PRACTICING THE TRANSITION FROM DA TO SA.

[dlff]

I hope I have posted in the right section this time.
Coming from the SA / safe action school of thought.
Please share with me some techniques or tips (both dry & live fire drills) pertaining to the above mentioned topic.
I find that this the hardest part to master as the first shot has to be DA which is mandatory in "Production class."
Thank you guys in advance!!!

[burningsquirrels]

you don't have to train any different. when practicing, just do all your dry firing and stuff from DA. if you can master a smooth and straight DA, your SA will be just fine.

[Stuart]

when I first started shooting a DA/SA gun..I found my DA first shots were all in a group in a different spot than shot fired in SA.

what I did to bring all into one group is to train with the DA for a short period of time. I shot about 50-100 rounds DA only accepting only what was the correct sight picture and the right trigger manipulation. That was the soul focus of the practice session. after that practice session. I was pretty much cured. I continue to do solid dryfire practice, probably 5 minute session of doing DA pulls exclusively doing them in a way the reinforces the good techniques.

I have since done this strong hand only and weakhand only too. and have now solid technique for those courses of fire that require this.

[1SOW]

Listen to Stuart, he's the 'Production' Czar.

I'm old and don't shoot like he does; but I did as he said, and it works.

Additionally, improving (lightening) your DA trigger will make it easier to learn good trigger transition technique.

With the CZ75, most models benefit a lot from a simple hammerspring change--lighter.  Polishing trigger components and firing pin interrupt linkages also improves the feel in DA.

FWIW, One thing I did for live fire:  USPSA targets at 5-7 yds.  With hammer down, Draw and fire 2rds slow enough to get 'A's only.  Start over with hammer down and draw.  Repeat and gain speed as you get comfortable with all 'A's. If you don't hit an A, stop and think about it--why.  Dry fire it,  then shoot it again.

You will 'always', shoot DA  from the draw (or picking the gun up from a barrell etc.).  That adds another factor to the DA shot. So include the draw with the practice.

I'm sure some other guys here have some good/better tips.

[dlff]

Thanks for all the tips guys. SA is not a problem for me as I have been shooting a EAA open gun in SA only. Now I wanna go back to Production class. The amount of cost, experimenting & down time involved in tuning a so called "race" gun is enough for me to call it a day in Open class.
The Shadow seems to be the best bet for the job no matter how much I dislike DA/SA. I carry a G.26 for self-defense & ideally I should go for a G.17 for proudction class as it has the same "safe action" trigger.
My friends told me to have a look at the Shadow as it has less recoil & shoot much better than the G.17.

[1SOW]

+1 for The Shadow.  Custom shop version is a competitive 'Production' gun.

My son shot well in 'Limited 10'.  From day one in 'Production' with the Shadow, he's improved in every aspect of the game.

[mountaincoulee]

diff, welcome to Production.

When you draw and present your first shot, soon as you've established your two-handed grip use the motion of pushing the gun out to prep the DA trigger down to 3#, so that at full extension the trigger is very close to breaking the shot.

Prepping during the push does not destabilize the gun, as the whole movement starts with the powerful shoulder muscles. The prepping almost stabilizes the gun, and certainly it leaves very little effort to overcome at full presentation.

With practice, at full extension, you flash confirm your sight picture as your finger movement continues (don't stop the squeeze) and you trip what then amounts to a SA trigger. After awhile, at the close and eventually at the medium distances, your muscle memory will be such that you just know the sight pic IS THERE: so no need to flash confirm or stop the trigger press.

It boils down to:
- draw
- acquire full grip
- push out and prep trigger all the way through the presentation
- bang.

I did this for the first time ever at the last match -and hit the B-zone. The RO said the look on my face was priceless. Now if I can only make this a routine event. It is really hard to trust that at full presentation our sight picture is good, rather than stopping the trigger press to verify that it is good, then finishing the trigger press.

Anyone here who can express this differently is welcome to jump in.

[1SOW]

Good job MC.

[elsolo]

Just practice dryfire DA first shot from holster.
When that is instinctive, it no longer matters.
Once the slide starts to cycle you're back in regular SA mode, and the second alpha will just happen .10-.15 secs after the DA alpha without conscious thought.

[Shadow9x19]

Interesting little article: "Fear not the double action shot" at http://www.craigcentral.com/fearnot.htm

[Apetrulis01]

Just pick something on the wall and dry fire, dry fire, and more dry fire. Once you feel comfortable using the long DA pull, start drawing from the holster and pulling the trigger, slowly. Once your gun doesn't move that much start speeding up until you get where you think you should be. Don't even worry about the single action because once you master the double action you will have master the single action.

Adam

[Gary1911A1]

In addition to the above a Kadet 22 Conversion Unit can also help you focus more on trigger control transition between DA to SA as well as be able to practice more.