How to Shoot a Double-Action Revolver Trigger Well

Why double action is different

On a double-action revolver, one long trigger stroke does three jobs: it rotates the cylinder to the next chamber, cocks the hammer, and then releases it. That's why the pull is long and heavier than a single-action press, where you have already cocked the hammer with your thumb and the trigger only lets it go.

The long stroke gives you more time to disturb the sights. That's the bad news. The good news is that a shooter who can run a double-action trigger smoothly can shoot almost anything well. Smith & Wesson's reputation for smooth double-action triggers is a big reason so many competition revolvers wear its logo, and why our competition revolver guide is full of them.

This is a technique guide built from long-established revolver instruction, not a report of our own drills. If you can, take a class; a good instructor watching you for ten minutes beats any article.

Step 1: Build the grip

1. Get high. Seat the web of your shooting hand as high on the backstrap as it will go without the hammer touching it. A high grip puts the bore closer to your arm and lets the gun recoil straight back.
2. Line up the bones. The barrel should point along your forearm, not off to one side. If you have to bend your wrist to get the sights lined up, adjust the grip.
3. Wrap the support hand. Fill the gap on the off side with the heel of your support hand and wrap those fingers over the shooting-hand fingers. Keep every thumb and finger behind the front of the cylinder. The cylinder gap throws hot gas and debris sideways hard enough to injure.
4. Squeeze evenly. Firm, not white-knuckle. A grip that's too tight makes your trigger finger drag the other fingers along with it.

If your hand is fighting the factory stocks, it's not a character flaw. Our revolver grips guide covers how grip shape changes trigger reach.

Step 2: Place the finger

With a light pistol trigger, many shooters use the pad of the fingertip. A long, heavier double-action pull usually goes better with more finger on the trigger, often the crease of the first joint. More leverage means less strain and a straighter pull.

The test is simple. Dry fire an unloaded gun while watching the front sight. If it pushes to one side as the hammer falls, move your finger a little. Shooters who are right-handed and pull the sights left often have too little finger on the trigger; too much can push the shot the other way. Your hand, your gun, your answer.

Step 3: One smooth pull

Here is the core skill. Pull the trigger straight back in a single continuous motion, at a steady speed, until the hammer falls. Do not stop partway. Do not jerk at the end.

The front sight should stay put through the whole stroke. If it dips, wobbles or jumps, the trigger pull is moving the gun. Slow down until it doesn't, then speed up gradually.

Many good shooters think of the pull as "smooth and continuous, then the gun goes off." You know the hammer will fall eventually; you just aren't trying to make it happen at an exact instant. That's what instructors mean by a surprise break.

Step 4: The staging question

"Staging" means pulling the double-action trigger until the hammer is almost ready to fall, pausing there, then finishing the shot. Some target shooters use it for slow, precise shots, and some revolvers have a stage you can feel near the end of the stroke.

The problems:

• It's slow, which matters when time matters.
• It's inconsistent. Under stress, the "almost" point tends to become "oops".
• Holding a heavy trigger partway back tires your finger and can start the sights wandering.

For most shooters, a smooth, uninterrupted pull is the better habit to build first. If you later want to experiment with staging for slow-fire target work, do it on purpose and never with your finger resting on a partly pulled trigger while not intending to fire. Some revolvers, like many older Colts, also have a trigger that gets noticeably heavier near the end, a trait known as stacking. Colt redesigned the mainspring in the second-generation Python specifically to get rid of it. If your gun stacks, a smooth pull is still the goal; you just feel it more.

Step 5: Follow through and reset

After the shot, keep the trigger back for a moment and re-find the sights. Then let the trigger travel all the way forward. A revolver trigger that isn't released fully may not reset the action, and short-stroking it can leave you with a trigger that won't fire the next round until you let it out.

Follow-through isn't optional decoration. Shooters who release the trigger and drop the gun the instant the hammer falls usually start doing both a fraction of a second early, and that's when shots drift.

Step 6: A dry-fire progression

Dry fire is pulling the trigger on an empty gun. For centerfire revolvers it's generally accepted for training, though older designs can be exceptions and repeated dry firing can stress some firing pins. Rimfire revolvers are a different story: dry firing a .22 can let the firing pin hit the chamber edge. Snap caps (dummy rounds) cushion the hammer and are the safest habit for any gun. Check your manual.

1. Verify empty. Open the cylinder, check every chamber, remove all ammunition from the room, insert snap caps.
2. Coin or wall drill. Aim at a small spot on a safe backstop and pull through ten slow, smooth double-action strokes, watching the front sight. Some shooters balance a coin or empty case on the barrel; if it falls, the pull moved the gun.
3. Speed in small steps. When ten slow strokes are clean, do ten slightly faster. Never faster than you can keep the sights still.
4. Add the reset. Practice letting the trigger all the way out, re-acquiring the sights and pulling again.
5. Keep it short. Five to ten minutes of focused practice beats an hour of sloppy repetition.
6. End clean. When you're done, say so out loud, put the gun away, and only then bring ammunition back.

Our sister guide on revolver action work explains why we'd rather you smooth a trigger by practice than by grinding parts.

Step 7: Take it to the range

Live fire confirms what dry fire built. A heavy, steel medium-frame .357 like the S&W 686 Plus 4-inch or Ruger GP100 shooting .38 Special is an ideal setup: enough weight to soak up recoil, and a trigger that shows you what you're doing.

• Use mild ammo. Wadcutters are made for this. Remington's Performance WheelGun 148-grain wadcutter is a classic, and the full .38 Special category has plenty of round-nose target loads. Our wadcutter explainer covers why they shoot so softly.
• Mix in a dud. Have a friend load a snap cap among the live rounds without telling you where. If the gun dips when the hammer falls on the snap cap, you're anticipating recoil.
• Start close. Seven yards and a big target. Tight groups first, distance later.
• Reload smoothly. A HKS speedloader for the 686 keeps the session moving. Our speedloader guide shows how to use one.

Editorial note: This is an independent editorial overview built from manufacturer specifications, retailer listings and published sources. We have not performed hands-on testing of the products discussed, and nothing here is a performance guarantee. Verify specifications, compatibility and the law where you live.

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