I mostly shoot a beretta 92 w/ all the LTT NP3 trigger parts. So it's a DA first shot but the DA is nothing like it used to be. I don't even think about whether I prep the trigger or not. I have had a couple of unintended early shots but they have all been on the target cardboard just not in the circle or rectangle. Also I carry an M&P compact and my wife a Glock 19-4. I thought both triggers too light for carry as received so I changed both to get a heavier pre-travel. The M&P was a one time deal of installing an Apex Duty/Carry kit. The Glock was a many experiments thing so what I found might help you. You can go all the way from a very heavy NY trigger to a trigger that has no noticeable wall, just a constant pull like a DA pistol. I ended up w/ a NY trigger spring which increases the weight of the pre-travel and would also increase the weight of the final pull to fire the round but.... that is fixed by one of the common 3.5# connectors. I wonder if one of these options might help you to worry less.
Speed:
Take for example someone who is conditioned to prep the trigger. I've seen shooters who prep the trigger then mentally go through the press, press, press attempting to let the gun surprise them. They attempt filter out the possibility of anticipation e.g. flinching with the prep through press technique. Many of those shooters when asked to speed up will go into active measures of recoil control before the shot breaks. They can't deviate from their program without experiencing timing issues.
Self Defense:
Do you really want a finger on the trigger when someone's pucker factor is gone full tilt? There is no defense for "accidentally shooting someone".
In general it is a really preferable to have one trigger press technique and that technique ideally is one continuous motion when the decision is made to fire the weapon.
There are 2 definitions for trigger press. Interrupted (staging) & Uninterrupted. One is correct and the other is incorrect. Once you touch the trigger you continue to exert pressure to the rear. Smooth steady pressure to the rear making every effort not to disturb the lay of the sights.
Thanks for the replying! Just a couple of thoughts/counterpoints though:
So far as speed, I believe that what you're describing is a failure of training and not a failure of the technique. many professionals utilize trigger prepping. At the highest levels It's a viable technique. Also i don't believe in anyone outside of an absolute beginner letting the gun surprise them, at least in the context of olympic style pistol shooting.. When I instruct It's not a phrase that I use unless I'm working with someone who has very little natural aptitude for shooting pistols.
I understand the thought process there and agree with it to a point. It takes a lot of time, a lot of control, and not just in your drawstroke and trigger finger to appropriately handle any self defense situation. That being said I don't have an issue presenting without my trigger prepped. If the decision to shoot hasn't been made I don't touch the trigger. Everything is a matter of training and understanding why we do things.
I should say that I'm speaking more about the practice of prepping the trigger under recoil, and not prepping during your drawstroke. I do believe that there is a time and place for that, but it definitely isn't something I do all the time.
Thanks again for the reply brother.
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If I recall Todd's reasoning correctly the purpose of the Press Out was to get/verify sight alighment/sight picture earlier in the presentation so he could get the trigger movement started earlier without violating the Rules. Sights were aligned and on target and at eye level much earlier. Decision to fire taken earlier. It also worked with the Larry Mudgett rear sight rock up that @Daryl Bolke put me onto. So it was easy to adopt.
I also taught "until the sights are on target and the decision has been made to fire".
Also, I was initially taught an early version of the press out, with a four point draw. Obviously sight alignment and picture are grabbed at the very end, just before lockout, so the trigger press was completed at lockout. Joints lock just as the hammer falls. Modified Weaver was mandatory. This was given in-service training when I was still a rookie to a bunch of new cops almost evenly slpit between TDA Sigs and Glocks. It worked for most of us. Now with @SouthNarc's thumb pec index, I would be happy to teach a separate close quarter draw and a regular draw to extension for challenge/fire.
Sights aligned with target does not necessarily mean in line with the eye. Since before my career started the state mandated qual started with 8% of your rounds from the rock and lock at 1 yard. Until I started putting lasers on my work gun there was no visual alignment. Body index was what was needed. Another thing is differentiating a draw to fire situation, and a draw to challenge situation. Lots of people connect their draw to a fire, and in more than 25 years of pointing guns at people firing is the rare exception. But, odds and stakes....
ETA: when I went from a TDA Sig to a 1911 there were a bunch of early shots landing in the pelvis/groin. That is why it is a bad idea to switch between platforms without some familiarizing/re familiarizing. It is the nature of the beast.
pat
Last edited by UNM1136; 05-17-2021 at 06:25 PM.