Double triggers and middle finger
 

When I shoot my VHE 16 my middle finger takes a licking. What do y’all do to protect your middle finger? I’ve tried the rubber bump that Connecticut Shotguns makes and the rubber is almost as hard as the steel . Any advice would be appreciated .

On a different topic I am already looking for my next Parker.

Can't help you. In sixty years of shooting quality American doubles I've never had that problem. Everything from my Super-Fox shooting 3-inch magnums to a .410-bore NID. My Mother said her RANGER 12-gauge she got from Sears back in the 1930s kicked her finger. Long before the time I began shooting it (1959) my Great Uncle Art had restocked it for her with a straight grip and a quality trigger guard.

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I once owned a FOX AE 20ga that would smite my middle finger so bad I could not shoot it again for a week. That gun must have had something wrong with it because the barrels would ring loudly every shot and would try to spring itself from my grip on the forearm.
Traded it off long ago, along with an LC Smith Specialty grade 20ga, for a DelGrego restored BHE 32" 12ga. Looking back I've often wondered if the Fox had 2 1/2" or shorter chambers and all I ever shot from it were 2 3/4" shells. Hind sight....

Hold your hand further back from the trigger guard bow and extend your forefinger .

Maybe the stock is to short allowing the gun to move back and hit your hand hard??? Or you are shooting 3" mag turkey load...SXS Ohio

Bruce is right. Use the tip of your finger on the trigger and use the rest of your hand to pull the gun back into your shoulder.





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i have only ever had one Parker that I had that issue with

hope the new owner likes it

It is how you are holding the gun. Work on trying to correct it.

I'm with Dave. Never been an issue for me, in 60 years of shooting double triggers, up to and including heavy loads in a couple of my Foxes. And, to further complicate the issue, I have relatively short fingers and small hands for a man.

I tend to believe it's a grip issue, as Bruce said. IMO, if your trigger pulls are good, and if they aren't you need to see that they are made good, you should never need to contact the trigger with your finger as far as the first knuckle crease.

SRH

PS. I've seen that pic before, Dave, but never noticed that the gun you're holding is the restocked Ranger. Nice looking job by Uncle Art.

Is the other gun in the photo a Remington?

I have this exact same issue, but I've had to switch to left handed shooting of rifles and shotguns. The only cure I can see is to get a single trigger gun with the trigger set back as far as possible. My left middle finger gets carved near to the bone when I shoot clays left handed. I have not been able to hone my grip to where this doesn't happen.

I am 79 and have had that issue for the last couple year,.guess i am not gripping the gun correctly. Bobby

Arthritic hands/fingers is, I think, a large part of this. My left hand grip just doesn't seem to be as positive as my right. Decades of building muscle memory may play in here also. I'm guessing that if I shoot enough, which is difficult here, I will reduce this issue to a tolerable level. I just need to get out and shoot up all the 5-gal pails of reloads I've produced. I also may be acquiring a very nice, cased, single trigger G&H Francotte 12ga here soon so I can experiment with the single trigger thing. If the trigger is set back enough, it will work. I can shoot the rear trigger on any of my Parkers all day long with no issues.

Good eye! I don't know why my Uncle Irv is holding my Father's AE-Grade Remington in that picture. Irv shot a pair of early Remington Model 870s, a 12- and a 20-gauge, both with Poly-Chokes and left hand safeties.

I understand that pain very well. I try to use the tip of my finger to pull the trigger, but when shooting birds, I forget all that and just raise the gun and shoot. Inevitably, I end up pulling the trigger with the middle joint of my finger instead of the distal end. Have a big lump on my middle finger from years of doing it. Something about an old dog and new tricks.

Short fat fingers? That's my problem. I use the rubber bumpers and they work just fine for me. I put them on every double trigger gun I own before I ever shoot it; it only took it happening to me a couple of times for me to try to make sure it never happens again :nono:!

Never had that problem. Try stretching your finger out more to reach the front trigger so your not cramped when going to the rear trigger. You may be loosening your grip when you pull the trigger. Keep a tight grip on the stock so the trigger guard and hand move together during recoil.

I have big hands with long fingers so, never had the issue. A friend of mine with small hands and short fingers had Kirk Merrington bend both triggers on several guns, back and straighter, fixes his problem

Google “shotgun finger guard”. Several different makers.

Thank you for your advice . I have looked at how I grip the gun and see what y’all are talking about , I can see a trip to the range in my future .

You can have all the grandiose plans you can dream up on using your finger tip, holding your had further back, holding the grip firmly and whatever..... but, when a bird flushes you forget them all and pay the piper....