Box Elder Wildlife Federation

[chuckshoun]

Now that you have mastered the sight picture practice, let's get into integrating trigger control into our dry-firing.

Use the cross target on the wall (+), and use a dummy dry-fire cartridge in your firearm, whether rifle or pistol (it saves wear and tear on the firing pin). Also, if you are using a single action pistol, like a M-1911 type, get into the habit of cocking the hammer with the trigger pulled. I practiced several months with my Springfield "GI", and ended up having a new sear installed because of the wear on it from the trigger notch.

Now for the new exersize. Aim your firearm at the center of the cross, as you did in the sight pixture dry-firing. As soon as the wobble area settles down, slowly squeeze the trigger straight to the rear until the firing pin/hammer drops. Notice any movement of the sights when the "hammer" falls. If there is movement, you need to work on your grip, placement of the trigger finger on the trigger, the "sweet spot". I usually hold the pistol I use, my Kimber Gold Match II with a no-creep trigger (Breaks like a glass rod) for about three or four seconds after the wobble area settles down. KEEP HOLDING THE FIREARM SIGHTS ON THE CROSS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE THIRTY SECONDS for each exersize. Don't drop the rifle or pistol. If you do, you mess up the follow-through, and the practice won't help coordinating the sight picture and trigger activation.

Anybody who has fired a black powder gun with the old fashioned hammer, or a flint lock can tell many horror stories abouth follow through.

If there is any trigger movement after the "hammer falls", you should consider eliminating it. Some M-1911 models have an adjustment screw in the trigger for that very purpose. Rifles and some pistols don't have an adjustment, and might cost a bundle to have a gun-smith stop the post-fire trigger movement. On my Kel Tec P-11, I glued a pencil eraser with Cyanoacrylate adhesive to the trigger guard behind the trigger, and then used a fingernail file to sand off the end that goes against the trigger until the "hammer dropped" and there was no more movement of the trigger. I painted the eraser with a black Magic Marker so it wasn't obvious I added anything to the gun. It works great for me.

For hunters, and those who like to shoot fast, or action shooting, eliminating the post trigger movement is important. I just remembered that I did it on my air pistol, too. An air pistol is very sensitive to the post "hammer fall" trigger movement because of the slow muzzle velocity. It helped a lot.

If you do have to have a gunsmith eliminate the post "hammer fall", it is money well spent. Target shooting is especially sensitive to the post "hammer fall". I found that out shooting my AR-15 using the .22 LR adapter (I was jerking the trigger in rapid fire strings! Damn!).

Well so much for today. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and that these blog things help your shooting when spring comes.

Maybe next time I'm on, we'll talk about selecting .22 LR cartridges for your rifle/pistol.

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