What are the BENEFITS of Two Different Trigger Pulls?

[RJ]

PLEASE NOTE: I am not trolling, nor am I criticizing what type of firearm YOU chose to carry. I'm more interested in SPECIFIC objective differences, that are advantages of two trigger press types.

I wrote this question in another thread, but it kind of got buried in the noise.

Imagine a situation where you are designing a pistol from scratch. You have two options: Option 1 is a pistol that has a heavy first pull, followed by a lighter second and all subsequent pulls. (A TDA pistol, for example.)

Option 2 is a pistol that has a single pull weight, every single time. (A SFA, or DAO, for example.)

What are the specific, objective advantages of a gun for Option 1?

I'm not asking 'can you' run a TDA pistol at a high level. I'm not discriminating between hammer or striker; for purposes of this question, a G19 = a P30 LEM = Sig P250 DAO.

Again, I'm not grinding any particular Axe here. I'm new to guns, and don't have the benefit of years of experience in gun design and experience that many of you have, and I'm genuinely curious about this.

Thanks!

Rich

[Gio]

The basic concept is that the heavier first trigger pull protects you against any kind of negligent/accidental discharge, especially when you're under stress in a life or death situation where you draw down on a bad guy/subject but don't have justification to shoot. I think this benefit is even more significant in larger agencies/departments where not everyone is well trained or even comfortable around firearms, shoots their 1-4 qualifications per year, and doesn't touch their gun outside of that. Throw that person in a stressful situation and they can easily put their finger on the trigger too early and press it without intending to.

That said, I am in LE but also an enthusiast and train more than most people do both dry and live fire. I can do everything I need to with a pistol subconsciously, and I have found myself in dozens of stressful situations where I've drawn down on someone known to be armed or who recently committed a violent crime. I have never found myself with my finger on the trigger prematurely across a wide variety of weapons including Glocks, 1911's, M4's, and a precision bolt gun.

[Sterling Archer]

A theory is that a long heavy trigger is safer. The follow-up pulls are lighter because by that point if you continue shooting it's on purpose and not because you negligently fired a round.

I own and shoot DA/SA pistols, mainly so I'm familiar with all trigger types, but see no real value in them. If you don't have the control to keep your finger off the trigger then no amount of safeties or heavy triggers will save you from negligence.

That's my down and dirty take anyway, I'm sure there will be plenty of views coming.

[GJM]

FIFY

The basic concept is that the heavier/longer first trigger pull helps protect you against any kind of negligent/accidental discharge, especially when you're under stress in a life or death situation where you draw down on a bad guy/subject but don't have justification to shoot, and the lighter/shorter SA trigger helps you shooter fast and accurately follow-up shots once the shooting starts.

[Robinson]

Per Ernest Langdon, it allows you to get more aggressive on the trigger when presenting to the target. And I think he has a good point, though it might not become a benefit until someone has spent the time practicing to become proficient.

[RJ]

The basic concept is that the heavier first trigger pull protects you against any kind of negligent/accidental discharge, especially when you're under stress in a life or death situation where you draw down on a bad guy/subject but don't have justification to shoot. I think this benefit is even more significant in larger agencies/departments where not everyone is well trained or even comfortable around firearms, shoots their 1-4 qualifications per year, and doesn't touch their gun outside of that. Throw that person in a stressful situation and they can easily put their finger on the trigger too early and press it without intending to.

That said, I am in LE but also an enthusiast and train more than most people do both dry and live fire. I can do everything I need to with a pistol subconsciously, and I have found myself in dozens of stressful situations where I've drawn down on someone known to be armed or who recently committed a violent crime. I have never found myself with my finger on the trigger prematurely across a wide variety of weapons including Glocks, 1911's, M4's, and a precision bolt gun.

Thanks.

Let me ask, from your LEO perspective, is it a fair question to ask: why isn't this "heavier first trigger pull" an advantage in subsequent engagements?

I am not an LEO, nor have I held anyone at gun point.

But let me construct a couple contexts, and you can tell me if this is unlikely, or not:

Subject one has been engaged, once. At this point, you have not made the decision to shoot again, and are at low ready assessing. He makes a move you perceive as a threat. Would you not want to have the same heavier pull, to give you that same margin of safety you had on the first heavy pull?

Second context: Subject one has been engaged, and will no longer be a threat. Your information is that there is a second subject, who now appears. You are at low ready, still. Would you not want to have the same heavy pull, to give you that same margin of safety?

Is there any merit to arguing that these situations exist, or are they so far out of the norm as to never occur?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[RJ]

Per Ernest Langdon, it allows you to get more aggressive on the trigger when presenting to the target. And I think he has a good point, though it might not become a benefit until someone has spent the time practicing to become proficient.

Thanks. What's your take on what "more aggressive on the trigger" means?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[MSparks909]

Thanks. What's your take on what "more aggressive on the trigger" means?

You can start prepping the trigger earlier in the draw stroke compared to a SFA or SAO gun. The ideal timing is to have the shot break once you hit full extension or immediately thereafter.

[JustOneGun]

PLEASE NOTE: I am not trolling, nor am I criticizing what type of firearm YOU chose to carry. I'm more interested in SPECIFIC objective differences, that are advantages of two trigger press types.

I wrote this question in another thread, but it kind of got buried in the noise.

Imagine a situation where you are designing a pistol from scratch. You have two options: Option 1 is a pistol that has a heavy first pull, followed by a lighter second and all subsequent pulls. (A TDA pistol, for example.)

Option 2 is a pistol that has a single pull weight, every single time. (A SFA, or DAO, for example.)

What are the specific, objective advantages of a gun for Option 1?

I'm not asking 'can you' run a TDA pistol at a high level. I'm not discriminating between hammer or striker; for purposes of this question, a G19 = a P30 LEM = Sig P250 DAO.

Again, I'm not grinding any particular Axe here. I'm new to guns, and don't have the benefit of years of experience in gun design and experience that many of you have, and I'm genuinely curious about this.

Thanks!

Rich

There a lot of threads covering TDA vs. Striker vs. LEM. For a new person I would advise reading them. Some of them really break down the nuances to a minute level. Reading them will certainly allow a person to make an informed decision if you're are inclined to change. I'm not sure there are any concrete answers there. Just what you believe.

One thing I think is often over looked but was mentioned here, what a high level competition shooter can do and what I can do are two different things. And what I can do certainly isn't what a newbie can do. So where each person is in their development could make a drastic difference in what they decide for a platform. Once a person has made the easy gains and is on the point of lessening returns then what pistol is used doesn't matter that much.

Perhaps what a person is using the pistol for will change that idea also? I always like to look at the differences of competition and self defense, not as a difference of skill but a difference of grading. When comparing shootings the grading of self defense is usually extremely front loaded. Competition gets graded from first to last bullet. As someone else said, that's probably more drastic for a newer person.

[RJ]

You can start prepping the trigger earlier in the draw stroke compared to a SFA or SAO gun. The ideal timing is to have the shot break once you hit full extension or immediately thereafter.

Ok I think I am getting something.

There appears to be a distinction between the utility of a heavy trigger press "on the draw" as opposed to utility of a lighter trigger press "at low ready" (for lack of something better than "not on the draw")?