What's the big deal with a short "trigger reset"?

Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
5,639
Reaction score
7,365
Location
Edmond, OK
I've been around guns for 40 years and it seems like all I hear about now is how a gun is being judge by its trigger reset. I guess Glocks have a pretty good trigger reset from what I hear, but when I've shot them I didn't notice anything really great about their triggers. A Smith N-frame probably has a longer trigger reset than any other handgun out there, but Jerry Miculek can make one sound like "full auto". Is it that big a deal to let your trigger finger go all the way forward before you pull it again? It kinda reminds me of people that criticize pump shotguns because they might "short shuck" one in a defensive situation. I've shot pumps since I was 8 years old and not ONCE have I ever "short shucked" a pump gun. It seems like people are making a big issue out of a non- existant problem to me.
 
Register to hide this ad
It might just be a marketing ploy.

However, a short trigger reset might help some shooters get off accurate shots more rapidly.
 
With practice (ahem) you can get faster follow up shots. With practice, you can bake bread. See where I'm headed?
 
Trigger reset is the least of my concerns when buying a gun.

With practice, yes it can make a difference. But not that much of a difference to make a big deal about it.

I see people do this at the range and are often dangerous and they often short stroke the trigger. Not a good habit to have.
 
I fully agree with you, Farmer17! I hear about this, from time to time. it is also been demonstrated that fine motor skills go south during times of high stress, like a gun fight. I fear that a person trying to find the trigger reset during a life or death struggle will short stroke the trigger. I think this is dangerous to try to teach to LE, as most, and I mean almost all, never fire a shot from any gun, except during mandatory range appearance. That is not near enough time to be able to work the the reset during stress situations. I ride the trigger all the way foreward, just like working a DA revolver. Which I prefer anyway.
 
Trigger techniques are the cause of a lot of debate. Several of the top shooters out there do a complete release for each shot. I understand that this comes as a shock to the "short reset" Mafia.

I believe that much of it stems from the mistaken belief that the 1911 has the only true trigger pull. I always roll my eyes when reading a review of a DA/SA handgun where the reviewer whines about the reset and the trigger pull because he is 1911 freak. That's like a car tester who has only driven automatics complaining that a manual car has a third pedal.
 
Last edited:
In a revolver the rebound spring controls the reset. Putting a lighter spring makes the DA trigger pull much easier.

Guys like JM actually use a heavy spring as they want the trigger to return faster.

I put SRT triggers in my Sigs, just makes for nicer overall trigger. Don't knock them till you compare them. I like them for the "feel" not that I need to get off a second shot in a Micro second,;)
 
The length of the trigger reset doesn't bother me as much as the feel... Specifically I do not like guns that have a "false" reset...ie a click that feels like a reset but isn't. Those can hang me up and I would be concerned about using them in a defensive situation. The worst of these I've ever shot was one of Para's LDA double action 1911 triggers. I have experienced the problem with HighPowers as well. A long double action revolver reset doesn't bother me because I can positively feel it.
 
I prefer to "stage" the trigger on a revolver, especially my j-frame. Glocks have an amazing trigger with a few touch-ups. Double-tapping with a 10MM and keeping them very close will make a believer out of you. No matter what the trigger, practice with it and know it and hopefully never "have" to use it for anything other than fun in one way or the other.
 
Farmer 17, you hit the nail on he head.

Like you I've been shooting for 40 years and then some.

I keep hearing about this "trigger reset" and just a few weeks ago at a local gun range, a young fellow explained that he basically liked the trigger on my Beretta 92fs but he thought the reset needed work.

I tested it like he did and figured that at best if the trigger in SA was "reset" any less, it'd be under a 16th of an inch in difference..

I've also shot Sigs with and without the short reset trigger and couldn't really tell the difference. But it's a good marketing ploy for Sig.

And like a number of you, much of my shooting has been double action revolvers until the last few years.
 
Well, HUMMM--thatpost went into cyberspace.
I understand short trigger reset and it does make a difference for me. I also understand that most folks just instincively let the trigger go back all the way--some of us don't.
I have problems--mostly with 1911's and 1911's that are not mine.
i have a friend that has a Colt that I sometimes have a problem with not letting it reset before I pull again.
It really is not a procedure error--or--a desire too shoot too fast.
I like my guns, which I carry--all of them at various times, to have the basic same short reset. I don't like to feel that my finger has to leave the trigger in order for it to travel all the way back to reset.
I like short GI triggers with short reset on my carry guns.
I also don't like a lot of overtravel with the trigger when it has released the hammer.
This is not actually a new thing---Smiths have been aware of this and fixing the problems for a long time.
Blessings
 
Last edited:
MY LEM P2000 has a trigger reset...but in a defensive situation, I could never have the dexterity to use it...letting the trigger out a 1/4 inch to reset it takes way too much concentration for me...I shoot it just like a double action revolver each shot...and I really don't notice it slowing me down...also, since I mostly carry revolvers, it's a non issue since the LEM double action is like a fined tuned revolver anyway...
 
One thing I'm fairly certain about; you will not notice the reset if you have to use the gun to defend yourself.
 
I'm certanily no D/A autoloader expert, but a short reset means you have to move your trigger finger less. The less the finger movement, the easier it is to keep the proper girp and the less chance for a trigger finger jerk.

I shot rapid fire police revolver competitions for years. It takes more skill to master the long double action trigger of a revolver. I've learned, on the revolver, to hold the trigger fully closed for a split second when firing. Then to also completly release the trigger on the rebound.

As some said, practice, practice and more practice. I would never stage a revolver trigger. Staging was forbidden when I went through the police acadmey 25 years ago.
 
We used to be issued colt offical polices. I soon found out you would lock the gun up if the trigger wasnt released all the way. Normaly no one would encounter it. If you own a DA colt just try it. (Empty) pull the trigger hold it all the way back then slooowly let it return forward almost forward but not quite all the way and then try pulling it back again. You should see what I mean. You will see what could happen if you are trying to shoot super fast double action. It CAN be tied up!
 
We used to be issued colt offical polices. I soon found out you would lock the gun up if the trigger wasnt released all the way. Normaly no one would encounter it. If you own a DA colt just try it. (Empty) pull the trigger hold it all the way back then slooowly let it return forward almost forward but not quite all the way and then try pulling it back again. You should see what I mean. You will see what could happen if you are trying to shoot super fast double action. It CAN be tied up!
You can sometimes do that with a S&W, too. The first time I encountered it was on a Model 10. I learned to be careful with what grips I used, and always used a factory rebound spring. Don't think I ever saw it on a J.



It kinda reminds me of people that criticize pump shotguns because they might "short shuck" one in a defensive situation. I've shot pumps since I was 8 years old and not ONCE have I ever "short shucked" a pump gun. It seems like people are making a big issue out of a non- existant problem to me.
Probably not. It is precisely BECAUSE you have used a pump since you were eight that it is no problem. A shotgun is such a great weapon partly because some people who own them use them a lot. IMO, a person who is regularly playing (practicing?) with a handgun may be better off with that handgun than with a shotgun he seldom uses. And, again IMO, I am better off with an A-5 than a pump, since it has such a familiar manual of arms, and is probably more reliable at cycling than I am.

Your choice is surely right for you, as your experience tells you. My choice, a different one, is probably right for me.
 
Regarding "short stroking" a DA Smith, some years ago when L.A. still used revolvers a LEO was seriously injured in a gun fight when he inadvertently short stroked his trigger and jammed it.

Smith in court claimed that the trigger return spring had been changed/lightened but the LEO's lawyers proved otherwise and Smith had to own up that it was possible to jam one of their revolvers with stock springs.
 
Regarding "short stroking" a DA Smith, some years ago when L.A. still used revolvers a LEO was seriously injured in a gun fight when he inadvertently short stroked his trigger and jammed it.

Smith in court claimed that the trigger return spring had been changed/lightened but the LEO's lawyers proved otherwise and Smith had to own up that it was possible to jam one of their revolvers with stock springs.

I guess S&W had not put a CYA clause in their manual to say "release the trigger fully before attempting another shot" or words to that effect.
 
Back
Top