I've got this new P226 Legion and have not shot it yet but it is sweet. The only thing I'm concerned about is how my figure sits on the trigger, it feels like the trigger is a little too forward to get that full / central pull on it. Is there a solution to this?

There is no right or wrong amount of finger on the trigger. No such thing as too much or too little finger. It’s about whether or not you have the leverage to pull the trigger straight to the rear.

I can remember years ago instructors would take a marker and mark the center of the pad and claim
That’s where you had to be. It just isn’t true. You can move the hand slightly to add take away trigger finger if needed. Short triggers suck.

The SIG factory “short reach” trigger (originally just “short” trigger) moves the face farther to the rear and therefore reduces the reach distance. That can make it seem that everything fits the shooter better, and for people with small hands such as many women, it can be a benefit. The problem, though, with the short trigger is that it requires curling one’s finger back farther to fire the pistol. Curling the finger too far back for people with larger hands can affect trigger control due to issues of strength and hand position. In addition, for some shooters the pronounced curve of the short trigger can be annoying.

I don’t know why SIG suddenly started making the short reach trigger standard in the Classic line of pistols some years ago, but I suspect it had something to do with complaints by shooters with small hands in agencies that issued the guns. A shooter with large hands can operate a pistol with the short trigger, if not ideally, but if one’s hands and fingers are too small, using the old standard “thick” trigger can be difficult. It’s possible, of course, by shifting the position of the gun in one’s grip, but that can introduce other issues. None of that matters to the people who don’t have such problems and they can just say, “Suck it up, cupcake,” but that doesn’t make the problems any less real. When my agency issued P220s and P226s, a few members, especially the women, benefited from short triggers, but I didn’t just automatically assume that because they felt better when picking up the gun that they were appropriate for everyone.

I didn’t come to all those analyses and conclusions, BTW, overnight. It took me several years of my own experience with the two styles of triggers and with dealing with other shooters in my agency to figure some of that out. In the 25+ years that I’ve been firing SIG Classic line pistols I have switched from the thick trigger to the short to the thick to the short as my ideas have changed and arthritis has affected my hands. My preferred trigger at this time is the straight style offered by Armory Craft (and others).

Switching to the short trigger isn’t difficult in the P226, but in my opinion how the gun feels at the end of the trigger stroke or when it’s being fired in the single action mode is more important than how it feels at the start of the double action stroke.

Added: And to round out the perspective of the short versus long or thick trigger, the trigger reach issue was addressed by handgun manufacturers long before SIG developed their solution. For decades, and perhaps longer than I’ve been alive, Smith and Wesson offered two standard sizes of stocks (grips) for their revolvers. When revolvers were still popular, many aftermarket companies did the same, and oversized stocks for J frame revolvers were common. Today, of course, companies are approaching the trigger reach issue from the opposite end: Rather than adjust the size of the trigger, SIG, Glock, and probably others I’m not familiar with are making it possible to change the size of the grip module. That allows shooters with different sized hands to tailor their guns for the best fit.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
There is no right or wrong amount of finger on the trigger. No such thing as too much or too little finger. It’s about whether or not you have the leverage to pull the trigger straight to the rear.

I can remember years ago instructors would take a marker and mark the center of the pad and claim
That’s where you had to be. It just isn’t true. You can move the hand slightly to add take away trigger finger if needed. Short triggers suck.

I'll politely have to disagree Jljones.... it has taken me years to get my grip right and just recently trigger finger placement. I understand what you are saying but what I discovered last year shooting my p320 with the Romeo sight was that if my finger was not centered on the trigger the sight moved slightly to the left... you can't see this with iron sights but you can with the red dot. I know I could adjust my grip to compensate but I just don't think that is the right way to go, at least for me. I have two other p226's... the first one came with the E2 grips which are my favorite for shooting and my finger is perfect on the trigger with this one... the second is a MK-25 and the factory grips that came with it were just plain awful, they must be designed for men with BIG hands.. I changed these out to G-10's and this is much better, closer to where I like to be.... the new legion supposedly had G- 10s on it but there must be something else different... when I grip it the front 1/4" of my first digit is on the trigger...

It's probably me just over thinking all this, I don't shoot competitively or carry a gun for work so this is mostly just me and my hobby or to probably better describe it 'my one vice'.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
There is no right or wrong amount of finger on the trigger. No such thing as too much or too little finger. It’s about whether or not you have the leverage to pull the trigger straight to the rear.

I can remember years ago instructors would take a marker and mark the center of the pad and claim
That’s where you had to be. It just isn’t true. You can move the hand slightly to add take away trigger finger if needed. Short triggers suck.

I'll politely have to disagree Jljones.... it has taken me years to get my grip right and just recently trigger finger placement. I understand what you are saying but what I discovered last year shooting my p320 with the Romeo sight was that if my finger was not centered on the trigger the sight moved slightly to the left... you can't see this with iron sights but you can with the red dot. I know I could adjust my grip to compensate but I just don't think that is the right way to go, at least for me. I have two other p226's... the first one came with the E2 grips which are my favorite for shooting and my finger is perfect on the trigger with this one... the second is a MK-25 and the factory grips that came with it were just plain awful, they must be designed for men with BIG hands.. I changed these out to G-10's and this is much better, closer to where I like to be.... the new legion supposedly had G- 10s on it but there must be something else different... when I grip it the front 1/4" of my first digit is on the trigger...

It's probably me just over thinking all this, I don't shoot competitively or carry a gun for work so this is mostly just me and my hobby or to probably better describe it 'my one vice'.

The P226 Legion has the frame undercut. This difference coupled with the Legion G-10 grips and experienced P226 shooters will likely notice the slight difference in trigger reach. Whether that difference is a positive or a negative depends the individual shooter's ergonomics and technique.

As Sigfreund rightly pointed out, simply changing out the trigger, or for that matter the grips, or both, would be a good starting point...although changing out the grips will require modifying whatever grips you replace them with.

You have something else going on in your fundamentals then.

If trigger finger matters, why can I shoot tiny groups with just the tip of the finger, or all the trigger finger inserted?

Answer- it doesn’t matter.

People just seem to think it is because the change in how they grip the pistol to have X amount of trigger finger on the trigger masquerades some other negative input they are putting into the gun. I have very clean fundamentals so I can execute them. Some really good instructors teach curing a Glock hitting left with “more finger”. It isn’t actually the “more finger” that cures it, it is the change in how the shooter grabs the pistol.

Trigger control past a certain point is over thought and blamed for a lot.

It is a mechanical act of pulling a stick straight o the rear. The stick doesn’t care how much finger you put on it. The DA shot does not care. It only cares about leverage, and most of the leverage comes from technique, not finger placement.

On the 320RX my advice would be to go up a grip module size. Strictly speaking from a speed and accuracy perspective.

Work on trigger finger control. AKA lots of dry firing.
For myself, I pulled the shots due to making a fist when pulling the trigger instead of holding the gun steady and only moving my trigger finger.
If you pull the trigger like you're milking a cow the shot is going to be off.

A laser or RD really shows it I noticed.
Dry firing with the muzzle a couple of inches from a white surface will do the same thing and let you see if you are fudging the shot as well.
Remember, you don't have to be at the range to be pulling the trigger.
Stick a foam earplug under the hammer and let er rip.

Trigger shape and grips played a part for me as well.
I have tried all available triggers for a P series Sig and prefer the GGI straight ones.
I didn't like the 226 Legion grips and swapped them out for a set Of Hogue 226 Allround grips. They feel better to me and don't have a medallion in them. They do have to be fitted to a regular 226 though.

If you have short fingers, I could see how the initial DA pull may be a reach. The short reach trigger offering may help, but I hear people complain that it causes their finger to get pinched at the end of travel.

Blume, finding a sweet spot may make it easier for you to accomplish a straight pull. But you are better served by getting a better handle on fundamentals than to rely on perfect placement. At the range, you do a draw drill and get a crappy grip. Do you shake your head and mutter at yourself and reholster to try again? Or do you work through it and get your shot(s) on target? If you’re not working through it, you’re doing it wrong.

You should be able to achieve similar results regardless of platform or trigger. If you can’t, that’s a sign you need to work your fundamentals.

Yep, I understand... but just to brag a tad I have the fundamentals down I'm just trying to tweak them a bit....

Why can I say this?

Front Sight Four Day Defensive Handgun Class, I've taken and graduated from it four times. Believe me that is a course where you learn to draw, aim and fire...over and over and over and over again and again and again.......