AAR: Sheriff of Baghdad (John McPhee) 1 Day Pistol Video Diagnostics, WV, 8/21/17

[43Under]

Feel free to ask questions or comments here, but the AAR is on my blog here:

https://civiliangunfighter.wordpress...lle-wv-082117/

[Randy Harris]

Nice write up (as usual).

My one question/mild skepticism(?) is the socket wrench thing. A socket wrench does not bend (and hook) with three index finger joints in play like a finger does and as such the wrench is really just "pressing the trigger straight to the rear". And THAT is after all what we are trying to get people to do....press the trigger straight to the rear without pushing or pulling it left or right or hooking it and "jerking it" low and left (right handers).....

I'm just not sure that using a wrench to hit a trigger really hard has anything to do with people curling their finger as they jerk the trigger. If they are pulling it STRAIGHT (like a wrench handle would) then it does not really matter how hard they do it as long as they grip the gun tight.....I'm just not sure the socket wrench illustration is a true test of whether trigger jerk is real.

[Cheap Shot]

Do you think one day is sufficient or would a 2nd day to implement what you've learned be justified?

Would you take this class again?

Thanks for doing these!

[octagon]

Nice review and details. The more I hear about McPhee the more I want to take his pistol class.

[JohnO]

Nice write up (as usual).

My one question/mild skepticism(?) is the socket wrench thing. A socket wrench does not bend (and hook) with three index finger joints in play like a finger does and as such the wrench is really just "pressing the trigger straight to the rear". And THAT is after all what we are trying to get people to do....press the trigger straight to the rear without pushing or pulling it left or right or hooking it and "jerking it" low and left (right handers).....

I'm just not sure that using a wrench to hit a trigger really hard has anything to do with people curling their finger as they jerk the trigger. If they are pulling it STRAIGHT (like a wrench handle would) then it does not really matter how hard they do it as long as they grip the gun tight.....I'm just not sure the socket wrench illustration is a true test of whether trigger jerk is real.

I get the exact same impression. Almost sounds like a parlor trick. By smacking the wrench you can get the trigger to break before anything else can happen. And like Randy pointed out it is being driven straight back.

[YVK]

Does anyone have a problem with an instruction based purely (or almost purely) on a form analysis, with form sampled with four shots and one rep of draw and reload?

[43Under]

Nice write up (as usual).

My one question/mild skepticism(?) is the socket wrench thing. A socket wrench does not bend (and hook) with three index finger joints in play like a finger does and as such the wrench is really just "pressing the trigger straight to the rear". And THAT is after all what we are trying to get people to do....press the trigger straight to the rear without pushing or pulling it left or right or hooking it and "jerking it" low and left (right handers).....

I'm just not sure that using a wrench to hit a trigger really hard has anything to do with people curling their finger as they jerk the trigger. If they are pulling it STRAIGHT (like a wrench handle would) then it does not really matter how hard they do it as long as they grip the gun tight.....I'm just not sure the socket wrench illustration is a true test of whether trigger jerk is real.

Interesting question. I suppose some might depend on exactly what a "trigger jerk" really is? How do we define it?

Personally, and I might be wrong, but I always thought of it as a very sudden squeeze. If this working definition that I already had is correct, then the socket wrench does indeed "work" to illustrate this. Likewise, if we are worried about side-to-side play due to the shape of our fingers, wouldn't a proper grip prevent that from entering the equation as well? As he illustrated in class (not mentioned in the AAR): what is stronger, your trigger finger or your two hands? If your index finger is so strong that it can outdo what your combined hands can do, you might be built strangely.

Edit to add: Thanks for the positive feedback on the overall AAR.

[43Under]

Do you think one day is sufficient or would a 2nd day to implement what you've learned be justified?

Would you take this class again?

Thanks for doing these!

Had the two-day version of this class been available, I would have taken it even without knowing exactly what was covered vis a vis the one-day. Having taken the one-day, it was great, but as mentioned in the review, I would have loved to have more reps, maybe put everything into practice shooting at greater distances, etc. I'd also love to see his take on one-handed work.

We'll see what happens when I start using his techniques in live fire, hopefully this week. Assuming I reap the benefits, I'd probably take it again, or the two day, or the even one day carbine one.

[Randy Harris]

I guess maybe my issue is there is a difference between saying something simply doesn't exist and saying it can be controlled or mitigated by death gripping the gun. Those are 2 completely different things. We KNOW it exists because we can SEE it happen. And when we see it in dry fire it darn sure isn't from recoil anticipation. And there are a lot of guys that know quite a bit about shooting at a high level that still think and teach that it exists so to say that they don't know anything (per the video from Trigger Time ) is either marketing bravado or ....who knows? Again Nice review and maybe I'd change my mind if he were saying "You can eliminate the effect of slapping the trigger by death gripping the gun" but to say trigger slap causing the gun to move is not real is totally different.

[jandbj]

I guess maybe my issue is there is a difference between saying something simply doesn't exist and saying it can be controlled or mitigated by death gripping the gun. Those are 2 completely different things. We KNOW it exists because we can SEE it happen. And when we see it in dry fire it darn sure isn't from recoil anticipation. And there are a lot of guys that know quite a bit about shooting at a high level that still think and teach that it exists so to say that they don't know anything (per the video from Trigger Time ) is either marketing bravado or ....who knows? Again Nice review and maybe I'd change my mind if he were saying "You can eliminate the effect of slapping the trigger by death gripping the gun" but to say trigger slap causing the gun to move is not real is totally different.

Rob Leatham is a world class trigger slapper. He makes it work because he's Rob Leatham though.