Which finger to place on trigger?

[want2learn]

A few years back my neighbor who was a US military sniper in Viet Nam mentioned that he had preferred to activate the trigger with his long finger but i've not seen anyone else mention this nor had i observed the practice at the various rifle ranges and as such kind of forgot about it.

today I was watching a video of a competition in Scandinavia.....it was very interesting, they had many spectators. Observing the technique of the 2 best finishers, one employed their long finger and the other the ring finger to activate the trigger. Is it no longer advocated?

here's the video link if you're interested:

 

[1moaoff]

Different games

 

[wade2big]

I doubt it matters as long as it works for you. There are exceptions to every single rule made by man.

 

[M8541Reaper]

Depends. If a former CIA spook turned cartel goon breaks your trigger finger, then you have to improvise and use your middle. #TommyBKnowsWhatImTalkinAbout

Give it a try. Shooting with your middle finger, not getting captured and tortured lol

 

[EM92wx]

Maybe someone’s booger finger had a booger on it.

 

[308pirate]

Isn't this something you should try and see if it works for you?

 

[want2learn]

yes, hope to try it out when our range finally reopens.

...was hoping to gain some knowledge from those familiar and experienced with this technique.

Is this technique a newer evolution or does it represent a once promising technique that is now falling out of favor

i guess i thought it might be similar to the older pistol technique of placing the support index finger on the trigger guard...a technique still successfully employed by some competitors but mostly abandoned by others.

those shown in the video were incredibly proficient and fast while maintaining a great deal of accuracy. i'm curious

 

[Rlandry]

It doesn't matter how others do it. It's what works for you.. Period..

 

[want2learn]

i understand

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

Notice in that shooting event they do not really take their pointer finger and thumb off the bolt handle knob, so it would be pretty hard to press trigger with that pointer finger, lol

They use the finger that best fits with ergonomically fitting the trigger area without removing their pointer finger and thumb from bolt knob.

Attempting to compare that style of shooting with modern precision rifle shooting is about the same as comparing service rifle to PRS event.....different tools require different techniques.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[308pirate]

yes, hope to try it out when our range finally reopens.

All ranges in your state are closed? WTF

...was hoping to gain some knowledge from those familiar and experienced with this technique.

This kind of knowledge can't be learned from others. You need to just try it.

Is this technique a newer evolution or does it represent a once promising technique that is now falling out of favor

It's a very specific technique to support a very specific need: the highest possible volume of aimed fire with bolt action rifles. Context is important

i guess i thought it might be similar to the older pistol technique of placing the support index finger on the trigger guard...a technique still successfully employed by some competitors but mostly abandoned by others.

That technique has been abandoned because it has been proven to be less effective than locking the support hand wrist downwards. Angling the wrist down so that the thumb points fwd forces your other four fingers below the trigger guard.

those shown in the video were incredibly proficient and fast while maintaining a great deal of accuracy. i'm curious

Which finger they use on the trigger is a factor, but not the major factor. Notice none of them were using a bipod to support the rifle nor were any of them using optical sights.

 

[Fig]

 

[308pirate]

And Jenny Stene is a hottie...…..

 

[want2learn]

thanks....very cool to learn new things. enjoying the sport very much.

i live in an urban environment, a community in which a firearm might not be well regarded or accepted.

The outdoor range i belong to remains closed.

 

[PAYDIRT]

thanks....very cool to learn new things. enjoying the sport very much.

i live in an urban environment, a community in which a firearm might not be well regarded or accepted.

The outdoor range i belong to remains closed.

MERICA

 

[Coejro]

I worked with a guy who shot that way, using his middle finger to pull the trigger. His reason was twofold:

1. On an M40A5 contour grip, by keeping his thumb on his strong hand side of the rifle and activating the trigger with his middle finger he was able to relieve almost all tension in his wrist and hand, letting him shoot for longer periods of time without breaking his position.

2. Having his pointer finger free and on the same side of the gun as his thumb let him activate the bolt faster as the two fingers were already almost touching the bolt.

His words, not mine. I tried it and didnt find anything special about it. preferred using my pointer finger but i had already learned it so it worked for me. OP i think everyone else said it best; try it and if you like it go for it.

 

[Alabusa]

View attachment 7313924

Drinking Coors Light is WRONG!

 

[want2learn]

thanks... My friend (soft spoken, awesome guy, now a law professor) preferred that technique while in the service.

Seeing these competitors employ a similar technique certainly stimulated my interest.

my impaired mobility lends itself to a sport such as this. I should be able to manage rapid fire prone fairly well.

 

[Northfl]

Have a friend that uses his bird finger on trigger. He lost his booger hook at the first knuckle as a kid.
he sticks that nub behind the ear for a solid and consistent anchor point when shooting a bow as well.
try it.( not loosing the booger hook). It may work for you. Only one way to find out

 

[Ledzep]

I only use my middle finger after being captured by the enemy and them, knowing that I'm the sniper that's been causing all the grief, cutting my trigger finger off. Its really about what works for you. My team mate is an arrogant fucker. Takes shots out of moving helicopters so who's to say what's right or wrong anymore...

True story, though, I played around with using my middle finger with some old Lee enfields to cycle and fire faster. It is faster but you really need a game that goes down to the wire for time for it to be a worthwhile re-train.

 

[want2learn]

Ledzep, that's horrible...so sorry

 

[jakelly]

I’m LH so my buddy (spotter) is usually to my left. This assists our verbal communication, as more often than not, he is RH. The middle finger is used visually in our shooter/spotter communication. Fully extended with the other fingers in the firing position means “error in wind call- reacquire”. The spotter will return the signal if the wind appears correct and the shooter needs to “resend”. I’m pretty sure this is standard across all US branches, but it definitely was when I was fixing F-16s in the USAF.

 

[308pirate]

my impaired mobility lends itself to a sport such as this. I should be able to manage rapid fire prone fairly well.

There two other factors that allow them to shoot so rapidly

• The rifles (Sauer STR) have extremely smooth bolts already, plus it's likely they've all been smoothed over even more
• The sling they use for prone support pulls the rifle into the shoulder much harder than you could ever preload a bipod. That allows them to have nearly zero tension in their upper limbs.

 

[M8541Reaper]

I only use my middle finger after being captured by the enemy and them, knowing that I'm the sniper that's been causing all the grief, cutting my trigger finger off. Its really about what works for you. My team mate is an arrogant fucker. Takes shots out of moving helicopters so who's to say what's right or wrong anymore...

Yea well your teammate was plucked right out of ROTC by the Army Marksmanship Team. He took a Silver in the 88' Olympics, and after his discharge, the NSC assigned him to a DC SWAT team. It's all in his file, take a look.

 

[Don-n-Texas]

Alway use the finger you pick your nose with.