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I was following another thread and responded to a statement in it about triggers for left or right handers. As I wrote the response I am posting below I thought I would be interested in a thread on this subject. So, you board members with your great font of knowledge, what do you think? Jake


Joe, I shoot from the left shoulder and I believe that the front trigger being on the right side is one of those freaks of history. It is MUCH easier for a left hander to shoot standard double triggers. Think about it. A right hander has to pull the front trigger then disengage and get inside that trigger to the back one. A lefty simply has to let his finger slip to the rear.
Look at many (if not most) standard double trigger guns. The back trigger is bent to the right to make it easier for a right hander to get to it.
The real funny question is why double guns developed with the right/front trigger for the open choke. I have read that some of the early manufacturers and designers felt that the recoil of the first barrel was better to the outside.
Whatever the reason, it is one of those funny freaks of history that make double triggers set up for the masses easier for leftys.
I would love someone with more knowledge about this than me to respond. Regards, Jake

Jake:

I think there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your conventional wisdom, Horatio. Have '28 Philly Sterlingworth: front trigger set in the left slot; rear in the right. A rather snaggle-toothed arrangement in relation to the guard. I am not one of the legion of fortunate southpaws-- rather one of the rarely privileged righties--but the experience of pulling front to back is much as you describe--easier with this sort of echelon arrangement. Unfortunately or not, the "first" or left barrel is choked tighter than the right in the conventional fashion. This is actually a handy arrangement for skeet doubles 1,2,6 and 7. I have to remember when I step on station 1 that I'm going to pull the rear trigger to get the open barrel for singles. I have no function-based explanation for the reversal of triggers but observe that the halfbassakwardness of all this is what a previous owner desired or a dyslexic gun mechanic created.

jack

Rab,
You bring up another excellent point and advantage to the conventional arrangement for a lefty. Going from back to front is much easier as well.
I still wonder how this all came about.
Jake

Jake I'm left handed also and I made those same assumptions that you did. It does seem like they were tailor made for us lefties.....but they weren't.

Let your barrels get real hot or have a loose hold on your gun and it won't take you long to figure it out when you get the double whammy a few times.

Joe,
I don't understand your reference. If you are talking about the front trigger hitting your finger when you fire the back then I don't think the front trigger hits leftys any more that rightys. In fact, less. The right handed shooter has his finger much further locked in behind the front trigger when he pulls the back one.
If your reference is pulling the front trigger and having the back one go off then the trigger is being pulled improperly. A shotgun trigger should always be pulled with the first joint of the trigger finger. Unlike a rifle which uses the pad. A shotgun trigger is slapped, pulled suddenly. The joint has no flesh and no give. This is basic shotgun shooting stuff. If you pull the trigger with the first joint of the finger you can't hit the second trigger very easily. And, the way rear triggers are usually bent slightly to the right really makes this possibility slim.
Anyway, that's how I see it.
Jake

Gentlemen,
Just to add to the confusion of lefy or righty. How about considering being right handed and left eye dominant? This adds anther dimension. Great thread.
milosal

Jake, I forgot the part about "more knowledgable than you" and am posting from the "equally puzzled" quarter. To clarify what I said about my own New York side experience, with this gun on the four skeet doubles, I would be pulling triggers in the front to rear order to get the tight barrel (left) first on the outgoer. With any other double, I would have to pull rear to front to get this order of choking. Gun restocked with considerable castoff so I have never doubted that the setup was intended for a right-hander as a lefty would need eyes mounted like a hammerhead shark to take advantage.

jack

I have a right handed shooting partner who had problems with his DT SxS doubling on him. The triggers were in perfect alignment. Apparently, when he fired his right barrel's front trigger, his finger was slipping back and hitting the rear trigger. The problem was solved when he had the triggers bent (very little) so the front one was slightly to the right of the back one. Possible explanation for the standard layout?

Jake I'm talking about the gun doubling because your finger slipped back on recoil and hit the rear trigger.
I made the observation that you made...At first glance double triggers they look like they were designed for a left handed shooter, with the rear trigger being easier for a lefty to access.
I was sitting around the gun club and questioned one the most knowledgeable shotgun men there who is also as fine a Gunsmith as anywhere in the country.
Without hesitation with gun in hand he explained why the back trigger was offset the front. "To keep a right handed shooter from having his finger come back and hit the rear trigger upon recoil that's why the rear trigger appears hidden somewhat".

Later that week I was shooting Sporting clays and had forgotten my hand guard it was very hot. When the barrels got to hot to hold on to real good I experinced doubling first hand repeatedly.
I was shooting a Box Lock, after it happened a couple of times the fellow I was with commented that "I better get my gun looked at"...I replied "There's nothing wrong with my gun I have just learned something the Missori way".

After that I considered having my triggers reversed but after talking with Ed about it I didn't.

Double triggers are not in-line, in spite of having been described as such, in a Lefever ad that was on Gunsamerica for a long time. They are in side-by-side slots and work well that way.
I shoot SxS guns mostly and often shoot the rear trigger(left barrel) first on doubles. After shooting I have no memory of moving my finger. The flintlocks and early percussion doubles had very short front triggers, presumably so your finger could slip underneath to get to the rear without moving it outside the trigger guard.