Proprer trigger technique for shooting SAA in CAS

[cal44walker]

What is the proper way to shoot with Single Action revelovers in CAS? I started cocking to full cock and then using the trigger to release the hammer but have been trying to shoot by holding the trigger back and thumbing and releasing the hammer as the pistol locks on to the target which is much faster but needs alot more pratice from me to hit every time. I've watched a bunch of videos on youtube but they don't seem to talk about trigger technique much.

cal44walker

[Jefro]

Howdy 44, slip hammering can be fast, but so can pulling the trigger each time. We have had state, regional, world and national champs from both methods. Find what works for you and practice. One of the best things you can do to improve your game is attend one of the well know shooting schools. The Evil Roy (and others) Cds also have alota great info. Doc Shipiro has some great training techniques on his site, JS Publications "Breaking the Shot". Good Luck
JS Publications


Jefro Relax-Enjoy

[maldito gringo]

cool and deliberate

[Red Cent]

I guess you are shooting with the squaw hold (two handed).

If I determine that it is big enough and close enough, I will slip hammer. It may be nano seconds faster, but I am not locked into it. I am a believer of very light, no creep, triggers. If you teach yourself how to set off a light trigger subconsciously, it will be just as fast.

If you have smooth tuned handguns, the best thing to do is dryfire and teach your subconscious where the trigger is. By that I mean, teach the finger(mind) to put the first pad of the index finger on the trigger and just touch it after you come to full cock.

Then go the range, set up the pie plate on a big piece of cardboard and see if you can grip the revolver tight enough, hit the hammer just enough, and touch off the trigger without any of these motions influencing the barrel. 21 feet. 5 rounds in 5 seconds (at least)

[Pettifogger]

Doesn't matter what technique you use.  What does matter is PRACTICE!

[Bugscuffle]

I believe that anyn time that you save in "slip hammering" will be lost due to the bouncing effect on the gun when cocking it, irrespective of which method you use. Either way the largest portion of time will be used up in target and sight picture acquisition. Personally I can't get the gun to act consistently when slip hammering. Just the slightest difference in grip pressure will change how the gun bounces up and down on cocking and releasing the hammer when slip hammering. For me, using the trigger is "maybe" a little bit slower, but I get a lot more hits using it. 

[Red Cent]

Bugscuffle, as Pettifogger has stated, practice will take care of it. The world's fastest cowboy shooters know exactly where the wall is on the lever cycle of the '73. No influence. They also know the exact place to get off the hammer when sliphammering or setting it off with the trigger. No influence. You establish a grip, thumb the hammer to full cock and touch the trigger. Do this a few thousand times slow, start to speed it up and you will rarely influence the handgun enough to miss a cowboy target.
The top cowboy shooter will have a "crush" grip on the grip and he will have taught himself to just move the tip of the trigger finger to fire. 'Course if you have taught yourself the 'crush" grip, there ain't no way you can move any of the other fingers anayway
Most all the top shooters shoot 38 Specials and no heavier a bulet than 125gr at less than 800fps. Very little recoil.
I shoot with a number of top cowboy shooters that can sliphammer easily and with accuracy..

[Red Cent]

Deuce Stevens from Michigan

[cal44walker]

I find it hard to believe that the top guys are using the trigger or deliberatly aiming with the front sight. It seems to me that to really get the speed up its hammer slipping and point shooting. Obviously most mere mortals are probably a whole lot better off being deliberate and using the front sight and trigger to maximise points.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Gotta have the "flash sight picture" or its just a crap shoot, IMHO.

[RickB]

According to Bob Munden he always cocked his gun and used the trigger to fire his gun. He was the fastest I've ever seen.

[Abilene]

The question of slip-hammering vs. pressing trigger for each shot has come up several times over the years on the SASS Wire.  A number of champions have responded and most of them say they press the trigger for each shot.  They do it so fast it looks like slip-hammering.  The game of CAS has sped up considerably over the years.  Bigger, closer targets are involved in some cases but I'd estimate speeds have at least doubled in the last dozen years for the fastest shooters.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I suggest that it is bad practice to train and compete with techniques that can get you in big trouble when you really need those finely tuned weapons handling skills.

If the champs can cock and fire with the trigger, and win, I suggest that we should emulate them. 

[Bugscuffle]

Sir Chas. I will not argue your point. It's not that I entirely agree with you, it's that it is a hypothesis that is impossible to either prove or disprove. I'll just say that with enough practice the technique that you practiced, irrespective of which one it is, will be your best bet to use in that "really need to use it" scenario. You can argue with a lot of things, but success is NOT one of them. That of coourse is assuming that you use a S.A. pistol for your carry gun. I do not. My carry gun is an 7+1 round, double action,  .45 ACP carried hammer down on a loaded chamber, so it's a moot point for me.

I suggest that it is bad practice to train and compete with techniques that can get you in big trouble when you really need those finely tuned weapons handling skills.

If the champs can cock and fire with the trigger, and win, I suggest that we should emulate them. 

[wildman1]

I thought this was a thread about proper trigger technique for shooting SAA in CAS. Hijacking another thread BS? WM

[Camille Eonich]

Please get back on topic.

[Will Penny]

draw, cock, aim and squeeze the trigger and hit the target, thats the name of the game, hitting what you aim at is what life is all about. the look at me, I shot so fast and missed so many I won fast time of the day..is that really what it is about?? I would rather be like the story of the young bull and the old bull

[Red Cent]

This guy has a special room for all his placques, statutes, belt buckles, and certificates. Wanna guess how he shoots.



He is pretty good with a double also. Hmmmm, there is a cowboy in a Red shirt ready to take over.

[Red Cent]

A few years back (BA - before arthritis) I could come from the holster at the beep and hit 3 targets in a 2-1-2 twice in 3.5 seconds. For years I have worn reading glasses or custom glasses that blur the target but I can see a gnats a...... whiskers on the front sight of a pistol. I am very aware of the front sight and concious of the rear. i take a six o'clock hold and let her rip. "Point shooting will work, but not always.
I wear the same glasses with the rifle and that gold bead on the '73 has a couple little scratches on the left bottom. Again, I am aware of the rear sight but that 6:00 hold will work beautifully.

If you take the time to line up sights, man you are sucking hind t.....place.

Deuce, chime in here pard.

[Red Cent]

RicB, Bob was a fanner. Since that is illegal in cowboy we do the next best thing.

When Bob demonstrated his fast draw, when his gun hand grasped the grip on the draw he pinned the trigger and "slap cocked" (fanned) the revolver and, in essence, sliphammered the revolver. Yes, he was the fastest man who ever lived.