Brian Zins on Trigger Control

[JTPHD]

Although he discusses trigger control in the context of bullseye shooting, still many interesting points:
http://www.ssusa.org/articles/2015/1..._campaign=1015

[RJ]

Interesting thread, some good things there.

Relative to this:

"Now having conducted this little experiment, think about pulling the trigger with the pad of the finger. The first part of movement you feel is flesh and fat moving out of the way. This is not part of the movement involved in trigger control."

No sure I follow? My trigger finger location (I use middle of the distal phalange, i.e. "Pad") just compresses a little bit. It doesn't really 'move out of the way.' I seem to get less sight movement by using the pad. ??

[ASH556]

I think there are other factors at play for those using double-stack combat-style handguns. As Surf has mentioned in his teachings, it is important to prevent the lower part of the finger from dragging the frame and exhibiting lateral forces on the pistol's frame. In other words, depending on a shooters hand size and his chosen pistol, he may determine that placing the trigger on the pad of his finger is a worthwhile trade to prevent dragging his finger on the frame as he moves the trigger rear-ward.

[Luke]

I read it, and I'm a newb and suck, but it didn't seem that informative lol

[JHC]

I enjoyed it. I was reminded of the downloads from a shooting buddy who has spent a great deal of time training with the AMU and picking their brains. They are also more into that first crease than the pad regardless of the trigger or the shooting discipline. As he reports to me.

[MGW]

First crease has been pushed all the way down the line by the AMU. In my experience it works okay for most people on rifles with really heavy trigger eg Army M4's and A4's. I haven't had any luck trying that with a pistol though. The tip of my trigger finger ends up touching my support hand.

[JHC]

Keep in mind that Brian is specifically talking about shooting Bullseye -- which for people with no experience with it is shooting strong hand only at B-8 sized targets at 50 and 25 yards. Also think 2-3 inch groups at those distances. What works in a Bullseye match often times isn't the best for other styles of shooting.

True but when I shot bullseye with the 90th ARCOM team with Gold Cups, S&W Model 52s and 41s, we shot pad of tip of finger (1985) and the triggers were all so light it seemed to work fine.

Until I heard of the AMU's methods on any and all I'd never considered it for other than a DA pull or maybe Glocks (Ayoob was an early adoptor of that IIRC).

[JHC]

Yeah, it's a bit different than what a lot of competitors use. Brian is not a fan of the surprise break (he insists on knowing exactly when his shot will break) and wants to have as much feedback with regard to his trigger as possible. It certainly seems to be working for him.

My comment was mostly just to (hopefully) add a little context with regard to Bullseye as it seems very few people have much experience with it these days. At least on a local level, it's a bit of an "old man" sport. When I started several years ago, I was the youngster at my league. I was in my early 40s.

It sure is an old man's sport at my current gun club! It was a cool way to satisfy my last year of reserves commitment but it got pretty stale "ready on the right, ready on the left, the firing line is ready"

I may not have fired another shot for two years once I finished that.

But Brian's article both on using the crease for his sport and not wanting surprise break was interesting to see from a bullseye perspective.

[Mr_White]

There is enough subtlety in the leverage and geometry of a human hand holding a pistol and pulling the trigger that I wouldn't be surprised at all if simple flesh compression were a noticeable part of that equation in as precise an activity as bullseye shooting. Back to practical handgun shooting - I don't think pat answers of "use the tip because straight back" or "use the joint because leverage" are sufficient for the different ways that hands and guns and triggers fit together. I think it's going to work differently for different people with different guns, and they might change their mind about it as they learn. I have, and maybe I'll change my mind again.

[Jay Cunningham]

I don't think pat answers of "use the tip because straight back" or "use the joint because leverage" are sufficient for the different ways that hands and guns and triggers fit together. I think it's going to work differently for different people with different guns, and they might change their mind about it as they learn.