MARKSMANSHIP BASICS - Trigger Control

[Ian M]

I would sincerely appreciate the experienced shooters on this site giving me a few minutes so we can discuss some basics. Very simple. Please answer the following questions, doing so will provide info for new shooters and perhaps also for the experienced guys. Plus this will give me something to think about for the book I am working on.

#1 Describe what portion of the trigger finger touches the trigger. (My personal description is 'the trigger should be placed directly under the cuticle of the trigger finger'). Agree?

#2 Describe the position and tension applied by the thumb.

#3 Describe the position and tension applied by the bottom three fingers.

#4 Describe the importance of follow-through and how long you consciously remain on the trigger after the shot.

#5 Do you try to cup your palm if your stock does not have a palm swell? Some instructors teach that you should have "air in your palm", no direct contract with the pistol grip. Comments.

#6 Do you practice trigger control by dry-firing?

[ss7mm]

Hate to be first but it looks like everybody is gone for the weekend , sooooooo

1: I try to always use the same spot and for me it's just about the middle of the pad on my index finger. Right where the tip tapers down into the flat part of the pad. Never thought about the cuticle, but in looking I see that's just about the exact spot I use. I know it's hard to do with a finger that's naturally going to arc when you move it, but as much as possible I try to move the finger in a straight back motion.

2: On a stock such as the A-5 design, or similar I almost always lay my thumb loosely along the top of the grip with the tip of my thumb roughly pointing at the tang/end of the bolt. On really light weight sporter types that typically have a much thinner grip area I usually lay the thumb loosely over the top and it just hangs down as dictated by the fullness, or lack of same, in the given stock.

3: As much as possible, and as much as each gun will allow, I try to have very light tension on the bottom three fingers. Having said this, I have guns that, at least for me, need to be held tighter. I let the individual gun dictate how it wants to be held for best field accuracy. I personally find that the more tension I have in my right forearm and hand, the harder it is for me to have absolute control over my trigger finger. The less tension in my hand and forearm the easier it is for me to concentrate solely on the movement of just one finger. My thumb position usually allows me to only have light tension in my bottom fingers, and mainly I just want to keep them in place on a gun that allows me to hold it like this.

4: I probably tend to follow through more than normal. Anything less than this type of follow through and you are verging on allowing your body to move too quickly after, or even at, the time you break the shot. I joked with a buddy one time that about the only problem I could see with too much follow through would be that maybe you'd fall asleep if it was too long, too short and you 'd probably end up having your head up looking at the target when you break the shot. I believe that proper follow through keeps your thought train in line and keeps you focused on all of the things you must accomplish to make the shot. Forget about follow through and sooner or later you'll be jerking them off and snapping your head up. To sum it up, I probably follow through about 2 or 3 seconds in the firing/trigger break mode, and then I usually tend to stay in the same position to spot the shot, asses the hit, view the target area and think about corrections if necessary.

5: I don't consciously cup my hand but I believe it probably naturally happens if I'm shooting a gun that lets me hold it loosely. What I don't want to do is to cause any side pressure in any way. Everything I do is intended to apply pressure only in a front to rear direction.

6: I do practice trigger control by dry-firing, but not as much as I used to. Before leaving the truck and going in the field hunting, and prior to any range shooting I will dry fire a few. It just seems like a chance for me to get the muscle memory back and it lets me get the mental imagery where I want it.

[Buffalobob]

#1 Describe what portion of the trigger finger touches the trigger. (My personal description is 'the trigger should be placed directly under the cuticle of the trigger finger'). Agree?

Agree.

#2 Describe the position and tension applied by the thumb.

With a thumbhole stock which I really like, it seems I can get a more neutral pressure that is more aligned with the gun. For guns that are heavy or have a brake and recoil is minimal I just lay the thumb along the top of the stock pointing toward the end of the barrel. For a light rifle with significant recoil, I wrap the thumb on around

#3 Describe the position and tension applied by the bottom three fingers.

I try not to get a death grip on the stock so I don’t choke the life out of it but if there is a lot of recoil you got to get a good grip.

#4 Describe the importance of follow-through and how long you consciously remain on the trigger after the shot.

I believe what Shawn Carlock said, if you think you might miss you shouldn’t shoot. Consequently, I never immediately move off of the scope nor make any movement until I am certain that the animal is dead or for some reason I need to shoot again. Most of my rifles are single shot so I am in no rush to move off the scope and chamber a new round. If I though I was going to miss then I would buy repeater rifles.

#5 Do you try to cup your palm if your stock does not have a palm swell? Some instructors teach that you should have "air in your palm", no direct contract with the pistol grip. Comments.

I have no set preference for a palm swell nor air. My preference is for the pads for my three grip fingers to have contact and pressure. One of the problems I am having with the 40X factory stock is my trigger finger is winding up very, very, low on the trigger to the point it is making contact with the trigger guard and this is highly bothersome to my trigger pulling routine. I can hardly concentrate on the sight picture it bothers me so bad.

#6 Do you practice trigger control by dry-firing?

No. I hate practice.

[royinidaho]

for the book I am working on. (I figured something was up. Its about time)

#1 Describe what portion of the trigger finger touches the trigger. (My personal description is 'the trigger should be placed directly under the cuticle of the trigger finger'). Agree?

Agree. (after some anatomic study of my thumb)

#2 Describe the position and tension applied by the thumb.
I'm a stickler on this one. I build my own thumb holes with palm swells for both hands. When finished it amazes me how different the swells are on each side. How does one describe position and tension? Think of testing 'doneness' of a grilled steak w/pressure. I'm right handed. My right thumb muscle is medium well and the left is medium rare. It takes great attention to that difference to achieve similar accuracy when switching sides. Thumb tension is important!

My other LR rifle is one sided (lefty) and is designed with a straight/vertical pistol grip w/swell. The swell is the "indexer" for consistent thumb position. The forearm and elbow follow the thumb as indexed by the grip and swell.

#3 Describe the position and tension applied by the bottom three fingers.
With the vertical pistol grips and thumb holes w/vertical pistol grips, position of the bottom finger is against the small ridge that I build in to the grip with the thumb gently fitted into the thumb hole or thumb groove and very delicate three finger pressure kind of like gently squeezing a with a gentle straight pull back to the shoulder. Note, all of this after checking the "natural POI" that is, none of this moves the natural point of aim. If it does then the shot is being forced.

And, if your pinky is ever under the pistol grip, you have problems, IMO.


#4 Describe the importance of follow-through and how long you consciously remain on the trigger after the shot.

My next expected experience after the trigger clicks is seeing the impact of the bullet. What ever I do to achieve this experience must be follow-through. Mostly I concentrate on not blinking at the shot. I am on the trigger until its time to reload.

#5 Do you try to cup your palm if your stock does not have a palm swell? Some instructors teach that you should have "air in your palm", no direct contract with the pistol grip. Comments.

My opinion is that since one can't 'feel' air' is what drove the development of the palm swell. I have an very hard time coming to grips with a sporter stock.

#6 Do you practice trigger control by dry-firing?

Roger that, big time? I do way more dry firing that I do actual shooting. I have a 1200yd dry firing range in my back yard. That's where I imagine many different shots under all kinds of conditions. I've made some wonderful shots well beyond 1.2k with an empty 222. because it has the same well adjusted trigger as my LR guns.

[Misfire]

The only place I feel confident about offering any advice is dry firing. I was shown this routine several years ago and it has helped me a lot. It is probably common knowledge for many here but I thought I’d share anyway.

Exercise 1. Have a buddy or preferable a video camera, assist you. Get into the prone position and acquire a target in your scope. With your buddy or video camera closely watching your dominant eye, squeeze off a “shot”. Repeat. Did your eye move? You would be surprised at how many people will blink or flinch their eye upon squeezing the trigger. Practice dry firing until there is NO eye movement upon the shot. (This works better if the shooter doesn't know that he is being observed for eye movement so that he/she is concentrating soely on the shot and not his/her eye. Be honest with yourself.)

Exercise 2. Once you have “mastered” exercise one and can confidently squeeze the shot off without any eye movement you can retrieve your friend or video camera. Repeat the same exercise but instead of focusing on the entire eye or eye lid, focus only on the pupil. Many people’s pupils will dilate upon the shot even if they aren’t blinking their entire eye. This is a subconscious “flinch” that can be unlearned with dry firing.

Exercise 3. Retrieve your buddy. While lying prone with the rifle supported in a shooting position (preferably on bags or bipod) have your buddy balance a coin on the end of the barrel an inch or so back from the muzzle. Squeeze off a “shot”. Did the coin fall? If it fell off due to flenching then try again.

The difficulty of this exercise can be increased or decreased due to barrel diameter and finish but the overall feel will remain. It is much harder to balance a coin on a thinly blued featherweight pencil barrel than it is an inch diameter parkerized barrel. Either way it can be done. For me, this exercise is much like sneaking a “dead” load into a gun to embarrassingly demonstrate to a buddy how much he is flinching.

These short exercises should be performed while holding the crosshairs on a target.

.

[Weda]

Originally Posted by Ian M

#1 Describe what portion of the trigger finger touches the trigger. (My personal description is 'the trigger should be placed directly under the cuticle of the trigger finger'). Agree?

Nope... I think each person is built differently. I feel you need a consistient method. Whatever that may be. I have shot numerous rifles numerous ways. Muscle memory, being comfortable and consistient was the key.

#2 Describe the position and tension applied by the thumb.

Typically none.. just laying the thumb down is enough.

#3 Describe the position and tension applied by the bottom three fingers.

3 is the problem for me.. never do I use the pinky finger. That would apply torque as would your thumb. I use the middle 2 fingers and apply my pressure straight back into the shoulder.

#4 Describe the importance of follow-through and how long you consciously remain on the trigger after the shot.

Always follow through. pre-recoil sight picture, recoil, the post recoil sight picture corrected to the intitial sight picture. Let it happen... then recover.

#5 Do you try to cup your palm if your stock does not have a palm swell? Some instructors teach that you should have "air in your palm", no direct contract with the pistol grip. Comments.

See the 2 finger priciple described above. This "sir" pocket kind of happens naturally when you do this.

#6 Do you practice trigger control by dry-firing?

Why only trigger control, why not mentally go through the entire process.

just my .02