AR Trigger Upgrades, Worth it?

[Steve in PA]

Depends on what you plan on doing with the rifle. Will it be a target/hunting rifle, or a tactical/SHTF type rifle?

From all that I have read on tactical/military/LEO forums, triggers like the Geissele are not recommended. Better to stay with the factory trigger.

For hunting, target, precision work, then a trigger upgrade may be something you are interested in doing.

 

[wingman]

Precision shooting requires a good trigger,now if your happy with 2-3 inches
at 100 yards stock AR triggers are fine, simply comes down to requirements.

 

[LiquidTension]

How do the AR Gold triggers compare to the Geisseles and JPs? I've seen them advertised but haven't gotten to play with one yet.

 

[TonyAngel]

I don't remember ever having shot an AR Gold trigger, but a few guys that I know have commented that they are the way to go. I've never tried one because I was bitten by the Geissele bug a while back and never felt compelled to try anything else.

This is either a case of "I'm not missing anything" or ignorance being bliss.

From all that I have read on tactical/military/LEO forums, triggers like the Geissele are not recommended. Better to stay with the factory trigger.

Again, how can anyone make such a statement and not qualify it with which model they are talking about. I also don't understand why an SSA or SSA-E wouldn't be recommended.

Man, there seem to be a lot of guys posting lately based on what they read someplace rather than experience.

 

[Big Bad Bob]

This isn't for a particular build just wanted to get some general thoughts on trigger upgrades. My next build is going to be a Mk12 clone, definitely will be installing an upgraded trigger for that.


What do you guys think about installing the non-rotating pin sets???

 

[Chris Rhines]

I'm in the process of replacing all my JP AR triggers with ARGolds. No slur on the JPs, which are very, very good, but the ARGold is lighter, has a shorter reset, and is a drop-in unit.

-C

 

[cemjr]

I'm no expert but I put a Geissele SSA in my AR and I love it It's light, crisp and compared to a friend of mines stock Colt 6920, it's much nicer.

 

[TonyAngel]

Bob, if you're talking about those KNS pins, I know that lots of guys use them; although I've never had a need. I do know that Geissele advises against using them, but of course, there are guys that use them with their Geissele triggers anyway and say that they haven't had any problems.

Personally, I see the anti rotation pins as a solution looking for a problem. What I don't like about them is being in the field and having to pull my trigger group, for whatever reason, only to realize that I don't have a wrench to get them out.

The way I see it, when the trigger parts move, it's probably good to have the pins spin a bit, otherwise the trigger parts are just rocking on a stationary piece of steel which can/will cause wear on the trigger parts. The argument for the pins is that the pins moving can/will cause your pin holes to wear and become oblong. From the way that I see things, I'd rather have to replace a $100 lower receiver than a $200 trigger group. Either way, it would probably take many thousands of rounds for any negative effects to manifest themselves.

The AR was designed so that you can just about completely strip it using nothing more than the tip of a bullet; and I tend to stay away from stuff that would prohibit this.

 

[Welding Rod]

I love my RRA 2-stage triggers. I do prefer a 2-stage on a service rifle. I also prefer high-power style shooting.... prone, sitting, and standing as opposed to running around while shooting.

I have had at least 14 of them over the years - never a problem and always a pull I liked. I think they are a great value.

Shooting off a bench I think a decent two stage like RRA tightens me up about 3/4 MOA compared to a gritty creeping heavy milspec trigger. I never directly compared the two with groups from other positions.

One of these days I plan to try an AR Gold.

 

[Z-Michigan]

The KNS pins offer no benefit for almost any semiauto AR, and they will screw up the function of Geissele triggers (and probably others) because they aren't exactly the right size. Waste of money.

 

[greyling22]

I'd say the drop in triggers are better than the home jobs. That said, you can get 90-95% the same trigger for about a dollar and an hour of effort. That just reeks of value to me. If I had a bench rest gun or was going to run one hard or had a lot of money invested in an ar, I'd probably buy a drop in. As it is, I shoot at cans and pigs and have been very happy with my bubba trigger. Just a set screw, a couple bent springs and a little dremeling on non-sear surfaces got me a 3.5 lb virtually creep free trigger.

The only things you really have to keep an eye on is ensuring the safety still functions and that the disconnector is timed right. My first try with the disconnector wouldn't release the hammer reliably (tiny dremel fix) and my cousin's disconnector failed to grab the hammer and doubled. (another tiny dremel fix and he's fine and legal now too.)

 

[Zak Smith]

I've shot the JP modular (the original, old one) and some other modular triggers. I'd rather have a professionally installed "classic" JP single stage trigger.

 

[taliv]

i agree with zak that the old single stage that i sent my lower to JP to install (not drop in) is one of the most crisp triggers I own and is perfect for 3gun. i am starting to like the geissele SD3G trigger more but it is not as crisp.

the geissele SSA triggers (I have 2 or 3) are not nearly as crisp as my match triggers, but as far as i know they are as reliable as the standard trigger, as they don't have the adjustments that make match triggers unreliable.

Precision shooting requires a good trigger,now if your happy with 2-3 inches
at 100 yards stock AR triggers are fine, simply comes down to requirements.

if your fundamentals are good, you can still shoot sub-MOA with a 7 lb factory, creepy trigger. a good trigger makes it easier, but they also mask a lot of bad fundamentals so that people never really improve.

 

[TonyAngel]

Yeah, I have to agree that a better trigger doesn't make you a better shooter. I can't say that my accuracy didn't improve with a good trigger, but it did a bit. Where I saw the most improvement was how fast I could get the rounds off. It was just easier.