DA Trigger Pull Differences

[M2CattleCo]

It's over travel. You have an 8lb crash into a sub-2lb pistol. If it doesn't hit exactly straight it's gonna upset the sight picture. Over travel is one, if not the hardest thing to overcome in a trigger in my opinion. It's like trying to do a smooth biceps curl where the weight abruptly vanishes towards the top of the arc.

[JAH 3rd]

Trigger pull and sight alignment is a challenge since you are doing two things at once, thus the brain is receiving input from the eye and finger, so to speak.

Let me give this non-firearm example as a means to explain the concept. When I was 18, I worked at a jewelry store part-time in my senior year in high school. Occasionally when working with small parts I wore a loupe to magnify those small parts so I could better see what I was doing. You might think that my brain would be battling between which eye to focus with. I found that I would focus with the eye I was using the loupe on. My brain ignored the input from the other eye. I was totally focused with what I was seeing through the loupe.

So when I am shooting, I try to be focused on my sight picture, that my brain with will be focused only on what I see and not what my trigger finger is doing. A caveat to note is that a lousy trigger on a firearm pulls the brain from the sight picture focus to what the trigger finger is doing. That is one reason I like DA/SA triggers because usually a SA trigger requires less movement (pull) to disengage the SA release. So I guess what I am trying to say in way too many words is that a lousy trigger takes away concentration on the sight picture and contributes to unwanted handgun movement at the time of ignition.

[MGW]

Sounds like you need to sell everything except for your HK's You have a TDA P2000? I keep coming back to this pistol as a possible hammer fired Glock alternative.

I don't have anything to add that hasn't been said already except to say I feel like SHO and WHO live fire really helps tighten up my freestyle shot groups. I even went so far as to purchase a pellet pistol so I could practice single hand stuff in my back yard. I'm not going to say I'm an expert at shooting groups now but it has helped a lot.

[JAH 3rd]

I have a HK P2000 9mm DA/SA pistol. Have around 900 rounds through it. The double action trigger pull could be lighter, but the SA pull has worn in quite nicely. Nicely enough where I can focus on my sight picture and am not distracted by what my trigger finger is doing. Now my HK USP 45 Elite has a great DA/SA trigger pull. The SA is truly sweet.

[Doc_Glock]

Sounds like you need to sell everything except for your HK's You have a TDA P2000? I keep coming back to this pistol as a possible hammer fired Glock alternative.

The P99AS is a better shooter, and as close to a TDA Glock as one can get trigger wise. The HK probably is probably better quality, but that kind of goes without saying (fanboi).

[HCountyGuy]

I used to notice the same “jump” when dry-firing the DA shot on my P229.

Haven’t noticed it on my P30 LEM. Maybe it’s why I tend to shoot it a bit better? Not a fair comparison though I’d stake.

Glad to see I’m not the only one to ever notice this though.

[Mark D]

When dry firing my P2000 LEM the "jump" is most noticeable during reset. It's very hard to avoid, unless I pin the trigger and let it out very deliberately. But I try to avoid doing that since I don't pin the trigger when I shoot.

[Doc_Glock]

3) do you notice a deflection in your POI when live firing?

I paid attention today and it seems not to affect POI nearly as much live fire as I would expect given what I see dry.

[gomerpyle]

I have a similar problem as well, with the Beretta M9a1, which has kept me from pulling the trigger on the LTT and WC Berettas. I can break the trigger freestyle without moving the sights, but NOT with either my SH or my WH. What's more, live fire with a M9a1 can be frustrating for me, with reduced accuracy even with both hands. And like you, I can pull the trigger on a P30 and USP9 SH & WH WITHOUT the sights moving, and shoot well with either platform.

I suspect the grip of the USP and the p30 lend for a clean pull. But i also suspect that overtravel also comes into play with the M9a1. the breakpoint of the trigger is later than the HKs, and at that point I suspect the arc of my finger is traveling rightward, towards my SH.

Oddly enough, that's not the case with the Vertec Berettas, which are a joy to shoot and dead accurate in my hands.

Have you tried sticking more finger on the trigger? i suspect so, but I thought Id ask.... Also, have you allowed your trigger finger to slide across the face of the trigger as you are pulling it? In his book on revolvers (whose trigger pull is akin to the DA pull as I'm sure you know), Mr. Cunningham advocates a finger slide across the trigger face, which would in turn encourage a straight pull and unmoving sights......

check out his book, and the 5:00 mark on the following video: https://gundigest.com/article/video-...n-trigger-pull

here's a link to an article written by Mr. Cunningham: https://gundigest.com/article/video-...n-trigger-pull

to be sure, Pincus is using two hands as he is firing. Ive tried it with both SHO and WHO with a 92fs, with positive results.....

I have been working with a Walther P99AS lately. I noticed that when doing a dry DA trigger pull one handed (doesn’t matter which hand), the sights jump just slightly to the side right as/after the trigger breaks. It can be challenging to control. I can control it but it takes a great deal of concentration and I do it best when I grab a ton of trigger and really sink my finger to the hilt.

My issue is: I don’t understand the cause of the little jump. The trigger gets gritty and stacks toward the end, but that is sort of typical. Weight around 8lbs. When it breaks, there is that tendency to jump. The jump is easily controlled two handed.

I dry fired a few other pistols and found the Beretta 92 variants also jump a bit in this manner. The longer, heavier Beretta is slightly easier to control, but the trigger does the same thing.

In contrast, I find the HK P30 and P2000 triggers trivial to keep on target one handed in DA. No jump whatsoever. Smooth stacking and then release.

All these pistols have about an 8 lb DA trigger.

I would really like to know why some pistols, are easier for me to control after the break. Perhaps it is over travel or grip or something else?

All these triggers can be trained with practice, but what makes the HKs such outstanding one handed performers for me on that DA pull?

Any ideas?

[Wendell]

One quick method to improvise a trigger-stop is to take a pencil and remove the eraser. Measure your trigger's overtravel before cutting the pencil eraser to the proper length. Test the pencil eraser by holding the pistol vertically, placing the eraser in the triggerguard behind the trigger to act as a trigger-stop, and dry-firing the pistol until you are satisfied that the pencil eraser is the proper length to allow proper function of the trigger and to prevent unwanted overtravel. Adjust as needed. Once you're satisfied that you have the proper length, and location, use a Sharpie to paint the pencil eraser (to match the pistol frame) and then Crazy Glue the coloured, cut-to-length, pencil eraser to the pistol frame.

I first heard of this method from G&A's 'Jim Grover' (aka Kelly McCann); it should come as no surprise that it works. The only problem with this method, from my perspective, is that it's not compliant with Production and SSP divisions; for most people, that'd be a non-issue.