Matt Burkett is one of the top IPSC instructors in the USA today. He is a GM
level shooter in Most IPSC divisions, and a 3-gun expert. His
DVD series has become a land-mark in IPSC
training and coaching.
Matt has agreed to share some of his tips here at Double-Alpha Academy. Enjoy !
Quick jump to tips:
Recoil control problems
Flinch or the phobic
reaction to recoil
Grip and Stance
Traveling with guns.
Eye Dominance
Eye Speed
Reaction To The Buzzer
Buying a Used Gun
Timing Drills
10 week shooting and
basic fitness plan
Sight-In Tip
Grip and Stance
Swinging Targets NEW 26.05.06
Variable Trigger control NEW Added
26.05.06
_________________________________________________________________
Recoil control problems
The concept of a continuous sight picture. Nearly everything you hear in
training or at a match is see your front sight. I don’t think that is the
correct way to approach a major problem with peoples shooting. The main
issue
they have is that they don’t see the sights when they need to, which is
during
the entire firing sequence and return to the targets. Most of my students
would be familiar with the timing drills. One of the biggest benefits of a
timing drill is that it would develop the ability to see the sight all the
way
through the recoil. That is how you shoot fast and accurate splits on
target.
Understand that the GRIP of the pistol is different than getting a GRIP on a
pistol. This is a difficulty in common language usage especially when
describing both.
Recoil control or timing:
The Issue:
Most shooters have a significant issue with recoil control. Well okay they
don’t have any recoil control would be a better way to put it. We have
worked
on flinch. If you can see your sight lift and return, your most likely not
flinching.
Poor recoil control covers a spectrum of problems. From not having a
consistent return of the gun to the same spot you just shot to the hand or
hands breaking and losing grip on the pistol. Generally I see either a hand
readjustment right after a shot or I see the weak hand actually lose its
grip
on the pistol.
Now lets define the issue. The concept of recoil control or timing the gun
(from the shooters perspective) is to subconsciously return the sights to
the
same spot. This is a neuromuscular firing of fast twitch muscles that occurs
.04-.07 of a second after the shot is fired. Notice is said subconscious.
You
have to set everything up right for and then let it happen. The top shooters
don’t look like their working hard when their shooting do they? That’s a big
hint. Their not!
Common problems to address:
Does the gun fit your hand? Can you actually hold the pistol in a good
firing grip and actuate all safeties along with get a proper finger position
on the trigger? If the gun doesn’t fit you, how do you think you will shoot
it
fast and accurate? You will be able to shoot it accurate regardless of grip,
but, not fast. Accuracy is purely sight alignment and trigger control.
Another
issue that comes up when people are shooting a gun that doesn’t fit is that
they can’t index the gun consistently. Fixes for improper gun fit include
modifications to the grip, trigger length, or maybe a different gun
entirely.
<A sponsor prompt here> If your using a 1911 or Wide Body gun, SVI has an
insert trigger system (ITS) that allows you to change the trigger length,
style, and even color without taking your gun apart. http://www.sviguns.com
Is it slippery? I once had a student that had a full custom .45 and his
issue was that the gun was just plain slippery. There really was no way to
get
a good purchase on it, especially with hard ball loads. I know this sounds
like common sense, but, you have to be able to “stick” to the gun. It didn’t
help that he also liked to silicone his gun. THE WHOLE THING. Grip and all!
That’s like greasing a ball bearing then trying to hold on it when it gets
150
g’s of force applied. Good luck! Skate board tape, checkering, different
grips
they will all contribute to a better grip. If your sweaty hands aren’t
helping
the issue any, get some Pro-grip from Krunch Products.
Do you have a crappy grip that doesn’t lend itself to holding the gun
properly? Is there a gap between your hands? Is your weak hand thumb not
pointing at the target? Is your weak hand actually getting on the grip
itself
or just kind of riding your strong hand? If you have seen Practical Shooting
V
4, we mark the hands on Kevin to see if he is getting a consistent grip on
the
pistol. Have a training partner do the same for you. Then do 25 draws and
see
what happens.
The weak hand needs to be an integral part of the two handed grip. For me
that
is where most of the recoil control happens. Trigger control occurs with my
strong hand. Most shooters try to do too much with their strong side of
their
body. This is a natural thing that we need to overcome for really fast
shooting. Fast shooting doesn’t happen when the strong side is tensed up.
This
is when you will see shooters have trigger freezes, and horrible follow up
shots. Sometimes it doesn’t even look like they were shooting at the same
target! A drill to work on that will help you bring your weak side more into
your shooting is when the hands hit the reception position (about where you
clap), the weak hand “brings” the gun to the sight plane. This can help take
the focus off the dominance of the strong side and help balance us out a
bit.
(Wouldn’t it be a better world all around if more people were well balanced?
I
am talking mentally here though. J
Pushing and pulling on the gun like the old style weaver technique. Alright,
so this one never made sense to me. The gun is recoiling rearwards, why in
the
hell do you want to help it? Dynamic tension is a bunch of BS. When you have
an adrenaline rush, what happens? You get stronger right? Use more gross
motor
skills right? Well here is a hint, what side is stronger? Your strong side,
umm duh. That’s why you will see a lot of shooters that use the weaver push
their second shot low left. Their first one may be fine, but, after that
when
the pressure is on, it can have a tendency to go to hell really quick. If
your
pushing forward, using a positive pressure with both arms and get an
adrenaline rush, what happens? Your just putting more energy into the gun in
the exact opposite direction of the recoil. Not a bad thing huh?
Make sure your stance is solid. Have someone push on your hands in your
shooting stance. (solid constant pressure) If you can’t hold the same
position, guess what the gun is doing.
Make sure your relaxed and in a positive position. Tension kills fast
shooting. Tension is different than strength. (That’s a fun on to explain
that
I am not even going to touch here. If you don’t get it, call me.) Can you
wiggle your toes in the shooting box before the timer goes off? Bet you
can’t
the first time you try. The nerve going to the big toe is the longest nerve
in
the human body. Guess what, if your toes are tense, everything else is tense
in between. Take a lower abdominal breath and relax your abs. Focus on your
stress and get rid of it.
Okay so now you have a solid stance, your relaxed, have a good grip on the
gun, and your can reach the trigger. Do you have sights you can see
effectively? Can you make out the front sight clearly? Time to see the eye
doctor? BTW if your over 40 and suffering the standard far sighted issue (ie
need reading glasses) ask your doctor about a new procedure called CK.
Drills to develop recoil control:
Dryfire won’t cure a recoil control problem. That is the one thing you can’t
do in dryfire. What it will develop is proper stance, grip, etc..
The first thing I want you to do is to aim at a berm that isn’t to far away.
Say 10 yards. Make sure that it is a good backstop and your not going to get
any ricochets. Load and make ready and get everything behind the gun right –
grip, stance, relaxed etc. Aim the gun at a target and just burn off the
whole
magazine as fast as you can. What did you feel and learn? Where you able to
shoot all the way through the magazine without stopping and was your trigger
speed consistent? Were you able to keep a grip through the whole magazine?
If
so, great, skip to doing my timing drills. (tip is on my website or in PSV4)
If not, figure out where the problem is. Is it your weak hand? Did your
tension build as you shot? What’s going on? Have a practice partner help you
diagnose the issue if necessary by having them watch you shoot. What is your
body language? Can they see you tighten up? Side note: what is your trigger
finger doing? Is it leaving the face of the trigger or bouncing on and off
it?
Once you can get that down, which may take a lot of ammo see if you can get
a
continuous sight picture during the whole magazine.
An interesting note: A lot of students have found that when they were able
to
get their gun under control, they generally cured most of their flinching
issues.
Take care and good luck with your shooting! Please email this article to
your
friends that it could help out.
Thanks!
©mattburkett.com 2003 reproduction allowed must include link to
http://www.mattburkett.com
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Flinch or the phobic
reaction to recoil
By Matt Burkett © http://www.mattburkett.com
Flinch is the subconscious reaction to the noise/recoil/fit of a firearm.
Notice that I said subconscious. It is any uncontrollable action prior to
the gun going off. Understand that it is nothing to be embarrassed about. It
is something that can be overcome much like any phobia. The conscious part
of the equation is the fear of the gun firing. The worst flinch I have seen
was a guy shooting a .300 Winchester Magnum. He would close his eyes about
two seconds before he pulled the trigger! That definitely didn’t help him
hit the target. In fact, he didn’t even come near it.
Now flinch is different than recoil control. Recoil control or “timing the
firearm” as I call it, happens as the gun is firing. There is only a few
hundredths of a second difference but the difference in the effects on your
shooting are incredible.
If you have never seen how the sights lift in recoil, you have been closing
your eyes. IE flinching. Another thing to check for is to work on group
shooting. If your shooting a 4” group off hand at 15 yards your most likely
not flinching. If that group opens up with several flyers, you may be having
an issue. If you can’t keep them on the target you are having a real
problem.
Lets take a look at the different things that contribute to flinch and see
if we can help you with some drills to work through this problem.
Noise
Face it, loud noises scare us and cause a reaction. Its not normal for
people to have an explosion happen in front of their face and not jump,
blink, or have their muscles uncontrollable contract. We need to train,
focusing on overcoming the body’s physical and psychological reaction to the
noise.
How do we go about doing that? Well let’s start with a gun that doesn’t make
as much noise or even an air pistol. Learn some of the basics of shooting on
a firearm, such as trigger control and sight alignment, without the
distractions of the loud bang. Another thing that will significantly help
will be double plugging. Using good ear plugs and a big set of ear muffs.
This will help shut out the sound as it enters either the skull or the ear
canal. You may want to also add a hat as this will reduce the amount of
impact from the blast to the head.
Try shooting a few round safely with your eyes closed. (obviously after
having checked your impact area and lined the gun up with the target) Feel
what is bothering you. Is it the noise, recoil, blast??
Accepting the noise is one of the biggest things to learn. When the gun goes
off focus on relaxing as much as possible. Use just enough grip strength to
keep the gun from flying out of your hands. Start with a .22 rim fire and
work your way up, learning to relax into the noise of each subsequent
caliber.
Recoil
The rule with learning to handle recoil is to start small with a gun that
fits you and work your way up.
The main technique that will help you handle recoil and your flinch is
proper grip and stance. The less the gun pushes you around, the less chance
your going to react to the recoil. What is the gun doing in recoil? Most
likely you don’t know because your eyes are closed.
Another thing that will help reduce recoil is to change your loads and
reduce the weight of the recoil spring. Try working with “target” loads or
reduced power loads. Focus on seeing as much as you can while the gun is
going off.
Pain
Pain caused by sharp spots on the gun can cause a flinch. Several of my
students have gotten rid of their flinch just by making the gun fit their
hand better. Grip your gun up tightly with your hand until your knuckes and
fingers change color. Now, feel the gun, whats bothering you? Let the gun go
and look at the palm of your hand and fingers. Where are the marks? These
are related to the spots on the gun that you will need to have a gunsmith
modify for you. Getting rid of the sharp spots and edges, and you will be
surprised at how much nicer it will be to shoot the gun.
If you can’t hang on to the gun, you won’t be able to shoot it well. Make
sure that you have a good purchase on the gun. If your hands are slipping
around, it will make it more difficult to shoot. Add skate board tape,
checkering or rubber grips so that you can get a better grip.
Psychological
Forcing your way to learn to shoot through a flinch. Set a target at 10 or
15 feet. Have someone check your stance and grip by standing off to the side
and cycling the empty gun while your aiming it at the target. Now load the
gun and shoot the magazine off as fast as you can forcing your eyes open and
learning to relax into the gun and recoil. The more you tighten up your
shoulders, neck, etc the worse it is.
A true surprise shot. Get into your shooting stance and have someone else
pull the trigger for you. Try this both with you eyes open and closed. RELAX
and see how much an incredible difference in recoil there is. The gun just
flips and comes back to center.
Good luck with breaking your flinch. If you have any questions are
additional idea's or suggestions, please contact me by either email or by
phone at (480) 949-1553
May be reproduced as long as a link to http://www.mattburkett.com is
included.
©MattBurkett 2003
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Grip and
Stance•
Lets hear it. I'd like more info on the "burkett" platform.
I still don't see how a reverse weaver type position carries over to long
guns. If I were to put my arms in a weaver or mod iso position right now
while holding a Glock, one could come over and take the gun out of my hand
and replace it with an AR or mp5 and the only adjustment I would have to
make is to move my right hand back to the area of the trigger housing in the
long gun. My left arm will stay bent in pretty much the same position.
Maybe I am doing the reverse weaver wrong but, I don't see where it carries
over. Kinesthetic awareness is a major factor in reactive shooting.
As PTGDVC alluded to, I have shot from every possible position during force
on force FX. I have come to realize that trigger control and intestinal
fortitude are more important than my latest greatest shooting platform.
Thanks for the reply. As for your other notes, I fully agree that more
important than stance etc. is a fighting mindset. Without it, it doesn't
matter how good you shoot because you probably won't make the decision too
shoot when nec.
This following is based on the shooter being right handing and not having
any physical arm or spine issues. Will discuss weak/strong and rifle
shooting at end.
Quoting two of my articles with modifications:
•Grip and Stance•
Most of the basic shooting problems that I seee come from an improper grip
(this includes tension and hand placement) and incorrect upper body
position.
The basics: Keep the head up and straight - not canted left or right to the
gun. Shoulders square. The arms bent. Hands together. Trigger finger free
for movement. Both eyes open.
Place the strong hand on the grip as high as possible, both front and rear.
The strong hand thumb should always be on the safety. (when shooting weak
hand the thumb should also always ride the safety) I relieve the bottom rear
of the trigger guard on my guns to put my right hand at a more natural angle
and reduce the pressure on the joint of the middle finger.
The trigger finger should not touch or rub on the gun anywhere other than
the trigger. The pad of the finger should be used - not the first joint.
This will provide better trigger control.
The placement of the weak hand in a freestyle grip is where most people make
mistakes. First the fingers should all be under the trigger guard. Your weak
hand index finger should never be on the front of the trigger guard. Second,
there should be total hand to hand contact at the left rear of the gun.
(this is based on being right handed) The left hand should not sit straight
forward on the gun. It should be canted at an angle with the back of the
hand being higher on the gun than the front. If you trace you thumb on your
left hand back past the knuckle to the base by the wrist, this should be in
between the first joint and the knuckle of the right thumb. This is going to
cock the left hand at an angle and complete the contact between both hands.
This also serves another purpose of bringing different arm muscles in on
controlling the gun. You should feel the muscles on the top of the left arm
by the elbow doing the work. If the hand is straight you will feel the
strain on the bottom of the arm.
Both thumbs should be pointing at the target and your arms should be pushing
out in a positive tension against the gun. Several schools teach a push/pull
technique. Why should you pull on the gun when it is already going that way
during recoil? Also be sure not to lock the arms out. This transfers all of
the guns energy into your shoulders also does not allow you to work on the
recoil of the gun.
The left arm should be more straight than the right arm, which is probably
the opposite that you've been told. (If your shoulders are relaxed, not
hunched up, and you are standing square to the target, your left hand has to
be further out than the right hand.)
Grip tension should be about 60% weak hand and 40% strong hand. Do not
strangle the gun. More tension in the shooting hand = less trigger speed. If
you have a proper grip you will be surprised at how little work you have to
do to control the gun. There are several drills I have to develop your grip,
but, a good starting point is to use the same grip on the right hand that
you would on a hammer. (what you use to hit nails with J ) Use slightly more
tension in the left hand. If you are seeing a significant upper right torque
on the gun try increasing the grip strength on the left hand and decreasing
the strength on the right. This should straiten the recoil path out for you.
This grip may feel uncomfortable at first. Try it out for a couple of weeks
and I bet you will see a difference.
As for the stance I use check out the following:
Have you ever watched boxing? Notice how they are leaned slightly forward,
standing on the balls of their feet, knees bent, feet about shoulder width
apart, tip of the weak foot approximately 3-6" in front of the tip of the
strong foot and their body is loose and relaxed. To find how much to bend
your knees, I visualize a vertical line from my kneecap to the ball of the
foot. The hips should be in a natural position with the back and your center
of balance low over the balls of your feet. I prefer to have the front of
the shoulders a minimum of an inch in front of the hips. I lean the entire
upper body forward. If the shoulders are at or behind center you will not
have any control over your shooting. You shouldn’t feel any pressure on the
back or neck muscles in this position. If you are, you most likely are
leaning the shoulders forward but not rotating the hips with them. I breath
through the stomach for shooting as upper body breathing disturbs the gun. I
also try to maintain about 60% of my weight on the balls of my feet.
Get into this shooting stance and have someone push against your
outstretched hands. You want them to use a solid constant pressure. If they
can push you over, you are too tight or your legs or elbows are locked. As
more energy comes in make sure that you don’t rock back on your heels. Your
body will overcome it for you if you just let it; rotate the hips and upper
body more and bend your knees slightly more.
This will show you how to apply positive forward tension with your whole
body.
This is the way to the fastest shooting. Relaxed but in control.
__________________
Notes on the above:
The more relaxed and comfortable your stance, the better decsion making you
will do.
Failures I see with the Weaver Stance. IMHO
Quartering the body off center reduces the effectiveness of body armor by
exposing upto a 1/3 of your chest.
Leaning around the right side of a barricade gives minimal exposure with the
stance, but, the left side is awkward. With my stance exposure is minimized
in either position by rotating the outside elbow inwards. This keeps the arm
from being exposed. The only exposed area are the eyes and the gun.
Under pressue and adreniline, I have seen the Weaver stance fail. When we
get an adreniline rush, which arm is stronger? Well we call it the strong
arm for a reason. It seems to have a tendancy to overcome the weak arm when
firing resulting in the second shot (sometimes even the first) to be extreme
low left. With my stance since you are using positive forward tension with
both hands and arms, the stance doesn't self destruct when you put more
energy into it. It just gets stronger.
Additional notes:
Weak/Strong Hand shooting: I use the exact same stance for this as I do for
two hands. Main part I add is the anchoring of the off hand. This keeps the
off hand from becoming a pendulum.
Rifle shooting: Same stance with a couple of minor changes. On a rifle I do
pull it back into my shoulder with more energy being imparted with my weak
arm than my strong arm. This helps keep the strong hand relaxed for better
trigger control. Left arm is in approximately extended the same as when it
was on the handgun. I shoot with the same head and body positioning that I
use with a handgun.
Obviously since this is a stance discussion, the draw and presentation to
stance hasn't been covered. It also doesn't cover my "pinch and roll"
technique with the weak hand.
Remember to take everything with a grain of salt. Learn everything, use what
works for you and your situation.
Best of luck with your shooting,
_________________________________________________________________back to top
Traveling with guns.
I know after one of the darkest days in America, everyone that travels for
shooting events is a little nervous. Relax it hasn’t been a problem for me.
I have been following the same rules as before September 11th and have flown
many times without an issue.
The rules you need to follow.
1. Lock your gun in a hard case.
2. Put the locked case into another bag or case you can lock. Preferably a
locking suitcase or pelican box.
3. Put ammo into ammo cases (factory boxes if possible) and cushion them to
keep them from making noise if necessary.
4. Place the ammo 5 kilos or less (11 pounds) about 300 rounds of .38 super
into a separate bag that your going to check. I use my garment bag which is
one of the framed rolling type.
5. Grab some zip ties, preferably the colored ones. Easier to identify your
bag with and you can also lock any zippers together. Helps keep’em honest.
At Check-In do the following.
1. Arrive at least 2 hours early for your flight. (minimum)
2. Go to the actual check-in counter inside the terminal.
3. Hand over your tickets and ID.
4. Ask for an Unloaded firearms tag and say your traveling for a
competition. (seems to put them at ease)
5. They may ask to inspect your guns. Open up the cases and show them clear.
Even better is if you have them disassembled in the locked case.
6. Place the signed tag inside the locking hard care, next to the gun.
7. Lock case and bag up etc.
8. Request additional baggage insurance if you want.
9. Make no declaration of ammo unless asked.
10. Say thanks for helping you out and go get on your plane.
DO NOT ATTEMPT
1. to take ammo, gun parts, or accessories in your carry on.
2. Use your shooting bag as a carry on. The bomb detector may pick up traces
of powder etc. It’s not worth the hassle.
3. Argue with the agent – If they are disagreeable ask for a manager.
4. to have baggage that has gun related embroidery or logo’s etc. Your
asking for it to get stolen.
That should pretty much cover the details.
Have gun on your trip. If you have any more questions about traveling or
shooting in general contact me.
BELOW ARE THE ACTUAL FAA REGS -
THIS DATA CURRENT AS OF THE FEDERAL REGISTER DATED OCTOBER 24, 2001
14 CFR - CHAPTER I - PART 108
View Part
§ 108.11 Carriage of weapons.
(a) No certificate holder required to conduct screening under a security
program may permit any person to have, nor may any person have, on or about
his or her person or property, a deadly or dangerous weapon, either
concealed or unconcealed, accessible to him or her while aboard an airplane
for which screening is required unless:
(1) The person having the weapon is --
(i) An official or employee of the United States, or a State or political
subdivision of a State, or of a municipality who is authorized by his or her
agency to have the weapon; or
(ii) Authorized to have the weapon by the certificate holder and the
Administrator and has successfully completed a course of training in the use
of firearms acceptable to the Administrator.
(2) The person having the weapon needs to have the weapon accessible in
connection with the performance of his or her duty from the time he or she
would otherwise check it in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section
until the time it would be returned after deplaning.
(3) The certificate holder is notified --
(i) Of the flight on which the armed person intends to have the weapon
accessible to him or her at least 1 hour, or in an emergency as soon as
practicable, before departure; and
(ii) When the armed person is other than an employee or official of the
United States, that there is a need for the weapon to be accessible to the
armed person in connection with the performance of that person's duty from
the time he or she would otherwise check it in accordance with paragraph (d)
of this section until the time it would be returned to him or her after
deplaning.
(4) The armed person identifies himself or herself to the certificate holder
by presenting credentials that include his or her clear, full-face picture,
his or her signature, and the signature of the authorizing official of his
or her service or the official seal of his or her service. A badge, shield,
or similar may not be used as the sole means of identification.
(5) The certificate holder --
(i) Ensures that the armed person is familiar with its procedures for
carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon aboard its airplane before the time
the person boards the airplane;
(ii) Ensures that the identity of the armed person is known to each law
enforcement officer and each employee of the certificate holder responsible
for security during the boarding of the airplane; and
(iii) Notifies the pilot in command, other appropriate crewmembers, and any
other person authorized to have a weapon accessible to him or her aboard the
airplane of the location of each authorized armed person aboard the
airplane.
(b) No person may, while on board an airplane operated by a certificate
holder for which screening is not conducted, carry on or about that person a
deadly or dangerous weapon, either concealed or unconcealed. This paragraph
does not apply to --
(1) Officials or employees of a municipality or a State, or of the United
States, who are authorized to carry arms; or
(2) Crewmembers and other persons authorized by the certificate holder to
carry arms.
(c) No certificate holder may knowingly permit any person to transport, nor
may any person transport or tender for transport, any explosive, incendiary
or a loaded firearm in checked baggage aboard an airplane. For the purpose
of this section, a loaded firearm means a firearm which has a live round of
ammunition, cartridge, detonator, or powder in the chamber or in a clip,
magazine, or cylinder inserted in it.
(d) No certificate holder may knowingly permit any person to transport, nor
may any person transport or tender for transport, any unloaded firearm in
checked baggage aboard an airplane unless --
(1) The passenger declares to the certificate holder, either orally or in
writing before checking the baggage, that any firearm carried in the baggage
is unloaded;
(2) The firearm is carried in a container the certificate holder considers
appropriate for air transportation;
(3) When the firearm is other than a shotgun, rifle, or other firearm
normally fired from the shoulder position, the baggage in which it is
carried is locked, and only the passenger checking the baggage retains the
key or combination; and
(4) The baggage containing the firearm is carried in an area, other than the
flightcrew compartment, that is inaccessible to passengers.
(e) No certificate holder may serve any alcoholic beverage to a person
having a deadly or dangerous weapon accessible to him or her nor may such
person drink any alcoholic beverage while aboard an airplane operated by the
certificate holder.
(f) Paragraphs (a), (b), and (d) of this section do not apply to the
carriage of firearms aboard air carrier flights conducted for the military
forces of the Government of the United States when the total cabin load of
the airplane is under exclusive use by those military forces if the
following conditions are met:
(1) No firearm is loaded and all bolts to such firearms are locked in the
open position; and
(2) The certificate holder is notified by the unit commander or officer in
charge of the flight before boarding that weapons will be carried aboard the
aircraft.
[Doc. No. 108, 46 FR 3786, Jan. 15, 1981, as amended by Amdt. 108-4, 51 FR
1352, Jan. 10, 1986]
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Eye Dominance
Laurence Writes: Is it REAL DUMB to deal with reverse dominance
by closing the dominant eye?
Not at all, although you lose the advantage of stereo vision which is the
fastest way to transfer between targets. This is
only .05 to .1 of a second per shot time lag. Have you checked to see if you
have strengthend the eye enough to open the other one? Try just placing a
piece of transparent tape over the dominant eye and leaving it open. This
will take some getting used too. When you close one eye you tense up your
facial muscles and the other eye will have more of a tendency to blink .
Double Tap writes: wonderful stuff matt!!!! this is what i originally joined
the list for!!! oh yes, i use my left eye.... and shoot right.... i seem to
like shooting from left to right so my "free" right eye can see more in the
direction i am engaging the array... is this the same for right-eye
shooters? meaning right to left? and how does this effect performance ?
Most shooters tend to prefer transfering left to right. I think this is
based on the English language. We have read left to right for so long that
its just more natural and our eyes are more accustomed to it.
From Wade:
Being right-handed and left-eyed, I would like to add another suggestion. It
is worthwhile to determine which eye is the strongest and has the greatest
visual accuity. This is not always the dominant eye. It is usually
advantageous to use the "best" eye and tape the other. If you tape the
"best" eye your vision will be less clear and eye strain will be more
likely. I tape my right eye and find that when using the isosceles stance my
head is barely tilted at all.
On the subject of taping lenses, you should use the smallest piece of tape
possible and place it to obscure the gun/sights/dot when the gun is aligned
on target. This eliminates the "double-vision" and misalignment of
gun/sights/dot while leaving stereo vision essentially unimpaired. A useful
product is one called "Magic Dots" sold be mailorder in the back of
ShotgunSports magazine. This is a set of six or so vinyl (or something)
circles about 10mm in diameter which attach to the lens by static
electricity and are easily removeable, leaving no gunk behind. They work
quite well except in the cold.
_________________________________________________________________back to top
Eye Speed
"You can only shoot as fast as you can see." Well its true!Increasing your
eye speed can have a dramatic impact on your shooting skills. Time lost on
target transitions can result in seconds added per stage. Here is a way to
increase your eye speed and decrease your target transitions.
Without your gun, take two one inch black dots with a 1/4" white center and
put them about five feet apart on your living room wall. Now standing about
five feet back bring the white dot on the left one into focus. Quickly snap
your eyes only to the other dot and bring the other white center dot into
focus. Don't move your head use just your eyes. Now go back and forth as
fast as possible bringing the center dot into focus each time. You will
probably start noticing how your eyes first locate the black dot with your
peripheral vision and then how your eyes zero in on the center and bring it
into sharp clarity. Try this four a couple of minutes. You will probably
develop a light headache, take a break and repeat. Your eyes have never had
to work this hard before.
Once you see some improvement put one dot three feet above the other one and
practice vertical transitions with your eyes.
Now, move the dots back to the horizontal plane and put one just out
of view. This way you have to move your head to get to it.
Your eyes always lead everything! They are the fastest part on the human
body. Use your eyes to snap over and start searching for the other
dot, your head then automatically follows.
It's time to add the gun--unloaded with no ammo in the vicinity of your
practice area! (Assuming the use of the dot) Put the dot on the first white
spot and pull the trigger smoothly. The difficulty of the shot will
determine if you need to see the dot lift. Now snap your eyes to the other
dot, focus clearly on the white spot. The gun will be catching up with your
eyes and slowing to the white spot where your will pull the trigger again.
DO NOT slam the gun to a stop, slide it into position. A good analogy
for this is braking your car coming up to a stop sign.
You don't hit the brakes at the stop sign, you start preparing to stop
earlier (except for those who California Stop). What you don't want to see
is the dot jiggling around when the gun stops.
NOTE: If you are shooting Iron sights vs. optics you would bring the
front blade into focus after clearly focusing where you want the bullet to
go.
Practice smooth perfect transitions before trying to speed up. You have to
teach your body what you want it to do before going faster. This also
applies to reloads, draws, etc. and will help when you go faster so that you
won't have any extra unneeded movements that waste time. Burn it in and then
speed it up.
Good Luck!
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Reaction To The Buzzer
I have found that a lot of my students have been losing
significant time on their draw just by having a slow reaction
time to when the buzzer sounds from the timer. How do you find
out what your reaction time is and more importantly how do you
improve it?
Try the following out:
* NEEDS: gun, ammo, and timer
* Set timer for a random delay between 4-8 seconds
* Load and make ready
* Hit go on the timer
* Gun out in the shooting position
* Visual focus on the target
* Take safety off
* Place finger on the trigger and take up the slack (Don't AD!)
* Tune your audio focus to listening for the start of the tone
* When buzzer goes, fire a shot
* Check the clock for results
* Repeat, trying to react as fast as possible
Most likely your first reaction times will be .30 or longer. Work
on the exercise until they are consistently under .20 and you
will already have removed a minimum of a tenth of a second from
your draw!
(A reaction time of .16-.20 of a second is optimum. My personal
best is a .11 at Shooters World in Phoenix during a class with
Chris Dysart. Chris went from a .34 to a average .18 of a second.
That was a savings of .16 or in other terms it moves a one second
draw down to an .84!)
Good luck everyone!
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Buying a
Used Gun
If the gun is factory basic and just used in the normal course of
duty it most likely is a fair purchase. Check for over all fit,
function and amount of wear. If it seems excessive, parts may
need to be replaced. A used gun may be a great place to save some
money if you are looking at customizing. When buying a used
customized gun first find out who built it and how competent they
are as a gunsmith. Are they a member of the American
Pistolsmiths' Guild (APG)? Try to find out if the gun has a
background that other shooters know. Is it known for constantly
jamming or running perfect all the time?
Starting At The Top Of The Gun
Sights
If it's a scoped gun, you should check carefully for any cracks
or major dings. What is the condition of the scope? Has it been
modified by one of the scope customizing companies? This
increases the value as most of the Tasco style optics need to be
bullet-proofed. Remember even custom scopes break or burn out. Is
the dot too large? Around a ten-minute dot is premium for
Practical Shooting and a 20-minute dot for steel shooting works
well. Minutes of Angle will be explained later in this section.
Are the adjustments all the way to one side? This may be caused
by improper mounting. Are there any cracks in the mount? Are all
the screws tight? On an Iron Sighted gun, are they adjustable?
Fixed sights although durable don't allow the testing or
switching of loads easily. Bo-Mars are still the best adjustable
sight on the market. Check for loose sight parts such as the
blade or the sight base. Is the front sight serrated and ramped?
Undercut front sights are nice but not practical if the gun is to
be carried at all.
Compensator
Is the compensator loose? Does it twist by hand? Is there
adequate clearance between the slide and comp? About 0.002" to
0.004" is needed. Is the slide hitting the comp? Look for shiny
spots on the back end of the comp. Are the bullets hitting the
plates in the comp? Look inside the comp for copper marks or
tracks on the plates. If there is inadequate clearance you will
have major accuracy problem. Check for erosion on the plates.
This where the bullet passes through the hole in the plate and
the gas burns the edges of the hole. With the introduction of
light bullets, plates can suffer from significant erosion,
sometimes to the point that they break through.
Slide To Frame Fit
Check the slide to frame fit by gripping the gun in your strong
hand. Grab the slide in the weak hand. Place your strong hand
index finger along the frame and the slide. Rock the slide back
and forth and up and down. By doing this you can tell the
looseness of the slide fit. With Iron Sights, slide to frame fit
is not as critical to accuracy as with a scope. The sights are on
the slide whereas the scope is attached to the frame.
Barrel Fit
With the slide closed push down on the top of the barrel hood. If
there is any movement, there will be an accuracy problem. It will
not be able to lock up correctly. With the slide closed place
your finger on the end of the barrel and try to move it around.
Trigger Job
If you question the trigger job, lock the slide to the rear and
drop the slide on an empty chamber. DO NOT do this more than once
or without permission of the owner. (You better really want to
buy the gun!) If it goes to half cock the sear-to-hammer
relationship must be adjusted or parts may to be replaced. You
can check the over-travel on a gun by cocking the hammer and
pulling the trigger all the way to the rear. Now rock the hammer
back and forth - there should be no resistance from top to
bottom. You should be not feel the half-cock notch rubbing on the
sear. If there is some resistance or scraping, take it to a
competent gunsmith and have it adjusted.
Magazine And Magazine Well
Do the magazines fall cleanly out of the gun when the release is
pressed? This should be true even with the slide locked back
using an empty magazine. Also, check the magazine itself - the
followers for damage, examine the spring for tension, and look
for excessive wear or cracks on the feed lips.
Test Drive
If the gun seems to be in good condition, the next step is to
fire it. Take it to a range and put some rounds through it. Look
for the following:
* Does it perform consistently and reliably?
* Is it comfortable?
* Is it accurate?
If it passes all of the previous tests, by all means buy it.
_________________________________________________________________back to top
Timing Drills
One of the drills that I like to do most of the time and has had the most
impact on my shooting ability is a timing drill. First we should have a
discussion of terminology.
Timing of the gun:
I am not referring to the actual time the mechanism takes to return to
battery. I am referring to learning the timing of the gun by the shooter.
Since most guns return to battery in about 5 hundredths of a second, we
cannot return the gun fast enough with our conscious mind. The subconscious
will return the gun to point of aim by using the appropriate amount of
muscle force during recoil. You will see top shooters push down on the gun
if it does something it’s not supposed to do, such as hitting a bad primer
and not firing. This is not a flinch. A flinch occurs before and also during
the firing of the gun.
You must shoot a full magazine on every string in this drill and you must
not stop and restart in the middle of a magazine. Unless there is a safety
issue, shoot the entire magazine at the required splits. You must have a
relaxed positive stance and grip on the gun for this to work.
The major areas this drill assists are the return of the gun under recoil,
calling your shots, grip control, and solidifying the stance. If you are not
using a solid forward shooting stance, you will see the gun start going out
of control and the sights moving differently after about 3-5 rounds. Please
refer to my previous articles for more stance information or check my
website at www.mattburkett.com <http://www.mattburkett.com>
You will need three targets, tape, and about 250 rounds of ammo.
The drill:
Start out with three targets 15 yards away. Load all of your magazines.
First three strings are two seconds per shot. Like a metronome, have the
splits be as close to two seconds as possible. Check your split times on a
timer or have another shooter help you with the drill. Two seconds per shot
gives you plenty of time to shoot an extremely small group.
First string, use as light of a grip as possible on first target.
Second string, medium grip on second target.
Third string, use a heavy grip on the third target.
Now unload and review your shooting.
You shouldn’t have more than about a 2” group on each target. Compare where
they are impacting on the target. Is there more vertical stringing or
horizontal on the different groups? Which one did you feel more comfortable
with? How did the gun feel with each grip? What exactly did the sights do?
Did they rise straight up under recoil? Could you even see the sights under
recoil? This will show you if you have a flinch. If you can’t see the sights
going up and down, there is a good chance you’re blinking.
Figure out what grip worked best for you and use that for the rest of the
drill.
Tape the targets.
String four, two seconds per shot on target 1 with your new favorite grip.
String five, one second per shot on target 2.
String six, .5 seconds per shot on target 3.
Now unload and review your shooting.
Once again we go back and look to see where our problems are showing up.
What is the group dispersion on the targets? Is there a significant
difference between the groups at two seconds and at .5 seconds? How much
vertical error is there with the groups? What did the sights do at the
different speeds? Diagnose what is happening. If you’re getting a
significantly upper right lift to the sights, grip a little more with your
left hand and slightly less with your right hand (assuming you’re right
handed).
Tape the targets.
String seven, one second per shot on target one.
String eight, .5 per shot on target two.
String nine, .25 per shot on target three.
Unload and review.
How did your shooting go at this speed? Are the sights coming back naturally
to the aiming point?
Critical things to remember:
The timing of the gun that you have learned is specific to that firearm and
load. If you change any part or your load, rerun the timing drills because
the gun itself has changed.
_________________________________________________________________back to top
10 week shooting and basic
fitness plan
Consult a doctor prior to instituting any type of fitness program. This
program is for the average shooter that wants to move up a minimum of one
Class within a 10 week time frame. Please add a 5 minute stretching program
prior to every days exercise. This will reduce injury and increase the
effectiveness of the training. All walking is done briskly or quickly, not
at a slow relaxed pace. You have to get your heart rate up to see benefits
of a work out program.
1. week one – write down goals for the 10 week project and for your seasons
shooting
a. Walk briskly 10 minutes a day
b. Dry fire 10 minutes a day – basic dry fire plan
c. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand twice a day
pressing the trigger to the rear without disturbing the sights.
d. Visualize 5 minutes a day of a perfect sight picture
e. Live fire practice timing drills and transitions
f. Compete in local competitions focusing on safety and smoothness
2. week two – review goals daily
a. Walk 20 minutes a day
b. Dry fire 15 minutes a day – advanced dry fire plan
c. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand twice a day
pressing the trigger to the rear without disturbing the sights.
d. Visualize what you did perfect in the last match
e. Live fire practice draws and reloads on range
f. Compete in local competitions focusing on hits
3. week three – review goals daily
a. Walk 30 minutes a day
i. 10 minutes into walk do five 15 yard sprints
b. Dry fire 15 minutes a day focusing on transitions and drawing to
positions
c. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand twice a day
pressing the trigger to the rear without disturbing the sights.
d. Visualize shooting a smooth match and focus on the feelings of how that
would feel
e. Live fire practice movement and box work
f. Live fire practice group shooting
g. Compete in local competitions focusing on speed
4. week four – review goals daily
a. Walk 30 minutes a day
i. 15 minutes into walk do sprints and run/shoot drill
b. Dry fire 15 minutes a day focusing on weak/strong hand draws and target
transitions
c. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand three times a
day pressing the trigger to the rear without disturbing the sights.
d. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand three times a
day
e. Visualize perfect sight picture and the feel of the gun recoiling in the
hand
f. Live fire practice focusing on speed and close target engagement
g. Live fire practice focusing on difficult target transitions
h. Compete in local competitions focusing on smoothness and hits
5. week five – review and if necessary revise goals – are you on target to
reach them?
a. Walk 30 minutes a day
i. 15 minutes into walk work on balance drills
b. Dry fire 15 minutes a day – basic dryfire plan
c. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand three times a
day pressing the trigger to the rear without disturbing the sights.
d. Visualize perfect match performance
e. Live fire practice timing drills and transitions
f. Live fire practice draws and moving to positions
g. Compete in local competitions focusing on speed
6. week six – review goals daily
a. Walk 30 minutes a day
i. 15 minutes into walk work basketball drills
b. Dry fire 15 minutes a day working draws and reloads
c. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand three times a
day pressing the trigger to the rear without disturbing the sights.
d. Visualize perfect sight picture on different target types
e. Live fire practice on steel focusing on transitions
f. Live fire practice on group shooting
g. Compete in local competitions focusing on visualization of perfect stages
7. week seven – review goals daily
a. Walk 40 minutes a day
i. 10 minutes into walk do 5 15 yard sprints
ii. 30 minutes into walk do basket ball drills
b. Dry fire 20 minutes a day – basic plan and add reloads off tables
c. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand three times a
day pressing the trigger to the rear without disturbing the sights.
d. Visualize winning the next match and the feelings involved
e. Live fire practice target transitions
f. Live fire practice moving targets
g. Compete in local competitions focusing on speed
8. week eight – review goals daily
a. Walk 40 minutes a day
i. 10 minutes into walk do 5 15 yard sprints
ii. 30 minutes into walk do basket ball drills
b. Dry fire 20 minutes a day focusing on target transitions including
strong/weak hand
c. Visualize shooting on the move and prestage
d. Live fire practice shooting on the move with multiple targets
e. Live fire practice timing drills
f. Compete in local competitions focusing on smoothness and shooting on the
move
9. week nine – review goals daily
a. Walk and light jogging 40 minutes a day
i. 10 minutes into walk do 10 20 yard sprints
ii. 30 minutes into walk do basket ball drills
b. Dry fire 20 minutes a day working smoothness
c. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand three times a
day pressing the trigger to the rear without disturbing the sights.
d. Visualize competing in a match
e. live fire practice focusing on draws and reloads
f. live fire practice focusing on group shooting
g. Compete in local competitions focusing on pushing your limits
10. week ten – review goals – have you reached them yet?
a. Walk and light jogging 40 minutes a day
i. 10 minutes into walk do 5 15 yard sprints
ii. 30 minutes into walk do basket ball drills
b. Dry fire 20 minutes a day in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening
c. Hold gun up as long as possible weak hand and strong hand three times a
day pressing the trigger to the rear without disturbing the sights.
d. Visualize smoothly doing all the basic shooting skills
e. Live fire practice focusing on transitions
f. Live fire practice focusing on stages
g. Compete in local competitions focusing on perfect shooting
_______________________________________________________________________back to top
Tip from a long time ago that is still
relevant. People do not really understand the ballistics of their load/gun
combinations and how they correlate to the sights on the gun. Some fantastic
data can be obtained by working with either the Sierra or the http://www.perry-systems.com/
ballistics programs. Others are available on the market like the ATrag
system that is optimized for long range usage from http://www.horusvision.com
I have been recently playing with some ballistics programs. Thought the
following might help some shooters out. As I have lately been getting a lot
of questions like, "What distance do I sight in at?"
Data:
38 Super
124 Grain Hornandy
.141 Ballistic Coefficient
1450 Feet Per Second muzzle velocity
1.4" Sight Height -- (difference between center of bore and center of scope)
If you sighted in at 20 yards, your respective climb and drop in inches
would
be:
Target range Point of Impact
0 -1.4
5 -1
10 -.6
15 -.3
20 0
25 .2
30 .4
35 .6
40 .7
45 .7
50 .7
If you sighted in at 30 or 50 (their identical!) yards, your respective
climb
and drop in inches would be:
Target range Point of Impact
0 -1.4
5 -1.1
10 -.8
15 -.5
20 .3
25 .1
30 0
35 .1
40 .1
45 .1
50 0
____________________________________
Okay how can this help us?
Lets assume that we are using a ten minute dot. Which at the following
ranges covers:
Target range Yds Size of Dot in inches: relative to distance
5 .5
10 1
15 1.5
20 2
25 2.5
30 3
35 3.5
40 4
45 4.5
50 5
If we sight in at 20 yards, the bullet impact is .75 of an inch under the
bottom edge of the dot at Five yards. (Dot covering .5 of an inch, the
radius being .25" subtract the -1" point of impact = .75") At ten yards, the
bullet impact is within .1 of an inch of the bottom of the dot. Beyond ten
yards the bullet impact would be within the dot all the way to fifty.
The goal upon purchasing a new custom fancy race gun is to have it
shoot a 1" group at fifty or 2 minute of angle (It can happen, I have seen
it myself. Of course they locked it up in a vault after the group so they
wouldn't damage it ;) Most likely your gun will shoot 2-5" at fifty. You may
or may not be able to hold that size of group but at least the gun can. Were
are working on what is supposed to happen anyway. Just for fun lets say we
have a 1 M.O.A. gun, which would then shoot a 1/2 inch group at fifty. If we
sight in the gun at 20 yards, at fifty it will hit .7 of an inch above the
center of the dot. That would be a beautiful thing for shooting standards.
The problem we run into is the darn optics. When you add in all of the
above stuff with a sight that has 1/4 moa adjustments with an inside tube
that is floating on a rubber band or bent plastic with a C-More r weird
things can start happening. Such as first sighting in at fifteen yards and
not hitting the target at 50!
Here is how I go about sighting in my own guns for the season. First I get
it
close at ten, then at 25, 40, and finally exactly zeroed at fifty. Then
when I go back and shoot a group at 20. The gun, in theory, should print
exactly .3 of an inch below the center of the dot. The only time I change
the sight in distance is when the match book says the farthest distance
target will be 35 or less yards. I then adjust accordingly to a 15 yard
sight in (after having first sighted the gun in at fifty).
Ballistics Update
Stephen Morely Writes:
>
>
> If you sighted in at 20 yards, your respective climb and drop in inches
would
> be:
>
> Target range Point of Impact
> 0 -1.4
> 5 -1
> 10 -.6
> 15 -.3
> 20 0
> 25 .2
> 30 .4
> 35 .6
> 40 .7
> 45 .7
> 50 .7
>
>
Matt, It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see something wrong here!
No drop after 40 yards, I think not!
________
Stephen,
>From 40-56 Yards there is no respective drop then it goes:
60 .5
65 .35
70 .1
72 0
At 72 yards the bullet comes down in its ballistic path and returns to zero.
An interesting side note is that is -12.5" below zero at 150 Yards.
Good luck,
Matt Burkett
_______________________________________________________________
•Grip and Stance•
Most basic shooting problems come from an improper grip (this includes
tension and hand placement) and incorrect upper body position. The basics:
Keep the head up and straight - not canted to the gun. Shoulders square. The
arms bent. Hands together. Trigger finger free for movement. Place the
strong hand on the grip as high as possible, both front and rear. The strong
hand thumb should always be on the safety. (when shooting weak hand the
thumb should alsoalways ride the safety) I relieve the bottom rear of the
trigger guard on my guns to put my right hand at a more natural angle and
reduce the pressure on the joint of the middle finger. The trigger finger
should not touch or rub on the gun anywhere other than the trigger. The pad
of the finger should be used - not the first joint. This will provide better
trigger control.
The placement of the weak hand in a freestyle grip is where most people
make mistakes. First the fingers should all be under the trigger guard. Your
weak hand index finger should never be on the front of the trigger guard.
Second, there should be total hand to hand contact at the left rear of the
gun. (this is based on being right handed) The left hand should not sit
straight forward on the gun. It should be canted at an angle with the back
of the hand being higher on the gun than the front. If you trace you thumb
on your left hand back past the knuckle to the base by the wrist, this
should be in between the first joint and the knuckle of the right thumb.
This is going to cock the left hand at an angle and complete the contact
between both hands. This also serves another purpose of bringing different
arm muscles in on controlling the gun. You should feel the muscles on the
top of the left arm by the elbow doing the work. If the hand is straight you
will feel the strain on the bottom of the arm. Both thumbs should be
pointing at the target and your arms should be pushing out in a positive
tension against the gun. Several schools teach a push/pull technique.
Why should you pull on the gun when it is already going that way during
recoil? Also be sure not to lock the arms out. This transfers all of the
guns energy into your shoulders also does not allow you to work on the
recoil of the gun. The left arm should be more straight than the right arm,
which is probably the opposite that you've been told. (If your shoulders are
relaxed, not hunched up, and you are standing square to the target, your
left hand has to be further out than the right hand.) . Grip tension should
be about 60% weak hand and 40% strong hand. Do not strangle the gun. More
tension in the shooting hand = less trigger speed. If you have a proper grip
you will be surprised at how little work you have to do to control the gun.
This grip may feel uncomfortable at first. Try it out for a couple of weeks
and I bet you will see a difference.
_________________________________________________________________
Swinging targets
I look at swingers in a couple of different ways.
Trapping: the concept of shooting a swinging target when it is at its pause
point. It helps to time them with a stop watch to know how long the pause
is.
Tracking: the concept of following the swinger with the sights and breaking
the shot while keeping the gun moving. Now for me I usually put the sights
in the leading -1/C zone.
Most of the targets I will track then trap. Break one shot while it is on
the down swing and one shot while it is stopped. Sometimes they are
track/traps. It all depends on your skill level and comfort level with the
targets along with the speed of the swinger. Use a stopwatch to figure out
the entire available exposure time and how long it takes to get started. If
possible time it repeatedly. Activation time is fairly critical as it will
tell you when you can fire the first shot and that will decide if it will be
a trap or track.
If possible get to a range that has a swinger and shoot the heck out of it.
It will help you get over the negative mental associations that swingers
generally have and help you build up the confidence you need to shoot well.
_____________________________________________________
Variable trigger
control
One of the issues that most people have is that they don’t understand
trigger control. Learning the pin and reset technique will help you learn
the distance of the over-travel and reset which are most important parts.
••••
There are four parts to a trigger.
1. Pre-travel
2. break
3. over-travel
4. reset
Warning: Do not mess with the trigger of your gun unless you know what your
doing. Take it to a qualified gunsmith and let them do the work.
Pre-travel is the amount of “play” the trigger has before engaging the sear.
I like a lot a pre-travel. This gives my finger the opportunity to engage
the trigger and get a feel for it. It is almost nec. to slap triggers that
have no pre-travel since you can’t interface with it. I like about 14 ounces
of pre-travel on my 1911 type triggers. On a 1911 you can check this by
having the gun fully assembles but without the beavertail in place. Lift the
left side of the three leaf spring (the sear leaf) and then use a trigger
pull gauge to check the pre-travel. On a Glock this is almost impossible to
measure because you are partially cocking the firing pin during the trigger
pull.
The break is the actually disengagement of the sear and hammer. I prefer my
triggers have about a 21-26 ounce pull on a 1911. The Glock triggers I use
are set-up by customglock.com and they break right about two pounds.
The over-travel is the distance the trigger moves from the break to the
contact with the frame. On a 1911 this is set by the screw at the bottom of
the trigger face. I prefer a bit of over-travel. This helps keep my finger
from running into the frame especially weak or strong hand.
The reset is the distance from the contact of the frame to the reengagement
of the sear and hammer.
A well set up trigger should feel clean with no dragging anywhere. It should
bounce back to the reset.
I have Don Golembieski of Kodiak Precision set up the triggers with a slight
rolling break on the sear. The way he does them is pretty amazing. Most
people can’t feel the roll on his triggers and think that they are a crisp
break. Too crisp of a break for me and I can see movement in the sights.
••••
We need to get rid of your flinch. There is no way that you can possible
learn to feel a trigger if all of the muscles in your hand are firing and
your closing your eyes during the recoil. Read my article here and watch“Volume 4 – How to Shoot Faster!” to work through your flinch. Once this is
overcome then we can work on the trigger control.
••••
Variable trigger control is like a variable sight picture. Targets of
different difficulties require more or less work. The concept of a varying
sight picture has discussed many times by myself and Brian Enos. I think the
first publication of this was in his book “Practical Shooting – Beyond the
Fundamentals”. You can order it from my online store if you don’t have a
copy.
I believe this is the first time the concept of a variable trigger pull has
been discussed. On a 5 yard target, you just don’t need to do the same
amount of work that you would on a 50 yard target.
Here is a drill that you can use to work on the concept.
Set up three targets. One at 5, one at 10 and one at 15 yards. It helps to
have a high capacity gun so that you can keep shooting. Shoot each target
with 2-4 rounds trying to go as fast as you can, yet still feel the trigger
reset on the 10 and 15 yard targets. Only A’s count. Work on your target
transitions and try to reduce them as much as possible. You can also do this
as a timing drill shooting an entire magazine into each target with a reload
in-between. This will show you your grip and stance failures. If you shoot
and at anytime need to readjust your grip or stance, you didn’t start out
right.
Here is an interesting post from Sam one of my forum users:
Matt, I was out training with another USPSA Master today and we were
discussing your training DVD's. (I emailed you about a month ago about
pinning
the trigger, and I've been working on it daily since your kind reply.) I've
discovered that I can shoot one ragged hole at 5 yards by pinning the
trigger
every time. Firing splits of .65 I can feel the reset click every time. I
can
shoot 7 yd Bill Drills, all "A"s in about 1.80, no problem. But the "one
ragged hole" groups take about 5 seconds.
With splits any faster than .65, the gun seems to still be travelling
backwards in recoil as I'm trying to feel the reset. The nice click that I
like to feel is gone, drowned out buy the movement of the gun.
So, here's the big question? Does Matt Burkett actually pin the trigger on
every shot?
Can you feel it "click" with a split of .40? .20? If you can, I'm totally
amazed! And, of course, I'll try to figure out how to do it too. But, is it
realistic to go for that kind of control? Or is trigger pinning something
you
only do when extreme accuracy is needed?
Thanks.
Sam,
I can generally feel the trigger down to about 25's or 30's. Below that it
gets really difficult unless I am completely focused.
The basic goals of pinning the trigger are:
1. Learn the distance to trigger travels to help keep from slapping the
trigger.
2. Bring your attention to the trigger.
3. Reduction of flinching.
4. Improve your timing of the gun.
Variable trigger control is necessary -for fast shooting just like a
variable
sight picture. Hard target pay more attention to
both. Easy target pay less attention to both.