AR Sponsor
Posted: 1/26/2013 7:21:39 PM EDT
| Let me start about saying I am the first one, to say GO AFTERMARKET. I prefer Geissele triggers and highly recommend them over everything else. That being said an aftermarket trigger is simply not an Option for this build. I am helping my uncle put an Ar together. His budget was 850 and we are already at 1000.00. I think that is pretty good considering this is a panic build. The DPMS LPK we got has an atrocious trigger. I have a trigger from an old build of mine that I have been working on. This one has a cut spring on the hammer and I intend to replace that with a JP yellow spring kit. I very lightly and I mean VERY LIGHTLY stoned all the contact surfaces and I intend to put a 1/2x28 set screw up through the pistol grip to remove some of the take up. Is there anything else I should consider or you have successfully tried? I am considering cutting the Tail off the hammer to speed up lock time. I dont know if that's a good idea with the reduced power spring? Any input appreciated. If you want to suggest an aftermarket trigger DON'T. |
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Live with the lower parts group until your uncle can afford an SSA; they are to be had for $170 with a discount, and make the rifle so much easier to shoot that it isn't even worth screwing around with other options that aren't nearly as good and have some potential for causing trouble.
I know the mod you speak of, but the words 'AR' and 'adjustment screw' in the same sentence make my knees rattle. Moon |
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Quoted:
Live with the lower parts group until your uncle can afford an SSA; they are to be had for $170 with a discount, and make the rifle so much easier to shoot that it isn't even worth screwing around with other options that aren't nearly as good and have some potential for causing trouble. I know the mod you speak of, but the words 'AR' and 'adjustment screw' in the same sentence make my knees rattle. Moon why would a set screw make your knees rattle? |
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Unless your uncle is planning on doing precision shooting, you are already on top of his near to mid-term trigger needs. He should be good for the time being. Good of you to help him out. He needs a good trigger, this is a varmint rifle. That's all it will every be used for. I doubt I could ever talk him into dropping 165 for a Geissele G2S or I would be trying. |
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I have both ALG triggers, the $45 QMS and $65 ACT.
Both are better than mil spec, the ACT is noticeably better than the QMS, but still not my SSA. I've always heard, and have personally experienced, that's there's not much you can do with the basic stock trigger. |
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At most you might be ok with taking off the wire bur that sometimes forms at the corner of the trigger/sear. Perhaps smooth any of the bigger machine marks and polish the face with some very fine grit polish. It's possible to get a very nice pull, but it won't last all that long because it will wear faster. Even if you don't go through the surface hardening, you're removing some of it, and less of it there means it will wear sooner.
The set screws can be dangerous if set to take up too much of the take up. Some of that take up is part of the safety of the AR trigger. It makes firing a more intentional act by increasing the length of pull, and makes it harder to fire by dropping. With that set screw mod, you're essentially partially pulling the trigger. |
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First, when installing the trigger and hammer, clean the parts (including pins) very thoroughly BEFORE installing them. Clean out the space for them in the lower too. Now use a quality grease, like Tetra, on a) the pin holes of all three parts, b) the inside of the trigger's disconnector space, and c) the contact surfaces of the three parts. Now, work the trigger in essentially a function check: cock the hammer manually, restrain the hammer and pull the trigger while easing the hammer forward, then recock the hammer while holding the trigger back so the disconnector catches the hammer, then release pressure on the trigger so the hammer transfers to the trigger. Do that a bazillion times (seriously, do it a few dozen times at least). You will have removed most of the grit and gunk from the parts and worked the grease into all of the appropriate parts of the trigger group, thus eliminating most of the drag and roughness of the trigger group, all in about 15-20 minutes.
The biggest problem with a stock trigger group is the gunk and grit. The biggest problem with "trigger work" on stock trigger groups is that it can compromise the safety margins of the stock group. Even the setscrew mod can be done too far. Take little steps, stay conservative, and go only as far as needed to make the trigger feel "good enough". And give your uncle a Gissele SSA for his birthday. 
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Quoted:
At most you might be ok with taking off the wire bur that sometimes forms at the corner of the trigger/sear. Perhaps smooth any of the bigger machine marks and polish the face with some very fine grit polish. It's possible to get a very nice pull, but it won't last all that long because it will wear faster. Even if you don't go through the surface hardening, you're removing some of it, and less of it there means it will wear sooner. The set screws can be dangerous if set to take up too much of the take up. Some of that take up is part of the safety of the AR trigger. It makes firing a more intentional act by increasing the length of pull, and makes it harder to fire by dropping. With that set screw mod, you're essentially partially pulling the trigger. On the two set screw mods I did before you cant take that much of the take up out, you run into the selector. |
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Quoted:
First, when installing the trigger and hammer, clean the parts (including pins) very thoroughly BEFORE installing them. Clean out the space for them in the lower too. Now use a quality grease, like Tetra, on a) the pin holes of all three parts, b) the inside of the trigger's disconnector space, and c) the contact surfaces of the three parts. Now, work the trigger in essentially a function check: cock the hammer manually, restrain the hammer and pull the trigger while easing the hammer forward, then recock the hammer while holding the trigger back so the disconnector catches the hammer, then release pressure on the trigger so the hammer transfers to the trigger. Do that a bazillion times (seriously, do it a few dozen times at least). You will have removed most of the grit and gunk from the parts and worked the grease into all of the appropriate parts of the trigger group, thus eliminating most of the drag and roughness of the trigger group, all in about 15-20 minutes. The biggest problem with a stock trigger group is the gunk and grit. The biggest problem with "trigger work" on stock trigger groups is that it can compromise the safety margins of the stock group. Even the setscrew mod can be done too far. Take little steps, stay conservative, and go only as far as needed to make the trigger feel "good enough". And give your uncle a Gissele SSA for his birthday. He will have to wait a long time for me to gift him a SSA! I need two more G triggers myself first! |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
At most you might be ok with taking off the wire bur that sometimes forms at the corner of the trigger/sear. Perhaps smooth any of the bigger machine marks and polish the face with some very fine grit polish. It's possible to get a very nice pull, but it won't last all that long because it will wear faster. Even if you don't go through the surface hardening, you're removing some of it, and less of it there means it will wear sooner. The set screws can be dangerous if set to take up too much of the take up. Some of that take up is part of the safety of the AR trigger. It makes firing a more intentional act by increasing the length of pull, and makes it harder to fire by dropping. With that set screw mod, you're essentially partially pulling the trigger. On the two set screw mods I did before you cant take that much of the take up out, you run into the selector. Word. The selector is the governor, if you've ever done this mod. Works. I used the set screw/grip screw combination but the plain 1/4-28 set screw does the same thing...just make sure you're threaded 100% and watch your grip screw length. The combo is only a convenience thing. Trigger Adjuster Use a high moly content grease on the friction surfaces. JP Yellow/Yellow or Yellow/Red springs. I didn't bob my hammer but many report good results with that. That's about it for a mil spec trigger "massage". |
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IMO, based on previous experience, not all standard hammers and triggers work well together.
However unless you have spares available to test different combinations there is not much that can be done about that. For a surface treatment I have had good results with spray moly, but the best results were with Brownell’s Action Magic. I can’t say AM was any slicker than spray moly, but it certainly lasts longer. When they became available I used the Tubb’s CS hammer and trigger springs which provided another incremental improvement. |
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