Semi-auto pistol triggers; showing my ignorance

[.38 Special]

All of these were shot with "box stock", factory triggers, of different types. Many of them were also from a holster and not shot from a "static" position.

Most of them were from 10 yards and in. The revolvers were all shot DAO, and the Glock 17 and Beretta 92, were individual single shots, with some doubles mixed in, from a SUL presentation, and in DA with the 92.

The one thing in common here with any of these is, I wasnt thinking about the trigger at all, with any of them, as I was shooting.
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Imagine how well you would have done with a decent trigger!

(In all seriousness, that's perfectly adequate shooting, but unless there is something horribly wrong with your guns, they are mechanically capable of far greater precision. Proving it, though, is made difficult-to-impossible by those triggers. The exception likely is the S&W revolvers, which fired single action by a top man likely can put everything into less than an inch at ten yards. And that, for some of us, is part of the game.)

 

[trackskippy]

I think we shoot a bit differently.

I've shot some bullseye in the distant past, but quickly grew bored of it and just don't have the patience or interest. To much like fishing for me.

Not that I can't knock the size of those groups down some if I took some time and focused on it. I don't need the SA trigger to do it either, and in fact, I do worse trying to shoot that way. Learning to shoot DAO was the best thing I ever did to improve my shooting, all around too, and it translates to everything I shoot.

 

[J-Bar]

Today’s final 5 shots; S&W Model 17, 6”, shooting CCI mini-mags at 10 yards, elbows rested. And I’m still thinking all the holes should have touched. I hate being a shaky old man.



I want all my handguns to shoot this well.

Call me crazy. You would not be the first.

 

[film495]

I'm not an expert, just from my experience - the answer is no. The S&W trigger in single action, is basically the best there ever was and ever will be. I only have one - an old model 10, but it makes the idea of any other pistol I have - having anything close to that good, laugable. I'm not that picky about triggers, but - it is noticable how much better it is than anything else I've fired. Night and day better ... I almost wish I never bought it, cause it just stands out how much the other triggers leave to be desired.

 

[.38 Special]

@trackskippy @J-Bar I figure those two posts about sum it up. I completely get "practical accuracy", but I also shot Bullseye and 50 meter free. They're all perfectly legitimate pursuits, but come with different demands. Put a Glock trigger on a Pardini and the scores go straight to hell...

 

[I6turbo]

I can easily shoot 5" groups at 10 yards with a crappy trigger, I just don't want to. I don't want the experience of the crappy trigger, nor whatever penalty it costs in accuracy. It's very annoying knowing that the experience can be much better but I do nothing to make it so. It's kind of like I can drive a truck with failed power steering, but why wouldn't I just fix it and make it much more pleasant???

 

[trackskippy]

I can easily shoot 5" groups at 10 yards with a crappy trigger, I just don't want to. I don't want the experience of the crappy trigger, nor whatever penalty it costs in accuracy. It's very annoying knowing that the experience can be much better but I do nothing to make it so. It's kind of like I can drive a truck with failed power steering, but why wouldn't I just fix it and make it much more pleasant???

A lot of this all depends on what youre doing and how you shoot. Are you shooting 5" groups at 10 yards standing on your feet and from a 1.5-2.0 second draw to rounds fired? Or is that shooting at your leisure in slow fire? If its the later, the trigger isnt your problem.

Most all the guns, and triggers I see being discussed here as "good/great", generally are not safe for anything but static target shooting, and maybe some hunting. Considering that so many scream bloody murder about how unsafe a Glocks trigger is, yet somehow a super light SA trigger on a 1911 is perfectly fine, just shows a lack of experience and understanding with things. Why do you suppose the police in the revolver days, removed the SA notch from the hammers on a lot of issue guns?

If all you do is shoot bullseye or a similar type of target shooting, then your specialty triggers are fine. But they dont translate very well to the other types of shooting, especially if you have to use guns that you are not accustomed to, or familiar with. And to me, that makes you limited in your skills. Which is fine if thats what you want, its just not something I want.

I can pretty much guarantee you, I can pick up pretty much anything and shoot it reasonably well, and that includes the higher end guns with light target triggers. Might take me a mag or two to settle down with the doubles, but Im usually on it pretty quick. I wont be struggling shooting the box stock factory guns well either.

What you need to ask yourself here is, can I?

 

[Demi-human]

I can get a ten inch group at 100 yards fast enough to make my hands shake with my Eagle. But that fast and your fast aren’t in the same lane.
(You’ll have passed me, stopped for fuel and a soda, and hit the finish line, by the time I get the second one off…)

Great pistol, still can’t recommend it.


I agree with both schools here. Some games need great triggers, most don’t. Some occupations need more deliberate triggers for safety. Most guns come with good triggers, some are just different than others. All of them engineered to be safe.(usually.)
Is a long pull bad if it’s light? Is a short one good if it’s heavy and mushy? I personally don’t like “grit”. It can be long as all get out, but it better not be like gravel.

But what some humans call bad triggers, I call broken. There is a limit to what I can “put up with”. My trigger muscle moves my wrist, or hand bones or whatever, when a certain amount of tension has been reached. Yeah, I can crush a wine glass, but not without moving. (And gloves. Stupid human tricks.) So a five pound limit is about it for pistols for me.
And really, that’s not out of the realm of common. We’re mostly all humans, roughly the same size and shape. Only silly oppression would have us build hard to operate weapons.
>New-Cough-yoRK!< Excuse me!