What constitutes a "good" trigger . . .

[ROLEXrifleman]

What is a 13 year old girl doin' drivin' a Corvette, anyway? And what is Dale Jr. doin' in the car with a 13 Year old girl? Inquiring minds want to know.

I get around! I'm the girl your mom warned you about.

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

So....
There's no bad triggers?

Plenty, they are the ones that when pulled do Not disengage the sear and allow your hammer to fall or your striker to fly forward.

That's the only BAD trigger. All others are up for debate

 

[kludge]

I'm OK with a little take up on a defensive pistol or rifle, as long as the trigger reset after the shot is pretty tight. On the Glock I get that. It takes a little while to get back to the initial break, but while you are coming down from recoil and easing the trigger back forward, you feel the click and pull again with no take up.

I see the initial take up as a little safety buffer, just like a higher weight trigger than a target rifle.

Other than that small change, I think you pretty much nailed it.

We are agreed then. I did say "too much" takeup. On a defensive handgun, a HD shotgun or rifle, some takeup is a good thing.

 

[kingnereli]

Ahh, it's a good ol' you don't agree with me so you must be ignorant thread. Nice. I'll bite.

I like what would be called a target trigger for defensive guns as well as range guns.

 

[buzzard pickins]

Well I would start by looking at the inventory list from the Roy Rogers collection auction. Roy must have thought he had the best ever TRIGGER, hell he had it stuffed and mounted. And look at the money it sold for.

 

[thompal]

I get around! I'm the girl your mom warned you about.

You're the kind of girl my dad pointed at and said "don't pick that up. . .you don't know where it's been."

 

[rvb]

A good trigger is not:

creepy (obvious sliding of parts before the trigger breaks)
gritty (when "creepy" isn't smooth)
too much take up (wasted trigger motion)
too much over travel (wasted trigger motion)
vague (unpredictable break)
vague reset (revolvers and semi-autos)
too heavy
too long
too light
too short
unsafe (think bumps or drops)

ok, unsafe is a given.. that just defines whether a gun is usable.

gritty is pretty unaversally accepted as bad. but mainly because, like stacking in a DA trigger, it creates inconsistency in the trigger pull, and adds weight.

A lighter trigger makes it easier to realize the full potential of accuracy. The more muscle you have to use on the trigger, the more latteral/vertical imperfections in trigger press will affect the gun. A lighter trigger masks imperfections in trigger pull. In an ideal world every trigger press would be perfect and an 8lb trigger would be acceptable, but reality is different.

Too light is never a problem, except on hammer-fired guns you have the issue of lock time. This is especially true w/ DA/SA guns when trying to get the mainspring as light as possible. For me, there is a ballance where I'd rather have the slightly heavier trigger pull vs a poor lock time. But it's not the light trigger pull in itself that is the problem.

As for pretravel and over-travel, this is personal preference. I set my guns up for as much PT/OT as I can get. I found I get better accuracy when I can truly follow through with the trigger, instead of having the trigger hit the frame as the shot is breaking.

As for reset, I just want the return spring to have enough pressure to keep up w/ my finger, and on a 1911, 8oz does it. I don't care what the reset feels like. I could count on one hand the number of times I noticed reset during a match, and I spent a lot of time trying to learn to "ride the reset." But in the end, I just found it slowed me down. I'm a "slapper." Hence the reason I like a lot of pre-travel, my finger is less likely to come off the trigger during speed shoots. I just care that the trigger resets, not what it feels like. This is why I like 2-stage triggers in rifles.

So about the only "universal" is that lighter is easier to shoot, "gritty" adds inconsistency and weight, and the rest is up to the user...

-rvb

 

[indyjoe]

Ahh, it's a good ol' you don't agree with me so you must be ignorant thread. Nice. I'll bite.

I like what would be called a target trigger for defensive guns as well as range guns.

If you are OK with the personal aspect of handling the firearm with a target trigger in a stressful situation, that is great.

The one thing I really worry about with a light trigger on a defense gun is cannon fodder for the prosecuting attorney about the "killer trigger" that you used, which is so much easier to pull than even police officer's guns.

 

[rvb]

If you are OK with the personal aspect of handling the firearm with a target trigger in a stressful situation, that is great.

If you are OK with the personal aspect of having your finger on the trigger when you're not ready to fire, in a stressful situation, that is great.

-rvb

 

[kludge]

Good stuff, rvb.

Too light is never a problem, except on hammer-fired guns you have the issue of lock time. This is especially true w/ DA/SA guns when trying to get the mainspring as light as possible. For me, there is a ballance where I'd rather have the slightly heavier trigger pull vs a poor lock time. But it's not the light trigger pull in itself that is the problem.

It depends on the application. 3-6 pounds is about right for most everything, but if you are measuring pull in ounces, it's is too light for anything but a target/match gun. On a hunting rifle 3-4 lbs. On a SD handgun or shotgun 5-6 lbs. I'm OK with heavier triggers on revolvers, but not on a semi-auto.

As for pretravel and over-travel, this is personal preference. I set my guns up for as much PT/OT as I can get. I found I get better accuracy when I can truly follow through with the trigger, instead of having the trigger hit the frame as the shot is breaking.

As for reset, I just want the return spring to have enough pressure to keep up w/ my finger, and on a 1911, 8oz does it. I don't care what the reset feels like. I could count on one hand the number of times I noticed reset during a match, and I spent a lot of time trying to learn to "ride the reset." But in the end, I just found it slowed me down. I'm a "slapper." Hence the reason I like a lot of pre-travel, my finger is less likely to come off the trigger during speed shoots. I just care that the trigger resets, not what it feels like. This is why I like 2-stage triggers in rifles.

I agree that on a rifle like a AR, I like a two stage trigger. On my hunting rifle though, I don't want any uptake (or very little) same goes for a 1911 or a single action revolver.

The vauge reset is more of an issue on revolvers for me, at least on the revolvers I own. But like you i tend to be a "slapper" on rapid shots, and it does not affect my accuracy that I can tell.

 

[Jack Ryan]

If you like it, there's one point on the "good trigger" column.

If you can hit what you want to shoot at there's another point on the "good trigger" column.

If it doesn't go off when you don't want it to or unexpectedly there's another point on the "good trigger" column.

I've read here that GLOCKS have a "good" trigger and it's even beneficial to shooters because the Glock trigger makes them a better shooter. At that point I've decided "good trigger" from the general population is as meaningless as cool, awesome, shizzdiddy, pop, tactical...

 

[Jack Ryan]

-double post-

 

[U.S. Patriot]

For me personaly. I have shot enough to know if I like a trigger on a certain gun. Someone else may shoot that same gun, and not like the trigger. As long as you like it, and are comfortable with it then that's all that matters.

 

[kingnereli]

If you are OK with the personal aspect of handling the firearm with a target trigger in a stressful situation, that is great.

The one thing I really worry about with a light trigger on a defense gun is cannon fodder for the prosecuting attorney about the "killer trigger" that you used, which is so much easier to pull than even police officer's guns.

That may be a plausible scenario. I don't know and I don't worry about it. If I get to a place where a corrupt prosecutor is making this argument it means I'm still alive. That's an important step for me. I just want to base my gun's set-up, make and caliber on what will give me every advantage I think I need. There are certain decisions I've made to that end. I always carry a full size gun (preference going to a five inch barrel but not a deal breaker if it's a smidge shorter), I always carry wide and powerful (for a handgun) calibers (traditionally .45 but I just picked up a 10mm that I'm flirting with), I almost always do trigger work or have it done in the case of 1911 (I've found polymers to be quite easy to work on but I'm not quite comfortable tackling too much work on a 1911.)