.

My first holster (1978) was an exposed trigger high ride Safariland Model 29 thumb break. During academy firearms training, we were taught by an FBI Special Agent and police firearms instructor to put the finger on the trigger when drawing. You were supposed to keep said trigger finger in "light contact" during operational deployment of the revolver and that that heavy(ier) DA pull would keep you out of trouble. That was the paradigm then.

In about 1985, Dr. Roger Enoka, Ph. D., University of Colorado - Boulder, published his paper, "Involuntary Muscle Contractions and the Unintentional Discharge of a Firearm" and for those of us who were paying attention, it rocked our little firearms worlds. I was going to be a witness to and near victim of one of those involuntary discharges a year later and an officer next to me would nearly bleed to death from a .357 Magnum wound his partner dealt him in that incident. The bullet missed my throat by just a couple of inches and I started paying LOTS of attention to where trigger fingers were all the time. It's super important and that requirement, along with where we have muzzles oriented continues to be a big struggle in firearms use and instruction today.

[Chuck Haggard]

It's super important and that requirement, along with where we have muzzles oriented continues to be a big struggle in firearms use and instruction today.

Word

[voodoo_man]

Our old timers still carry 6inch S&W 357's on duty - union made sure the PD can't take the guns away from them.

Every time we are on the line there is always one or two old timers who have that cannon pointed down range, finger on trigger before while everyone else is longer fingering.

There have been steps taken to stop them from doing that, but what are you gana tell a guy who's been on the job longer than you've been alive?

Nuffin.

[Wayne Dobbs]

Our old timers still carry 6inch S&W 357's on duty - union made sure the PD can't take the guns away from them.

Every time we are on the line there is always one or two old timers who have that cannon pointed down range, finger on trigger before while everyone else is longer fingering.

There have been steps taken to stop them from doing that, but what are you gana tell a guy who's been on the job longer than you've been alive?

Nuffin.

So give them a spanking and I mean some kind of definitive disciplinary action. You know it's dangerous and you let it go on unchecked. That puts you square behind the 8 ball for their mistakes. Even if the CoC doesn't take action, you can show you tried. Kicking them off the range is a good start too. When you pull those involuntary discharge shots, you're pulling in excess of 30 pounds of pull at times. You have to do something to show you care and are attempting to deal with the problem.

[LSP552]

I'm another old guy who started with an issue exposed trigger guard Jordan holster. Trigger finger discipline in training was sorely lacking. On the plus side, at least where I came from, the average trooper was a much better shot than today because of the emphases on marksmanship. Back in those days, who could shoot to 50 yards of you got sent home packing from the academy. No remedial, no BS if you couldn't qualify on the last Friday of firearms training in the academy you went home. And that qual course had a significant 50 yard stage.

Political correctness, combined with a no-shooting Deputy Superintendent, killed the 50 yard stage and lowered the standard to passing the state mandated POST course, which a blindfolded monkey could pass.

[LSP552]

Our old timers still carry 6inch S&W 357's on duty - union made sure the PD can't take the guns away from them.

Every time we are on the line there is always one or two old timers who have that cannon pointed down range, finger on trigger before while everyone else is longer fingering.

The scariest time I've ever spend on a range was helping LSP972 run a night qual for some Fire Marshal investigators after their organization got moved under the DPS umbrella. I'm talking 70 yr old guys with the shakes holding 6" revolvers.