Question for DA/SA Guys

[ramairthree]

What is your goal with a DA/SA?

What trigger pull weight and travel length and reset length is your goal?
Classically,
You can’t beat a pure SA trigger.
You have a safety to manipulate.

A DA/SA saves you the safety manipulation, at the cost of a DA shot, and you get near pure SA after that.

Strikers save you the safety manipulation, a DA trigger pull, with better than DA but worse than SA follow ups.

Currently,
People are running around with SA triggers so light I have seen plenty of “misses” at matches that should be DQs because they ND’d firing early on such a light trigger instead of missing.

DA/SAs far lighter and shorter than the intent of a safety
less DA was ever intended for,

And strikers with such short/light aftermarket work and triggers they are essentially like walking around with a cocked 1911 with no safety.

Almost to a point where the weight of the gun/recoil reduction, no safety to manipulate are the edge and not the mechanism.

[MegademiC]

1. Dry fire DA only (or heavy DA focus) for a while.
2. Dry fire strong hand only until you can pull the trigger with purpose (quickly) without moving the sights (at least keeping the sights in an acceptable hit area). Also, dont pin the trigger, press and instantly let off upon the break (reset) during this dry fire.
3. During #2, try different ways if holding the gun (strong hand only), different finger placement on trigger (probably more than you think), and different “feels “ if pressing trigger (to left, to right, straight back to palm, etc).

Find what works best, then keep experimenting, slowly refining it until you are happy with performance.

Then learn to use SA with the same (shouldnt take much, probably no change).

Note: learning to dry-fire strong hand only will make 2 handed shooting much more accurate/easier ime. All adding the strong hand does is mask issues- which you want when actually shooting.

[63Qcode]

Thanks for the comments/info . Someone asked what my goal was .... to become a better shooter by learning to shoot fast and accurately with the DA trigger.

In going back over my last range session , I believe I was "staging" the trigger on the first shot because of the longer pull . Someone also mentioned counter pressure from the support hand.... I try to use more pressure with that hand than the other hand ...... but in thinking about it , I may also be applying uneven grip pressure .

A slight "challenge" for me is that my trigger finger has been broken several times at the first joint . If I look at my palm , the finger tip goes to the left at about a 15 degree angle . Just another thing to play with .

I have a dry fire program I came up with and will modify it as my range results dictate . Hope to hit the range tomorrow before the temps get out of the mid 90`s .... weekend is supposed to be low 100`s , and I give up at that point .

MegademiC , I`ll try what you suggested , hopefully tomorrow .

BTW , everyone brought up good points , now I just have to sift through everything and see how to apply it in my case.

If it hadn`t been for that first pull , I would have cleared the Dot Torture last time out ..... and that`s one of my goals .

Thanks

[m1a_scoutguy]

Lots of good info for sure ! I have been shooting my CZ-07 for about 5 years now and really love the gun,heck I love all my CZ pistols ! Dry firing can help but like stated above,getting to the range and running/practicing that 1st shot is king I feel ! Even now after many years I will practice draw's and that 1st shot at least 2 full mag before moving on ! I shoot/de-cock/re-holster/repeat ! Using dummy rds helps also. Anyways plenty has been said and all good tips,but here are a few vids from a guy that knows a thing or two about DA/SA,,worth the watch. Keep us posted on how ya do & enjoy your CZ,I know I do !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsoX26OhDCY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZplH6zreQI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nod5qLlSGUM

[mark5pt56]

I didn't read the whole thread. As you practice be aware of a couple things. DA-Front sight, smooth trigger press, SA-sight slack squeeze. Take your time and practice, slow fire to ingrain the practice. Always have your first shot DA followed by sighted fire on the subsequent ones. Of course you need to work on your grip as with any pistol. That double action pull is smooth and pull as if you will be doing it for eternity, don't stage as mentioned. Trick is to start slow on the DA pull, add speed as you go, keeping a steady gun.

With practice, you can run that gun like a rented mule, you just have to put the time in. Back in the day, I made IPSC A class with a Safariland SSIII and a SW 5906, followed by a Sig P226, both stock, my inspiration was an active team guy who was a Grand Master.

[1168]

If it hadn`t been for that first pull , I would have cleared the Dot Torture last time out ..... and that`s one of my goals .

Thanks

Are you doing TDA Dot Torture, or the standard one?

[YVK]

When is your next live fire session?

[RWH24]

When our agency decided to have an issue policy, the selection was the Sig P226 9mm back in the early 90's.
We experienced a lot of shooters 1st DA pull as crotch shots, mostly women. Men were LOW & LEFT. Some old
head said just draw, get rid of the first shot and then aim with the SA shot. That was some of the older 1911 shooters.
I had been to several AUTO Pistol DA/SA classes. Texas DPS had just left revolvers and changed to SIG's.
Adding a Short Reach Trigger helped shooters with smaller hands or shorter fingers. THIS IS NOT the same as SRT, Short Reset Trigger.
When I retired we had changed to Sig's with the DAK FCG.
Pull trigger with finger, not the squeeze of the hand for first round.
The first round, DA, is not a throwaway.

Good Luck and enjoy.

[pyrotechnic]

Someone also mentioned counter pressure from the support hand.... I try to use more pressure with that hand than the other hand ...... but in thinking about it , I may also be applying uneven grip pressure .

I recently picked up a DA/SA gun after shooting Glocks for years. While a solid support hand grip will help mask a poor trigger press make sure your firing grip is starting off at the same strength that you finish with.

I found that I was involuntarily increasing my firing hand grip as I was pressing the DA shot. Start off with a solid firing hand grip so the increase in tension doesn't curl your hand to the left. Hopefully this helps!

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[WillBrink]

All of my experience has been with the 1911 platform or the striker guns ( M&P 2.0 , PPQ , FN S etc ) .
At a class a while back , Mike Pannone let me hold/dry fire his P07 that was set up by CGW . I`ve steered away from the DA/SA guns because of the long first pull . However , I decided to get one since Mike`s P07 felt good and I wanted to learn that trigger , so I picked up a CZ P01 a while back and had Cajun Gun Works set it up .

Love the gun ... fits me , easy to conceal , reliable and in SA mode , almost like my 1911`s . My problem is that I pull my first shot ( DA ) low and to the left a lot . I`ve experimented with grip , done lots of dry fire , but when I hit the range , the old DA monster gets me . Transition to the SA seems to be no problem , just the first shot.

You guys that use a DA/SA action have any suggestions or comments ? Yes, I`m know I`m asking for help on something you haven`t seen me shoot , but looking for possible areas to watch/work on .

For myself, I like a consistent trigger pull, be id SA or DA. I really disliked DA/SA pistols, and as there's no lack of quality pistols to choose from that are not DA/SA, I chose not to own one. With enough practice, not doubt you get used to the DA/SA trigger, but I'm not a fan. Your mileage may vary.