With a light trigger, a man knows that he must keep his finger clear of it, or he will fire his rifle accidentally.
When learning the handling of the single-shot pistol (the automatic must not be touched till the learner is familiar with the single-shot), blank ammunition may be used.
The learner is very apt to discharge his pistol unintentionally, and the fright caused by firing a blank cartridge by accident will impress on him to be more careful in the future, before he had a loaded cartridge in the pistol, which might cause a fatal accident if discharged unintentionally.
As the automatic cannot be made with as light a trigger-pull as a single-shot pistol, it becomes a question as to how light the trigger-pull of your single-shot pistol should be.
If you want to make the best possible shooting with it and to make your lessons as pleasant and as easy as possible, have as light a trigger-pull as your gunmaker (not an ironmonger who sells firearms) recommends.
If, however, it is important that you should learn an automatic pistol well, and the single-shot pistol is only used for getting familiar with firearms, then have the trigger-pull adjusted to be as near as possible, not only of the strength, but of the character of the automatic pistol you intend to use later.
Two triggers of the same weight may vary greatly in the feel and sweetness of the pull.
One may drag or grate. The other seems to go off at your mere wish.
No automatic can have the delicate touch of a single-shot pistol. It has to withstand such rough handling by the mechanical loading of the explosion.
A thing to be especially remembered is that one who is not expert, trying to put the pistol to half-cock, ruins the trigger-pull and renders it unsafe.