Ian M
Well-Known Member
One thousand, nine hundred and eighty seven yards away a six by six finishes raking a small pine tree and stands broadside, peeing on his back legs for a few seconds.(I put this in for Darryl C.). Five hundred and thirty yards from your blind a huge Alberta whitetail buck leaves the shadows and approaches a scrape (for Dave King...). Four hundred yards away a wary coyote sits on his butt and yaps at you (been there a few times, right Tim Behle). Two hundred and seventy five yards across an arid pasture a gopher stands up and munches on a weed (this probably takes place in sunny Alaska, back of Brent's house...). One hundred yards away your target has four shots in one hole and you chamber shot number five (sound familiar, both Chris's). At forty yards you can hear the pounding hooves as a seven by seven elk gets your scent and charges away through the poplars - in moments he will cross a cut-line and you will get one shot (suspect that this is one of Jerry Teos recurring dreams). At twenty-five yards your target has nine bulls-eyes - you place the tenth .22 long rifle match cartridge into the chamber (Steve Shelp has probably been in this situation a few times). The setting sun hi-lights every whisker on the bloodsoaked face of the huge black-maned lion as he holds down a huge impala with one taloned paw while he pulls the willing lioness into position for a Kalahari-quickie, as Len positions the 600 mm Nikon for the shot of a lifetime...(gotta include something nice about the boss, right!)
All of these situations share one simple requirement - a well-aimed shot. All of these situations are doable if the shooter has good equipment and adequate skills. All of these situations can result in a lot of joy, pride and satisfaction. They can also become bad memories in a heartbeat. One miniscule movement, applying a few pounds of weight on the trigger sends your bullet on its way. The result can be a grin or a frown, simple as that.
Trigger control, the process of causing the trigger to release a shot properly, is the final act in the aiming and firing of the rifle (or any firearm). We might describe trigger control as breaking the trigger smoothly and following through. Trigger control is an absolute necessity if we want to shoot well.
How does one master trigger control? One piece of advice is - do not jerk the trigger. Jerking the trigger is one of the most insidious reasons that our shots go astray. Insidious because in the excitement of getting the shot off we frequently jerk the trigger without realizing that we have done the nasty deed. How many times have you heard someone say that he had a good shot but hit "just" over, under, behind or where-ever. He probably jerked the trigger.
I have found that regardless if my target is a steel plate at 1000 yards or a balloon at 100 yards on my electronic moving target system, trigger control makes for hits. ALL types of shots require a smooth trigger let-off and follow-through. There is only one way to achieve trigger control and that is by shooting, the more the better.
All of these situations share one simple requirement - a well-aimed shot. All of these situations are doable if the shooter has good equipment and adequate skills. All of these situations can result in a lot of joy, pride and satisfaction. They can also become bad memories in a heartbeat. One miniscule movement, applying a few pounds of weight on the trigger sends your bullet on its way. The result can be a grin or a frown, simple as that.
Trigger control, the process of causing the trigger to release a shot properly, is the final act in the aiming and firing of the rifle (or any firearm). We might describe trigger control as breaking the trigger smoothly and following through. Trigger control is an absolute necessity if we want to shoot well.
How does one master trigger control? One piece of advice is - do not jerk the trigger. Jerking the trigger is one of the most insidious reasons that our shots go astray. Insidious because in the excitement of getting the shot off we frequently jerk the trigger without realizing that we have done the nasty deed. How many times have you heard someone say that he had a good shot but hit "just" over, under, behind or where-ever. He probably jerked the trigger.
I have found that regardless if my target is a steel plate at 1000 yards or a balloon at 100 yards on my electronic moving target system, trigger control makes for hits. ALL types of shots require a smooth trigger let-off and follow-through. There is only one way to achieve trigger control and that is by shooting, the more the better.