Shooting is actually a fairly straightforward process. In order to shoot any firearm well, all one has to do is simply align the sights (assuming they are set properly) with the intended target and press the trigger without greatly disturbing that sight alignment! On the surface this appears to be relatively simple, right? Then why are there so many misses in some of the gunfights that we hear about? Many of the shootings which I have studied or testified upon involve numerous misses—
sometimes far more misses than hits. There are many reasons for this.
Unrealistic and improper training prior to a field encounter is one reason for so many misses. If you are not trained for what you will actually encounter in the field then how can you be expected to perform properly? This would be analogous to learning to drive a stick shift Volkswagen Bug and then being thrown into a Formula One race car at Le Mans and wondering why you crashed and burned at the first turn. You trained to one standard when another, much higher standard was called for! Other reasons include the variety of field situations, making it difficult to train for every possibility. Degradation of fine motor skills under stress also contributes to flawed performance in the field. There are many, many other reasons as well but for now however, we will concentrate on one of the most common faults in field shootings which lead to missed shots: the improper trigger press, especially when applied in a stressful situation.
The skills discussed in this book are all perishable. They must be practiced again and again over a protracted period of time, and they must be practiced enough to be reliable under the most stressful of conditions. None of the shooting skills are automatically ingrained in us. They are trained to, refined and practiced. The difference between gunfighting skills and those of a golfer, skier or musician is that you are betting your life on gunfighting skills. Do not delude yourself with the nonsense that one lesson from ‘so and so’ will transform you into an accomplished gunfighter. This has never been the case and never will be. Nothing that I know of in life which is worthwhile can be learned from one simple lesson. It takes time and dedication to become proficient.
Gunfights are messy and violent and generally they do not allow for warm-ups or to
achieve a psychological ‘happy place’ before you get into it. The pressure to make correct decisions is intense and such decisions will come at a rather fast and furious pace. Bear in mind the following fact: fine motor skills—that is, precise control over finger and hand movements—may be some of the first skills to ‘go south’ so to speak. Therefore the trigger press which must often be of a refined nature is a prime candidate for degradation. Regardless of how solid your stance is and how well the sights are aligned, a bad trigger press will make a total mess of things. The trigger press is extremely critical to effective shooting and is especially so in gunfighting.
A perfect, pristine trigger press is simply one that, while being applied, does not cause the pistol to move in any way, shape or form. The trigger press is applied in a straight, rearward
direction with no lateral distortion whatsoever. The trigger is not being ‘raked’ to one side or the other. It is a trigger press—not a trigger pull. You are pressing against the trigger not pulling on it and there is a difference. The connotation of a proper trigger press is that amount of pressure smoothly and steadily applied by the shooter against the surface of the trigger straight to the rear to cause the sear to release. Technically, the ‘trigger pull’ refers to the amount of mechanical pressure required (measured in pounds) to cause a trigger to travel and then release the sear allowing the hammer or firing pin to then strike the primer.
This ‘non-movement’ of the pistol as the trigger press is applied can be very closely
approximated by applying a smooth and steadily increasing pressure to the trigger as the pistol sights are continuously adjusted to maintain alignment with the target in the time span available for taking any given shot. When starting out, the shooter must by necessity take the time to ensure that the trigger is slowly and evenly pressed. You need to be patient and not rush the shot as this will only serve to spoil it. One of the best mental images as an aid to accomplishing a good trigger press is as follows.
Imagine a thin glass rod in a vertical position, fixed at both ends. Now imagine your trigger finger pressing against this rod, smoothly increasing the tension until the glass rod suddenly breaks at its shear point. This could be referred to as a ‘surprise break’ and the term is applicable to the
unexpected release of the sear in a pistol trigger mechanism as well. The release of the sear allows the hammer to move forward striking the firing pin which in turn, strikes the primer and ignites the powder and sends the projectile through the bore. A perfect trigger press is ‘crystalline’ in nature and pure. This trigger break arrives without anticipation. The trigger press is simply smoothly and
steadily applied until the trigger ‘breaks.’ It is true that with much practice you will develop a fairly good feel for the point where the trigger break will occur with a particular pistol yet you must still always avoid anticipating the shot.
The opposite of a good trigger press would be ‘mashing’ or jerking the trigger, which in turn disrupts the pistol’s orientation in space which then misaligns the sights with the target. There are many causes for jerking or mashing the trigger, such as stress, degraded motor skills, anticipation of the shot, anticipation of recoil, anticipation of the gunshot report itself, and finally the erroneous belief that you can suddenly jump on the trigger when the sights are properly aligned without moving the pistol. Remember that there must be a level of delicacy and deliberate finite skill applied to the trigger press even in violent confrontations.
Many shooters don’t realize that they’re jerking or mashing the trigger, even when the
downrange results make it obvious. (This is usually evidenced by impacts low of the intended mark.) They state emphatically that their barrels are burned out, their sights are misaligned, the pistol itself is inherently inaccurate, or they have a bad batch of cartridges or massive wind shear exists between themselves and the downrange target. If you can name the excuse—I’ve heard it. If I then shoot these same pistols and the result is a tight grouping of the shots, and the shooter is utilizing the sights properly it is then clear that the shooter’s trigger press is defective. The reason that most shooters can’t identify an improper trigger press is due to the fact that the onset of recoil is instantaneous. In other words, the instantaneous recoil of the pistol to the rear or towards the shooter ‘masks’ the fact that the shooter did in fact jerk or slam into the trigger which causes the muzzle to dip. In essence, the recoil has instantly pushed back into the trigger mashing or jerk exhibited on the trigger at the exact same moment and hides this trigger press fault. The slighter the ‘mashing’ the less noticeable to the shooter that this shooting fault is.
We incorporate a specific ‘hands-on’ drill with shooter’s who exhibit a trigger press fault.
We allow them to fire the pistol without them specifically knowing the condition of the pistol as we conduct this drill. In other words, they do not know whether the pistol will discharge or not. What invariably occurs is that the shooter’s pistol dips down appreciably if they improperly press the trigger on an empty chamber. This improper trigger press is now readily apparent and we can then take the necessary steps to correct the problem.
What portion of my trigger finger should I use to press the trigger? This will always be dependent on the model of pistol being utilized and the dimensions of the shooter’s hands. If at all
possible the pad of the trigger finger should be utilized. This renders a more definitive ‘feel’ and accurately vectored pressure delivered to the trigger. Since the trigger on semiautomatics only has to move a fraction of an inch when staged in a single action mode (on my 1911 styled .45 auto, the trigger only moves 1/16th of an inch to release the sear) I do not need anything more than the pad of my finger to exhibit fine pressure to the trigger. On double action revolvers though, the interior portion of the first joint of trigger finger would be properly utilized as the trigger travel is much
longer (about an inch on some models) and the finger pressure required is considerably more to cause the trigger to travel the entire trigger stroke. The interior of the first joint of the trigger finger on a revolver affords more controlled leverage than the pad of the finger. Thus between the single action semi-auto and the revolver, there are two different positions of the trigger finger on the trigger.
On double action semi-autos the first shot is double action only and every shot thereafter is in a single action mode as the hammer has been set to a cocked position after the first shot is fired.
The pad of the finger should be utilized for both the double action trigger press and all single action trigger presses thereafter. It is impractical to utilize the interior portion of the first joint of the trigger finger for the first shot and then re-configure the trigger finger to position the pad of the finger on the trigger for follow up shots. Most gunfights will simply not afford the shooter such forgiving time latitudes.
There are, also what I term hybrid triggers which are not quite single action and not quite double actions. They are a hard to describe mix between the two. On such pistols I would still recommend the pad of the finger as the optimum choice of trigger finger placement.
In any regard, one should always opt for that finger placement which affords the greatest control and greater feel for the trigger. With a little bit of experimentation all shooters can find this optimum trigger finger placement irrespective of the pistol employed. Within many agencies a designated pistol is required for field use and it may not ‘fit’ the shooter’s hand very well. LAPD experienced this with smaller stature officers utilizing the Beretta 92F. The only advice I can give is that you must practice diligently to work yourself into the pistol or, push for a change in those pistol models allowed.
Trigger finger position without the formulated intention to shoot—If, your sights are not lined up on your target and you do not intend to shoot, your trigger finger should be positioned outside the trigger guard and extended straight forward along the pistol frame, pressing against it, directly above the trigger guard.
Trigger finger position when intending to shoot—If your sights are lined up on your target or are just shy of this point, and you are intending to shoot, your trigger finger should be on the trigger itself with all slack removed from the trigger. The trigger finger and its exact position upon the trigger is determined by the type of trigger action your pistol has.