Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Surprise Trigger Break (Teaching accuracy continued .... more discussion)

While the term �precision� has a certain measure of subjectivity to it, most of us know what that implies when it comes to our own skills and abilities. For most of us mortals � we need a compressed, surprise trigger break of the trigger to reliably hit with any real level of precision.

I�m not certain the good Colonel from Arizona coined the phrase exclusively, but he�s certainly credited with making it popular with the shooting masses and incorporating it as an element of the Modern Technique. What Jeff was attempting to describe with that term is a method of manipulating the trigger to the point of firing the gun, without a reactionary �jerk� in response to the sound and recoil.

Most shooters don�t have any faith in the �wobble�, since it appears there is way too much movement of the gun/sights. So, instead of concentrating on achieving a �surprise� in the trigger break, they attempt to �time� their shot when the sights look oriented in a particular place on the target. In other words they try and make the gun go bang at a precise moment in time, and you usually can�t make that happen without jerking the trigger.

The most common way one achieves a surprise break of the trigger is by putting steading and incrementally heavier pressure on the trigger until the gun goes bang. So how long does this process take - this smooth and steady pressure applied in increments? Well, it depends on how much �surprise� you need to achieve the amount of �precision� required for a given shot. A very simple example would be that a hit on a paper plate at 7 yards doesn�t require near as much as a hit inside a 1� circle at the same distance. Like every other aspect of shooting, some have more natural ability than others and the rest of us make up for it with training and practice. But generally speaking, the more you shoot, the faster this process of manipulating the trigger becomes � all things being equal.

This is why I think the surprise trigger works so well for most folks; In truth, most of us that understand the technique and can do it on demand - or most of the time anyway - still flinch. That�s right � I still flinch to some degree, I just do it late in the firing sequence so it has minimal effect on where the bullet goes.

Now having said all that, I�ve watched a video of a certain world class shooter that slaps the hell out of his 1911 triggers. But the truth is, his trigger pulls are worked down to less than a pound and he is after all, a world class shooter.

The rest of us generally have to do it different.

Good post and Oh so true. I think this post comes from a knowledgeable shooter. Thanks for saying it better than I could have.

Great post 41, the only thing I'd add is having a "perfect" grip on the gun is essential, especially for shooting quickly. This facilitates/enables that quick (if need be) pull to the rear that doesn't disturb/alter the lay of the weapon. Perfect is whatever enables you to do that, and its gotta be the same every time

As far as light triggers? 7-8 lbs sucks and blows but great work can be done by great shooters with a good 4# trigger. Bill Rodgers says that is optimum for his course and that is the greatest handgun test ever devised.

Perhaps I'm the odd man out here, but I think the surprise trigger break in normal shooting is a myth. When you've fired a gun thousands of times, you know "when" it's going to go off based on the building of pressure on your finger pad. You've felt it so many times you know the time is "NOW". I'm not a target shooter who takes a minute to release the sear. If I'm looking through glass, I want the damn gun to go off when the reticle says it's time. Same when I'm looking through sights. A steady pull does not result in a surprise for me. Be it double action pistol or single action, semi-auto or revolver, the gun goes off when I tell it too because the sights are now perfectly aligned for that moment. This means I may actually have to minutely increase pressure to take advantage of the momentary perfection of the sight picture. I don't "jerk" the trigger, but I may darn well speed the process up a bit.

One cannot successfully shoot combat competition waiting for the trigger to release. The real surprise comes from seeing the falling metal plate not fall!

Dan

I am with Dan on this one, which is why I have spent a kings ransom on triggers and trigger jobs. Part of it may be that I am, admittedly, a control freak. I want the bang to happen when I SAY it should happen. Works for me, YMMV.

I'm thinking you may not have the proper conception of the surprise break, Dan. I can achieve a surprise break in under a quarter of a second. It's not related to "time" in any way. But more importantly, the surprise break is first a mental exercise - the physical application of pulling the trigger is secondary.

I will say this, the notion that you can time your shot when the sights are perfectly aligned doesn't work in dynamic circumstances when you don't when or where the target will present itself and it certainly doesn't work when the target is moving.

But having said that, I always offer this disclaimer; If you can hit what you shoot at - in a realistic time frame - any target at any reasonable distance likely to be encountered, I would strongly encourage you to keep doing it any way you want.

I don't want this to come off as bragging cause it's really no big deal, but I do this little exercise for students to make the point that if you don't embrace the wobble and achieve a surprise trigger, it's difficult to shoot with precision.

The drill is simply this; I take their pistol (usually a Glock in some caliber) - I turn the gun upside down and manipulate the trigger with my little finger - and I shoot a 12" metal plate at 40 yards. If my caffeine level is at an acceptable level, I may hit it 6-8 times in a row before my concentration wanes.

If that can be achieved by some other method - I'm all ears.

Good points and I certainly don't disagree with any of that, TAK. A proper grip - with one hand or two - is paramount when shooting at speed or when follow-up shots are part of the firing sequence. I guess I didn't address any of that as the OP was asking about the process of firing accurately.

I have my own notions about grip, but perhaps you or someone else will start a new thread and get that can kicked around.

Great drill. Another one is one I stole from Randy Cain. Take a problem shooter (yanker) and let him grip his pistol except YOU slowly press the trigger straight to the rear. Almost always their shot group will tighten markedly. This proves to them conclusively that trigger control is their problem.

I also will split the difference between Dan's position and yours on the surprise break. I think it is the only way to TEACH trigger control but at some point, the combat shooter must move beyond it for some drills BUT IT SHOULD NEVER BE ABANDONED. Do dot drills periodically as you should and you WILL return to the surprise break

Roger that. That's an old Bullseye teaching illustration that we�ve used for 30 years on DAY 1 with every student, but it's amazing how few can assimilate the experience into their shooting. They still think it�s about keeping the gun still and timing the shot with the visual sight reference.

I actually use this exercise with some modification by taping up their sights. Invariably, they will shoot better with NO SIGHT reference as long as the trigger pull is acceptable. But again - most still don�t get it without many repetitions of the illustration. Some just never do get it and I�m still investigating that phenomenon after 30 years, but I think it�s just lack of will and/or motivation.

And as to the surprise trigger, I agree with you 100%. A surprise break is not required for every shot - just the one's that require precision and that performance dynamic obviously varies from shooter to shooter.

...here's a thought for you 41---taken from one of Clint Smith's instructors that I was shooting with this morning: "ALL handgun shots are 'precision,' not all are 'surgical,' but ALL are 'precision.'"

That works for me ....

41mag

I don't "time" the trigger to break when the sight are lined up. I "make" the trigger break when the sights are lined up. I may have a misconception of the surprise trigger break, but I am not surprised when it does.

Dan

I'm so glad to see others have problems with the surprise break mantra.

I'm increasing pressure on the trigger why should I be surprised that the gun eventually goes off. For instance I have a handgun that I've dry fired for the last 27 years for hours at a time I think my subconscious can determine when the trigger will break.

Personally I want to concentrate on not disturbing the sight picture with my trigger pressure and watching the sight lift and KNOWING where the shot will hit.

I don't know how to concentrate on not being surprised.

I think the "surprise break" concept is the first step in teaching the idea of sight acquisition and follow thru but those concepts are hard to teach early on. It takes more instruction to get that idea across. I think the SB is eventually an ingrained technique allowing the shooter to progress to other parts of the equation. I personally have never been able to appreciate the trigger reset on a 1911 or a striker fired gun, like a Glock, but I am not there yet...

For a guy practicing trigger control for 27 years, I think you have progressed beyond that point. When I am teaching new shooters the SB technique still works. It does take a certain amount of loud bangs to desensitize you to the gun actually firing.

It has beem a few years ago that I sat through my son's first hunter safety class. The instructor went on at some length about "squeezing the trigger" and the "surprise when the gun goes off".

That was one of several things which I had to tell my son was total and complete bullsquat.

Perhaps, if you are going to pull a thousand boys off the streets of Big City, USA. Perhaps, if they have never laid their hands on a firearm before. And perhaps, if the best firearm you can afford to give them has a half inch of travel in the trigger and breaks at 9 pounds. Then perhaps your best advice would be to "Point the gun as close to that target as you can hold it and start'"squeezing' the trigger. You should be able to thin the enemy down a little as they charge your position."

But a marksman installs the best trigger he can afford, and tunes it to a gnat's ass. His trigger breaks exactly as the sight alignment becomes perfect.

When shooting, I place the sights on the target, my finger on the trigger, and when the brain recognizes the correct sight alignment, the brain causes the addition of enough pressure to fire the weapon.

There is no thought of squeezing the trigger. There is no surprise. And if one occasionally drops the hammer on an empty chamber, or a dud cartridge, there is, most importantly, no reaction of the weapon to the trigger pull.

I am, admittedly, primarily a shooter of hunting rifles chambered for big game cartridges. But I do burn a bit of ammo in a 41 mag revolver. And I have spent a bit of time behind the trigger of a few auto pistols. Not enough to become an expert shot with the pistols, but enough to see that the same trigger technique I used on the Garand at the range also works on the pistol.

Rather than spawning more bloviation about what people think the original concept was/is---might as well go to the source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKgAkwB8WRo

Here is why I believe the way I do.

Some years back - in the distant past shortly after the Earth cooled and the heavens separated from the waters - I was in a steel challenge style event. I was in the process of engaging 5 plates at various distances from 5 to 15 yards and on pedestals between 3 to 5 feet in height. I cleaned the first 4 in proper fashion but with the 5th, it rocked on the pedestal but instinctively, I knew it wasn't going to fall, but rather probably rock back to standing position. The amount of time it took for me to recognize this and react to it was pretty much instantaneous and I triggered a second shot on that plate that swept it off the pedestal. This was a spectator event and those two shots and hits on the same plate brought about a pretty nice round of applause from people who understand how hard it is to double tap an 8" plate before it falls.

There was no surprise in either trigger break points. I pulled the trigger when the sights were where I wanted them to be when the gun went off. Of course, it has a very nice trigger break.

Dan

I just watched the video, and I do not agree with it.

#1- I simply can not hold the sights on target in a steady enough manner for that type of trigger break to work for me.

Put it another way, if my rifle or revolver is going to fire sometime during a 1 to 2 second period. There is no chance in Hell that I can maintain my crosshairs on an elk's or deer's heart for that two seconds at 400 yds with the rifle. Nor can I hold the revolver sights on a deers heart for two seconds at fifty yards. Heck, my heart is going to beat several times during that two seconds, and each heartbeat disturbs the sight alignment.

But I can make either shot by firing the gun as soon as the sights settle into proper alignment.

Admittedly, if one is simply trying to hit the vitals (at thirty feet) of something or someone trying to kill or maim you, a 1/4 moa hold is not critical.

But where I hunt, a 1/4 moa aim is critical, and that is what I was attempting to teach my twelve year old son. The Hunter's Ed instructor telling the kids that each shot should be a surprise was counter productive to my training of my son in longish (out to 400 yds) range marksmanship.