doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The Bird Finger Dilemma

I shoot mostly doubles with double triggers and almost all are Damascus (so I am shooting light loads--3/4 oz, keeping pressures sub 6k). About a month ago I was shooting 5 stand with one I had not used in a while. Bird goes out, I fire the right barrel with the front trigger and I experienced excruciating pain in my right middle (bird) finger--recoil from the detonation and the finger obviously got wacked by the back end of the trigger guard. To the point I was thinking I had broken the finger. I looked at it and so as not to hold things up for the other shooters, took the second bird with the other barrel--no problem with that one. But immediately the finger swelled and a huge knot formed. So I switched guns to finish the round--using a pump. But I knew I was finished shooting for the day.
When I got home I assessed the situation and started examining the trigger guards on the other guns. It is amazing to me the difference in size and even shape of trigger guards. I don't know if different makers spend much time assessing the conformation of their trigger guards or not. I also made several leather slip-on guards to use when I am using these guns to cover said bird finger. That helps but not sure if it will totally solve the problem. I'd love to hear if any one else has had that problem. Thanks, Gil

Over the years I’ve tried many a Merkel and suffer terribly every time I shoot one. The trigger guard hits my middle finger - and in one case hit it so hard I had to walk back to my vehicle with blood dripping. Yes, I’ve noticed the same and Merkels bite me hard - at heart the 12 and 16 bores.

I shoot Merkel's as well as other double trigger guns. My technique is to set my hand further back so as to set up for the back trigger and simply reach for the front one, avoiding the knuckle on the trigger guard issue. I also wear Gripswell SxS shooting gloves which help as well.
Hope this helps,
Karl

Gil, take that whack to the middle finger as a firm warning to address the issue of fit for your hand to grip, especially if you have any signs of osteo-arthritis in the fingers - currently or potential in future. And belatedly treat that finger to minimise soft tissue thickening/scar formation.

This is probably not the case here, but a butt stock that is too short can cause this. Perhaps add a half-inch and try again?

Straight gripped guns are more prone to this than pistol grips, with many people. I can shoot straight gripped small bores with no problem but not big bores with heavy loads.

Some guys can shoot heavy loads with a straight gripped gun, Nash Buckingham could and did. I cannot.

I use a CZ-USA Hammer Classic for skeet and salt water hunting. The radius of the pistol grip was so small that the trigger guard hit my middle finger brutally with every shot and initially I dealt with it by wrapping a couple of bandaids around my finger. Later I reshaped the grip into a more open POW grip, probably not something you would want to do with a nice old gun.

I use these on my middle finger

https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-health...kXGgfW7tnhoCmqQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I shoot a lovely Merkel from time to time, of course. Over the thirty years i've owned, I've had a few days where it has bit my finger with that trigger guard.. And of course once that happens, it is done for quite a while. But the next time I pick it up. Everything is just fine and dandy. And I can shoot for a couple of years without it happening again. Obviously, I'm holding it wrong once in a while, and I pay a price for it..

If it is just a light tap I find, I can deal with it by either moving life. Middle finger way back so it doesn't get hit horror moving at waifu words. So it's pressing against the trigger guard.

The place it does not want to be is close to or barely touching the trigger guard well. I tend to lightly grip the gun, which is a bad habit of mine held over from rifle target shooting where my grip is intentionally the absolute minimum. With the shotgun, I think that kind of grip allows the gun to get up a head of steam before it hits my relatively stationary finger. If tightly gripped and pressed against the trigger guard, that doesn't seem to happen. Sort of like a rifle chamber with too much headspace, you don't want to let it get a head start.

Bow shape is probably also important, But I have never really looked closely at all my guns in a comparative fashion. I do not know that my six pound Cashmore That's never bitten me, yet I shoot down ounce and quarter pheasant loads in it on a regular basis.

Fascinating...
Gil, check your pm's!