March 20th, 2025
6minute read
Weve all heard the saying the devil is in the details.
Its true in a lot of things, and its certainly true in shooting.
Lets look at one such detail: the exact placement of finger on trigger.
The placement of your trigger finger can drastically impact your accuracy. Too much — or too little — finger on the trigger can shift the point of impact.
Lets define our terms.
Thepadis best defined as the whorl of the fingerprint centered on the face of the trigger.
There was a reason for that term power crease.
Defining our terms. Pad centers the whorl of your fingerprint on the trigger face, while the distal joint placement is at the “power crease.” Image: Gail Pepin
Heres how you could see for yourself.
You dont even need a pistol.
Take the index finger of your non-dominant hand, extend it, and stiffen it up.
1911 pistols can be had with long triggers (such as the Springfield Armory Ronin on the left) or short triggers (Springfield Mil-Spec on the right). Image: Gail Pepin
Were going to pretend that finger is a trigger with a heavy pull.
Point the fingerprint away from you.
Assess how much force it takes to move it.
With short 1911A1 type trigger, average size male hand is ideal for “power crease” finger placement. Image: Gail Pepin
When it does move, it may move in fits and starts.
Youll find you have much more strength, born of leverage, to smoothly roll that finger back.
It will feel as if a couple of pounds of pull weight have been removed from the trigger.
The author is demonstrating “pad placement” of the finger on the trigger of this Springfield Prodigy Compact 9mm. Image: Gail Pepin
The key dimension istrigger reach.
Lets look at the ever-popular 1911 pistol.
In its first iteration in 1911, it had a long trigger.
The Springfield Echelon’s short trigger reach is ideal for distal joint placement with most hand sizes, if the shooter wishes. Image: Gail Pepin
One complaint on the 1911 was that the trigger reach was too long.
(Learn more about the history of the1911 versus the 1911A1 here.)
However some, like the Springfield Armory Mil-Spec 1911A1, have the short trigger.
Try this exercise. Support hand trigger finger gives stiff resistance as gun hand’s index finger uses pad placement and pulls back, assessing force… Image: Gail Pepin
This turns out to fit smaller hands better.
The answer has always been Yeah, itll do that eventually.
The quest for excellence is always advanced by trying new techniques and giving them a fair chance.
…then do the same with distal joint of trigger finger, and feel how much leverage increases. Image: Gail Pepin
You might be surprised at what you learn.
Go to forum thread
Springfield Armory
This is the “h-Grip.” Good news: finger gets deeper into triggerguard. Bad news: recoil goes directly into base joint of the thumb with little skeleto-muscular support directly behind the gun. Image: Gail Pepin
