Who
ever hits first usually wins! It is your choice,
to be a Ghost Maker or a Ghost. Get your mind
right. Life always trumps liability. Ghost Trigger
Connectors give you that first hit edge, winning
when you are fighting for a life is everything!
The
main purpose of a defensive pistol is to save
lives by shooting those things that endanger you
and others!
I
am frequently asked by Glock & Ruger shooters
what is the proper/best trigger pull weight for
their Glock OR Ruger SR. What is the difference
between a trigger for target and one for self
defense? This subject is hotly debated, argued and
is rife with contradictions. The first thing I
must make clear is that my position is based on an
assumption that you are a safe law
abiding shooter. That is, you will keep your
finger off the trigger until you are absolutely
positive that you must immediately fire! Practice
and preach this or suffer the consequences.
You will not point your firearm at anything unless
you are: one legally justified to do
so; and two, you are willing to
damage it severely or destroy it.
Finger
off the trigger until you must immediately fire!
The
status quo: "Lighter is better for target and
heavier is better for self defense." Let's
examine these. Lighter is better for target
shooting because you are seeking the most
efficient trigger pull to enhance your ability to
shoot precisely. Consider
"lighter" to be read as 3.5-5.5 lbs. Lighter
triggers make it easier to place your shot.
This is simple physics. You are attempting to
steady an object that weighs a little less than
two pounds while you are simultaneously exerting
up to 12 lbs. of force against the trigger to
pull it. Once the sights are aligned, a
lighter trigger pull will cause the
pistol to move less before the bullet exits the
barrel.
The
lighter the trigger pull the less the pistol moves
when the trigger is pulled!
The
lighter the trigger pull weight the less the
muzzle will move as you pull the trigger to fire
the pistol. The pistol will move less because of
the weight you exert on the trigger is less,
regardless of how fast you pull the trigger. So
why is light good for target but bad for self
defense? Are we not seeking efficiency? Why is
efficiency in punching paper more important than
wining a gunfight or our survival? Pistols are defensive
weapons when used by law abiding persons. You are
reacting to the actions of another or others which
you believe rises to the level of justifying
you to use force, deadly or otherwise. First-the
actions of these individuals justify the use of
your pistol to defend yourself! Second-you
are playing catch up because you are reacting
defensively (vs.-offensively) and you
want a heavy inefficient trigger pull because you
are afraid of being sued? You are
willing to die or be seriously injured because of
civil liability? What are you thinking?
The
trigger is the heart of any pistol. Get a good
one!
I
say "heavy inefficient trigger pull",
why? What is my definition of heavy? Any
trigger pull above 7 lbs. What is inefficient? A
trigger with excessive movement needed to fire the
pistol for the first shot and excessive movement
to reset the trigger for subsequent shots. We are
told the concept of hitting things with bullets is
to place your primary focus on the front
sight of the pistol and not trigger
manipulation. Once you have decided something
needs to be shot to save your life or another
personâs life you have to place a bullet or
bullets into another living thing. You must put
your front sight on the object where you intend to
deliver your ballistic energy. Now if you have a
heavy trigger pull weight in your pistol you
realize how much concentration it takes to
shoot well with this heavy trigger. But wait a
minute the experts tell us that under the stresses
of a gunfight concentration will be difficult for
most and maybe impossible for some. Now knowing
your trigger pull is heavy and concentration on
your sights is going to be difficult you will focus
on pulling the trigger. How will you pull the
trigger? Very rapidly because you are
already playing catch up and you know from your
training that the trigger offers allot of
resistance and it is difficult under the best of
circumstances to shoot well. You will not focus on
the front sight because your mind is screaming SHOOT
NOW LAUNCH SOME LEAD! The heavier the
trigger pull the more pressure will be applied to
the trigger and subsequently to the pistol and
this pressure will cause the muzzle to move off
the line of sight when you exert this much
pressure to pull the trigger. How is this
possible? It is that physics thing again. Your
pistol weighs almost two pounds you are trying to
steady it while rapidly maybe even violently
applying up to six times its weight (depending on
the trigger pull weight) to pull the trigger, this
will likely cause the muzzle to move and the
bullet(s) to strike off the intended target. I
said the primary focus should be on the front
sight. But it is difficult to do this when we
realize how critical trigger manipulation is. The
fact of the matter is of the two fundamentals sight
alignment and trigger pull-trigger
pull is more critical to insuring hitting what you
aim or point at! If you miss-align
your sights even out to seven yards you
still hit within six inches of where the pistol
was aimed. If you jerk the trigger
the shot will go low by a few feet and
possibly miss all together. Feet or inches I would
choose inches. Using or issuing a pistol with a
heavy trigger pull is a perceived low cost
solution to training and avoiding liability.
Because "how could they pull the
trigger negligently with a heavy trigger
pull?" But
the inverse is true. The heavier trigger pulls
leads the shooter to "prepping the
trigger" That
is placing your finger on the trigger in
preparation to firing your shot and moving the
trigger to the rear to take out the slack or the
excess front end movement of the trigger right
before it releases the firing pin. Prepping the
trigger or placing your finger in the trigger
housing prior to actually firing the pistol is negligent!
Remember-you will keep your finger off
the trigger until you are absolutely positive that
you must immediately fire! Practice and preach
this or suffer the consequences! The
mindset that some people express to me and much
too often for my comfort is that "I
like a heavy trigger because I can put my finger
on the trigger and prep it by feel so that when
covering a suspect/subject/intruder etc. if they
move I can react and shoot them before they shoot
me!"
The
heavier the trigger the more likely the shooter
will prep the trigger for a perceived
advantage-finger on the trigger bad!
Think
about this. The experts say that your body will go
through many changes when you are involved in a
critical incident and or a gunfight. Some of
changes they state will occur are that you will lose
the ability to perform a fine motor skill
(i.e. precise trigger manipulation), tactile
sensation (the ability to feel with your
finger tips) and your body will operate with gross
motor movement. According to the experts,
you will not be capable of; pulling
the trigger precisely you will pull the trigger
and fire the pistol when you place your
finger on the trigger!
Wait-if
you can't feel the trigger or its pull weight and
you are going to pull hard
what benefit does a heavy trigger pull weight
give you?
Short
answer it doesnât. You do not need a heavier
trigger pull when you will not be capable of feeling
or sensing this heavier trigger weight!
Additionally we now know that you will get no self
preservation or life safety benefit from a heavy
trigger pull weight. In fact it is the opposite it
will hurt your survival chances! So why do
agencies and the experts say you do? Law
enforcement firearms instructors and the experts
of the week think "Heavier" is
safer, politically correct and because the cost of
teaching people to shoot effectively is expensive. They
think they are getting a pass by recommending a
trigger pull weight which they can claim is safe
because of the weight. They are more concerned
with agency
liability and peer review than you winning a
gunfight. But we know that the argument of heavier
equals safer is also not true, because people will
place their trigger finger on the
trigger to prep the trigger to gain
a perceived edge. We know that once you
place your finger on the trigger under stress you
will very likely fire your pistol regardless of
trigger weight!
So
then this is how the trigger pull weight makes a
difference. Under stress the trigger pull
weight becomes either an asset or a liability.
The heavier the trigger pull weight the
more you will move the pistol-liability!
The more movement
the more you will miss! The lighter
the trigger pull weight the less you will move
the pistol and your bullets will go where you want
them-asset!! This means that a lighter
trigger under the stresses of a gunfight means
more hits!
Remember
according to the experts under stress you will not
feel the trigger or its weight!
What
do the numbers say about trigger pull weights and
hit ratios in actual gunfights?
-New
York City Police Department (N.Y.P.D.) Glocks with
12 lb. triggers 15% hit ratio*
(heavy trigger pull poor performance).
-Los
Angeles County Sheriff Department (L.A.C.S.D.)
Double/Single Action trigger, first shot double
action approx. 12 lb. subsequent
single action shots approx 5 lb.
trigger pull weight 51% hit ratio*
(transition to a lighter pull creates more hits).
*
SPECIAL REPORT: FIREARMS, Aveni, Thomas; Law
and Order, Vol. 51, No.8 August 2003
Just
to give you some insight into the importance of a
good trigger and good trigger manipulation (a good
trigger being a smooth light consistent pull with
little or no trigger over-travel-my
definition)
The
FBI's Firearms Training Unit wrote a manual
entitled; Advanced Firearms Instructional
Techniques, January 1999, it takes seven
(7) pages to explain sight alignment issues
and thirteen pages (13) to explain trigger
control. Why are more pages dedicated to
trigger pull than to sight alignment? Reason, if
you can't control and manipulate the trigger
effectively you will not hit things that are
trying to hurt you. The FBI issues their
Glock pistols with 5.5 lb. trigger connectors!
They determined that anything heavier resulted in
poor performance by their agents during stressful
shooting conditions!
If
heavier is safer or better, then why don't all
firearms have heavier triggers?
The
single action (read this as lightweight triggers)
12 gauge pump action shotguns,
5.56mm AR-15 series of rifles and various
submachine guns have trigger pull weights
ranging from 2.5 lbs to 7 lbs. Why do these
weapons which deliver a greater ballistic
payload not merit 25 lb. triggers if the
real concern is safety and avoiding civil
liability? I believe this is a contradiction!
Let's
see, you use a double action pistol
with a 12 lb. trigger pull but you have a shotgun,
assault rifle or submachine gun with a 3
lb. trigger. More power, lighter trigger!
"Yes, but when you need a shotgun,
assault rifle or submachine gun it's
really bad." So using this logic, if
someone is only trying to kill you
with a pistol, knife or bat that's not so bad and
you should use the under powered pistol with a
heavy and inefficient trigger pull that is
difficult to shoot well? Not if you want to
live!
Proper TRAINING
insures firearms safety not increasing the trigger
pull weight!
Again,
if your intention is to hit where you are aiming
your Glock or Ruger SR Series, if accuracy and
speed are an issue, a smooth lighter Ghost
trigger in the 3.5 to 5.5 lb. range with
little or no trigger over-travel is
the best trigger to have in your pistol. I
addressed the lighter is better point now
I'll define trigger over-travel. What is
trigger over-travel? It is the excessive
rearward movement of the trigger after the firing
pin has been released by the sear to fire the
pistol. Why is limiting or stopping
over-travel important? To stop pistol movement off
the line of sight while the bullet is
moving in the barrel. You need to do this to
insure the pistol stays aligned with the target
and the bullet goes where it was aimed.
Eliminating trigger over-travel is so critical to precise
shot placement that all target rifles / pistols,
sniper rifles and expensive self defense pistols
have trigger over-travel devices incorporated in
their designs. If the worlds best shooters
incorporate these devices to insure their success
and survival so should you.
The
Glock & Ruger SR Series semi-automatic pistols
as designed have excessive trigger movement and
trigger over-travel. I believe this was done to
simplify the manufacturing of the pistol and from
a manufacturers stand point it was brilliant. Mr.
Glock makes a pistol where all parts will
interchange between like models without the
required fitting that is common to all other
handgun designs. But because these same tolerances
make the Glock & Ruger SR Series so easy to
manufacture it results in a very sloppy trigger
pull. We already know that the trigger is the
heart of any pistol. Our patented Rocket &
Tactical triggers eliminate trigger over-travel
our Ultimate, Ranger and Patrol increases the
reliability of the triggers and pistol. How
the Rocket & Tactical use the patented Trigger
Control Tabs which are fitted to the pistol
eliminating trigger over-travel. These trigger
connectors stop trigger movement at the instant of
firing resulting in precise bullet placement. The
Ultimate, Ranger & Patrol utilize the Debris
Channel. This debris channel is a hole
manufactured into the trigger connector that
removes debris or any foreign matter from the
trigger system making the Glock & Ruger SR
Series trigger mechanism more reliable.
Once again never forget keep your finger off the trigger until you are absolutely positive that you must immediately fire! Practice and preach this or suffer the consequences. There is no excuse for placing your finger on the trigger except to justifiably launch a bullet!
Arthur Viani
President
of Ghost Inc. 12/09
