Much ado has been made of the Smith and Wesson’s M&P having a less distinct reset than what many 1911 and Glock shooters are used to. This particularly bothers those who have been trained to “shoot to reset” between shots. This has never particularly bothered me and here is why:
For those who are not familiar (or may need a quick refresher), most basic pistol courses teach shooters to “reset” the trigger between shots as part of the follow through process. I look back to my Basic Academy training way back in the day, which taught shooters to hold the trigger to the rear, realign the sights, and then slowly release the trigger until they feel a distinct click. Then they can begin preparing for the next shot.
I feel this is a good way to teach beginning shooters how the pistol’s disconnector works, and the concept of how the trigger resets. Unfortunately, shooters need to move beyond this technique as problems arise when utilizing the technique under any sort of time pressure. What almost always happens, is the shooter takes way too long to slowly reset the trigger to the reset point and then rushes through the shot when pressing the trigger again. The important part of the process is controlling that trigger such that it is pressed straight to the rear without affecting the alignment of the sights (or position of the gun.) This is also the part that should be getting the most time.
Therefore, it would be much better time management, if you are trying to make multiple accurate shots in a compressed time frame, to reset the trigger as quickly as possible, and take the time you need when pressing the trigger. Not the other way around.
The fastest way I have found to reset the trigger is to do it quickly during the recoil stroke, and not to try to find that exact magic point where the trigger is reset. Instead, I go past the reset point during recoil and then prep the trigger for the next shot by taking all the slack out of the trigger and already beginning to add additional pressure on the trigger. This takes practice, but it will help you treat every shot as an individual event, even under speed.
The video above was seen on our Facebook page, but you can now see how this technique works at speed. With the aid of a high speed camera, and the mad video editing skills of Mike Hughes at Next Level Training, we are able to see how the trigger is pressed, reset and then prepped for then next shot even when shooting at speed. Every one of these shots landed in the A-zone of the IPSC target. I slowed down enough to see a sight picture with every shot and tried to control the trigger enough to get acceptable accuracy for each shot.
Try it on the range and see for your self. Reset fast. Prep the trigger hard, and then control the trigger to the rear.
Not alot of people believe me on this, but you can do good fast and accurate shooting with a glock. Especially if you put a “-” or dot connector and a 25 cent trigger job.
Good article, concise explanation.
It seems I constantly tell people that a good reset is the very least of my worries when it comes to “what pistol”.
BY semi auto pistol standards a K frame S&W would have the world’s worst reset, but that didn’t seem to slow down guys like Ed McGivern, Bill Jordan or Jerry Miculek.
I learned the same reset during recoil method you write about, works really well, speeds things up nicely.
One of the other reasons I really dislike people being taught to ride the reset is that it can lead to “trigger freeze” during real life gunfights. Not a good way to win a fight.
The slow mo’ video is AWSOME! The verbage I was taught was, ‘reset in recoil’ and it’s the same smell, different nostril. I’m having a tough time cracking the nut with some of my co-workers, as they are so resistant to change. I’m going to use this as one article to help me get the point across. I know being a prophet in your own village is hard, but DAMN! Thanks guys!
People begin to figure it out when your skillset obviously exceeds theirs every time they show up to the range with you. But yes, it is very hard to get your own folks to listen.
When you shoot using this method is your finger always in contact with the trigger when resetting it? Also do you just go a little beyond the reset point or do you let the trigger go all the way forward? I was taught to shoot the same way that you learned at your basic academy and I am trying to learn how to shoot faster.
I go past the reset point by maybe a quarter to half an inch. How much past is really inconsequential. The important part is to quickly and aggressively prep the trigger for the next shot so that as soon as the sights settle you are ready to break the next shot if needed.
Thnks for sharing this informative post about pistol courses . I believed that modern pistols should be high quality reproductions pistols, and rifles based on the classic weapons of quality manufacturers.
I tried to pay attention to how I run the trigger at the last idpa match and realized that is what happens. I don’t think I’ve ever shot to reset.