Project Appleseed

As of late, I am really finding thru practical application exactly how critical trigger squeeze is.

This is not about suggesting anyone go buy a match grade trigger, although that will help.  This is about learning to use what you already have and make it work well.

Assuming the fundamental position is there (steady hold factors are solid), and the 4 steps prior to step 5 (squeeze the trigger) are flawless....only trigger squeeze and follow thru (and possibly wind) will cause an off call shot.

A recent experience, with my Springfield 1903 A4 (30-06 bolt action) in a Vintage Sniper match recently I did not do as well as I would have liked at the 300 yard line, it was like a 96/100, and should have been a 100/100.  It was not until shot 6 or so that I realized my errors were trigger related.

The Springfield trigger is definitely not match conditioned.  But....I can make just about any trigger "work" if I am SMOOTH on the squeeze. 

What is smooth?  "Uninterrupted squeeze without disturbing sight alignment".

I have a friend that uses an analogy...."Imagine a baloon inflating when executing that trigger squeeze, it gets bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger and then POP".

Maybe this is akin to the old adage of "The trigger break should be a suprise".

I am not a believer of the suprise part, especially with my service rifle of which I live fire over 3500 times and dry fire at least as much a year.  With that trigger, I know when the shot will break and it almost happens subconsciously.

But, with a trigger such as my 03A4 Springfield that I shoot maybe twice a year, the suprise thing seems to work well.

When we got back to the 600 yard line, I went back to my friends baloon inflation analogy, and was very smooth on the squeeze, and the shot did, for the most part, break as a suprise.  Results were a personal best, my score at 600 yards was a 98-5X.  The two points I dropped were me being too aggressive on the trigger.

So, if you are struggling with trigger control, or want to improve a score....try the "imagine a baloon inflating" thing, or whatever it takes to execute a "Smooth squeeze without disturbing sight alignment".

This is about trigger control in slow fire prone, and it will work well for you on the bottom row of the AQT or at 400 or more yards slow prone during a KD event.

Trigger control for rapids (prone and seated) is really no different, but for standing it can be a bit different, another topic.

Added a pic of the electronic target screen,  wind got me a bit----or was it the trigger? But it is a good target.
R/
Chris

Quote from: USNAVYCHIEF(Ret) on September 26, 2019, 08:48:51 AM
try the "imagine a baloon inflating" thing, or whatever it takes...

An analogy we use in my archery club is: full draw is like snowflakes building up on a pine branch, when the weight (pressure) builds up to the right point, all the snow will fall off the branch.
Also: it is like dew building up on a leaf. The dew slowly accumulates as a drop on the leaf-tip, and eventually falls. In that moment, the arrow is released (or in the case of rifles, the trigger breaks).

The concept of steadily accumulating pressure/energy is the same. Logical things be logical.

Quote from: Theokestral on September 26, 2019, 11:19:12 AM

Quote from: USNAVYCHIEF(Ret) on September 26, 2019, 08:48:51 AM
try the "imagine a baloon inflating" thing, or whatever it takes...

An analogy we use in my archery club is: full draw is like snowflakes building up on a pine branch, when the weight (pressure) builds up to the right point, all the snow will fall off the branch.
Also: it is like dew building up on a leaf. The dew slowly accumulates as a drop on the leaf-tip, and eventually falls. In that moment, the arrow is released (or in the case of rifles, the trigger breaks).

The concept of steadily accumulating pressure/energy is the same. Logical things be logical.

I like the archery analogy!

I used to compete in 3-D archery a lot, before I got into the rifle stuff.  But, as of late I have been working with a friend with his archery journey. 

So much of the fundamentals of marksmanship apply to archery as well, especially in a target shooting environment.  Things like NPA are HUGE as to not apply needless torque to the bow, and front sight focus as well....focusing on the pin versus the target.  I still fling the occasional arrow in the backyard, and have found that my archery skills have significantly improved with simply paying attention to how I address the target (NPA) and pin focus, follow thru applies here as well...as it does in many sports (golf comes to mind as well).

Good Stuff!