Contact Trigger

A contact trigger will fire a nail regardless of the order in which the safety contact and trigger are activated. You can push the safety contact tip and then squeeze the trigger, or you can squeeze the trigger first and then push the safety contact tip. Contact triggers are capable of firing multiple nails by bump firing. This can be accomplished by keeping the trigger squeezed and pushing in the safety contact tip for each nail.

Advantages associated with this type of trigger include its speed. Contact triggers can be useful for high-production jobs, such as decking, sheathing, and siding, that require rapid nailing on flat, stationary surfaces. Because this mode is so fast, it can reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders, such as trigger finger. The disadvantage of this type of trigger is that it is less precise and can be more dangerous. Using contact triggers can result in driving in unwanted nails because of a double fire, rebound, recoil, or leaving your finger on the trigger and bumping yourself or a coworker.

Other names for this type of trigger include:

• Bump trigger
• Multi-shot trigger
• Successive trigger
• Dual-action
• Touch tip
• Contact trip
• Bottom fire

To learn more about Nail Gun Safety visit our Construction Nail Gun Safety Online Training web page.