Tale of Two ( OEM) AR Triggers

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  • Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,879
    Deep Background - My personal standards of Expectations for all things AR-15 were set by my first - a 1994 ( Big Pin) Colt Sportster , of the 20in A2 flavor . A very nice out of the box trigger , and 1.5moa with milsurp, and 1.0moa with handloads, using stock iron sights . I decided it was just fine stock , and didn't have need of "improvement" .

    Current starting point - I now have two nearly identical virgin AR's . If singular , the imeadate response would have been to just put an ALG in it . ( Used ALG in my pistol build , they have the Biggfoot Thumbs Up rating ) . But have two for side by side comparison, I'll do experementation with the disposable original triggers .

    Rifle A will get old school dry firing , Rifle B will get a Paracord Trigger Job . After first round maybe one of them will recieve a .50 Cent Trigger Job . Measurements by Wheeler ( spring style) trigger pull gage . Not sure if the absolute numbers jive with my educated trigger finger, but should at least give relative measurements .
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,879
    Rifle A initial weigh in - Very gritty, inconsistent readings between 6.75 and just over 8lb .( FWIW -inital fondling of A & B were very similar .)

    No cleaning or additional lubing, 100 x of dry fire w/ snap cap .

    Not quite as inconsistent , 7 to just under 8lb . Perceptible lessening of grit .

    Probably will wait for arrival of Brownells order for the rubber-ish dohhickie frame protector for safe dry firing w/ lower seperated instead of further snap cap work outs .
     

    GuitarmanNick

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 9, 2017
    2,221
    Laurel
    I have had good luck doing the "50 cent trigger job" to several of my ARs. Much smoother pull, clean consistent break, and reliable with mil-spec ammo as long as you do not cut the leg on the hammer spring. By making sure all of the pivot points and frictional surfaces were smooth, they now range from 4.25 to 4.75 pounds.

    I did cut one leg of the hammer spring on a 9mm pistol build and the pull is 3.5 pounds. This is purely a range toy and would never be relied upon for defensive purposes. It is quite a hoot to shoot and more accurate than I had hoped. So far, it has functioned perfectly with the loads I have, but more testing with harder primers is in order.

    With the above in mind, I carry unmodified trigger and hammer springs in my range bag at all times in case a problem is encountered.
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,561
    Harford County, Maryland
    https://www.brownells.com/rifle-par...lon-sku100029344-120771-223138.aspx?rrec=true

    https://www.brownells.com/rifle-par...s/ar-15-trigger-nickel-teflon-prod120770.aspx

    Schmidt Tool and Machine...military supplier.
    I bought one of each. Installed using stock disconnector, springs and pins. Smooth consistent pull. Mortar tested the hammer didn’t drop. Tested it with trigger pull gauge..about 4.5 pounds of pull weight.

    I have dressed up stock single stage units to remove roughness. Sometimes I get good results. Sometimes a get what feels like a two stage trigger with a crisp release (lotsa creep). Studying the angles and relationships of the trigger and sear angles indicate the angles are the reason for the creep. Changing angles I don’t care for. So unless I want to go to one of the sear travel adjusting screws I would have to seek out other triggers. I really wasn’t looking for a trigger since I have NIW LaRue and Geiselle two stage units in the parts box. I prefer single stage for carbine applications. I stumbled across these on Brownells’ website and took a stab at it. For the cost tough to beat.
     
    Last edited:

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    Relatively easy to give an AR trigger the "fluff and buff" treatment, many are hardened, so you can damage one if you do much more than a basic polish, and reducing spring rates for a lighter pull can cause issue too. I pull them out and polish on a block to preserve angles. Even so, a mil-spec tends to have a lot of creep, and feels crappy even with a light pull weight and smooth surface, fresh out of the parts bin mil-spec triggers feel like garbage. Nowadays I look at AR triggers like GLOCK factory sights, they are the first thing to get replaced, most of the time after a mag or two just to make sure I don't have a defect, and being I almost always build from receivers, I just get a decent trigger to start with especially with the prevelence of LPKs that don't include trigger groups. The Geissele/Brownells G2S and GRF are almost unbeatable for a quality trigger, Larue MBTs are even better if you don't really need it for a month or few, all can be found for $150 or less. For match rifles I use the Timney CE triggers, ridiculously light, fast, and can be set up to fit me perfectly.
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,561
    Harford County, Maryland
    I just polished the engagement surfaces enough to get the mill marks smoothed out. I realize there is a hardening depth and didn’t approach that value. The pull is so long the angle of engagement changes on the sear face of the trigger. Some of them work out better than others. I am not over trigger fussy though I do have a couple good triggers in other AR’s. They are more precision oriented rifles. On a carbine a single stage trigger which is reasonably smooth works out for me.
     

    Catch-10-22

    Appleseed Shoot Boss
    MDS Supporter
    Oct 27, 2009
    774
    PG County, MD
    Schmidt Tool and Machine...military supplier.
    I bought one of each. Installed using stock disconnector, springs and pins. Smooth consistent pull. Mortar tested the hammer didn’t drop. Tested it with trigger pull gauge..about 4.5 pounds of pull weight.

    I used the same combination for upgrading the trigger on my Tippmann M4-22. The proprietary safety on that rifle would not work with LaRue's MBT or Geissele's G2S, but the stock trigger was not to my liking either. The Schmidt Tool and Machine combo offered much smoother and lighter pull.
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,879
    Didn't weigh in tonite, so I won't update upstream .

    My pkg from Brownells arrived, specifically my Hammer Drop block . Did 200 dry fires .

    Observation #1 - I'll have to remember the terminology if it's Positive Sear Engagement or Negative Sear Engagement , but pulling the trigger causes a lot of further camming back of thr hammer .

    Observation #2 - After todays 200 ( 300 total ) , a Iooked down, and the Hammer Pin was backed out . Wiggled around and got it pressed back in by finger, but I'll have to keep an eye on this .
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,561
    Harford County, Maryland
    Not to further derail the thread but I did shoot the carbine yesterday. Some slow and a bit of wuicker a tion type shooting. The trigger and hammer were well worth the money. The trigger was very smooth and had usual long pull of most single stage sets without travel adjustments.
     

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