15 Oct 13

The “straight-finger” register position for the trigger-finger is the technique I learned over forty years ago. Today, we still teach students to keep the finger straight, in continuous contact with the firearm, and as high as they can get it.

On ARs, and many other military rifles, the finger is lower than we would like, because we have to avoid using the magazine-release button as an “index,” as we don’t want to inadvertently release the magazine at an inconvenient moment!

However, in either case the trigger-finger is straight and in continuous contact with the side of the weapon.

We do this in order to make convulsive-engendered NDs less likely that when the trigger-finger is within the trigger-guard or otherwise in close proximity with the trigger.

Some of my colleagues, for whom I have much respect, have migrated from the “flat-finger” technique, described above, to the “C-finger” technique.

With the C-finger technique, the trigger-finger is bent or curled, so that only the tip of the finger touches the weapon. They like the technique, because it makes it less likely that a trigger-finger in the register position on a pistol will be trapped during a gun-grab attempt than would be the case when the trigger is extended and in contact with the slide.

For some (myself included), the C-finger technique forces one to compromise his grip. That is the main reason I’m not currently prepared to teach it. And, as noted in my last Quip, the C-finger technique is not compatible with the SERPA holster.

Students sometimes come to me educated in the C-finger technique, and I don’t object, nor do I necessarily try to “convert” them. I do try to make them aware of the relative strengths and weaknesses of all techniques.

With regard to the SERPA holster, our late friend and colleague, Paul Gomez, advocated indexing the pad of the trigger-finger on the sharp ledge immediately forward of the holster’s release-button, instead of on the button itself. That way, one can subsequently roll the trigger-finger backward and onto the paddle in order to disengage the locking mechanism. This provides the pad of the trigger-finger with a small, and clearly defined, “target area” for initial indexing.

As new equipment and techniques come along, we trainers have to analyze, evaluate, sometimes re-configure our thinking; sometimes embracing; sometimes rejecting. For one, I tend to be skeptical of all new developments, and with good reason, gleaned from decades of bitter experience! However, all good ideas we enshrine today, from Glock pistols to high-tech coatings, started as “new-fangled gimmicks.” We have to continually sort it out!

“Never mistake motion for action”

Hemmingway

/John