Trigger job or aftermarket?

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joe sixgun

New member
I was wondering if you all think its worth doing some work to my factory AR trigger or just get an aftermarket setup? How good are the aftermarket triggers? My rifle is a DPMS and its a single stage trigger. Lots of creep and quite heavy.
 
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Negative Investment

New member
Don't do any work to a trigger if you don't know what you are doing. Trigger parts are hardened and when you start filling and grinding you take off the coatings and hardened edges. Unless you can properly harden the surfaces after doing work to them they can possibly wear out at an accelerated rate and fail. You simply cannot make a stock AR "mil-spec" trigger much better. Just a month ago my AR was firing upon trigger reset (basically firing on trigger pull and release) because of a simple worn surface on my disconnector, I popped a new one in and now its working flawlessly. It is not worth playing around unless you 100% know what you are doing. You can get premium triggers from Timney and Geissele around $200-300 or even upgrade triggers around $100 from other sources that are a million times better than any stock trigger or stock trigger job done to one. Everyone with a stock trigger gets this itch, myself included at one point. It is not worth the risk, especially because of the amount of quality triggers out there.
 
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WVsig

New member
On a budget get an ALG ACT Trigger $80. If you want to step up a bit then look at the Geissele G2S $165 or the Geissele SSA $220.

IIRC Primary Arms is running 20% of Geisseles.

These will all drop right in and be a big improvement over your stock DPMS trigger.
 
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nomad636

New member
I wouldn't try to work on my triggers, not because I don't know what I'm doing, but because in the event that I mess something up and don't realize it, someone could get hurt.

That being said, I have changed all of my factory AR triggers out with either HiperFire 24C or Geissele SD3G triggers. These have pretty much spoiled me when it comes to trigger jobs.

You can get a quality trigger for less than $100. I believe that Geissele has a budget trigger under a subsidiary company that retails for $45 and it is a quality trigger. Sure, it isn't as good as their SD3G or the SSA, but it is a lot better than a milspec trigger.

My .02 is if you can afford a good trigger than buy one, but don't try to alter your factory one.

Best of LUCK and let us know what you end up doing.
 
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WVsig

New member
You can get a quality trigger for less than $100. I believe that Geissele has a budget trigger under a subsidiary company that retails for $45 and it is a quality trigger. Sure, it isn't as good as their SD3G or the SSA, but it is a lot better than a milspec trigger.
Click to expand...

The ALG is the Geissele subsidiary. You can get a Mil-spec trigger from them for $45 but the ACT is worth extra $20. IMHO
 
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joe sixgun

New member
Thanks for the info. The stock trigger on this rifle is very long and heavy, not conducive to good accuracy, and mag dumps aren't my favorite shooting sport so I really need to improve this trigger.
 
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jaytothekizzay

New member
I got the drop in Timney 3lb. Skeletonized trigger and haven't looked back. Very easy install, and made my rifle a precision tack driver...buy once cry once
 
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BumbleBug

New member
I seen a number of posts warning not to mess with an AR trigger. The advice usually then navigates to buy such-in-such drop in trigger usually in a $100 to $300 range. I guess there is someone out there that has ground some parts down until they failed. On my own AR, a $10 spring kit & some light polishing with a Dremel made a world of difference. Gee, I don't do mag-dumps or shoot 5,000 rounds a month but I haven't had any accidental fires or cycles or problems. I find advice of putting a $300 trigger in a $600 AR a bit hard to swallow. On the side of caution, try a spring kit (yes, less energy & slower lock time), but it can't hurt things & may get you at least half-way to what you want.

FWIW...
 
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joe sixgun

New member
Yeah, I was thinking that turning a $550. Purchase into an $850. Purchase didn't sound like the way I wanted to go. I think I will try polishing first. It does feel like its got a pound of sand in it.
 
N

Negative Investment

New member
I have polished the surfaces on mine with very fine sandpaper (1000-12000 grit) and installed lighter springs, but I would never file or Dremel anything. My trigger never became much better, definitely not even close to a good trigger. Not being a gunsmith, I do not feel comfortable doing anything more to a trigger. A stock mil-spec trigger wasn't geometrically designed to be a light pull, clean snapping trigger. If you like long informational videos Giessele himself explains all of his triggers and the differences compared to a stock trigger. You can find it on youtube and its about 30 mins long. All that you can really do by polishing is make it a bit less "gritty". Some expect it to make an 8lb pull into a 4lb. Unfortunately you have to spend some cash for that. Just be happy a stock trigger is not as bad as a Mosin Nagant trigger, you just never know when those triggers will break. :D
 
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Mobuck

Moderator
I have several "match" triggers on AR's but I actually prefer the ALG triggers for everyday and hunting use.
The most attractive trigger mod I've seen is a "set trigger" feature on a friend's 3 gun competition rifle. Flipping the selector past "fire" sets the trigger to about 1.5-2#. The normal (un-set) pull(and followup shots) are around 4#(just my guess). Seems to be just perfect for those longer varmint shots under conditions allowing time to get set and lined up.
 
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Houndog

New member
Take a look at the RRA National Match triggers. If your patient you can pick one up for something like $70.00. I have 3 in various guns and the run great. Another option is the MBT trigger from LaRue. I don't have any personal experience with them, but they seem to get pretty good reviews. These will run about $150, although LaRue occasionally has them on sale for less.
 
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stagpanther

New member
You can get an enhanced reduced power spring set that probably will get you a very functional 4 to 4.5 lb draw with your stock parts without risking funkiness due to light strikes, sear engagement problems etc. for around $20.00. I've had lots of the super duper drop-ins etc. and for my safety requirements I usually want something in the 4lb range anyway. I'd try that first and see if that doesn't tickle your fancy before dropping a big wad o cash. ; )
 
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joe sixgun

New member
Stagpanther, who makes that kit and where would I find it? Sounds like a good place to start. Thanks all for the input.
 
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