I was recently gifted a Ruger New Vaquero. Might be a dumb question, but how do you shoot it?

I mean shooting single action with my other revolvers has always been slow and deliberate, removing my finger from the trigger guard before cocking the hammer. I’ve never tried to shoot them quickly single action.

If you were trying to shoot a quick string of shots, then what do you do with your finger?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

My philosophy is to not touch the trigger until it’s safe and one has made the decision to shoot. That is different from the rule that’s sometimes expressed as, “Don’t touch the trigger until the sights are on target,” and it’s because I believe that rule is misguided.

When shooting a single action revolver like a Vaquero, my finger goes into the trigger guard and I cock the hammer when I’ve made the decision to shoot and the gun is pointed in a safe direction: I.e., I don’t do those things while drawing or when the revolver is still pointed down at my leg or feet. When firing a continuous string of shots, the gun is still kept pointed in a safe (to me and bystanders) direction but I don’t remove my finger from the trigger guard between shots. I keep it there as I’m aiming the gun and cocking the hammer for follow up shots.

I’m not running around, shooting USPSA with one.

Honestly, I probably never take my finger off the trigger of my single actions. Because I don’t cock them until I’m ready to shoot, at which point it’s OK to have my finger on the trigger. Before that, it really doesn’t matter that my fingers on the trigger.

I'm not a cowboy action shooter. If I was, and this was the platform that I invested most of my time into I might think differently. But for me as a predominantly semi-auto shooter, my finger doesn't touch the trigger until I'm ready to shoot, period. I have a few single actions, and I enjoy them casually and recreationally, but I don't do anything serious enough with them to make it worth changing my handling habits to shoot them faster.

my rule is finger-on-trigger when sights-on-target

you can run a single action pretty fast by cocking the hammer with the weak hand and as long as you stay on target you can leave your finger right there

If you're firing a string of shots and the muzzle remains pointed downrange, then you're only leaving your finger sitting idly on the trigger long enough for your thumb to cock the hammer anyway.

It’s not really comfortable to grip an SAA type revolver without your trigger finger in the trigger guard. There’s really nowhere else for your finger to go. As noted, you can’t fire the gun unless it’s cocked, and you don’t cock an SA revolver unless a shot is imminent. So I personally have no issues leaving my finger inside the trigger guard pretty much all the time I’m holding the gun. In this case.


For SASS type events you might get good enough accuracy by pinning the trigger and thumbing the hammer for shots, but if you want to hit anything smaller than a huge steel plate at 10 yards I’d recommend taking your finger off the trigger for each shot.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
If you're firing a string of shots and the muzzle remains pointed downrange, then you're only leaving your finger sitting idly on the trigger long enough for your thumb to cock the hammer anyway.

This, I cock with my offhand thumb while keeping my hammer on the trigger. It’s not a half pound trigger by any means so the gun doesn’t fire until I put pressure on it again.

Yep, I also find its better to cock with the off hand. Faster shooting too, at least with practise.

Thanks guys.

I was dry firing it and pulling my finger out of the trigger guard didn't feel natural hence my question.

One thing that affects how I shoot a revolver like a Vaquero is that it’s a “cowboy” gun and therefore I shoot it like handguns were normally shot when such guns were the norm: one-handed.* I don’t know all the details of “cowboy” action shooting, but considering all the other rules or practices it evidently has pertaining to costumes, etc., it always strikes me as odd to see a competitor using two hands to shoot a single action revolver.

As mentioned, it’s difficult to hold and control revolvers properly without a finger in the trigger guard, but especially when shooting one-handed.

* And of course I’m not referring to using a powerful modern single action revolver chambered for 454 Casull for bear defense or the like.

When shooting a string of shots with a semi, my finger stays on the trigger the entire time, it never comes off contact with the trigger. Why would a SA revolver be any different?

^^^Rather than just holding onto the handgun, with an SA revolver you have to manually cock the hammer while getting back on target. I wasn't sure if the mechanics of that changed anything as far as trigger finger discipline goes.

quote:

Originally posted by captain127:
When shooting a string of shots with a semi, my finger stays on the trigger the entire time, it never comes off contact with the trigger.

A good point. In fact, for best control, i.e. speed and accuracy, the finger should not come off the trigger during a string of fire. That’s true not only with an autoloading firearm, but also with a double action revolver.

There are times to touch the trigger just as there are times to not touch the trigger.

There’s nothing wrong with asking questions, and of course there is nothing wrong with removing one’s finger from the trigger guard when cocking the hammer—just no need.

Off hand cocking... eh. I have to admit, 25 years ago when I dipped my toe into the cowboy action shooting waters, seeing people do that was a huge turn off. I thought to myself "I've been shooting single actions since I was a small child, and never in my life have I ever cocked the hammer with my off hand thumb! What kind of gamer bullshit is this!?"
That and shooting really big targets up close made me feel like it was more of a gun emptying contest than a shooting contest, so my tenure in the sport was extremely short lived.

I hear you CAS. When we started shooting cowboy action in its infancy ( I started in the early 90’s it was a good bunch of guys enjoying the nostalgia of it, and we had fun, of course the gamers crept in with ridiculously light loads huge targets almost impossible to miss ( though some still managed to) and much like USPSA became all about raw speed. Trick guns short throw levers and more soured me on the whole thing. I still have one colt SAA ( I always used genuine colts when I shot Sass) but the gamers sure ruined it for me

Reading further through this thread, it sounds like I may have misunderstood the initial question. If your muzzle is still on target, I agree that one's finger need not leave the trigger guard...provided you can cock the hammer cleanly without moving the gun off target. I still wouldn't leave it on the trigger, though, unless I was really confident that I could keep my sights where I wanted them throughout the cocking process, because once that hammer goes back and your finger touches the trigger there's not much stopping the boom.

When I first read the question, my mind went back to when I was a kid and my uncle was letting me and my brothers shoot a handgun for the first time. It was some kind of single-action .22 revolver, and my younger brother was shooting it. He would point the muzzle down between every shot, and cock the hammer while leaving his finger on the trigger. This eventually caught up to him and he put a round into the ground about 12" in front of his foot. We all learned an important lesson that day, thankfully without any injury.