quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
would you prefer that shot DA or SA?

DA.

I have way more time to process and adjust the input as needed to complete the shot. I’m not relying on the “now” of a short, light trigger to cover up trigger control inabilities and hope for the best.

Oh brother. Let’s say it is you jones. Farthest range you have ever considered shooting. Has to be done though. There is a beer on the line. One shot.

“I’m not relying on the “now” of a short, light trigger to cover up trigger control inabilities and hope for the best.”

There are no trigger control inabilities because it’s you behind the trigger. If we are talking about YOU, what you wrote sounds like if you shoot SA you worry about covering up trigger control inabilities. Then what the fuck are you doing with the next 15 shots that are SA? You can’t have it both ways. 1 shot DA then 15 more SA. That’s every mag you shoot. Are you saying you really think you are taking a “hit and a hope” because 95% of a magazine is shot SA? Come on.

One shot. Horribly long range. Just for pride. One hit wins. SA or DA? Still saying SA? Oh ok.

The OP read in excess of 40 yards not 163 or more. Jerry has a excellent vid drawing from concealment, 50 yards on a plate. Maybe a shy over 1 second. Hit every time. We know the particulars but that comes from experience.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
That is the old “under stress you won’t even notice” nonsense. You aren’t going to shoot better under stress than without. Unless you are Michael Jordan. Lol

No, it is that under stress you won't have the mental capacity to think out a lot of extraneous details, and your fine motor control will be compromised. A person won't even notice in their mind "oh that first shot had a harder trigger pull than the second". Not that they'll miraculously shoot DA better than they ever had before. When time is of the essence the mind won't even consider cocking the hammer back to SA. They will probably shoot worse under such stress, and need to focus on just one thing because the brain can't do more. In this case it is probably aiming as precisely as possible.

If there is a luxury of time, sure cock it back to SA, control your breathing, support the shot with a nearby post, and make a slow trigger pull. Which is almost never going to be a real world scenario.

Since the question revolves around a particular scenario, where the OP indicates a lack of confidence in making the shot, I think it fair to discuss whether the shot should be taken, and if so are there additional tactics to mitigate potential negative outcomes.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
The OP read in excess of 40 yards not 163 or more. Jerry has a excellent vid drawing from concealment, 50 yards on a plate. Maybe a shy over 1 second. Hit every time. We know the particulars but that comes from experience.

That was with a 229 in .40 at the SIG Academy many moons ago.

So many of the posts are discussing tactics, but not really addressing the question that was originally asked:

quote:

Would you cock the hammer to get into single action to give yourself a higher chance of being accurate at distance?

Thank you V Tail. That’s the question I’ve been asking and nobody seems to want to answer a single easy question. It has become tactics, stress, you don’t train enough, armor, blah blah blah.

“Would you cock the hammer to get into single action to give yourself a higher chance of being accurate at distance?” “The shooter is far enough away that you question your skills”. Those are the 2 pertinent points in the OP.(question your skills doesn’t mean he needs more training or isn’t competent, at some point even Jerry Miculek would question his own skills, it’s a variable unique to each shooter)

That is the question. Putting tactics to the side for one second the question is pretty basic. Does a SA shot give you a better shot of hitting? Not tales of how fast you are or how amazing shots you have seen have been. One shot. One. You have to hit it (beer bet, life, anything in between), no time constraint, ignore tactics. One shot. Would you have more confidence in a very long handgun shot in a SA shot or DA? It’s a pretty simple question that I think everyone realistically knows the answer to but for some reason refuse to acknowledge.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
That’s the question I’ve been asking and nobody seems to want to answer a single easy question

quote:

I’m shooting the shot in DA. At 5 yards or 50. Or 100.

quote:

DA.

I have way more time to process and adjust the input as needed to complete the shot.

Why answer your latest strawman "Single shot on a Tuesday in a Leap Year while watching Tiger King" scenario. You will just ignore that answer too as it shows pretty much your argument to be "I can't do it, so it can't be done".

Oh, and because you invoked Jerry, FYI when he shoots a DA pistol in action pistol, he shoots the hard shots in DA.

He even has a couple of videos of shooting 1,000 yards in DA, and a 638 upside down in DA at 200. You should really get to the comments on his Youtube and set him straight.

Fact of the matter is, there are still people that exist that excell at shooting the DA. Whether you want to admit it or not. The answer is DA because you have more control.

You seriously think my question was “Single shot on a Tuesday in a Leap Year while watching Tiger King“ tricky?

I asked if on any given day of any given year while not watching tv would using SA produce more accuracy? That’s the question.

Not exactly a complex question regardless of your response. Also not a straw man. Nice try.

Simple question. You answered it. Thanks. I still would bet money that the vast majority, the overwhelming majority, of good shooters would shoot a tighter group at distance SA than DA. Easiest bet I would ever make. Almost a sure thing. Certainly there are some unicorns out there but odds say there aren’t too many.

I agree with you, given the time to cock and take the shot in SA. The key point was you think you have the time.This is not a panic induced rush move. All those replies of best shooting in DA mode under stress probably wish they could decock their Sig and shoot DA for their next accuracy shot. Loosen up people, take YOUR best shot.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Thank you V Tail. That’s the question I’ve been asking and nobody seems to want to answer a single easy question.

I did.

Edited to add: after reading back over the thread, I see others did as well. Not exactly "nobody".

Yes you did. Funny thing is I grew up on revolvers too. Loved them then and love them now. Most of my Smiths are crisp 2# SA trigger pulls. With no constraints and the incentive for accuracy I find the revolver SA pull easy to hit with. Do you have trouble shooting 1911’s and their ilk since they are SA?

I was generalizing because most answers seemed to get mired in tactics and avoided the basic accuracy question. My bad for not being precise enough.

wxl kind of hit on the funny part of this. All those stating how they prefer or are better or have more control with the DA stroke must hate the fact the 95% of the shots in the gun are SA. Lol.

Do you guys actually want to decock to get “more control” with each shot? I have my doubts.

Next range day I must get some volunteers and run an experiment. Data, I need data! Lol

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Yes you did. Funny thing is I grew up on revolvers too. Loved them then and love them now. Most of my Smiths are crisp 2# SA trigger pulls. With no constraints and the incentive for accuracy I find the revolver SA pull easy to hit with. Do you have trouble shooting 1911’s and their ilk since they are SA?

I was generalizing because most answers seemed to get mired in tactics and avoided the basic accuracy question. My bad for not being precise enough.

quote:

With the scenario mentioned, no I would not cock the hammer. I find it almost easier to be accurate in DA. With SA, I have to be careful not to get in a hurry and disturb the sights.

I am confident to 25 and beyond (thanks Jones!). However, if the target is beyond a distance where I am comfortable, I won’t be shooting at that distance. Move to cover and wait for him to get close enough that I am comfortable or move to cover and try to steathily close the distance before taking a shot. In either case, the first shot will be DA.

Sorry for throwing a little bit of tactics in there, but I think I was pretty clear that the first shot would be DA and that it was actually easier to be accurate in DA. Somewhere I have a video of six shots with my late father in law’s 2 & some fraction inch Ruger security six at steel IPSC plate at 100 yards. Second time I ever shot the gun. Six shots, six hits.

Just because you shoot SA better than you shoot DA doesn’t mean that the same is true of everyone else.

Absolutely. Which is why I said my bad for not being precise enough.

All that being said, I would love to bet lunch on these perceptions. I suspect most people who are stating how much more accurate they are at distance with handguns shooting DA probably haven’t placed a target at 100 yards and actually tested this. Even 50 yards. 50 aimed shots SA then 50 aimed DA. Then compared the two targets. The reason I say this is simple. All these “I’m more accurate with DA” guys seem to be ignoring that in any given string of fire there is only one (1) DA shot and then all those pesky inaccurate SA shots ruining an otherwise beautiful target. Does that not seem a bit nonsensical? If you have a beautiful group of 15 shots and 14 were SA then do you really shoot better DA?

I suspect testing, actual doing this, would show you guys that you shoot just fine SA. I would argue you probably shoot better at distance. The entire sport of bullseye tends to agree with me. Like I said, we need data. Lol

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:


I would love to bet lunch on...

With all due respect you would lose that bet in my case, maybe not others. My range has 100 yard steel gongs, and they get a lot of handgun activity. And of my six Sigs, four are DAO, having been converted from DA/SA. I kept two of them original for friends to use at the range and for me to play with. About 15 years ago CDNN had factory DAO hammers on sale, and I bought a life time supply.

My HK P30L has a safety. I keep it cocked and have one in the chamber when I am carrying.

I practice drawing and dropping the safety, which is quick and easy.

Give yourself every advantage you can, so yes.

I’m assuming the scenario is the that threat is not a direct threat to me or coming at me, but rather a threat to others. I’ll brace myself on whatever’s available, pull the hammer back, take a breath, squeeze the trigger. I carry a 239 DAK and wouldn’t have that luxury. Given the option, I’d shoot SA even of it’s only a psychological advantage. Most of the time, I put 6 out of 6 on steel at 25yards with a 6” barrel Ruger Security-Six, so DA doesn’t scare me, but I think I’d be more accurate SA.

Because all the competition shooters are modifying their pistols to have heavier and longer triggers.

I carry a 1911 so I'm always in SA. I didn't learn to shoot on a revolver like many here did, I'm significantly younger but when I did have DA/SA pistols, definitely preferred SA.

Just so many factors in a scenario.

In the OPs scenario, I'm not shooting and likely not even drawing. I'm going to make sure mine are safe and get out of there.

From personal experience, shooting accuracy tends to drop significantly when the targets shoot back.