Ninety percent of shooting is trigger control

[cheby]

P.S. Do you find that content behind that paywall is worth paying for?

I think it is worth $25 a month to explore the content during that time. That is what I did. Not sure if I want to do it longer yet. I may change my mind later

[David S.]

In lieu of any productive content.



Sorry Tom. Couldn't resist.

[Clusterfrack]

Is that really true? It is not like nothing acts on a gun when shot's fired. Recoil spring pushes slide forward and uses the same leverage in the opposite direction. I mean, we have a whole industry making low power recoil springs to prevent over-dipping.

P.S. Do you find that content behind that paywall is worth paying for?

Unless you’ve got an open gun with a comp, I think it’s true. Hwansik’s Measurement Drill explores this.

Yes, the basic PSTG is worth it just for Ben’s match walkthroughs.

[guymontag]

So believing in the first post and wanting to make it actionable:

Find the “stages” in your particular trigger?

Dry fire and live fire on small targets focusing on the trigger press only?

Dry and live fire drills of “on the beep, sweep the trigger as fast as possible without disturbing the sights”? Starting at full prep? Pinned back? Full reset? Or full draw and pull trigger on blank wall within 1.2 seconds?

I’ve watched these popular videos discussing theory and listened to the podcast but would like some detailed drills if y’all have any.

[GJM]

In lieu of any productive content.



Sorry Tom. Couldn't resist.

Astro approves of this message.

[LSP552]

@GJM

We must be talking past each other about recoil control. The gun won’t return itself after it lifts! We have to do that using muscles. Now if you mean fighting the recoil as it happens... that’s not what I’m talking about.

^ I think this one of the best statements in the thread. You can’t stop recoil with strength, muscle or stance. You can influence recoil while it’s happening, but I’ve never had much success really trying to muscle the gun. Actively driving the gun back on target is different than trying to hold it on target.

[runcible]

Actively driving the gun back on target is different than trying to hold it on target.

I think this is a very interesting point for you to be making, and I'd like to read more of your thoughts on the matter if you were of the mind to write them out.

[LSP552]

I think this is a very interesting point for you to be making, and I'd like to read more of your thoughts on the matter if you were of the mind to write them out.

Sure, here are a few thoughts. Probably most important is that there are very few things in shooting that are one way only. We hear, see and process thoughts and things differently and we are all physically different. I’m a strong believer that what works best for some, won’t work best for others.

Having said that, most people I’ve worked with don’t show their best results when trying to physically muscle keeping the gun on target. Grip (strong/firm), stance, forearms, etc. all contribute to helping mitigate recoil, but IMO, physically trying to force the gun to stay on target isn’t a best practice.

@Clusterfrack’s comment about driving the gun after recoil and back down is spot on IMO. I want to be an active participant returning the sight back into the notch. I find the timing of helping return the front sight much easier than trying to muscle the gun in place.

Balance grip, stance, tension so that they still allow the trigger finger to work independently. I find it’s impossible for me to try and force the gun to stay still and keep any trigger dexterity at all. It is possible for me to help return the front sight into the notch and maintain an isolated trigger press.

[Clobbersaurus]

Two questions for the serious shooters here:

1) Do you complete pure non-timed accuracy drills/tests in every live fire session?
2) Do you complete trigger control drills during every dry practice session?

I shoot B8’s at 25 yards during every live practice session, which works out to be about 50 rounds per session. So I spend about 20% of my total ammo budget on accuracy related work.

For dry practice I do two trigger control drills each and every session; the wall drill, and an accuracy drill I don’t really have a name for, which is just drawing as fast as I can to a low percent target (usually a dot on the wall) and breaking a shot as soon as I have a decent sight picture. The focus of this drill is to watch the front sight and impart as little movement to it as I can with a “full speed” press. This is not a pure accuracy drill as I do it to break the habit of drawing slow and aiming slow on low % shots. I usually use a .5 second par and try to have the whole process competed at the end of the second beep, so about .8 par overall. I do 100% focus on imparting as little sight movement as possible with my trigger press, and not so much attention on the sight picture being perfect.

[randyflycaster]

To me it seems the best shooters manage recoil very well, in that the gun hardly moves after the shot breaks. When I shoot the muzzle flips up too much. I think my shooting problems are more about recoil control than about trigger press.

Randy