***Trigger Control for the Double-Action*** Written by USCCA Editor on January 11, 2013. They call it a double-action revolver for a reason. If you can’t keep the sights on target through the length of a double-action trigger pull you need to practice until you can. This little drill will help build your muscle memory, improve your trigger control and help with the muscles that maintain a good grip on the revolver. All that for a quarter. It’s quite a bargain. They call it a double-action revolver for a reason. If you can’t keep the sights on target through the length of a double-action trigger pull you need to practice until you can. This little drill will help build your muscle memory, improve your trigger control and help with the muscles that maintain a good grip on the revolver. All that for a quarter. It’s quite a bargain. THEY INVENTED DOUBLE-ACTION FIRING MECHANISMS for a reason. If you own one you should be able to use it effectively as it was designed to be used. You simply pull the trigger to make the firearm function. I’m not going to get into semantics about whether you should “press” the trigger or “roll” the trigger. Let’s just use the common terminology. You pull it. The double-action trigger pull is long and sometimes heavy because the pull completes both actions of cocking and firing the handgun. This longer, heavier pull often negatively impacts accuracy, meaning most of us shoot better with the shorter, lighter single-action pull. That’s pretty obvious. Because our groups tend to open up when working through the DA pull, you can bet we regularly go to the range and insure we are shooting nice, tight groups by ignoring the DA function of our defensive handgun. It’s like high school. Really, it is. Remember back in high school when the teacher announced an impending test? You would go home and study. Well, be honest, most of us studied the stuff we all ready had down pat because it was easier. We felt smarter; as if we were actually accomplishing something. The truth is we were ignoring our weaknesses and hoping they would go away. They won’t. If you want a muscle to grow, you need to exercise it. This little drill is a great opportunity for you to practice your grip, your sight picture, and your trigger control, all the while reinforcing the use of your firearm as the designer intended and more importantly as you are likely to use it in an emergency. You can brag about your nice, tight groups all you want, but if you got them by shooting only single-action, when your defensive firearm also operates in a double-action mode, you are cheating. And if the day ever comes that you really need that gun quickly, you will likely try to fire it double-action and your aim will be off. Maybe it will be off enough that you fail to stop the threat. Remember, the longer a fight lasts, the greater chance you have of getting hurt or killed. Make It Better By now I hope you are asking, “How can I improve my double-action trigger pull?” Well it starts with actually pulling the trigger in the double-action mode. Yes, dry practice. This is where I will go into semantics. Not “dry fire.” There is no firing going on. In fact there should be no live ammunition anywhere in the same room when you dry practice. I cannot stress enough how important safety is during dry practice. If your pistol has a double-action function you need to learn to use it smoothly. Balance a coin on the slide and dry practice until you can run the trigger without losing the coin. If your pistol has a double-action function you need to learn to use it smoothly. Balance a coin on the slide and dry practice until you can run the trigger without losing the coin. First thing’s first: can you manipulate the trigger on your handgun in the double-action mode? This is a serious question. I was at the police academy with a young woman who did not have the hand strength to fire her department-issued S&W pistol by pulling the trigger through the double-action mode. So, triple-check that your firearm is unloaded. If it is a revolver, open the cylinder and visually inspect it. If it is a pistol, remove the magazine and inspect it, lock the slide to the rear and visually and physically inspect the chamber. Now you are ready to begin. With the weapon pointed in a safe direction pull the trigger through the double-action mode five or six times. If you cannot, or if you have real trouble doing so, you might want to consider a product like Trigger Trainer to help build up your finger strength. We have talked about Trigger Trainer in previous issues, so I won’t go into detail about it here. It works. It will help. Now, if you have the hand strength, you get to work on multiple aspects of your gun-handling skills while you improve your DA trigger control. Affix a target to a safe wall. Acquire a good master grip on your pistol with your strong hand; high on the tang, fingers wrapped firmly, thumbs in your preferred position. With your weak hand, place a coin on the flat between the front and rear sight and then use your support hand to establish a strong firing grip. Get a good sight picture on the target. Pull the trigger, slowly and smoothly so as not to disturb the coin. All the while, focus on the front sight and keep it on target. Repeat. If you are able to perform this drill without disturbing the coin, great! But that does not mean you are done. Now try for follow-up “shots.” Once you can pull through three rounds, keeping a good grip and keeping your sights on target, you need to work on picking up your speed. Yes, all of this without disturbing the coin. This little drill is a great opportunity for you to practice your grip, your sight picture, and your trigger control, all the while reinforcing the use of your firearm as the designer intended and more importantly as you are likely to use it in an emergency. Never stop training. Never stop learning.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 00:50:20 +0000
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