The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post

insomni · April 21, 2012, 09:47 PM

I was JUST coaching a friend of mine at the range this morning on this. He too said he used the tip because he "learned it in basic"

years ago when I was a young joe, I couldn't figure out why I kept stringing shots to the left, and my [substandard.... we'll get to that in a minute] NCO kept smoking me and saying I had "too much finger on the trigger". I kept moving further and further out to the tip and kept stringing more and more.

Then I had a great epiphany: This jerk shoots a 27 (back to the substandard NCO bit), so what the hell does he know. I fooled around a bit, and eventually realized: THERE IS ONLY ONE RULE TO HOW MUCH FINGER YOU PUT ON THE TRIGGER: Place the trigger at the point on your finger that allows you to pull it STRAIGHT BACK. For my hand, it's directly behind the first knuckle. For a good friend of mine it's behind the second knucke (i.e. he has almost his whole damned finger in there... mainly because's he's a big stupid lunkhead), and for another buddy of mine it's right in front of the first knuckle. All of us shoot 40/40.

To figure out how much finger you need, do quarter drills (with a rifle)
. They require a buddy. lay in the prone position, and hold your rifle steady. Charge your weapon and then have a friend balance a quarter on the barrel right behind the flash suppressor. Squeeze the trigger. if done correctly, the quarter will wobble, but remain on the barrel. If your trigger squeeze is off, the quarter will fall off your barrel. Repeat until you can get 10 in a row that stay on the barrel. Do the drill a couple times a week. I did this extensively with a buddy of mine when I was a Private just so I could smirk at said inferior NCO when I shot my first 40/40 and he barely qualified. Felt really good when i did, mainly because I'd brought myself to that level. Best revenge is living well and shooting better!

To translate that to a pistol: you can't raelly do it with a quarter. I like dry firing my pistol and paying attention to how much my sights move. The idea is that the lay of the pistol doesn't change. With my particular pistol, I actually like my finger to be just in front of the first joint. Again, practice practice practice until you get it right.

April 21, 2012, 09:47 PM	#6
insomni Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2011 Posts: 342	I was JUST coaching a friend of mine at the range this morning on this. He too said he used the tip because he "learned it in basic" years ago when I was a young joe, I couldn't figure out why I kept stringing shots to the left, and my [substandard.... we'll get to that in a minute] NCO kept smoking me and saying I had "too much finger on the trigger". I kept moving further and further out to the tip and kept stringing more and more. Then I had a great epiphany: This jerk shoots a 27 (back to the substandard NCO bit), so what the hell does he know. I fooled around a bit, and eventually realized: THERE IS ONLY ONE RULE TO HOW MUCH FINGER YOU PUT ON THE TRIGGER: Place the trigger at the point on your finger that allows you to pull it STRAIGHT BACK. For my hand, it's directly behind the first knuckle. For a good friend of mine it's behind the second knucke (i.e. he has almost his whole damned finger in there... mainly because's he's a big stupid lunkhead), and for another buddy of mine it's right in front of the first knuckle. All of us shoot 40/40. To figure out how much finger you need, do quarter drills (with a rifle) . They require a buddy. lay in the prone position, and hold your rifle steady. Charge your weapon and then have a friend balance a quarter on the barrel right behind the flash suppressor. Squeeze the trigger. if done correctly, the quarter will wobble, but remain on the barrel. If your trigger squeeze is off, the quarter will fall off your barrel. Repeat until you can get 10 in a row that stay on the barrel. Do the drill a couple times a week. I did this extensively with a buddy of mine when I was a Private just so I could smirk at said inferior NCO when I shot my first 40/40 and he barely qualified. Felt really good when i did, mainly because I'd brought myself to that level. Best revenge is living well and shooting better! To translate that to a pistol: you can't raelly do it with a quarter. I like dry firing my pistol and paying attention to how much my sights move. The idea is that the lay of the pistol doesn't change. With my particular pistol, I actually like my finger to be just in front of the first joint. Again, practice practice practice until you get it right. Last edited by insomni; April 21, 2012 at 09:53 PM.