TargetTalk

How do I tell if my trigger pull is straight back, and more importantly how do I find a position where I am pulling straight back? I've tried a bunch of different grips and finger positions, but nothing works.

Thanks.

P.S. If I sound stupid, it's because I'm not actually a bullseye shooter. I just figured you guys would be the ones to ask about trigger control.

Try placing a mirrow underneath the pistol and observing the angle of the trigger finger as it approaches the let off point. Lengthen or shorten the trigger until you avhieve a 90 degree position at the point where the pistol fires. Good Shooting Bill Horton

Hit the wrong key again, sorry Good Shooting Bill Horton

FWIW, someone once suggested to me to pretend that you were actually pulling the front sight back through the rear notch.

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire...

You should see any problems in your sights. To help my triggering, I press a little with my thumb ham and bring my trigger finger straight back to it. Sort of like squeezing the trigger between my thumb ham and finger. That press with the thumb ham seems to help settle the sight as well.

The Kiwi has it right......dry fire alot

I started shooting my .45 a lot more this summer and discovered that my .22 scores were plummeting (I shoot .22 with a Pardini). The problem appears to arise from operation of the trigger. Every book and article that I've ever read on trigger control says that you should pull the trigger 'straight back'. But, what does this actually mean, and how do you do it? I've never seen an adequate description of this, so here goes:

Ideally, you want to move the trigger in the same plane as that formed by the trigger and the bore, and parallel to the bore. So, place the gun in your hand and draw a line from where your finger touches the trigger back to the center of the backstrap, parallel to the bore, and note where this point touches your hand. When you pull the trigger, you want to bring the point on your finger that is touching the trigger to this point on your hand.

On the M1911, this point is a the center of the top of the web between your thumb and index finger. On the Pardini, this point is next to the base of the thenar prominence (way different from the M1911!). Since this point is part of your body, you are basically bringing two parts of your body together, which can be done reliably with a little practice. Your brain has 'body maps' that allow you to do this. It should be a lot easier and more effective than trying to imagine the geometry of the gun in your hand, or imagining pulling the front sight back through the rear notch -- which doesn't work for those of us who use a red dot sight.

You need to practice this until you can do the movement reliably without thinking about it. Dry-firing helps with that. (Note: As we age, we lose proprioceptive acuity, which limits our ability to perform precise movements.)

Once you can do this, you can go on to adjusting your grip so that the gun doesn't squirm in your hand during recoil (dry firing doesn't help with this). And then you can start relaxing your grip to the point where you can get a stable hold with minimum wobble. These things are a lot easier to work on when you aren't pulling the muzzle off-line by pressing the trigger.

Hope this helps,

Al B.

Thanks for the help everyone!