I have jump shot deer with a set trigger bolt action and still use that rifle for my walking around rough weather rifle. It is no big deal.
People read things and then repeat them as fact, implying that they somehow “know.” Look at all of the garbage about efficient cartridges, Damascus is dangerous, black powder is low pressure, scopes should be as low as possible, etc., etc. I am talking about all people, not just in gun scenarios. But if something is written once in a gun magazine or three times on an internet forum, the masses know it to be an absolute truth of the universe. There are some evolutionary reasons why this can be beneficial, but it also helps spread pure BS that becomes accepted as gospel.
Most shooters in the US have no experience with set triggers, so their only experience comes from reading about them. Actually, few of the writers (magazine and internet forums) have actually used set triggers in the field. They are simply parroting what they have read. Set triggers are no problem for anyone with even moderate use of their hands and a minimal level of intelligence. I have physical limitations in my hands and I can manipulate them just fine.
I think the bigger problem is that most shooters do not have enough experience shooting. Think of every single gun owner you know and then think about what small of a percentage of them actually shoot and dry fire. A lot of dry firing in one’s living room easily teaches how to manipulate DST’s, even under pressure situations. Saying it can’t be learned is about as ridiculous as saying a person will get flustered if he uses guns with safeties in different positions and of different actions. I can learn to use all action types, safety types, and trigger types under pressure situations, so any one can who wants to do it can also learn. I encourage anyone interested in DST’s to buy a cheap rifle and try them out. You can still find cheap German Guild guns with them and they will make great teaching tools. It will probably be cheaper to buy an old rifle than to have DST’s added to a rifle you already own. They really do work nicely in the field.
BTW-no big game in England? There are six species of wild deer on the island. Some are small bodied, but some are pretty darn big. I have shot a couple of their deer species and hope to get the other four in a few years. At least one, and usually multiple, deer species inhabit the entire island. As with whitetails in the US, I have seen deer inside of cities and in people’s back yards.
