Take up or not take up trigger slack, or should I pause before I reach the wall?

[randyflycaster]

This is a follow up to a previous thread, as I am now confused again.

I read/watched that many top shooters describe how they take up all the trigger slack, then break the shot. Brian Zins seems to do this, as he doesn't believe in a surprise break. I heard another top shooter, maybe Shannon Smith, also say he doesn't believe in a surprise break.

I guess what I'm confused about, am I not supposed to take out slack, then pause just before I reach the wall? Or am I supposed to take out slack then, without pausing, press right through the wall?

(BTW, I am asking this is reference to marksmanship not to personal defense.)

Randy

[spinmove_]

I'm probably the last person that should be handing out advice on this topic, but what works for most people is pressing straight through the wall with no pausing. The more you pay attention to the pause the more you're not concentrating on what's more important. Which is your sights.

Actively interface with your sights. Passively interface with your trigger. Do the thing that makes your sights not move. Don't overthink this. I'm guilty of it as well, but it just ends up hurting you in the end.


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[VegasHK]

I have come to believe the term "surprise break" is really a misnomer. If it's a "surprise break", that would indicate that it wasn't purposeful and intentional. I much prefer the term "smooth, deliberate break"
I tend to try to take up the slack to the wall, make any tiny adjustments as needed, then smoothly press through the wall. This is all assuming I'm lined up on target, have sight alignment and have made the decision to fire. For me it's: draw with finger indexed, drive out to target, obtain sight picture, sight alignment, finger moves to trigger, take up slack to wall as I'm making last second adjustments, press through wall, reset trigger, assess, scan.
This works for me. Hope it helps a little.

[PNWTO]

I press through the wall like the spinmove_ said. This is really an Occam's Razor approach and easy to over-analyze, check out the reference section and some of Todd G's articles.

[QUOTE=VegasHK;575252]I have come to believe the term "surprise break" is really a misnomer. If it's a "surprise break", that would indicate that it wasn't purposeful and intentional. I much prefer the term "smooth, deliberate break"
QUOTE]

Totally agree. I like the term, and Cooper's video, for an introduction but I don't think it is as applicable as proficiency increases.

[Gio]

See the other thread on flinching for several good descriptions of what you should be doing. If you are shooting for pure bullseye type untimed accuracy, experiment with just shooting from the wall vs pressing through slack and wall at once. However, under any kind of time pressure, you need to learn to press the trigger quickly without disturbing the sights, which means learning to press it all the way through the slack in one continuous motion.

Some of the shooters you mentioned are 1911/2011 shooters, which essentially have little to no slack to worry about in the first place. Shooting a Striker fired trigger is much more challenging and requires a different technique.

[Peally]

Everyone good I know just pulls right through it without moving the sights, no screwing around with walls or prep or any of that silly stuff. But then I predominately shoot USPSA.

[Mitch]

The way I treat it depends on the type of shooting, target, distance, and what gun I'm using.

So without any context, my answer would be: maybe?


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[Lomshek]

This is a follow up to a previous thread, as I am now confused again.

I read/watched that many top shooters describe how they take up all the trigger slack, then break the shot. Brian Zins seems to do this, as he doesn't believe in a surprise break. I heard another top shooter, maybe Shannon Smith, also say he doesn't believe in a surprise break.

I guess what I'm confused about, am I not supposed to take out slack, then pause just before I reach the wall? Or am I supposed to take out slack then, without pausing, press right through the wall?

(BTW, I am asking this is reference to marksmanship not to personal defense.)

Randy

For bullseye handgun shooting and NRA High Power rifle it has its place when doing extreme precision slow fire shots.

Beyond that no it's not used that I'm aware of by anyone beyond some dude at the range who just doesn't know any better.
No one in USPSA/IDPA (Shannon Smith or otherwise) is staging triggers. They don't have time to.

Stroke quickly through the trigger pull once the sights are on target whether it's a 1911 with the world's best trigger, a Nagant revolver, an AK, an AR with a Geissele SSA or a Beretta 92.

ETA - If I'm doing something stupid like trying to make a shot at 100 yards with my defensive gun then yes I'll prep the trigger by taking the slack out then complete the press when I finish exhaling as my sights land on target. In rifle stuff if I'm trying to get under 2 MOA then prepping helps.

[Jay Cunningham]

For bullseye handgun shooting and NRA High Power rifle it has its place when doing extreme precision slow fire shots.

Beyond that no it's not used that I'm aware of by anyone beyond some dude at the range who just doesn't know any better.
No one in USPSA/IDPA (Shannon Smith or otherwise) is staging triggers. They don't have time to.

Stroke quickly through the trigger pull once the sights are on target whether it's a 1911 with the world's best trigger, a Nagant revolver, an AK, an AR with a Geissele SSA or a Beretta 92.

Mr. White and I have had good discussions about operating the trigger faster and slower - but always in the same fashion i.e. one continuous movement.

On a related note, I've found that there is a lot of confusion on staging a trigger vs. prepping a trigger.

[Lomshek]

Mr. White and I have had good discussions about operating the trigger faster and slower - but always in the same fashion i.e. one continuous movement.

On a related note, I've found that there is a lot of confusion on staging a trigger vs. prepping a trigger.

I'm ate up like a football bat and screwed up a couple edits.

I agree and edited my post above to call it prepping.

Staging a DA trigger (pulling through 90% of the trigger pull then pausing before let off to tweak sight alignment) is something that usually ends badly.

If my definitions are off then my I'll sit in the corner with my football bat and play with my square marble!