OK, get a microswitch. Start pushing it very lightly, then slowly increase the pressure. At a certain point (pressure) it will "snap" and make contact....now KEEP IT PRESSED. Next, SLOWLY reduce the pressure...again, it takes quite some time to let it "snap" back into rest position (even so, this release point is at less presure than needed to MAKE the contact).
So, this is actualy what you are doing when pressing a microswitch button when playing a game. Of course, this goes fairly quickly, but never as quickly as possible with a leaf.
One big pro on the leafs has not been mentioned here yet: it is adjustable to your likings ! You can bend (slightly !!!) to a position that you like it to work. Personaly, I like my buttons to make contact VERY early. So, my leafs are already nearly touching eachother when NOT pushed. They only need a little bit of travel of the button to actuate them.
And again, here there is no "pressure point" you need to reach to make the contact. There is only the leaf "spring" resistance, which is very little and the moment you make contact, you get the resistance of the second leaf, IF you push it all the way down (which I don't normaly when playing games like 1942 etc.)
Other people might like to have a long travel and let the contact be made near the lowest (fully pressed) position of the button. (In practice, when rapid firing, a user will keep the button halfway (not release it completely) when it is set up like this.
The thing is, after some time you feel where the leafs make contact.
I also like it that leafs only bend a bit when being pushed. All in all it just feels nicer.
I also wanted leaf joysticks, but they do have some drawbacks, like no availability. There are cheap Chinese made sticks, DO NOT BUY THEME (So called Wico-like on e-bay). If you want a good leaf-stick, try to find original Wico's.
The alternative I choose for are Suzo Inductive joysticks. NO contacts at all (!!) and work fantastic. (Somewhat like the Happ opticals, but with a different approuch. I like the Suzo style more though, because I'm from Europe and grew up with these sticks (again short travel=quick, you need SPEED on your controls if you want to beat a game)....
And yes I can deliver leafs and buttons, and pretty much everything else Suzo sells. For reasonable prices. PM me if you are interesed and what you need.