The 4 Rules vs. Consistent Trigger Position

[Justin]

Ok, Jeff Cooper's 4 Rules of Gun Safety have been so ingrained into me that they're practically second nature.

His third rule states that you should keep your finger off the trigger until you have aligned the sights on target.

So, when shooting slow fire, I start with the pistol at rest, trigger finger indexed along the side. I then raise the pistol, get a sight picture, and move my finger onto the trigger to take the shot.

Last night, I tried something different. I kept my finger on the trigger for the entire five-shot slow-fire string and found that the accuracy of my shots, and ability to call them was much more consistent.

So, what does everyone think?

Is this practice unsafe?

If so, what can I do to ensure that my finger's position on the trigger remains consistent from shot to shot?

[2650 Plus]

Careful and exact placement of the finger on the trigger is safe with one caveat. whole training to have the thought concentration on sight allignment also function as the cue for the trigger finger to continue its pressure I was mentally rehearsing the shot .I had a full shooting grip on the pistol at the time, and The gun fired while I.did my visuallization with the pistol still resting on the bench. I had never had an accidental discharge prior to this incident. As you can imagine there was a feeling of shock and disbelief. I began to annalize how the incident occured and as I reran the thought prosess,I fired a second shot into the bench. Cops lawyers telling officers what they have to do for the lawyer to condust a sucessful defence after a shooting incident is the reason police officers keep their fingers off the tregger.until they have to fire. Good Shooting Bill Horton

[Mike M.]

First, this is why most of the top-level target pistols (with the exception of the FPs) have two-stage triggers.

Second, what you are doing is taking the pistol and gripping it with your hand in firing position....but without pressure on the trigger. You make LIGHT contact to adjust trigger finger position...but do not start the firing sequencer until you have the sights on the target.

[2650 Plus]

What Mike said. It can still be a safety problem so be very very careful Good safe shooting Bill Horton

[Bill Poole]

precision marksmanship competition was not Cooper's area of expertise or interest. The skills and techniques he taught (and thru his books and "family" continues to teach) and those we need for our sport are different for specific reasons related to the activity, just as the skills of swinging a stick needed for fishing differ from those needed for golf.

With your CCW and on the IPSC range, put your mindset in cooper's teachings, when shooting olympic or NRA precision pistol or rifle follow what you learn here and from others in this sport.

to me it seems like a major disruption to move the finger from the frame to inside the trigger guard on a pistol in 1-handed precision firing position. Until you are very comfortable with the "light touch" you can have your finger inside the guard, so nothing moved but the muscles of the finger to get to the trigger as you are aligning, the fingernail can even be touching the inside of the trigger guard if that gives you a more secure place to store it till you need it.

I take my finger forward to the edge of the guard during reloading AP or resting the .22 or .32, but lightly touch the trigger as soon as I start the rise.

you will find, especially in FP and smallbore rifle, the lighter the trigger is on the trigger scale the heavier it is to pull as you watch your sights wobble.

shoot good

Poole
http://arizona.rifleshooting.com/

[David Levene]

His third rule may be fine for "practical" styles of shooting but it would certainly be detrimental to ISSF style shooting.

When I was shooting ISSF Standard and Centrefire I would routinely take up the complete first stage of the trigger whilst still at the ready position.

If you have a suitable trigger setup then there is no danger of "shooting worms".

[Justin]

Thanks for the insights, everyone.

Like anything else, I'm going to have to go and experiment with this a bit to see if it results in a better ability to hit the ten ring and/or call my shots.