OT - DA trigger

[totoro]

Looking to see how the experts feel about staging a DA trigger.

[Rexster]

Welcome to the forum! Not many lever rifles have DA triggers, so don't be surprised if a moderator sticks an "OT" to the front of your title. I am no expert, and I don't "stage" a DA trigger, but will sometimes listen to the clicks, if the weapon at hand has audible clicks, to gauge progress. It is probably a bad habit to do so. I no longer own any DA Colts, which are easier to stage. Some of my Rugers have more audible clicks than others. My SIG P229 duty pistols with DAK triggers are wonderfully silent, as no bolt rises to settle into a cylinder notch, as with sixguns.

Now, there is a different thing to do with a DA trigger, and that is to "prep" the trigger a bit while bringing the weapon onto target, before the sight picture is attained. I used to do this, up to 1997, when I began an all-1911 phase. Some competition shooters who use DA autos do this, using "traditional" DA autos, with the DA first shot and SA follow-up shots. For the last few months, I have been cautiously playing with this concept again, using a traditional DA SIG P229, which of course differs from my DAK weapons.

This must be done carefully, and only started once the weapon is oriented toward the target, or the result will be what the late great Bill Jordan called "being slow on the draw and fast on the trigger." (Plowing a bloody furrow down your leg, or worse!) If you don't know who Bill Jordan was, please do research the topic; I am not meaning the guy associated with camouflage clothing who is still alive, but the now-deceased legend among lawmen and sixgunners, who penned _No Second Place Winner_. As for staging the trigger, I know Col. Jeff Cooper wrote about it, but cannot recall where to find the material, as Col. Cooper mostly wrote about shooting rifles and single-action autopistols. Massad Ayoob's book on SIG pistols tells how a certain competition shooter, named Langdon, stages a DA trigger.

OK, just to be clear, I do not recall Bill Jordan addressing the issue of staging the trigger, or prepping the trigger. I just used his quote about pulling the trigger too early because I use it when coaching people on shooting, in general, when instructing them to keep the finger off the trigger until the right time. Hmm, I guess it is about time to read _No Second Place Winner_ again.

[J Miller]

Looking to see how the experts feel about staging a DA trigger.

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not an X-spurt by any means but I've logged a gazillion rounds through various double action revolvers.
I don't stage them. I prefer a straight through trigger pull.
For the most part when I've tried staging the trigger during the pull I could not get a consistent pull.
So I went to a smooth consistent straight through pull.

Joe

[Rusty]

I've know people who did it but I never would try. Keep it smooth from start to finish. When I went to rookie school they taught us to put a penny on the front sight and squeeeeeze, and don't knock the penny off. then you need to learn to do it DA. I don't think that would work if you were staging the trigger.

Welcome to the forum

[Charles]

All of the old time experts told us, never to stage a DA trigger. We were instructed to use the pad of the first didget of our trigger finger and have a smooth pull through until the hammer tripped. That is what they say.

I have never done it that way. I use the first join of my trigger finger and stage the trigger until the tip of my finger contacts the back of the trigger guard and then apply the last pound of pressure to trip the hammer.

This works well for me, on DA Smith and Wesson sixgun. I have never been known as a speed shooter or DA sixgun snake. But my DA accuracy with this method is 99% as accuracy as SA shooting.

[Lastmohecken]

I do both, it depends on the speed and distance I am shooting. I competed in IPSC for several years, in both revolver division and open class.

I got my first Smith and Wesson K22 back in the mid 70's when I was a teenager and I have been staging double action triggers ever since. I always stick my trigger finger far enough through to use the end of my trigger finger as a stop, which allows me to roll the next round up during recoil, and basically shooting single action with every shot. Once in a while I would roll on through a trigger pull, but the bullet usually landed on target when I did.

Now if the range is close and the times need to be very quick, then I pull straight through. In IPSC competition I was always a better revolver shot then I was a 1911 shooter, as far as my rankings in the clubs. Which proves that most people can learn to shoot the 45 auto 1911 quicker then they can learn to shoot a DA Revolver. The reason I was better with the revolver was because I started very young and shot a gazillion .22 rounds through my K22, before I ever started shooting competion. Plus it was years before I could afford a top notch 1911.

However, even though I stage my DA triggers on about any distance past 7 to 10yds, the common school of thought today, is that it is better to learn and start with the straight pull method. But I have shot too many years to abandon the trigger staging method, now. But I will say this, I can shoot about as accurate at longrange with the DA staging method, as I can single action, even at a hundred yards.