Trigger freeze

[Ron Ankeny]

Any of you guys ever experience trigger freeze? Darnedest thing I ever saw...

Been shooting some IPSC this summer and a little IDPA. Actually been shooting a lot of IPSC. Anyhow, my splits on the close targets have been running around .16 seconds. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term "splits" it's the time between shots. Or, you can think of it as two shots in .16 seconds assuming the first shot starts the timer.

Anyhow, I am shooting a Baer in .45 with a real sweet 2.5 lb. trigger. I changed my grip a bit by rotating my support hand forward. I am also increasing the pressure with the support hand while easing up with the strong hand in order to maintain a flexible trigger finger. On targets out to 10 yards I have no problem holding the A zone with .13 splits. Today I was shooting some Bill Drills and my splits were running around .14 but when I touched off the fifth shot, everything came to a halt. The sixth shot failed to appear. Of course, nothing was amiss with the pistol, just trigger freeze. I had this happen once before about a month ago.

Just curious, since trigger freeze is relatively common among competition shooters, have any of you ever heard of it playing a role on the streets?

 

[skeeter]

It must be very cold where you live as I never experienced "trigger freeze". I have been shooting for many years and never even heard of this. What do you think causes this and why have I not experienced this?

 

[UZI]

Interesting. If it's the type of trigger i'm thinking of, it's possible. It could be misalignment in the linkage throwing it off every now and then. Any machined part can fail at any time.

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"Get rid of that nickel plated sissy pistol and get yourself a Glock" - Tommy Lee Jones

 

[TaxPhd]

Guys,

Note that he said that nothing was amiss with the pistol.

Ron, it's commonly called "clutching" and it is not releasing, or only partially releasing the trigger, and the trigger doesn't reset.

If I knew how to stop it, I wouldn't be doing it also!

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TaxPhd
"Those who live by the sword are probably pretty f***ing good at it."

"Instructions for a successful gunfight: Front Sight, Press Trigger, repeat
as necessary." - B. Braxton

 

[Russell92]

i do that with my glocks some of the time. what i try to do is only release the trigger far enough till its reset and then i pull the trigger again. that eliminates all the take up in the beginning so its a shorter pull each time. at matches sometimes i don't release the trigger enough but i don't really care what my times are i just go to have fun.

 

[JoeHatley]

Ron,

You may want to buy the book:

How to become a Master Handgunner, by Charles Stephens.

He explains trigger freeze and how to avoid it. It's also has great adivice on proper grip, sight picture, and selt coaching methods, etc...

I've been shooting handguns for over 30 years and consider myself a fair shot. I learned things in every chapter.

Good Luck...

Joe


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Go NRA

 

[Ron Ankeny]

Happened again today with splits running around .13 so I got a hold of an expert. This problem only shows up when I push the limits of my ability. If I keep my splits down around .16 the problem vanishes. As my old coach told me, I am just shooting beyond the limits of my technical ability.

I suppose the discussion is moot since we are talking about shooting 6 rounds in way under a second and I never need to do that anyhow.

Back to the original question. I am wondering if this problem ever shows up "on the streets". I mean if guys who shoot a lot experience it when "racing" could it appear in situations that are exceptionally stressful like a deadly encounter?

[This message has been edited by Ron Ankeny (edited September 10, 2000).]

 

[Jeff OTMG]

It happens to revolver shooters, it is referred to as 'short stroking' and with the wrong revolver it can have deadly consequences. Short stroking happens 'on the street' though I have not heard of it happening to an auto shooter.

 

[Gonzo_308]

I know some of the "old salts" had trouble half racking the old Mod 870 shotguns during stress fire but I've never heard of anyone doing that with a handgun, however on the street most people aren't working their ability as often as you are working yours and they're not firing a gun that would let them recover and fire so fast as to not let their finger release.