Hizzie hit on it. Staging is context dependent.
Here’s a context where I most frequently find myself staging:
25+ yard shots with a J-frame.
I think of staging like I do cocking the hammer on a DA revolver. It’s largely irrelevant, but may be useful. It is, however, an advanced trigger control technique. And it takes a lot of dryfire and livefire to do it reliably. It’s not something to bother with, until you can call your shots reliably shooting DA.
Thanks for all the replies... To be more specific, just like Jay asked, my revolver shooting is range use only... Targetshooting and some combatstyle competition, for lack of a better word..
Your trigger stroke should be tied to the placement of your front sight in the acceptable target area. You shouldn't consciously stage a revolver trigger... just tie your pull speed to (a) your ability to keep the front sight in acceptable alignment and (b) the precision needed to make the shot.Originally Posted by Jumme
If your trigger has a heavy break, and that heaviness is causing you to stage on slower, more precision-oriented shots, then I would have the revolver worked over by a qualified gunsmith to the extent such work is legal in your country.
A DAO competition revolver trigger should be smooth without excessive stacking, and the break point should not be a second "trigger press" unto itself (e.g. 3+ pounds heavier than the rest of the trigger stroke).
Well, you may be a man. You may be a leprechaun. Only one thing’s for sure… you’re in the wrong basement.
When I was growing up in the early 1960's, I learned much about marksmanship by reading the masters. One was Paul B. Weston who wrote books and articles presenting shooting techniques for police officers. This was the age of revolvers. I urge you to consult these and others. I studied double action shooting under two men who were on the Texas Dept Of Corrections pistol team that won a Nat'l Championship. One of these men was a retired Air Force cop who shot on the AF team his entire career. They taught me a pull through technique where I developed a rhythm that prevented jerky motion. I mastered it by dry firing at the 7 yard line and also dry firing in front of a full length mirror.
The K frame revolver is the world's best double action revolver. It's size and mechanics are the reasons. The shooter can experiment with different stocks or grips as well as hand positioning. Once learned, double action shooting permits most accurate shooting. I seldom use the single action feature, and when I do, I am playing. This statement applies to K and J frame revolvers. Arthritis has limited my shooting N frame magnums, and I no longer practice with them. For this reason, when shooting at animals, I limit shots to 60 yards and use single action tecnique.
I have staged the trigger but my mentors taught me that it is poor technique. For me it is. I always taught others to avoid doing so because by using it we now have two methods. We do best when we simplify.
Last edited by willie; 11-04-2019 at 09:46 AM. Reason: removing icon
I don't stage. But, I have heard from JJ Racaza that it is critical. He's a champion badass and I am a middling shooter, so take it for what it is worth.
In the UK, folks probably aren't doing much combat shooting.
Group shooting with a revolver requires practice, lots of it. Just practice your trigger stroke, a tip I learned years ago was to just say, "STROKE" outloud at the speed you need to stroke the trigger to not disrupt the sights, with the hard "K" hitting your lips about when the trigger breaks. It gives you a sense of timing. It's just like a coxswain saying, "Stroke. Stroke. Stroke. Stroke." when a crew is rowing.
It's not more complicated than that. Just stroke the trigger without disrupting the sights. Later you can S-T-R-O...to "the stage" and K-E the press and practice your trick shots.
Staging has limited practical purposes, but the most practical of them is long-range precision shooting.
An addendum: Colt triggers "stack" and get heavier through the pull (has a certain logic to it when "keep your finger on the trigger while holding someone at gunpoint" was standard doctrine/practice for LE). Rugers and Smiths don't do this. My Smiths are tuned such that staging is an active detriment to consistentcy and accuracy. If I have a pinpoint shot to make, I will go SA. (Which I have done for "warning shots" for canines)
Addendum #2: combat or range, less thinking=better shooting. Forget that staging exists. Also, never watch anyone demonstrate how to induce revolver malfunctions. Just pull-through; unless the revolver breaks, it works.
REPETITION CREATES BELIEF
REPETITION BUILDS THE SEPARATE WORLDS WE LIVE AND DIE IN
NO EXCEPTIONS
This. Even back in the PPC world, most of the competitors didn’t really stage their triggers. Those that did, typically would have a small eraser on the back of the trigger to act as a compressible trigger stop. That would allow you to feel the stage, pause then break the shot.
I was a middle of the pack Master class shooter but rubbed shoulders with some very talented revolver shooters. The LSP pistol team leader was LT. Ed Nikon. Ed was also the firearms training unit supervisor for many years and a holder of a number of National records. I was taught to very the speed of the press but not stop. The 50 yard line is unforgiving of bad trigger manipulations so the speed of your press wasn’t the same as on the 7 yard line.
LSP972 was another phenomenal shooter with revolver and pistol. A PPC High Master and 1490 club member. Steve would have a stroke if you started talking about stoping and staging a trigger. Miss you Dude.
Last edited by LSP552; 11-04-2019 at 07:19 PM.
If staging might be slowing down slightly(sometimes)as the arc reaches the end of its travel, then I see his point. However, he has credentials, and I comment without any, so I had best crawl back under the porch and let the big dogs run.
I say pull straight through. But then I learned DA trigger control shooting Police PPC in the mid-1970s. The masters of that game shot DA even at 50 yards.
Dave
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