Pull or release? Trigger talk for trap shooters

The pull trigger

A pull trigger does exactly what you expect: the shot fires when you pull the trigger. It is the system almost every shooter learns on, it is intuitive under pressure, and it is what you will find on the vast majority of trap, skeet and sporting guns.

On many competition guns the pull trigger is a two-stage design, with a short take-up before a crisp break, which gives a predictable feel shot after shot.

The release trigger

A release trigger is set by pulling it and holding it back; the shot fires when you let go. Shooters usually move to a release to work through a flinch, the involuntary freeze or jerk that can creep in after thousands of targets, because the act of releasing uses a different motion from the one the flinch has attached itself to.

Release triggers also come in two-stage designs. Some competition trigger groups can be converted between pull and release, which is why many serious trap shooters keep both and choose depending on how they are shooting.

Range etiquette with a release

A set release trigger behaves the opposite way to what everyone around you expects. Tell your squad and the referee that you shoot a release, never hand a gun to anyone with the trigger set, and if your club marks release guns with a sticker or tag, use it.

If you are thinking about trying one, start in practice, not in a registered shoot, and give yourself a few rounds to retrain your timing.

Which is right for you?

If your scores are steady and your trigger finger is behaving, there is no reason to change. If a flinch has started costing you targets, a release trigger is one of the oldest and most effective cures in the sport. Either way, the trigger is only one part of a consistent routine — the same mount, the same hold point and the same reach into the same pouch, every pair.