Proper trigger pull and shooting technique

[Shane Lindsey]

Fundamentals of marksmanship apply at any range. Learning the proper fundamentals by internet (if that works), formal instruction, or grandpa are important.
Don't shoot good at 100, probably not going to shoot good at longer ranges when more than just proper weapons manipulation are added like position, environmentals, etc.

 

[Boatmanxxx]

Trigger pull, lotsa ways to get it done. Most importantly is consistency of how you do it. Train and practice your craft. A good trigger that breaks crisply and consistently is critical to good accuracy. In a hunting rifle I prefer a 1 lb trigger some may argue it's a little light but Ive been shooting a long time and it works for me. I run a 1lb trigger in ALL my bolt action guns, so I don't have to wonder about the break. Im assuming we are talking about accuracy in a hunting situation since this is a hunting forum. Sitting at the bench or laying prone with a good solid rest like at the range or wherever you practice is usually not how it goes down in a hunting situation. Most often you are under some type of pressure, right?

1. You almost never have the perfectly solid rest.
2. Your breathing will almost always be heavier than at the range practicing. ( physical exertion from getting into position , and brother "buck fever" is real. If you don't get excited why go?
3. You may be under a time restraint, small window to make the shot.

So my point is that your gun, sight picture will be moving. Learning trigger control and controlling your breathing is key. You cannot anticipate the shot especially at distance. It should surprise you when the shot breaks. Learn to set up, learn to control your trigger and breathing, and you will be a better shot.

J

 

[2Rope]

One thing that really helps my trigger control is I place my thumb on the top or right side of the stock. I can see a difference if wrap my thumb around the wrist of the stock, my groups will open up.

 

[Greyfox]

I couldn't agree more that training/observation by a "skilled" instructor is priceless. I was fortunate at a young age to have benefited from this, and found that the fundamentals, once engrained and routinely practiced will serve a lifetime of successful shooting. While there are several aspects of shooting form that contribute to accurate shooting, IMO, one of the most critical and perhaps least understood or practiced is the integration of the trigger squeeze and eye focus on the front sight(crosshair) only. Intensity of eye focus should ramp with the trigger pressure. The two are inseparable, and the sight picture should not be in a flat, 2 dimensional plane of target/sight. Perhaps this is not so much of a factor with the free-recoil benchrest shooters using 3 ounce triggers, it can make a material difference in accuracy with supported rifle shooting/LRH. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Hi ,All the gusy here have given you excellent advice. I would just add that the caliber and design of the stock and the pressure you apply to the stock with your "Shoulder" and the amount of force in pounds or ounces that is required to pull the trigger all come into play. Big difference for me , between pulling the trigger of hunting rifle set for 3 pounds, as opposed to a target gun with a trigger set a 1 pound, or a BR gun set at 2 ounces. I cannot use the same grip and trigger pull on my .270 Win Light Hunting Rifle as I use on my heavy 308 Target Rifle, and likewise I cannot use the same grip and trigger pull and shoulder pressure I use on the heavy 308, on the heavy 6BR Rem 40 X Bench rest rifle. My larger caliber rifles require me to grip tighter, apply solid shoulder pressure, and use the Middle of the tip of the right index finger. To make sure I have good contact, I use a Trigger Shoe. My 308 Target gun requires slight shoulder pressure and slightly relaxed tip of the finger contact, The 40X Bench rest gun I shoot almost 'Free " with a very light touch of the trigger, which is set for 2 ounces. I needed to Experiment each rifle, with each style of shooting, grip and trigger pull. Then I need to believe the targets. Then try to remember it all. Like the man said, there is no one single perfect technique for every rifle, in every caliber. IMHO

 

[hunter0528]

The bullet travels so fast from the time the primer is ignited. powder ignited and bullet leaving the case and traveling to the end of the barrel say a 24". But the other factors are involved with twist rate, groves, bullet so let's just leave that out and make it simple with just velocity of say 3,000fps.


To answer your question, we can use the formula for time, t = d/s, which means time equals distance divided by speed1. In this case, the distance is 24 inches, which is equivalent to 2 feet, and the speed is 3,000 feet per second. Therefore, the time it takes for the bullet to travel 24 inches is:
�=��=23000=0.00067 secondst=sd=30002=0.00067 seconds
This means the bullet travels 24 inches in less than a millisecond!

The most critical part of firing a rifle or any other firearm is the position of the firearm barrel to the target.
If you shake/Jerk the firearm while in the process of the ignition of the cartridge and take the direction of the barrel off course of the target it will most likely miss.
BUT if you can hold the sights on target from when you start your finger on the trigger to ignite the cartridge within a "Millisecond" you should be just fine.

Just remember the results of the formula is based on the speed of the bullet at the muzzle! That speed is built up from 0, at the breach, to the 3000 at the muzzle. Therefor the time is greater than the .00067, allowing more time for an error in placement to occur.

 

[Murtfree]

The bullet travels so fast from the time the primer is ignited. powder ignited and bullet leaving the case and traveling to the end of the barrel say a 24". But the other factors are involved with twist rate, groves, bullet so let's just leave that out and make it simple with just velocity of say 3,000fps.


To answer your question, we can use the formula for time, t = d/s, which means time equals distance divided by speed1. In this case, the distance is 24 inches, which is equivalent to 2 feet, and the speed is 3,000 feet per second. Therefore, the time it takes for the bullet to travel 24 inches is:
�=��=23000=0.00067 secondst=sd=30002=0.00067 seconds
This means the bullet travels 24 inches in less than a millisecond!

The most critical part of firing a rifle or any other firearm is the position of the firearm barrel to the target.
If you shake/Jerk the firearm while in the process of the ignition of the cartridge and take the direction of the barrel off course of the target it will most likely miss.
BUT if you can hold the sights on target from when you start your finger on the trigger to ignite the cartridge within a "Millisecond" you should be just fine.

This takes me to a problem I had shooting light weight magnum rifles ie, 6.5lbs and under. I never had much problem shooting my heavy bench rifles into one ragged hole but those light weights seldom got below 1 inch. Last year I began doing a lot of dry firing and I noticed that the crosshairs of my scope may move up to an inch off my target center after the firing pin dropped. I guess the weight of the firing pin/spring movement was a greater portion of the total rifle weight than it was in a 14 lb bench rifle. After I learned a better hold and the crosshairs stayed exactly where I placed them before the firing pin dropped, my groups shrank into the 1/2 to 3/4 range. I made the assumption that the slight movement from the weight of the firing pin shifted where the barrel pointed prior to the bullet leaving the barrel, since it occurred at primer ignition.

 

[Pro2A]

I know that there is a wealth of knowledge in this forum. I would like to start a discussion on proper trigger pull and shooting technique. We can bandy words around like finger tip, pad, power crease, proper anticipation, breathing, follow through and maintaining site picture. Of course everyone is different , every rifle is different, and there are as many techniques as there are shooters. Any of your little secrets that you can divulge would be appreciated.

Trigger control is only one aspect of accurate Send It. Position building, trigger control, recoil management and more all integrate into yielding accuracy, consistency. Consistency is King, repeatability is Queen in shooting.....both the equipment and the shooter. Start with the mentoring of a successful shooter. Learn, master those techniques. Once there, the great shooters will build on that solid foundation, finding their personal technique tweaking to excel above all others. The rest will fall within the masses. And, remember calling the wind seperates the shooters from the trigger tuggers, regardless of all their perfected shooting techniques. Shoot the wind til it becomes your friend, rather than your foe. It's going to be there, better get to know it well as a wifey. Happy wife, happy life. Correct wind call; good impact.

 

[Lee7588]

Side question. Is there a release trigger for rifles? Not a binary trigger

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

This takes me to a problem I had shooting light weight magnum rifles ie, 6.5lbs and under. I never had much problem shooting my heavy bench rifles into one ragged hole but those light weights seldom got below 1 inch. Last year I began doing a lot of dry firing and I noticed that the crosshairs of my scope may move up to an inch off my target center after the firing pin dropped. I guess the weight of the firing pin/spring movement was a greater portion of the total rifle weight than it was in a 14 lb bench rifle. After I learned a better hold and the crosshairs stayed exactly where I placed them before the firing pin dropped, my groups shrank into the 1/2 to 3/4 range. I made the assumption that the slight movement from the weight of the firing pin shifted where the barrel pointed prior to the bullet leaving the barrel, since it occurred at primer ignition.

Even though the bullet leaves the barrel so fast from the time the sear is released and ignition starts, there is that critical time between the trigger squeeze and ignition. Heavy rifle, light trigger, solid platform and if you ever heard shoot between heart beats.
Do a quick "run in place to get your heart rate up" get into prone, lock on target and watch your reticle bounce around from heart beats.
Now hunting rough terrain & altitude then seeing the trophy of a lifetime. What do you think your heart is going to do.? Heck I even get muscle spasms in my back that I need to control.

 

[Jim’s Hunt]

My 6mm PPC with a Jewell 2 ounce trigger pull is easier to shoots small groups with than my 270 WSM with a 24 ounce. Light pulls make for better trigger control

 

[Bravo 4]

This takes me to a problem I had shooting light weight magnum rifles ie, 6.5lbs and under. I never had much problem shooting my heavy bench rifles into one ragged hole but those light weights seldom got below 1 inch. Last year I began doing a lot of dry firing and I noticed that the crosshairs of my scope may move up to an inch off my target center after the firing pin dropped. I guess the weight of the firing pin/spring movement was a greater portion of the total rifle weight than it was in a 14 lb bench rifle. After I learned a better hold and the crosshairs stayed exactly where I placed them before the firing pin dropped, my groups shrank into the 1/2 to 3/4 range. I made the assumption that the slight movement from the weight of the firing pin shifted where the barrel pointed prior to the bullet leaving the barrel, since it occurred at primer ignition.

This is an aspect of dry firing I employ. When the firing pin drops (dry) and your reticle isn't still on target or very close, you have a fundamental issue (positional, improper trigger manipulation, a jerk or flinch of sort, or failure to follow through). I will have the students make adjustments and dry fire till it stays on target. I've read and heard it said that it only takes a few thousandths of an inch (the width of a human hair) at the stock of the rifle to move point of impact a half moa. Whether on the range or on a long range shot at an animal (if time permits) I do a few dry fires to check my position and what I call "knock the stupid off" of myself.
I also try to instill one's ability to call your shots and spot your own impacts/misses. If you can do such especially prone supported), you probably did everything right up to that point (fundamentally). This is also where having someone watch or you watch yourself (video) helps. I can stand behind someone and watch how the recoil and rifle move upon firing and tell if their position was good.

 

[Bravo 4]

HAAA! It's like that bumper sticker: "Nice truck….sorry about your *****. LOL!!

Easy now, I resemble that statement!

 

[Nimrodmar10]

I've got a tattoo on my right hand, behind my thumb that says BRASS. I got it 50 years ago when I was shooting on the Marine Corps rifle team. It stands for Breath, Relax, Aim, Slack, Squeeze. That was what we were trained to do for every shot. We had some of the top shooters in the world on that team. Now, 50 years later, every shot I take, I see those letters and go through the process. It still works. I shoot 100 and 600 yard benchrest and long range. If you learn the fundamentals it's hard to go wrong.