Use the Reset Luke….
Posted 11-04-2009 at 23:18 by Butch
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives says that the Glock ‘Safe Action’ trigger is a double action only (DAO) trigger. OK, but it is so much more…..simply put, it allows the shooter to use the trigger either way, as a DOA trigger or as a single action trigger.
If you start with the trigger all the way forward (I guess that’s the only way it can start huh?), and pull it straight through all the way to the rear to fire the gun, you just pulled it ‘double action’. Pulling the trigger that way did the two things required to fire the gun, it finished pulling the firing pin all the way back to what could be called it’s fully cocked position, and it released it to fire the gun. It also deactivated the three passive Glock safeties, but they aren’t what we’re talking about here.
Due to the time and movement it takes to pull the trigger from front to back, the shooter has more opportunity to move the sights off target from the start of the pull till the shot fires, and with a Glock, ‘hitting’ the reset point near the rear end of the DAO trigger movement can cause the shooter to pull the shot off target all by itself. Also, moving the trigger all the way forward and all the way back for each shot takes time, unless you’re a *very* good shooter, you’re shooting slower than you need to.
The other way to use the Glock trigger is to ‘Use the Reset’. Again, one must start with the trigger all the way forward, but instead of simply pulling the trigger all the way straight through to the rear to fire the shot, you just pull it back (stage it) to the reset point, and from there you apply steadily increasing pressure to it until the shot fires….just like any single action trigger.
When the shot fires, the slide opens, the empty case ejects, and the slide moves forward to chamber the next round…..and it all happens before you can let the trigger move forward….when the slide closes, you are still holding the trigger to the rear, and this is the key.
At this point you *don’t* let the trigger move all the way forward, you just let it move forward to the point where it resets, the ‘click’. The click is made by the connector as it snaps back into position behind the rear end of the trigger bar as you let the trigger move forward. At this point all you need to do to fire the next shot is squeeze the trigger again….in a single action mode, and continue to repeat until you are done firing.
Yes, to use the reset in this manor takes some training, a conscious effort to make the trigger control a habit that you can do without having to think about it when you’re shooting….lots of repetitions. Start with dry firing (no ammo). Stage your first shot and squeeze it off perfectly, now hold the trigger to the rear and rack the slide enough to reset the firing pin, get back ‘on target’, and then let the trigger move forward slowly till it clicks at the reset point. Now you can squeeze off the next shot….single action.
It is my very experienced opinion that using the reset to shoot the Glock as a single action is the only way to do it, it’s easier to be more accurate, and it’s faster. Use of a NY spring makes it more difficult to control the trigger movement well, both forward and backward movement.
Use of a NY1 trigger spring with a 3.5 connector to best simulate a DAO revolver type trigger pull is probably the best use of a NY trigger spring, but I’d be right surprised to find anyone using such a setup to win the Matchmeister prize at a GSSF match.
Butch
If you start with the trigger all the way forward (I guess that’s the only way it can start huh?), and pull it straight through all the way to the rear to fire the gun, you just pulled it ‘double action’. Pulling the trigger that way did the two things required to fire the gun, it finished pulling the firing pin all the way back to what could be called it’s fully cocked position, and it released it to fire the gun. It also deactivated the three passive Glock safeties, but they aren’t what we’re talking about here.
Due to the time and movement it takes to pull the trigger from front to back, the shooter has more opportunity to move the sights off target from the start of the pull till the shot fires, and with a Glock, ‘hitting’ the reset point near the rear end of the DAO trigger movement can cause the shooter to pull the shot off target all by itself. Also, moving the trigger all the way forward and all the way back for each shot takes time, unless you’re a *very* good shooter, you’re shooting slower than you need to.
The other way to use the Glock trigger is to ‘Use the Reset’. Again, one must start with the trigger all the way forward, but instead of simply pulling the trigger all the way straight through to the rear to fire the shot, you just pull it back (stage it) to the reset point, and from there you apply steadily increasing pressure to it until the shot fires….just like any single action trigger.
When the shot fires, the slide opens, the empty case ejects, and the slide moves forward to chamber the next round…..and it all happens before you can let the trigger move forward….when the slide closes, you are still holding the trigger to the rear, and this is the key.
At this point you *don’t* let the trigger move all the way forward, you just let it move forward to the point where it resets, the ‘click’. The click is made by the connector as it snaps back into position behind the rear end of the trigger bar as you let the trigger move forward. At this point all you need to do to fire the next shot is squeeze the trigger again….in a single action mode, and continue to repeat until you are done firing.
Yes, to use the reset in this manor takes some training, a conscious effort to make the trigger control a habit that you can do without having to think about it when you’re shooting….lots of repetitions. Start with dry firing (no ammo). Stage your first shot and squeeze it off perfectly, now hold the trigger to the rear and rack the slide enough to reset the firing pin, get back ‘on target’, and then let the trigger move forward slowly till it clicks at the reset point. Now you can squeeze off the next shot….single action.
It is my very experienced opinion that using the reset to shoot the Glock as a single action is the only way to do it, it’s easier to be more accurate, and it’s faster. Use of a NY spring makes it more difficult to control the trigger movement well, both forward and backward movement.
Use of a NY1 trigger spring with a 3.5 connector to best simulate a DAO revolver type trigger pull is probably the best use of a NY trigger spring, but I’d be right surprised to find anyone using such a setup to win the Matchmeister prize at a GSSF match.
Butch
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