Shooting DA revolvers

[ditto1958]

I would like to work on my double action shooting. I don’t do it often, and I’m terrible at it. If anyone has any tips on how to shoot revolvers well in DA, I’d sure appreciate it. My Security-Six would, too.

239E7C3A-069F-4517-A2AF-A83FCA3B07AF.jpeg (386.17 KiB) Viewed 2124 times

[Vaquero]

Nice pistola.
No help here as I most always shoot mine single action.
Could use a pointer or two myself, so I'll check in from time to time.
Hey, edit: post # 1776.

RP

[daytime dave]

I'll bet North Country Gal will post a fantastic piece here shortly. I won't be able to come close. I started with double action revolvers and still favor them today. I find that a firm, consistent pull will yield the best result. People talk about staging and such. A smooth steady pull, all the while holding, or trying to hold, the perfect sight picture, will yield the best results. It helps if the trigger is smooth and under ten pounds in double action.

I'm hoping to hear what NCG has to say on the subject.

[Greyhawk]

Personally I like to stick my tongue a bit out of the left corner of my mouth, aim, close both eyes and jerk the trigger really fast.
On second thought, maybe we should wait to here from North Country Gal!

[Mistered]

Nice older Security Six!
I had one once but it was really beat up, lots of the bluing gone and I sold it back to the original owner (who wanted it back)

I also do not shoot my DA revolvers DA very often but as a starter it would help to have some larger (and rubber) wrap around style grips for an improved grip on the gun.

[Mags]

.
Me too, I'm terrible as well.

20180525_100632.jpg (142.95 KiB) Viewed 2113 times

...

... Could use a pointer or two myself, ...

[GunnyGene]

What Mistered said. Grip is important. Also, many people tend to tighten their grip while pulling the trigger. This is a big, and usually not noticed, problem and will throw your shot somewhere down yonder. Your hand muscles will naturally want to tighten up your entire hand on a long heavy trigger. You've got to work on JUST pulling the trigger without tightening up your grip in the process. Easier said than done, I'll admit.

If you want to try something, grip a uncooked egg in your hand and practice pulling against some resistance ( the thumb or a finger of your other hand for example) with your trigger finger. Can be a little messy but if you're tightening up you'll know it.

[Mags]

.
Yes it is easier said than done. Apparently I don't have the knack for it yet. I'd swear I don't clinch when pulling the trigger, but must be. The bullets go elsewhere.

What Mistered said. Grip is important. Also, many people tend to tighten their grip while pulling the trigger. This is a big, and usually not noticed, problem and will throw your shot somewhere down yonder. Your hand muscles will naturally want to tighten up your entire hand on a long heavy trigger. You've got to work on JUST pulling the trigger without tightening up your grip in the process. Easier said than done, I'll admit.

If you want to try something, grip a uncooked egg in your hand and practice pulling against some resistance ( the thumb or a finger of your other hand for example) with your trigger finger. Can be a little messy but if you're tightening up you'll know it.

[Mistered]

Another thing that would help immensely is lighter trigger and hammer springs.

Wolff no doubt makes springs for the SS and will make a world of difference.
https://www.gunsprings.com/

My Mod 66 and 60 both have Wolff springs (as well as custom trigger and action jobs) and the DA pull on both is much lighter than original.

[North Country Gal]

Hey, wait a minute. I'm no expert on DA shooting, but I do shoot in DA a lot, because, well, I enjoy it. Thank-you all, though, for the nice compliments.

Here's some tips on the basics, whichever method of DA shooting you use. Just a few things I've picked up and tried that worked for me. Maybe they'll help you.

First, a firm grip. Not a death grip, but a good firm grip. After all, the trigger pull weight has now doubled or tripled or more over the SA pull. Those sights are going to wobble, plenty through that long DA pull, even with a firm grip. A loose grip will be all over the map.

I don''t care to dry fire my revolvers much, but when I'm getting ready for some DA shooting sessions, I do some dry fire work in DA, beforehand. This old lady has to do it for the sake of muscle strength. Maybe guys don't need this exercise, but I sure do. makes a big difference for me. It's also why I am very picky about the DA pull in my DA revolvers.

I don't focus too much on sight alignment at the beginning of my DA pull, but I'm focusing 110% on those sights when that hammer finally falls. This is what makes shooting in DA such a departure from shooting in SA. In SA shooting, we're ready to go the instant our finger touches the trigger. In DA shooting, we have a lot more work to do before that hammer falls. This mental adjustment takes practice.

I find that pointing my elbow (s) down to the ground, rather than allowing them to point out to the side at an angle reduces a lot of that side to side wobble with the sights during the pull.

Can't say enough about follow though and rhythm in DA shooting. If you've already fallen into the habit of allowing yourself to think the shot is over as soon as you feel the gun fire, you're going to have a problem in DA shooting. You'd be surprised at just how much better you'll shoot in DA by working to keep those sights and gun on the target right on through the recoil cycle. I visualize following that bullet to the target with my sights or scope reticle for all my shooting and it really helps.

One more. This one may sound like heresy to bench rest target shooters who ever so gently and ever so slowly finesse that hair trigger. Uh, not going to work shooting a revolver in DA. That long, long DA pull will drive you crazy if you try shooting it like a single action pull that measures in only ounces. I'm not saying you should snap the trigger in DA, but moving though it smoothly and deliberately, not hesitating along the way works the best for me. With practice, that DA cycle quickens by quite a bit and it starts to feel a lot shorter than it actually is. Best of all, when I've got my speed going, but still maintaining my smoothness, those sights seem to behave a lot better. This is where DA shooting gets a lot more comfortable for me.

As for the two schools of though on DA shooting, your call, but know that there is a LOT of controversy, here.

The smooth and steady, not hesitating or stopping anywhere during the pull, is the classic method of DA shooting. This is the one taught for self-defense work and I totally agree that this is the ONLY choice for that work. I also like this method because it enhances good follow though. Here's where I love a DA revolver with a nice buttery smooth DA pull with no bumps or snagging long the way. One of my favorite revolvers with this kind of pull has been the Ruger Redhawk (not the Super Redhawk. It has a different lock). Most Redhawks I've shot have a dream of a trigger for DA shooting. Smooth as can be.

The other school of thought/technique on DA shooting is called staging. On some DA revolvers, you can feel where that trigger catches near the end of the pull, just before the hammer falls. A good shooter using this technique can learn to hold that spot for an instant during the pull, fine tune the sight picture and finish the pull with something akin to a single action pull.

I've seen some experts using the staging method do some amazing target work, darn near the equivalent of shooting in SA. It's tricky, though, because that hold spot is tough to catch at precisely the same point for every shot. Add any variable, such as cold fingers, sweaty fingers, shooting with gloves, shooting when stressed and it gets trickier, yet. Bottom line is that it is tough to catch that hold spot 100% of the time. I can't. Every once in awhile, I miss it and the gun goes off before I'm ready. Obviously, this is not conducive to good follow through and good rhythm.

This is just one reason why staging is not recommended for self-defense shooting and why it raises the hackles of instructors trying to teach self-defense shooting. No argument from me. I do use staging on some of my DA pistols strictly for target work. Those DA revolvers also happen to have DA triggers that are easy to stage. (Not all DA revolvers have DA triggers that work for staging.) Not a problem switching back and forth between the two DA methods for me because I don't carry a gun for self-defense work. If I ever do, I'll drop staging, entirely.

In the end, shooting in DA is like any other form of shooting in that it takes a lot of practice. I understand that a lot of folks have no interest in DA shooting, but, honestly, you can get to a point where it is actually fun and rewarding. It's whole new world of revolver shooting for me. I enjoy it. Who knows? It might even make you forget about shooting those fancy bottom feeding autoloaders.