TRIGGER CONTROL

Shooting a firearm is not overly complicated, but shooting a firearm accurately can be.

Regardless of what kind of gun you are shooting, they all have one thing in common: a trigger. The trigger is often only given a fleeting thought by the shooter while aiming, but it is the most important part of shooting. After all, you can’t make the firearm go “bang” without pulling the trigger and you can’t hit your target if you do it incorrectly.

There is a lot that goes into shooting a gun, but whether it’s a rifle, shotgun or handgun, all of them fire by pulling a trigger. The basic concept of a trigger is that it is a lever that is pulled, putting pressure on or disengaging the sear, which is another lever that then releases a spring. This causes the firing pin to strike the primer of the cartridge, causing it to fire.

There are two different ways that the spring causes the firing pin to move. One is a spring putting tension on a hammer that is then released and it strikes a pin or has a point on the hammer itself that strikes the primer. This is most common in singleshot rifles, muzzleloaders and some handguns, such as the model 1911 and all revolvers. The other way is a spring-loaded firing pin, also known as a striker, is released and moves forward, striking the primer. This is most commonly found in bolt-action rifles, pump and semiauto shotguns, and semiauto handguns and rifles.

There are also two primary types of actions or trigger groups that are used. The first is the single-action, which is where you cock the hammer (like most muzzleloaders and 1911-style handguns) or a springloaded firing pin (such as a bolt-action rifle) and simply apply light pressure on the trigger to disengage the sear. This releases the stored energy of the spring on the hammer or firing pin, moving it forward and causing the gun to fire. The second action is called the double-action, and this is where one pull of the trigger both cocks the firearm and releases the hammer or firing pin. Most revolvers are both double- and single-action, meaning you can do either with them. The semiauto firearm often uses gases or internal springs that cock the action after each shot by mechanical means.

Depending on which action – either single or double – you are shooting can determine how you pull the trigger. The trigger also has what is known as “travel,” which is how far or “long” you have to pull the trigger before it fires, and “overtravel,” which is how far the trigger can continue to be pulled after the gun fires. For semiauto handguns, there is also trigger reset, which is where it reengages the sear and is ready to fire again.

One other factor is how much force it takes to pull the trigger, which is measured in foot-pounds and is often called “trigger pull.” Most single-action handguns have a trigger pull of 3 to 5 pounds, while most hunting rifles have a trigger pull of 2 to 5 pounds. Double-actions have trigger pulls from 8 to 11 pounds, but there are some variations of this as well, depending on manufacturer. Handguns rarely have adjustable triggers, while some hunting rifles have easy-to-adjust triggers. Almost all guns can be fitted with an after-market trigger if you find the one you have is just too hard to shoot accurately.

THAT IS THE basic concept of how a trigger works, but it is the pulling or controlling of the trigger that can affect accuracy. A common bad shooting habit is jerking the trigger, where the shooter moves their trigger finger quickly and yanks on the trigger hard, causing the gun to move around while firing. A smooth and steady trigger pull is the key to shooting accurately as you steady the firearm.

Nearly 30 years ago I found myself in the quartermaster’s office as a newly hired police recruit. The quartermaster was a salty cop, one who had been removed from the streets either for his own safety or for the safety of others, but he knew his stuff when it came to equipment.

All of us new recruits were issued our gear, including uniforms, gun belt, baton, handcuffs and our duty handgun. Back then, the department had just transitioned from a Glock to the Beretta model 96D, with the “D” standing for “double-action only.” The rumor was that the change was made because an officer accidentally fired his weapon while climbing over a fence and had it in his hand. The knee-jerk reaction was to issue a gun that was harder to fire, and so the double-action Beretta became standard issue.

I will admit that I did not give it much thought at the time, but that old streetwise officer pulled us aside. He gave a piece of advice that later saved me and almost cost a fellow recruit his job. The quartermaster explained how the double-action worked, which was that 11 pounds of pressure had to be pulled by your finger on the trigger with no way to cock the hammer; just pull it back and it would eventually go “bang.” Two problems: the 11 pounds of pull weight and the extremely long trigger travel. Both caused hand fatigue and made for an “inaccurate” gun. In reality the gun was very accurate, but it took so much strength to fire it that most shooters pulled the gun off target before the firing pin struck the primer.

To overcome this, the quartermaster suggested a drill. We were told to put a quarter – yes, a 25cent piece – on top of the slide of the handgun and, while empty, aim it at a small target and pull the trigger. The suggestion was to point the gun at something exceedingly small in a safe direction and see if you could keep the front sight on the object or aiming point and repeatedly pull the trigger without knocking off the quarter. He added that if you could do this 10 times in a row, then you would have the “feel” of the trigger and be able to shoot the handgun accurately. It took me months of practice to be able to reach the goal of 10 trigger pulls without the quarter falling, but when it came down to the final qualifications at the academy, I passed with excellence, shooting well above 90 percent. My classmate, who thought he knew more about the Beretta than anybody else since he shot one in the U.S. Army, barely passed. This was because he was used to the model 92F, a single-action handgun that has a much easier and lighter single-stage trigger once cocked.

THIS IS WHERE I began to learn the importance of pulling the trigger to shoot accurately. Poundage is a key factor in precise shooting. Some benchrest shooters and oldtime snipers from the Civil War used a two-stage trigger that had a “set trigger” and then the main trigger. By pulling the set trigger, you reduced the poundage and trigger travel on the main trigger, making it a “hair trigger.” That term most likely came from the lack of travel or the need to only pull the trigger as slight as a hair is thick.

Very few firearms today use set triggers, but most hunting rifles and some after-market triggers allow the shooter to set the poundage. By shooting a light trigger, you can fire the weapon without having to impart much pull on it. This is imperative for light rifles such as the many sub-6pound rifles on the market today used by backcountry hunters. The harder or more poundage it takes to pull the trigger, the more likely you will move the firearm while shooting it. But there is such a thing as “too light” of a trigger, keeping in mind that it is a mechanical lever that is engaged with the sear. If the trigger does not have enough resistance or poundage, then you can fire it too soon, or worse yet, cause it to fire when it is not safe to do so. This highlights the importance of keeping your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. A good “safe” trigger weight of pull is around

3 pounds, which can be easily pulled by the index finger and not cause movement of the firearm.

Trigger travel, or “trigger creep,” is the length that the trigger travels before it disengages the sear. Often this small gap is lighter than the weight of the trigger poundage and is easier to pull. The exception to this is with the double-actions, where the poundage is steady throughout the travel. When shooting a firearm with a longer trigger creep, it can cause the shooter mental fatigue. This is especially true in precision shooting when you are pulling on the trigger just waiting for it to go off, often holding your breath, which causes muscle fatigue and shaking. When it comes to handguns, trigger travel can also cause you to push the firearm forward as you anticipate recoil. If you are shooting good groups but they are low, it is likely that you are pushing the handgun forward as you pull the trigger.

The break of the trigger is when it finally goes bang. This is the pivotal moment of firing the weapon. If you have ever shot a Glock, then you know that distinctive trigger break. Pull lightly until you hit the “wall” and then apply just enough pressure to cause the trigger to break. The wall, or trigger break, is something the shooter should be cognizant of because if you pay attention to the trigger break then you are concentrating on the shot. It shouldn’t be a surprise when the firearm fires. For the handgun hunter, this means keeping the front sight on target, and for the scoped or red-dot optical shooter, this is the concentration of the reticle on target as you pull through the wall.

Overtravel is what happens after pulling the trigger through the wall and it fires. Shooters who jerk the trigger can cause movement of the firearm, especially during overtravel; this is most common with doubleaction firearms, as now the trigger pull goes from hard to noticeably light. Another way the shooter can cause inaccuracy is to pull the firearm or tilt it just as it fires and before the bullet leaves the barrel. This is a common occurrence in handgun and lightweight rifle shooting.

Trigger reset occurs in semiauto firearms and this is where the trigger is released and re-engages the sear so it is ready to fire again. Regarding accuracy, the trigger reset doesn’t impart too much movement of the firearm but it does make a difference for speed of followup shots. It also allows the shooter to forgo the trigger travel if you learn to stop the trigger once it resets. Let’s go back to the Glock, as their triggers are easy to learn and feel. Once you fire the handgun, you can hold the trigger and then slowly release it; you will feel a slight bump and hear a “click.” The trigger has now reset and is ready to fire, as it is already up against the wall of the trigger break. This is only about ¼ inch of movement. Once you learn to use trigger reset, you can minimize slapping the trigger or pushing forward, as there is no travel creep and you should still be on target from the first round being fired.

JUST LIKE YEARS ago when I did the quarter-on-the-slide drill for the double-action Beretta, it takes a lot of practice to control the trigger. There are several drills and it all depends on the action of the firearm. Benchrest shooters use extremely heavy rifles and set triggers with a “hair” firing trigger. Most hunters and shooters don’t have these luxuries. You can mitigate some of this by learning to take up the creep or to adjust the trigger so there is minimal travel, by choosing a light but safe trigger pull poundage, and by learning not to move the firearm during overtravel. Practice is the key after you make the adjustments to the trigger or if shooting a firearm that does not have an adjustable trigger.

A smooth, consistent trigger pull all the way through the travel, past the break and overtravel is what makes for an accurate shot.