I took out the cartridges and tested the trigger-pulls by feel.
They were like lifting a coal scuttle.
I said to him: “Do you know what your trigger-pull is?” He did not understand what I meant. I used a trigger-tester. They were well over nine pounds each. A shotgun generally has 2¼ for front trigger and 2½ for back trigger.
I had another pigeon thrown.
I took a hard tug at the trigger and the gun went off with such a recoil that the stock nearly jumped off my shoulder. I do not know where the charge went; the pigeon was almost out of range before I could get the trigger to act. (I learned the cartridges had been stored near the kitchen fire!!!)
This was enough for me and fully explained why the old man, whilst shooting all his life, had never become expert.
First-class gunmakers see to the trigger-pull so as to make a compromise between a nice, light trigger-pull and one safe to use.
Military rifles are made with a very heavy trigger-pull in order to make them safe to be handled by men who have rough, hard hands from manual labour.
This, in my opinion, is a mistake. A very heavy trigger-pull prevents accurate shooting, because the rifle is always going off later than you want it to and encourages hanging on to the trigger.
The man gets into the habit of pressing on the trigger when he is not shooting. He knows the rifle will not go off unless he gives a tug at the trigger.