Took my first gun class last night - question about finger placement

[gregr]

Congrats!

The answer is dryfire!

Watch the sight closely as you dryfire. the front sight shouldn't move when the "shot" breaks. experiment. See what grip adjustments, finger placement adjustments, etc works best. Once you get fairly good at this, you can progress to balancing a dime on the front sight and working to break the "shot" without disturbing the dime.

focusing on the front sight is key!

then, when you get on the range, you might still have some adjustments to make, but they will be minor. And you will have trained yourself to watch the front sight through the shot breaking, which can help avoid flinch issues.

I for one do not think there is a single answer to these questions. The shooter, their grip, and the gun all makes too much of a difference to universally say "oh you need more finger on the trigger." experiment and observe.

You can always hit the slide release with your weak hand thumb. this is how I run 1911s.

-rvb

"Focusing on the front sight is key".

Bingo, we have a winner...

 

[SarahG]

I looked up some dry fire videos and it definitely seems to be the answer. Although Sig says the P320 can be dry fired, I may get some snap caps just to practice with to be safe.

 

[OakRiver]

Welcome to INGO, and the wonderful world of firearms.

You might find this useful, I know that I have learned a few things from it (first generation gun owner)

 

[Spike Jones 5 2002]

Oakriver I like that chart.

 

[churchmouse]

Oakriver I like that chart.

That is informative but #3 shows I have been wrong for a long time with how I put my finger on the trigger. Who knew.

 

[Steel and wood]

That chart is very helpful plus the target on earlier posted that showed the hits. See this old wore out man can learn.

 

[NHT3]

That is informative but #3 shows I have been wrong for a long time with how I put my finger on the trigger. Who knew.

I would suggest that much of the chart could be up for debate.. What I've learned teaching new students, if you give them 5 new disciplines to think about the struggle to do everything right results in doing nothing right. Stressing keeping the sight picture during the motion of pulling the trigger seems to give the newbies a little less to think about and still accomplish the task. I'm not saying the chart is wrong but, like you CM my finger placement does not match the chart. The chart is a good start but since we are all different it takes a little trial and error to decide what works best for each individual.

 

[OakRiver]

That is informative but #3 shows I have been wrong for a long time with how I put my finger on the trigger. Who knew.

It was a great guide for me as I learned to shoot, and as I worked to improve my shooting, but for more seasoned shooters it's value may be diminished.

 

[Nam1911]

That chart is not iron clad. I have seem it time and time again. A new shooter can shoot and shoot well. But the grip and trigger placement are not "normal" or whatever. But if the shots go where the person is aiming than who am I to say you are doing it wrong.

I have never liked the front sight clear and target blurry. Personally I like to train for real life. In stressful situations NO ONE will take the time to line the sights up and get that clear front sight while an attacker is coming at them with a gun or a knife.

I have always shot with both eyes open and a clear target...blurry sights. I can still see the sights but they are not clear. And I can still hit what I am aiming at. There is no way I can hit a 1" dot at 15 yards with the target blurry. I can't see it.

 

[SarahG]

Welcome to INGO, and the wonderful world of firearms.

You might find this useful, I know that I have learned a few things from it (first generation gun owner)

Thanks for this!

 

[Michelle Goff]

This is awesome. I was just on the NRA site earlier and didn't find this. Obviously I wasn't looking in the right place. I know I need to work on #3 and #4!

 

[churchmouse]

That chart is not iron clad. I have seem it time and time again. A new shooter can shoot and shoot well. But the grip and trigger placement are not "normal" or whatever. But if the shots go where the person is aiming than who am I to say you are doing it wrong.

I have never liked the front sight clear and target blurry. Personally I like to train for real life. In stressful situations NO ONE will take the time to line the sights up and get that clear front sight while an attacker is coming at them with a gun or a knife.

I have always shot with both eyes open and a clear target...blurry sights. I can still see the sights but they are not clear. And I can still hit what I am aiming at. There is no way I can hit a 1" dot at 15 yards with the target blurry. I can't see it.

I agree with NHT3 as to how we all go with what works. My triggers are all seriously light and crisp so I am the pic on the right....the very tip of my trigger finger. It is what works best for me on my personal guns.

Nam 1911....I am more of a point shooter. Real life will not allow the time involved to acquire the front site and get off a clean shot. I have seen Coach do it and others with say.....50K rounds to there credit in competition. That allows for some serious muscle memory. We do not all have that working for us.
I have proven time and again that point shooting is at best combat accurate and will work if practiced.
I can shoot nice groups. And this helps in the discipline as well.

 

[rvb]

I have never liked the front sight clear and target blurry. Personally I like to train for real life. In stressful situations NO ONE will take the time to line the sights up and get that clear front sight while an attacker is coming at them with a gun or a knife.

Real life will not allow the time involved to acquire the front site and get off a clean shot.

For shooting groups and learning to really shoot the gun and know where it hits, nothing beats a front site focus.

There are lots of focus types. There are books on the subject. There are many threads on the forum, esp in the competition section, on the subject. But that's getting way advanced for this new shooter who doesn't even have their gun yet. I believe in "walk before you run" and wouldn't advise someone start with a target focus and have them expect to ever resolve accuracy/precision issues.

When the shooter gets to the point they aren't always hitting left and the groups tighten up reasonably, then is the time to experiment with where we focus.

This all coming from a guy who using a more target focus a LOT.



-rvb

 

[GIJEW]

SarahG, welcome to INGO and the journey of learning to shoot--well. Like you heard about trigger finger placement, and shots getting moved left or right, the charts show general rules. There are too many variables in hand size versus grip size and weight/length of trigger pull, to have an absolute rule for finger placement...of course, you might find a handgun to be absolutely too big or small for proper trigger finger placement.

As I'm sure you heard in class, the key is pressing the trigger STRAIGHT back without lateral movement.

I recently got a Sig P320. You've got good taste in ergonomics and triggers

 

[Twangbanger]

OP:

Take the NRA chart with a grain of salt. There is good information there, but, it is not all "LAW," as Ryan alludes above, depending on what your shooting goal is at the moment.

 

[OakRiver]

Depending on how tech savvy you are this may also be an option to help refine your technique as you dry fire;
https://www.laser-ammo.com/laser-training

I haven't tried this, but it is an option.

 

[churchmouse]

Depending on how tech savvy you are this may also be an option to help refine your technique as you dry fire;
https://www.laser-ammo.com/laser-training

I haven't tried this, but it is an option.

This is a really good way to practice dry fire. I use a bore laser and it shows POA and then POI. A great reference tool.

 

[88E30M50]

One thing that I have found useful with new shooters is to take slow motion video of their shot. I can save a lot of time by letting them see the flinch instead of trying to explain it to them. New shooters often pull the trigger with their whole hand instead of just their trigger finger. You can see it in slow motion as they tighten their whole grip and pull the muzzle off target when they pull the trigger. The key is for a new shooter to learn to isolate the trigger pull from the grip and that takes practice. Laser cartridges and dry fire are really helpful in getting past that.

 

[two70]

Depending on how tech savvy you are this may also be an option to help refine your technique as you dry fire;
https://www.laser-ammo.com/laser-training

I haven't tried this, but it is an option.

This is a really good way to practice dry fire. I use a bore laser and it shows POA and then POI. A great reference tool.

I have a laser trainer setup and IMO, a set of laser grips or a bore laser as CM suggested works just as well plus has other beneficial uses. The laser really shows any wobble or movement induced by the trigger squeeze.

 

[bloodandgutsmurphy]

This is an old training posted by the FBI, it has helped me a lot. Hopefully it can serve you as well. It includes some exercises one can do to strengthen their shooting muscles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz11j_DTOq8