TRIGGER-PULL
Very few people pay attention to the strength of the trigger-pull of their
pistols.
They accept whatever trigger-pull it has when they buy it.
They do not know that trigger-pull can vary from a hair trigger up to many
pounds weight.
First-class gunmakers make the “weight,” as it is called, of their trigger
as light and smooth as possible subject to its being safe to handle.
The subject of safe trigger-pull is a variable quantity.
An expert shot can be trusted with a trigger-pull so light that in the
hands of a less skilful or careful shot there would be great danger of the
pistol being discharged accidentally. The automatic pistol is put to
full-cock automatically with violence, by the discharge. Therefore the
trigger-pull has to be made much heavier than the trigger-pull of a
single-shot pistol, where the shooter cocks it gently with his own hand.
A typical example of how men, even after a lifetime of shooting, pay no
attention to the weight of their trigger-pulls occurs to me.
An old gentleman, belonging to one of the learned professions, who had
been an enthusiastic but very bad shot all his life, asked me to try his
shotgun at some clay pigeons.
He was one of those men who always pride themselves on getting things
cheaper than any one else.
He did not understand that a good gun is expensive; and that a second-hand
gun by a first-class maker is much better value (and safer to use) than a
cheap new gun.
Acting on his usual principle, he had bought a gun very cheap, “a splendid
bargain which I have used the last ten years. I am not as strong as I once
was so I bought a featherweight one.”
To buy a light, cheap gun is extremely dangerous. Only a very first-class
maker can reduce the weight of a gun to its limit without risk of a burst,
and the materials must be flawless.
When I saw the gun I was sorry I had offered to shoot it. The barrels
looked fearfully thin at the breech, of inferior metal, and rattled from
bad fitting, when one succeeded in closing the gun.
The weakness of the gun, however, was made up by the strength of the
cartridges, which were for pigeon shooting, and loaded with a full 1¼
ounces of shot and an enormous charge of nitro powder.
The gun had the proof mark for black powder only!
He was delighted with his cartridges and told me he had bought them at a
great bargain from the executors of a celebrated pigeon shot recently
deceased.
I ventured to suggest that it might be dangerous to shoot such a heavy
charge of nitro powder out of a very light gun proofed only for black
powder.
He said: “That’s nothing, I am not as active as I was and I was told these
cartridges would kill much farther than lighter loaded ones, and how cheap
they are!”
I, with many misgivings, had a clay pigeon thrown, but the gun refused to
go off.
I took out the cartridges and tested the trigger-pulls by feel.
They were like lifting a coal scuttle.
I said to him: “Do you know what your trigger-pull is?” He did not
understand what I meant. I used a trigger-tester. They were well over nine
pounds each. A shotgun generally has 2¼ for front trigger and 2½ for back
trigger.
I had another pigeon thrown.
I took a hard tug at the trigger and the gun went off with such a recoil
that the stock nearly jumped off my shoulder. I do not know where the
charge went; the pigeon was almost out of range before I could get the
trigger to act. (I learned the cartridges had been stored near the kitchen
fire!!!)
This was enough for me and fully explained why the old man, whilst
shooting all his life, had never become expert.
First-class gunmakers see to the trigger-pull so as to make a compromise
between a nice, light trigger-pull and one safe to use.
Military rifles are made with a very heavy trigger-pull in order to make
them safe to be handled by men who have rough, hard hands from manual
labour.
This, in my opinion, is a mistake. A very heavy trigger-pull prevents
accurate shooting, because the rifle is always going off later than you
want it to and encourages hanging on to the trigger.
The man gets into the habit of pressing on the trigger when he is not
shooting. He knows the rifle will not go off unless he gives a tug at the
trigger.
With a light trigger, a man knows that he must keep his finger clear of
it, or he will fire his rifle accidentally.
When learning the handling of the single-shot pistol (the automatic must
not be touched till the learner is familiar with the single-shot), blank
ammunition may be used.
The learner is very apt to discharge his pistol unintentionally, and the
fright caused by firing a blank cartridge by accident will impress on him
to be more careful in the future, before he had a loaded cartridge in the
pistol, which might cause a fatal accident if discharged unintentionally.
As the automatic cannot be made with as light a trigger-pull as a
single-shot pistol, it becomes a question as to how light the trigger-pull
of your single-shot pistol should be.
If you want to make the best possible shooting with it and to make your
lessons as pleasant and as easy as possible, have as light a trigger-pull
as your gunmaker (not an ironmonger who sells firearms) recommends.
If, however, it is important that you should learn an automatic pistol
well, and the single-shot pistol is only used for getting familiar with
firearms, then have the trigger-pull adjusted to be as near as possible,
not only of the strength, but of the character of the automatic pistol you
intend to use later.
Two triggers of the same weight may vary greatly in the feel and sweetness
of the pull.
One may drag or grate. The other seems to go off at your mere wish.
No automatic can have the delicate touch of a single-shot pistol. It has
to withstand such rough handling by the mechanical loading of the
explosion.
A thing to be especially remembered is that one who is not expert, trying
to put the pistol to half-cock, ruins the trigger-pull and renders it
unsafe.
The point of the seer can be broken off or distorted by someone fumbling
with the trigger and hammer.
Do not let people touch the hammer or trigger of your pistol, any more
than you would let them jerk your horse’s mouth.
In the course of your first trials in cocking, putting to half-cock, etc.,
you will probably injure your trigger-pull more or less, and should you
feel the least alteration or grate in it, have it examined by a gunmaker
before worse mischief occurs.
With a hammerless (_i. e._, pistol with invisible hammer inside the lock)
there is not this danger. Cocking is accomplished by the act of closing or
opening the pistol which at the same time causes the hammer to be locked
at safety.
What corresponds to cocking and putting to half-cock is accomplished by
sliding the safety bolt to the firing position, or to “safe.”
It is advisable to have the same weight of trigger-pull on all your
pistols. If they vary it makes it difficult to shoot equally well with
all. The heavier trigger-pull of some will hamper you, and the lighter
trigger-pull on others may make you discharge them before you mean to.
As individual fancy in trigger-pull varies, some makers sell their pistols
with intentionally a very heavy trigger-pull, so that their clients can
have it regulated to their requirements. This probably was the reason my
old man had such a heavy trigger-pull on his “greatest bargain I ever saw”
gun.
Before practising for or entering a competition, see that your
trigger-pull complies with the regulations, as nothing is more annoying
than, after making a winning score, to find your trigger-pull is too light
and your score in consequence is disqualified.
It is best to have the trigger-pull well over the minimum so as to allow
for its getting lighter during shooting.