Vicker's explanation of how to use a DA/SA

[MSparks909]

Hmmm . . . this is the way I've always shot TDA. I didn't use any particular terminology to describe it though.

Sames.

For the "Flip and Press" guys, I always attributed that to coming off the trigger more than necessary, IE more than just to where the trigger resets.

[SamAdams]

I imagine maybe a lot of us who've shot TDA also have lots of DA revolver & 1911 trigger time ? Maybe that helps.

[Luke]

Haven't you made a commitment to nothing but glock for the next two years?


I think so many people get hung up on the TDA pistol trigger and make it more of an issue than it is.

I've got quite a few rounds through a TDA gun and my trigger press for everything is identical. No matter what type of trigger you have all you have to do is yank it to the rear without disturbing the sights. I think trying to remember and train two different techniques for the first shot and the rest is a mistake and a waste of mental energy.


This is obviously worth what you paid for it.

[SamAdams]

Years back I carried Sigs. I was going to continue with them, but their QC went to hell and they were a little heavier than what I liked (noticed it in the lower back). Made the switch to Glocks, but still enjoy hearing about other platforms though will stick with Glock for numerous practical reasons.

[guymontag]

Agree with GJM (everyone had their own description/perception) and Luke especially (everyone makes it more of an issue than it is). Load up a magazine and shoot the thing. Your sights and your shots will tell you what you need to know if you just shoot with awareness.

But then again that YouTube video wouldn't get a quarter of the views or discussion.

[GJM]

I think so many people get hung up on the TDA pistol trigger and make it more of an issue than it is.

I've got quite a few rounds through a TDA gun and my trigger press for everything is identical. No matter what type of trigger you have all you have to do is yank it to the rear without disturbing the sights. I think trying to remember and train two different techniques for the first shot and the rest is a mistake and a waste of mental energy.


This is obviously worth what you paid for it.

So I started thinking about how I press the trigger on a striker, DA/SA and LEM. I am about to fly a helicopter to Alaska this weekend, without all my stuff. I decide to go press the trigger on the PPQ, USP LEM, and DA/SA, and I think "crap," I don't have a DA/SA gun here to compare. Figure I must have a DA/SA here somewhere, am racking my brain for a few minutes, and then realize I am, at that moment, carrying a DA/SA Langdon Beretta mod 4.

Of course, the reason I forgot I was carrying a DA/SA, was that I don't think in terms of carrying a DA/SA, striker or LEM. I just think in terms of pressing the trigger as fast as I can, without disturbing the sights for the target I am trying to hit, and that doesn't change between striker, DA/SA or LEM.

And what is it that effects how fast you can press the trigger, without disturbing the sights? It is, of course, grip. The harder you hold the pistol, the more you can get away with, on the trigger. (The red dot pistol constantly reminds the shooter of this, because when the dot is wiggling more, you need to grip more, and miraculously, the dot settles down.) Discussing trigger press without discussing grip, is incomplete, because they are so interrelated.

Considering shooting low prob targets with one hand, using just two fingers to hold the pistol. You need a careful press, because you don't have your support hand to grip the crap out of the pistol. Contrast that with shooting a pistol in a ransom rest, where trigger press is pretty unimportant, because it won't cause the sights to move. Now consider all the variations between shooting with just one hand and a few fingers, and having a ransom rest grip like Robert Vogel. It is easy to see how trigger press discussions get so convoluted, and different people can believe different things.

So what does this have to do with the LAV video and recoil control? The same grip that allows you to press the trigger more aggressively also keeps the pistol flatter. Larry may well be describing trigger technique that works for his grip. I went and did screenshots from four recent videos, shooting a Walther Q5. Looking for the apex of my muzzle rise, in each instance, my slide was significantly flatter than Larry. Larry is a bigger guy than me, and I assume much stronger than me. However, my slide was flatter, despite the Q5 weighing substantially less than a Brig Tac.

Lots of words to say, that grip, recoil control and trigger press are related.

[Jared]

Someone, OP maybe, asked about the rowing thing with the DA press. Rowing, rolling, what you want to call it, is mostly an admonishment to not try to stage the DA press. Basically, press it all the way through in a smooth continuous motion, don't try to stop at the last bit before the hammer falls and then smash that last little bit "right now."

I've never been formally trained in the flip and press, but I'd bet it's pretty close to what I do. I don't try to ride the reset or any of that, just move my finger forward during recoil and start the next trigger press.

I think, and have said before, people get a little too hung up on DA/SA and turn it into a boogeyman that it's just not. Like mastery of any type of handgun or trigger system or just mastering shooting in general, it takes time and diligent practice.

[breakingtime91]

Can we split LAV and his recoil control into another thread then? If not, since it's my thread, can I request to have it closed?

So no?

[RJ]

I'm not GJM, by any stretch, but: same for me.

Which is weird, because I am so new in terms of shooting.

I only have a VP9 and a P30SK, but it seems to me I shoot them the same.

I mean, once I figured out the best way to hold two handed: I just grip the snot out of the gun, and try and press the trigger rapidly all the way to the rear without the sights moving.

I shoot "The Test" a lot, and don't believe I'm much different Shooting my SFA vs. my hammer.

I hadn't thought about LEM vs SFA quite like this before. So, good thread.

[JSGlock34]

I really enjoy shooting my Wilson Combat/Beretta Brigadier Tactical 92G, but its DA pull with a 13# mainspring and trigger job is a far cry from the beat-up M9 with a 20# mainspring that was my first DA experience. I agree that TDA isn't the voodoo that it is often made out to be, but I think both instruction of the technique and the equipment have come a long way.