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Home » Training Guides » How To Shoot » Ultimate Guide to Trigger Discipline and
Trigger Control


ULTIMATE GUIDE TO TRIGGER DISCIPLINE AND TRIGGER CONTROL

Last Update:February 7, 2023
By Myles

Table of Contents


Toggle
 * What is Trigger Discipline?
   * Finger on the Trigger
   * When to Place Your Finger on the Trigger
   * Give Your Trigger Finger Something to Do
 * What is Trigger Control?
   * Purpose
   * Principles
 * Stages of the Trigger Pull
 * Four Trigger Manipulations
   * Slapping
   * Rolling / Zipper Pull
   * Reset and Prep
   * Staging
 * Trigger Control Challenges and Misconceptions
   * Jerking the Trigger
   * Grip Hard
   * Trigger Finger Placement
   * No Surprise Breaks
   * Stop Pinning the Trigger
 * Triggered

When it comes to guns and the fundamentals of marksmanship, some people will
argue that grip is the most important. However, the vast majority of top-level
shooters believe that knowing how to safely and skillfully manipulate a
firearms’ trigger is of greater importance–I agree.



Maintaining proper trigger discipline is crucial to ensuring your safety and the
safety of others, i.e., firearm safety, and proper trigger control is essential
if you want to shoot fast and accurately.

In this guide, I take a deep dive into both areas. By the time you’re finished
reading, you’ll have a better understanding of the topic than your average
firearms instructor or shooter.

Let’s dive right in, starting with trigger discipline.

Note: While this guide revolves around the use of a semi-automatic pistol, the
vast majority of the principles, concepts, and teaching points apply to both
pistols and rifles.


WHAT IS TRIGGER DISCIPLINE?

Trigger discipline is the practice of keeping one’s trigger finger outside of
the trigger guard of a firearm, normally along the frame above the trigger,
parallel to the barrel, until ready to fire the gun.

Trigger discipline is so important it is one of the four cardinal rules of
firearm safety:

> Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

Modern guns do not fire until the trigger is pulled. Yet, accidental and
negligent discharges occur more often than people think.

Why is this the case?



A lack of trigger discipline…




FINGER ON THE TRIGGER

As the rule states, keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to
fire.

A person must ingrain this rule into their subconscious so that the action is
automatic, i.e., a habit.

Proper trigger discipline is simple but not easy for many. Usually, problems
happen because someone hasn’t handled a gun long enough to build confidence and
good habits.

It takes practice and repetition to ingrain anything into one’s subconscious.



It’s important to fully understand what trigger discipline is and to consciously
practice it every single time you hold a firearm, regardless if you are shooting
or not.

Over time, you will build good habits and automatically keep your finger off the
trigger until you are ready to shoot.


WHEN TO PLACE YOUR FINGER ON THE TRIGGER

So you already know to keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to
fire. Trigger discipline also entails understanding when one should be ready to
fire.

Let’s be more specific. You want to place your index finger on the trigger when
a threat is imminent.

All your options have been weighed, and you believe an imminent threat exists,
so you may need to fire.



As you draw and present your firearm to your target, you want to place your
finger on the trigger once you’ve entered the imminent threat position. Too
soon, and you risk the chance of breaking your shot early, too late, and you
risk taking too much time to break your first shot.

The classic imminent threat position, considered by some as the “point of no
return,” is when your firearm’s muzzle is pointing towards your target and your
sights have entered the edge of your intended target zone, e.g., for a paper
target, this might be the bottom edge of the paper.

(If you have to engage from a different position, for example, shooting from
retention at close range, the traditional imminent threat position does not
apply but the concept of prepping your trigger when you feel an imminent threat
exists still stands.)


GIVE YOUR TRIGGER FINGER SOMETHING TO DO



When a shooter isn’t about to shoot or isn’t firing, the shooter will usually
rest their trigger finger (typically their index finger) alongside the frame of
a gun above the trigger and parallel to the barrel–an example of good trigger
discipline.

Some shooters will make physical contact with the frame of their gun using the
pad of their trigger finger. Other shooters will keep their trigger finger
completely extended, resting alongside the gun’s frame but without any contact.



I prefer having physical contact with the frame of my pistol. When I feel the
frame with the pad of my trigger finger, I know, without a doubt, that my finger
is not on my trigger or within the trigger guard. I know I’m maintaining proper
trigger discipline.

In contrast, if one’s finger is extended and floating along the frame of a
firearm, who knows what might happen under stress, e.g., one might accidentally
clinch their shooting hand, and one’s finger might find its way into the trigger
guard.

Having contact with the gun gives me the assurance that my trigger finger is
exactly where it should be.

Now, let’s jump right into the topic of trigger control.


WHAT IS TRIGGER CONTROL?

Trigger control refers to the act of moving the trigger and firing a gun without
disturbing the sights.




It sounds simple, but how you pull the trigger of any firearm can make or break
your shot. Even with your sights on target, the best grip, the best stance, and
the best guns, it will all be a waste if you don’t have a good trigger pull.

You need to understand and practice many little details before you can develop
the ‘perfect trigger pull.’

Let’s start with the purpose behind proper trigger control.


PURPOSE

There’s only one purpose to proper trigger control: to fire your shot with
acceptable disturbance of your sight alignment and sight picture.

I mention “acceptable” because how you pull the trigger can depend on your
‘mission.’ If a target is close, speed is critical. We can accept more
disturbance of our sights, and we do not need to be very precise with our
trigger pull.



But when we engage a target at a distance, let’s say beyond 15-yards, we need to
have precise trigger control so that there is almost no disturbance of our
sights.


PRINCIPLES

Let’s discuss the shooting principles needed to accomplish trigger control’s
purpose.

I’m not a huge fan of techniques, but I’m a big proponent of adhering to proper
principles.

Many people in the industry place too much focus on techniques and have endless
debates over what technique is best.

Here’s the truth…



Technique is a matter of style.

We all have slightly different styles, i.e., techniques, because of different
variables such as body size, musculature, the size of the gun we’re using, and
the list continues.

The main point is that techniques differ, whereas principles are universal to
all shooters.

Leverage is leverage; gravity is gravity, and friction is friction.

When it comes to optimal trigger control, two key principles must be
followed–regardless of technique.



If you follow these principles, the technique you choose doesn’t really matter.

PRINCIPLE #1: ISOLATING THE ACTION OF THE TRIGGER FINGER

The first principle is simple: only your trigger finger should move when
breaking a shot.



Once again, simple, but not easy.

A good analogy to help you understand what we mean by moving only your trigger
finger is to extend your arm out as if you were shooting and move your trigger
finger as if you were telling someone to “come here.”

In doing so, you must be careful not to move or squeeze the rest of your
fingers.



Ideally, you want to bend your finger from the second joint only.



When you want to gain speed, you will naturally start to move the third joint,
i.e., knuckle, because it is almost impossible to isolate the third joint when
shooting rapidly.

However, if we’re shooting faster, that generally means a target is closer
and/or really big, so we can compromise isolating the trigger finger for more
speed.

A good exercise to master the trigger finger’s isolation is to simulate your
shooting grip with your strong hand, relaxing all of your fingers. Then, extend
your trigger finger and start to move it back and forth from the second knuckle
slowly.

Gradually pick up the speed and pay close attention to your other fingers as you
do so. You want to avoid any sympathetic movement of your other fingers.



Another great exercise is to use grip trainers, such as IronMind Captain Crush.
They come in different weights–find out what works best for you.



Use the grip trainer with both hands and try to move only your trigger finger.
This exercise works the isolation of the trigger finger combined with
maintaining consistent grip pressure. The idea is to keep your trigger finger
relaxed while all of the other muscles of your hand are tight and firm.

This kinesthetic isolation is crucial to develop precise trigger control.

If you want to work on the first principle on the range, I recommend working on
single-shot live-fire drills first to hyperfocus on moving only your trigger
finger.

PRINCIPLE #2: STRAIGHT TO THE REAR

The second principle deals with the direction of the actual trigger press, i.e.,
straight to the rear.



Some of you might wonder how this is possible when our fingers bend in an arch.

The key is pulling a trigger straight back from a fully prepped trigger or near
the point your trigger will break the shot if you are slapping or using the
zipper pull technique–more on this below in the trigger manipulation section.

In doing so, you only need to be concerned with pulling your trigger straight
back from a fully prepped trigger or nearing the point your trigger will break.

Next, keeping your finger flat on the trigger face will help to pull straight
back.

Trigger control, in general, is mental control. There are different trigger
manipulations that are techniques that need physical execution (which I cover
below), but trigger control is entirely mental.



If you visualize pulling straight to the rear, you will eventually apply
principle #2 effortlessly.

You’ve probably seen this popular image on the Internet where it says if you’ve
hit the left of your target, you had too little of your trigger finger on the
trigger, whereas if you hit right, you had too much finger on the trigger.



What if I told you that isn’t necessarily true?

Regardless of where you place your finger on the trigger, you will successfully
hit your target if you visualize a straight-back pull.

Here’s a video I created about the principle that goes into more detail.




Two exercises will help you achieve a straight-to-the-rear trigger press.

First, use your shooting hand and simulate holding a pistol with your trigger
finger extended. Next, use a pencil or pen and place it on the web of your
shooting hand. Then try to move the pencil or pen straight back with your
trigger finger–avoiding any sideways movement.



The more you can keep your finger straight from your second knuckle, the better
the results will be.

The moment that you curve your finger, you will likely start pulling your shots
to one side, ruining the effect of the straight-back trigger pull.

The next exercise is to visualize moving your trigger finger in the same way you
would if you wanted to touch your nose or tell someone to “come here” with your
finger.




The visualization will trigger your subconscious mind, and you are more likely
to achieve your desired result.

CONSTANT SPEED AND MINIMAL EFFORT

Two concepts support the proper execution of the two principles I discussed. The
concepts are just as important as the principles to proper trigger control.

The first concept deals with the speed of the actual press. And again, we are
talking about the actual press to break the shot–for our purposes, you shouldn’t
care how fast you remove slack or how fast you prep your trigger.

The key is having constant speed.

If you start your trigger pull at 4 mph, you should finish your pull at 4 mph.



Many people get ‘excited.’ They may start with a 4 mph trigger pull but then end
up breaking the shot with a 25 mph pull. In doing so, shooters generate an
impulse, i.e., slap or jerk, that will affect accuracy.

The proper trigger pull moves like the piston of a car engine, i.e., smooth,
constant speed.



The second concept deals with the amount of effort needed to break a shot. How
much effort is needed to pull a trigger?

The answer is simple–just enough.

If you have a 6-pound trigger, you only need 6.01 pounds of pressure to break
the shot. Now, we can’t be so precise with the actual weight needed, but the
point is that you’d need only slightly more pressure than six pounds to fire.

Many shooters use too much effort. For example, their pull may be 25-pounds when
all they really need is 6 pounds.

Where do you think that extra energy goes?

The energy will transfer to the frame of your gun, which can then affect your
proper sight alignment resulting in an inaccurate shot.

The challenging part is that you need to have a stiff and firm grip, but your
trigger manipulations should be gentle–similar to the effort used to click a
mouse or type on a keyboard.

Constant speed combined with minimal effort will help isolate your trigger
finger and help with your straight-back pull.




STAGES OF THE TRIGGER PULL

Trigger discipline and trigger control are primarily mental.

I’ll discuss the technical execution and physical control of a trigger using
different trigger manipulations, but first, I want to briefly talk about the
stages of a trigger so that you will understand the terminology I use.

I divide trigger pull into four major stages:

Pre-travel: The trigger’s movement from the trigger’s initial starting position
until the sear moves, causing a gun to fire. The terms take-up (also call
trigger slack), the wall, and creep are all a part of pretravel. Take-up refers
to any ‘positive’ movement of the trigger that does not cause the sear to move
and does not engage the mainspring. The wall is the point where the trigger
action first engages the resistance of the sear. Creep is any ‘positive’
movement of the trigger that does cause the sear to move and does engage the
mainspring.

Break: The point of the trigger action where the sear releases the hammer (or
the striker, depending on the type of action). This is the stage where your gun
goes bang.



Over-travel: Any ‘positive’ movement of the trigger after the break.

Reset: The ‘negative’ movement (i.e., the trigger moves away from you) of the
trigger to the point that the trigger re-engages the sear (or the striker,
depending on the type of action), and the gun can be fired again.

Take note that handgun trigger actions vary, i.e., single-action, double-action,
DA/SA, striker, etc., so some terms above may only apply to specific types of
actions.

Now that we’ve defined different stages of a trigger let’s talk about different
trigger manipulations.


FOUR TRIGGER MANIPULATIONS



Throughout my journey, I’ve learned four different trigger manipulations.



Perhaps you’ve learned only one, and you might wonder why there are so many
different types of trigger pulls.

Depending on the size of a target, the distance to a target, and your shooting
ability, certain trigger manipulations might work better than others.

Keep in mind, some of the best shooters in the world will use one trigger
manipulation for every kind of shot or situation, so don’t think that what I’m
about to dive into is set in stone.

Also, the trigger manipulations apply to practical shooting in self-defense
situations and in competition. Extreme long-range shooters or bullseye shooters
may use different techniques.

Use the knowledge below as you see fit. Test them all out and see what works
best for you. Each trigger manipulation works if you follow the two principles
we already discussed.




SLAPPING

Slapping refers to a quick trigger pull where you make contact with your trigger
at its initial position and continue to pull the trigger straight to the rear,
passed take-up, the wall, any creep, and beyond the break to any over-travel.
After firing, one will reset their trigger and continue the same steps if
follow-up shots are needed.

Generally speaking, slapping is a trigger manipulation used at close
distances–let’s say, 1 to 3-yards–where speed is more important than precision.
Because you’re close to the target, precise aim is not required. You can still
be very accurate and hit center mass while slapping if you are close.

(Take note, these are just range estimations to help illustrate potential use
cases for each type of trigger pull.)

When slapping the trigger, one can do so very fast or at a more controlled
speed. When I refer to slapping, I am pulling the trigger fast. If I do so with
more control, I refer to this trigger pull as rolling or the zipper pull.


ROLLING / ZIPPER PULL

Rolling, or the zipper pull as I define it, is a trigger manipulation I learned
from former SWAT member and 3-Gun national champion Joe Farewell.

It is the same as slapping with one key difference–one is more controlled with
their speed and effort than when slapping. Shooters typically use it between 3
and 7 yards but it ultimately varies based on a shooter’s skill level.

Constant speed is a must if you want to be successful with rolling–this is why I
like to refer to this trigger manipulation as the zipper pull, too.

When you zip something open or closed, you will typically maintain the same
controlled speed while doing so.


RESET AND PREP

Reset and prep is by far the most popular and most used trigger manipulation. I
learned most of the intricate details about it from World Champion shooter, JJ
Racaza.

If slapping and rolling cover 1 to 7-yards, reset and prep work best from 7 to
15-yards.

Again, don’t get caught up in the distance estimations. The ideal distance for
each type of trigger pull will ultimately vary from shooter to shooter.

Also, reset and prep can and does work well at close distances and can be used
at further distances.

With this trigger manipulation, you want to start with your finger on your
trigger and bring it all the way to the wall-ideally past any creep. When you
are ready to shoot, you will break the shot, pass any over-travel, and
immediately reset your trigger, returning to your starting position, i.e., a
fully prepped trigger or at the wall.

It’s a popular trigger pull because it strikes a good balance between speed and
accuracy at various distances.

If you have never shot from a fully prepped trigger, doing so should
dramatically improve your accuracy.


STAGING

Staging is something I was doing naturally, but I didn’t know until Tactical
Performance Center’s Rossen Hristov taught it to me.

Staging is primarily used when accuracy and precision are required, and speed is
of lower priority. For example, if you need to shoot a tiny target and/or you
are shooting from further distances.

Sticking with our range estimations, one might say that staging is best for
shooting targets beyond 15 yards.

When staging, you want to start with a fully prepped trigger, similar to
resetting and prepping.

The major difference is that you will start by applying only 80% of the effort
needed to break your shot. Doing so requires you to intimately know your
trigger, i.e., how much pressure is needed to make it go bang.

Once you’re confident your sights are on target and ready to break the shot,
you’ll complete the trigger press with the last 20% of pressure.

Using the staging process can help you make the most precise shots you can,
improving your accuracy.

If you want more details and some footage of the different trigger
manipulations, make sure to check out the video at the beginning of this
section.


TRIGGER CONTROL CHALLENGES AND MISCONCEPTIONS

Now that you understand trigger discipline and trigger control, I want to cover
a few challenges and misconceptions.


JERKING THE TRIGGER

In my experience, one of the biggest challenges a shooter will face is learning
not to jerk the trigger.

By jerking or abruptly slapping the trigger, a shooter creates a sudden spike of
energy that causes a lot of instability. The shooter often ends up tensing his
or her entire hand by jerking, effectively twisting the firearm as you fire the
round. By itself, the force applied through the trigger finger can be enough to
drive the weapon off target.

To ensure accurate shots, it’s important to heed the principles I discussed
above:

 * Only the trigger finger should move
 * Straight to the rear

A great dry-fire practice exercise you can do to work the two principles while
monitoring for instability is to use an empty case and balance it on your front
sight. Do repetitions of a consistent, straight-to-the-rear trigger press
without knocking the case off of the front sight.



The goal of this exercise is NOT to go slow–you won’t be pulling the trigger
slowly in a real gunfight or a match. Instead, you want to learn how to go as
fast as possible without disturbing your sights, causing the case to fall. To do
this, you will need to follow the principles.

Another great exercise that will help you avoid jerking the trigger while
working the two trigger control principles is to aim and shoot your firearm at a
1-inch pastie about 1 to 3-yards away.

But, you will be doing so with only your firing hand and holding the pistol only
with the web of your hand, thumb, and the first knuckle of your trigger finger.

Here is a video I made demonstrating the one-finger trigger press drill. Make
sure to start dry and build confidence and comfort with the grip before going
live.



Also, it’s a good idea to load one bullet in the chamber for safety, then remove
your magazine so that you can shoot only 1-shot at a time. When you are ready
and used to the exercise, you can keep your magazine in to fire multiple shots
without reloading.

In doing both of these exercises, as long as your aim is on point, you will
notice that you’ll be more successful if you start by having a fully prepped
trigger, i.e., you start your trigger pull from the wall.


GRIP HARD



Another challenge for many shooters is to maintain a consistent, hard grip on
their guns.

Our focus is on trigger discipline and trigger control, but when it comes to
trigger control, having a good, firm grip will allow you to be more aggressive
with your trigger without disrupting your sight alignment. You want to grip the
firearm hard to give maximum stability as you apply pressure to the trigger.

A lot of people throw random percentages out. For example, use 70% pressure with
your support hand and 30% with your firing hand.

Here’s an easier method to understand how much pressure is needed, which I
regularly hear from the world’s best shooters.

Grip the gun as hard as you can with both hands without disturbing your sights.
If your gun begins to shake, you should decrease the amount of pressure. If you
have trouble moving your trigger finger quickly, then slightly decrease the
pressure with your shooting hand, but still, crush down with your support hand.

As you shoot, remind yourself to have a really firm grip. With practice, you
will be able to isolate the movement of your trigger finger from the rest of
your hand while maintaining a solid pistol grip.

One exercise that can help maintain a consistent firm grip is to use the grip
trainer we discussed above. Hold it with both hands as if you were holding a
pistol, and squeeze the grip trainer completely with both hands, excluding your
trigger finger. Hold the position for at least a minute.

Now that we’ve covered some common challenges let’s move on to some widespread
misconceptions.


TRIGGER FINGER PLACEMENT



I already touched on this above when talking about principle #2–straight to the
rear.

For practical shooting, your trigger finger placement is not as important as you
might think. As long as you pull the trigger straight back, adhering to all
other principles and concepts, and assuming your grip and aim are correct, you
will achieve the desired result.

We all have different-sized hands and fingers, and we use different-sized
firearms.

The part of my finger that rests on my trigger face will be different from many
of you. It’s to be accepted.

The key is having a straight pullback, regardless of your finger placement.

Now, it’s important to understand that based on your hand, finger, and gun size,
there might be a specific trigger finger placement that lends itself to an
easier straight-to-the-rear pull.

However, it isn’t necessary. As long as you visualize a straight-back pull and
practice, you honestly can achieve a good trigger pull.



One thing to consider is the space between your trigger finger and the frame of
your gun, as seen in the image above. Typically, shooters have little space in
between.

If there is no space, as seen on the right, there is a chance that you will push
your shots to the left (as a right-handed shooter) or right (as a left-handed
shooter) with your trigger finger.


NO SURPRISE BREAKS

You may have heard the phrase “surprise break.”

Often, instructors teach their students to pull the trigger slowly, so they
don’t know exactly when the gun will fire. This is called a “surprise break,”
and while it’s nice for beginners who are learning to avoid shot or recoil
anticipation (which is different from jerking the trigger), it’s not the best
way to operate the trigger.

In my experience, people who are taught the surprise break approach are fine
when shooting at a comfortable pace, but they struggle when they have to perform
under pressure and when shooting multiple shots.

The slower surprise break approach to the trigger press tends to cause more
problems than they resolve because you are actually building suspense in the
shooter’s mind.

Instead, applying pressure consistently to the trigger in a controlled fashion
with minimal effort remains effective in mitigating the severity of anticipation
while maintaining excellent speed.


STOP PINNING THE TRIGGER



Many instructors teach their students to pin their triggers to the rear after
each shot.

To take follow-up shots, we need to reset the trigger after each break, i.e., we
need to release the trigger to travel forward enough to re-engage the gun’s
firing mechanism.

Honestly, in the practical shooting world (we aren’t talking long-range shooting
or bullseye shooting), there is absolutely no reason to reset the trigger slowly
and deliberately because it does nothing actually to fire the next shot.

Learn to reset your trigger while your gun is in recoil. It gives you more time
to work the trigger correctly and deliver the next shot more accurately.

Waiting until the gun comes to rest to reset the trigger and then trying to pull
the trigger often leads to jerking and anticipating the next shot, especially
when a timer is involved or other stress factors.

Some instructors actively teach a slow reset of the trigger, but those people
should stop. Nobody shoots like that in any endeavor where time is of the
essence, be that a competitive environment or a life-or-death situation.


TRIGGERED

Hopefully, this guide has taught you something new and triggers you to get out
there and put your newfound knowledge to practice.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Make sure to let me know what you think in the
comments section below!


About the author


MYLES

Myles is the Founder of Tactical Hyve, a competitive shooter, and a life-long
student of all things dealing with the tactical and self-defense worlds.


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17 THOUGHTS ON “ULTIMATE GUIDE TO TRIGGER DISCIPLINE AND TRIGGER CONTROL”

 1.  HT
     April 29, 2021 at
     
     I thought that this was a great article. When I miss, I think it is usually
     from slapping the trigger. The two takeaways for me are pressing the
     trigger at a constant rate and applying just enough pressure to break the
     trigger. From an earlier email I had already gotten the point about the
     grip being 100%-100% (short of the gun shaking in a death grip). I think it
     is worth pointing out that a big benefit of such a strong grip is on
     trigger control: if the fingers other than your trigger finger are gripping
     as tight as they can, they won’t move when pressing the trigger
     
     Reply
     * Myles
       May 4, 2021 at
       
       Glad you liked it!
       
       Reply
 2.  David Kemp
     April 29, 2021 at
     
     Myles, Thanks for sharing your input on this. I like the theme here that
     there are a wide range of techniques that people employ in order to get a
     certain task (like pulling the trigger) completed. I believe one of the
     hardest things for an instructor to do, is to not say things like, “you’re
     doing it wrong,” or “that’s not how you’re supposed to do it,” especially
     in moments when the student is hitting!
     I love that teaching firearms nowadays is focused so much more on the
     mental and psychological side of this physical skill.
     
     I would like to hear your opinion on the topic of speed. In the world of
     self defense, how fast do you have to shoot to be successful (combat
     effective), and how fast should you shoot in your training?
     
     Thanks brother!
     David Kemp
     (Just an old swat cop)
     
     Reply
     * Myles
       May 4, 2021 at
       
       Thanks, David!
       
       Reply
     * Myles
       May 5, 2021 at
       
       Hey David,
       
       Forgot to reply to your question. You’re going to hear different takes.
       
       Overall, how fast one should shoot is relative to how fast they can see
       and confirm their sights on target–both in training and in a real
       altercation.
       
       It’s commonly taught that a shot every .25 seconds is the fastest one
       should (to be combat effective) shoot because our brain cannot process
       what our eyes see faster than this.
       
       However, I’ve questioned this because I cannot find any research on this.
       It may be true, but I haven’t found anything. Also, I can currently see
       my sights clearly with .16 sec splits. I understand that there are
       outliers and some will be able to see faster than others.
       
       (I say currently because I’m 42 and my vision and reaction time are
       getting worse.)
       
       If someone can confidently and clearly see their sights faster than .25
       seconds, I don’t see why they should slow down.
       
       Now, this pertains to just straight up shooting and confirming one’s
       sights. Now if we have to bring in threat and non-threat identification,
       that can change things up and leads the conversation down a number of
       rabbit holes.
       
       Reply
 3.  Dale Walters
     April 29, 2021 at
     
     This information is full of gold nuggets!
     
     Reply
     * Myles
       May 4, 2021 at
       
       Thanks!
       
       Reply
 4.  LP
     May 2, 2021 at
     
     Thank you very much for taking the time to write this and share it. Truly
     appreciated and dead on.
     
     Reply
     * Myles
       May 4, 2021 at
       
       You’re welcome!
       
       Reply
 5.  Ben Sciortino
     May 4, 2021 at
     
     I’ve been an active pistol for many years, I hunted as a boy (single shot
     22 rifle), was introduced to pistols in the military, then continued taking
     classes for self defense but for enjoyment (marksmanship). But I must say
     this article on trigger control has really impressed me and is helping me
     improve my skill levels. My groups at 25 yards are much tighter and I am
     keyholing my rounds at between 7 to 15 yards. Please put me down for a copy
     of your upcoming book Myles. If the visuals are as helpful as this article
     on trigger control then its sure to be the BIBLE OF PISTOL SHOOTING.
     
     Reply
     * Myles
       May 4, 2021 at
       
       Thanks, Ben. Glad you got something out of it!
       
       Reply
 6.  Josh
     May 9, 2021 at
     
     myles for the love of god what kind of hand gun is that it looks amazing id
     love to see if i could possibly get one for myself, aswell as the holster u
     have for it also looks amazing. LOVE THE VIDEOS KEEP IT UP they help me a
     bunch at the range. Im a terrible shot just slowly getting better
     
     Reply
 7.  Trevor Thrasher
     June 15, 2021 at
     
     Great article that covers a lot of ground. You are 100% right that many
     people suffer from anxiety during a surprise break and the suspense of the
     shot. Really love your stuff and I have spent decades reading, exploring,
     training, teaching, and well, operating. It is also put together very well.
     great work. Stay safe.
     
     Reply
     * Myles
       June 15, 2021 at
       
       Thanks for the comment and glad you liked the guide!
       
       Reply
 8.  Kokarde
     December 12, 2021 at
     
     Dear Myles
     Great articles and videos!
     Thanks for your time u spend to do that.
     I push this cool informations and lessons to our colleagues in my
     Shooting-Club!
     Best wishes from Germany!
     
     Reply
     * Myles
       December 12, 2021 at
       
       Thanks! Appreciate the comment.
       
       Reply
 9.  Jim Obermayer
     May 11, 2023 at
     
     Several times at the range I go to, I had an unintentional trigger pull
     firing, right after relaxing from the target. The gun is still down range.
     Still concerning. I decided I would not go back to the range after this
     occurred a few times until I practiced better good gun control.
     At home, over 3 weeks, I picked up my firearm (unloaded) finger off the
     trigger, and then on the trigger, simulate firing and take my finger off
     the trigger and then relaxing. I did this for 21 days about 1000 times. Up,
     finger to trigger, simulate firing, finger off the trigger, weapon down.
     Again and again. No problems since. I needed the memory muscle.
     
     Reply
 10. 


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Table of Contents

×
 * What is Trigger Discipline?
   * Finger on the Trigger
   * When to Place Your Finger on the Trigger
   * Give Your Trigger Finger Something to Do
 * What is Trigger Control?
   * Purpose
   * Principles
 * Stages of the Trigger Pull
 * Four Trigger Manipulations
   * Slapping
   * Rolling / Zipper Pull
   * Reset and Prep
   * Staging
 * Trigger Control Challenges and Misconceptions
   * Jerking the Trigger
   * Grip Hard
   * Trigger Finger Placement
   * No Surprise Breaks
   * Stop Pinning the Trigger
 * Triggered

→ Index