[WiwiHome :: This page]

Trigger action and follow through

Most of us don’t think a lot about where we put our finger on the trigger, there are a lot of other things to think about and some times it’s a totally automatic thing. What happens is you sometimes have your finger too far through the trigger and other times just on the edge like a rifle trigger action. The ideal ‘amount’ of finger depends on what you are shooting, shooting ‘double action’ needs a little more strength and you may move your finger through to the first joint and work it there. Single action needs just the middle of the first pad on the trigger and a smooth ‘backwards’ motion on the trigger with as little sideways action as possible. Sideways movement tends to push the barrel sideways as you squeeze. The next step is possibly more important, the long slow squeeze. Once you have the right sight picture you should start a gentle, slow squeeze of the trigger. It should become a continual process of wobbling and squeezing at the same time, keeping the sights in alignment, where you want them on the target. If you do this well, you should be almost surprised when it goes bang and you should also know if you were high, low, left or right at the moment it went off, there was no conscious pull at any point.

Follow Through: Unfortunately your job does not stop with the bang. You must continue to control the handgun throughout the recoil and gently bring it back onto target before you relax. Failure to do this can result in a different amount of recoil control for each shot and a tendency to ‘relax’ and start lowering the gun before the shot has left the barrel.

Safe Shooting.

© SSPC (Vic) 2006

Last modified: 09.12.08 by mike