Trigger control - an instructive little lesson

[Cumbrian]

I was at Bisley recently to batch test Lapua ammunition, clamped rifle etc. A nice tight group was developing with one batch when a brief pause occurred - I forget why - and on the resumption the German technician invited me to fire instead of him. I thought I squeezed the trigger sensitively enough - mine really is very, very light and single stage - but I promptly destroyed the group with a shot almost on the target's perimeter at 4 o'clock. Humiliated, I handed the testing back to the technician. It shows how skilled these guys must be because shooting standing up, with a heavy arm suspended in the air and acting as a lever on the trigger, is much more difficult than shooting prone (my only discipline) where the arm is resting and controlled through the elbow. For me at least it was also a useful reminder of just how much can go wrong, imperceptibly, with the triggering. Another shot also went noticeably wide of the main group when the technician was distracted by his colleage asking him something and interrupting his firing rhythm. I ignored that shot and my own and bought a fair quantity of that batch.