I guess just about everyone interested in guns, and especially handguns, is familiar with Jeff Cooper's four rules. The one I'm interested in here is rule number 3: Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
I'm here to tell you that there is plenty of photographic evidence that Cooper, and most Marines of his era, didn't practice what he preached. If you have a copy of 1911: The First 100 Years by Patrick Sweeney, look on page 128. There is a picture of a young Cooper and two more Marines, obviously on a range, with their 1911s pointed almost straight up, like they are waiting for an order to fire. All three have their fingers on the trigger. There is another pretty well known picture of Cooper drawing a 1911 from a shoulder holster. In that picture, the gun has barely cleared the holster, and his finger is on the trigger, or at least inside the trigger guard. Go to this site and you will see that picture and several other examples of soldiers and Marines, several of them in combat situations, with their fingers on the triggers of various weapons. I don't mean actually firing the weapons, but with them at the ready. Look particularly at the picture of the WWI soldier leading a machine gun crew across a rope/pontoon bridge.
History of the 1911 Pistol
I recall a picture of Sheriff Jim Wilson a few years back in one of the gun rags. It was either a staged photo, or an actual picture of the Sheriff shooting some kind of combat drill. His finger was inside the trigger guard as he moved to another position, and of course in the next month's letters, some sharp eyed reader called him on it. His reply was that he had trained himself to press the back of his finger against the inside front of the trigger guard until he actually brought the gun on target.
My point here is that rule number three is obviously of fairly recent origin. Obviously, the USMC didn't teach that during the two World Wars, Korea, and probably not Vietnam. There are just too many pictures of Marines and soldiers in training and in combat that are not following that rule. Obviously, the people who were in charge of setting safety rules didn't consider it to be that important. I never went to the service, but the thing I remember reading and hearing from the late 50s through the next twenty years was muzzle control, every gun is loaded, and be sure of your target.
I 'spect some of you have figured where I'm going with this: the keep your finger off the trigger rule became paramount when the Glop came along. I believe one can safely keep his finger inside the trigger guard of a 1911, as long as he has the proper training to take the safety off as the gun comes on target. Same with a double action revolver. There is a big difference between a 5.5lb trigger pull and a 12 lb pull. Obviously, it is indeed not safe to place your trigger finger on the Glop trigger until you are ready for it to fire. Obviously, given the number of negligent/accidental discharges, neither civilians nor police are doing a good job of adhering to this rule when carrying the tactical tupperware.
One of my favorite pictures. What kind of howl would go up if this picture was posed by current day competition shooters?
I'm here to tell you that there is plenty of photographic evidence that Cooper, and most Marines of his era, didn't practice what he preached. If you have a copy of 1911: The First 100 Years by Patrick Sweeney, look on page 128. There is a picture of a young Cooper and two more Marines, obviously on a range, with their 1911s pointed almost straight up, like they are waiting for an order to fire. All three have their fingers on the trigger. There is another pretty well known picture of Cooper drawing a 1911 from a shoulder holster. In that picture, the gun has barely cleared the holster, and his finger is on the trigger, or at least inside the trigger guard. Go to this site and you will see that picture and several other examples of soldiers and Marines, several of them in combat situations, with their fingers on the triggers of various weapons. I don't mean actually firing the weapons, but with them at the ready. Look particularly at the picture of the WWI soldier leading a machine gun crew across a rope/pontoon bridge.
History of the 1911 Pistol
I recall a picture of Sheriff Jim Wilson a few years back in one of the gun rags. It was either a staged photo, or an actual picture of the Sheriff shooting some kind of combat drill. His finger was inside the trigger guard as he moved to another position, and of course in the next month's letters, some sharp eyed reader called him on it. His reply was that he had trained himself to press the back of his finger against the inside front of the trigger guard until he actually brought the gun on target.
My point here is that rule number three is obviously of fairly recent origin. Obviously, the USMC didn't teach that during the two World Wars, Korea, and probably not Vietnam. There are just too many pictures of Marines and soldiers in training and in combat that are not following that rule. Obviously, the people who were in charge of setting safety rules didn't consider it to be that important. I never went to the service, but the thing I remember reading and hearing from the late 50s through the next twenty years was muzzle control, every gun is loaded, and be sure of your target.
I 'spect some of you have figured where I'm going with this: the keep your finger off the trigger rule became paramount when the Glop came along. I believe one can safely keep his finger inside the trigger guard of a 1911, as long as he has the proper training to take the safety off as the gun comes on target. Same with a double action revolver. There is a big difference between a 5.5lb trigger pull and a 12 lb pull. Obviously, it is indeed not safe to place your trigger finger on the Glop trigger until you are ready for it to fire. Obviously, given the number of negligent/accidental discharges, neither civilians nor police are doing a good job of adhering to this rule when carrying the tactical tupperware.
One of my favorite pictures. What kind of howl would go up if this picture was posed by current day competition shooters?
Two BIG mistakes by guys that know better.
