Trigger Control

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Adam67
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Trigger Control

Post by Adam67 » Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:44 pm

I'm now at a point were if I concentrate and slowly pull the trigger until I get a surprise break and can get all ten in the black on slow fire. Now I've heard from many about getting that surprise break , and it's any easy thing to do on slow fire. But are people actually getting a surprise break on rapid fire? I can't see it. You've got ten seconds to get of 5 shots. Seems to me you need to purposefully pull that trigger. Of course thats were I run into trouble. I can't maintain that same fine trigger control under rapid fire conditions. Do I just need more practice? Can you purposefully pull the trigger quickly and maintain perfect sight alignment?

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Bullseye
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Post by Bullseye » Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:32 pm

In order to shoot bullseye successfully you must have a surprise break every time, this includes the timed and rapid fire strings. Accomplishing this is not difficult but it takes a technique different from slow fire.

To get a surprise break on every shot, one must depress the trigger in a manner that allows the pistol to fire, not make it fire. In slow fire there is no time element to break a shot, so a shooter can depress the trigger in a manner of linear progression until the shot breaks. The problem with this method is - it can take a long time for the shot to finally break and many things can happen before the trigger breaks. If a shooter has a two pound trigger in a pistol, and applies force at a 1/3 pound per second rate on the trigger, it will take six seconds at that rate for that shooter to break the shot. So the problem is - how to reduce the overall time it takes to break the shot without losing the element of a surprise break. All this before physical factors take over and cause the sight alignment to go south before a shot breaks.

In timed and rapid fire, the element of a time limit is mentally challenging for a novice linear trigger control shooter. To overcome this problem the shooter has to find a method to greatly reduce the time it takes to break a shot without jerking the trigger. This method requires the shooter to take up some of the trigger's weight without firing the shot - this is called "initial pressure". If a shooter can apply 70% of the trigger's weight initially and hold it, then he can apply the rest at a linear rate until the shot breaks. So using this method, a shooter applies approximately 1.5 pounds of initial pressure as soon as his front sight hits paper and holds it. Not aligned on the target, just on paper. Then he starts applying more pressure at a linear rate. Something on the order of 1/4 pound per second. Then the shooter concentrates exclusively on the sight alignment, all while still applying the linear trigger pressure. As the sights align up the shot breaks, and of course it is a surprise because the shooter has been concentrating on his sight alignment not breaking the trigger. It will be a good shot and only have taken approximately 1-2 seconds to break. Even if the sights aren't completely aligned they will be close enough that the shot will be in the black - as long as the shooter did not squash the trigger in the final moments of sight alignment. Then the shooter repeats this technique throughout the successive shots of the string.

Using the initial pressure method takes some time and mental discipline to develop. The shooter cannot think about time - at all. The shooter must apply the initial pressure to the trigger and then exclusively concentrate on sight alignment, all while steadily applying more pressure to fire the shot. The trigger doesn't stop moving once the initial pressure is applied but it doesn't move at the same rate through the shot string.

One may ask how does applying the initial pressure guarantee a surprise shot every time? The answer is simple, no one can consistently take up the exact amount of pressure every time. As such, the initial pressure will vary a little between each shot and therefore the shooter can not anticipate the shot break. This is how a shot is a surprise each time.

It takes lots of practice for a novice to develop this method for shooting sustained fire strings. But once you develop this skill, you will be shooting expert and master level scores in no time.

Hope this helps.

R,
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Adam67
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Post by Adam67 » Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:02 pm

Yep....that's what I was looking for. Your information will be VERY useful for my future Timed & Rapid fire training. Thank you.

Got chance to practice just a little last night. Worked on pre-loading the trigger. Had some misfires of course but overall it went very well. My best was a 96 rapid fire......which is by far my best ever. I also made a change in where my trigger finger rests on the trigger. I have jumped on "Zins's" grip and I like the new grip.....however he also recommends putting your trigger finger in centered over the first joint. I tried that for a bit but pulling back to the edge of the first joint is working better for me.

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Hardball
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Post by Hardball » Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:57 am

What Mr Bullseye says is right on. But keep the trigger moving. Don't mentally fall to steps at a time with initial pressure, then more pressure. Don't get hung up on time. The whole pull is continuous once started. Some Masters and High masters I have seen "pump the trigger" as they set up. If pumping does not wreck the alignment they continue on through as the sight picture completes.

The thing about T&R is you need to have a good hold that promotes control in recoil and a smooth quick recovery. A lot of that is muscle memory. As your sight picture redevelops the trigger should be moving again.

By surprise break they mean unanticipated. The shot does not end with a surprise. It goes on into your follow through. The so called surprise just "happened" during the process.

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