Author ScotShot Scott is an NRA and USCCA certified Instructor and Training Counselor in a range of firearms, and home and personal defense disciplines. In an Alternate Universe, he is a husband, father, grandfather, scientist, musician, educator and grumpy old professor. Just your average reactionary, short, fat old bald guy!

“Tell me, Carlice… why do we press the trigger?”
Nervously, she replies, shuffling her feet, “Dr Lochter, Dr Lochter… to fire the gun.. we press the trigger to fire the gun..” Her voice trails off.
“No, Carlice, that is IN-cidental.”

If you’re a new gun owner, then I hope your Firearms Instructor wouldn’t send you to a well-known lover of meat, Chianti, and lima beans to learn the basics, but I like to think that there’s some truth in the example. I also hope that they wouldn’t describe the moment when the trigger trips the firing pin as a “surprise break”. This may increase apprehension in new shooters, all of whom are perfectly aware that pressing the trigger causes the gun to fire and they’d rather it wasn’t a surprise, thank you.

So, what have I observed going on in peoples’ minds when they begin to increase pressure on the trigger to fire their gun – any gun – for the very first time? Many new shooters are perfectly calm and remember everything we worked on in the classroom. For some though, the nervous voice in their head almost immediately says “why hasn’t it FIRED yet?”, and they rapidly pull (or as we say, “slap”) the trigger. This jerks the gun and undoes all the good work they just put in regarding stance, grip, presentation, aiming, breath control, etc. Less frequently, but still commonly, they may well press the trigger well but then immediately flick it off, or rush the gun back to their chest, perhaps with their finger still on the trigger.

All of us who teach firearms, particularly handguns, to new shooters, are aware of these things and many more, which is why we always give you only one round when we haven’t seen you shoot before.
Here at ScotShot, we have developed a method that is specifically designed to separate proper trigger press from the gun’s firing. As we will tell you, it is your job to press the trigger, it is the trigger’s job to fire the gun. Here’s what we do.

Once we are happy with your grip and stance, and feel that you are positioned correctly, we ask you to shoot with our guidance:

“OK – when you’re ready;

• finger on the trigger;
• pause your breath;
• steady press back and hold for two;
• breathe;
• relax your finger;
• finger off, and gun in.”

Your finger starts off the trigger and ends off the trigger. The gun returns to compressed ready and so the next shot also reinforces the proper push-out to eye level. We use this technique exclusively in the preparatory classroom period, and with live-fire as much as necessary for the student to see that they can achieve a group of shots.

There’s a number of things that can conspire against new shooters and prevent you from shooting optimally. We will explore some of these in later posts, but one less obvious thing is the importance of which part of your finger actually touches the trigger. It’s important to use the fleshy pad at the end of your finger.

You might find yourself pushing your finger through to the first joint because this feels more comfortable, but this may well pull the shots to the side (or use your finger tip, which pulls the shots to the other side). We prepare you in the class by asking, “If I gave you a small little screw and asked you to close your eyes and tell me what shape it is, which part of your finger would you roll it around on?” Now it’s obvious [1].

That’s the ScotShot way of trigger press. It’s not the only way, but it’s a way that we have found works pretty well, most of the time, for the majority of new shooters. Good luck to all of you who are learning to shoot for the first time, or learning the basics of defensive shooting!

How does this sound? Do you prefer a different method? Write and tell us!

[1] If it’s me, I might well say “tiny wee screw”.