Anticipation of the gifts that might be underneath the tree on Christmas morning is not such a bad thing. In fact, that’s a huge part of the fun and excitement of the holidays. But most gun owners would agree that anticipation of the recoil of a gun prior to firing can cause all sorts of problems — the worst being the possibility of missing your intended target area.
Jerking the Trigger
Many of us call this issue “jerking” the trigger. Technically, though, there can be much more to it than just a problem with the trigger (or, really, the trigger finger). Physically, the issue could include sympathetic movement of the other fingers, the hands and perhaps even both arms. Mentally, it could be anxiety, excitement, fear or a combination of many different thoughts and emotions.
Some of these issues can be a new gun owner’s mistake in that he or she may still be fighting his or her body’s natural reactions to loud noises and moving objects (right next to his or her head, at that). He or she will likely blink and/or flinch as his or her body’s “survival positives” warn him or her about — or protect him or her from — loud noise, unexpected motion and potential dangers. Another common situation is when a shooter who anticipates recoil ends up overcontrolling the gun or perhaps moving too soon to ready himself or herself for effective recoil management.
No matter the mental or physical causes (which would take another article to discuss and divulge), jerking the trigger or anticipating the shot causes a shooter to add movement to the gun before he or she presses the trigger. And this unwanted movement causes the bullet to go somewhere other than where he or she intends.
With this in mind, my friend and mentor George Harris, co-founder of SIG Academy and president of International Firearms Consultants, suggests using a ”5 & 5 Drill,” which he says is a simple but effective way to detect and correct intermittent errors in controlling the trigger.
Setting Up the 5 & 5 Drill
To set up this drill, you will need a target of choice as well as a gun, a magazine and ammo. Set up at around 5 yards or at a distance that enables you to get consistent and consecutively accurate hits.
According to Harris, the “5 & 5 Drill” will consist of loading and firing five live rounds at a speed you determine, immediately followed by five dry-fire shots (at the same speed) for a total of 10 consecutive trigger pulls. He notes that if there are any deficiencies that need to be corrected in operating the trigger, they will become very evident in the dry-fire cycles of the trigger. Any movement of the muzzle during those dry-fire presses will correspond to the placement of the shots during the live shots.
Feel free to record your actions so you can verify for yourself, or ask a shooting partner to work with you to see if you are unintentionally adding any movements to your trigger press. Once observations are noted and any needed adjustments are made, you can repeat the “5 & 5” sequence while continuing to address any trigger-press imperfections.
This drill provides you with a notable contrast between firing the gun live and then really focusing on the trigger press. It can be easy to get caught up with your speed or the thrill of shooting or to become distracted by the holes appearing on paper to such an extent that you can lose the smoothness of and control over your trigger press. This drill helps pull that focus back on what’s important to land consistently accurate hits: the application of shooting skills, but especially the smooth, consistent manipulation of the trigger. And that’s a gift worth giving to yourself.
