"The gun should surprise you when it goes off"

[smokey]

You can have control of when the trigger breaks AND let the gun "surprise you" as you apply increasing pressure rearward. Essentially you're controlling the window of time that the trigger will break in with the speed you apply pressure to it. Jeff Cooper used to teach this all the time. Lemme find a video of him explaining it...

Here we go...

 

[outrider58]

I like a lot of his stuff. Especially his home defense strategies.

 

[Major03]

Perhaps "surprise you" is a poor phrase that does not communicate the intention of the instructor. I've used this phrase myself when teaching people to shoot a rifle.

I certainly never intended that phrase to mean that anything about the firing process is unintentional or out of control of the shooter.

I want the shooter to be focusing on their site alignment / site picture more than when the shot will break, so that anticipation of the shot won't disturb site alignment / site picture. I've found that when a new shooter is focusing on their trigger control, they actually have worse trigger control and try to muscle shots onto the target by timing the break with when they think their sites are aligned. That the shooter will discharge the firearm should never come as a surprise to them...they have intentionally aimed it and started the firing process...however the EXACT microsecond / moment of the shot breaking is less of a concern to them than the accuracy of the shot.

For beginners, the firing process is a bit like juggling cotton balls in a hurricane and when you're thinking about too many things at once...you can't focus on any of them very well.

So what phrase to use so as not to confuse people? If not "surprised" by the shot breaking...how about "so focused on your front site post (or reticle) that the shot breaks without you consciously thinking about exactly when?"

 

[Blaster229]

My whole intention was to say that people should know when it's going to go off. If you're getting ready to pull a trigger to shoot someone, you best know when it's going to fire. Nothing to do with marksmanship.

 

[Traveler]

I am of the opinion that this is just verbal masturbation.

I doubt anyone knows the precise millisecond the firearm is going to go off even if they do think they are the coolest operator on the planet.

The whole point of choosing those words is to help inexperienced shooters to stop jerking the trigger, pull it slow and steady, and let the gun do the rest.

So ... moral of the story ... don't be a jerk. Okay?