Why all the fuss about triggers?

B

baddarryl

New member
Other than a fine target weapon does it really matter? I get I am guilty. I have spent money and time to make triggers better on my guns. Now when I pick one up at an LGS or whatever that is one of the first things I check and it can make or break a deal.

Funny part is I never gave triggers a second thought until I became involved with sites like TFL. They were just heavy, light, or whatever and I dealt with them. I still don't think it matters one bit in a service or combat weapon. What lengths have you gone to?
 
I prefer a crisp light trigger to a spongy heavy trigger, always have.
I think most shooters do too and therefore we seek them out.
Just seems natural to do so.
 
The triggers on the average gun have been turned into very heavy "lawyer triggers" over the years. That's the problem.
 
Funny part is I never gave triggers a second thought until I became involved with sites like TFL.
Click to expand...

I think many times folks do not realize how much triggers can affect their accuracy. They either accepted the difference in accuracy or just compensated for it. Depending on the usage, that little bit of difference may not have mattered. Depending on the guns they own, they may think that all triggers have their faults. Then they go online and find that their way of thinking has been incorrect. Like the barrels on Smiths and the finish on Rugers, they need to be perfect or the gun isn't worth owning. Doesn't matter if you have never missed a deer in your life with the gun, it is now junk cause someone with more posts that you said it is........
 
We obsess to a large degree,,,

I prefer a crisp light trigger to a spongy heavy trigger, always have.
I think most shooters do too and therefore we seek them out.
Just seems natural to do so.
Click to expand...

This is true and certainly valid,,,
But I do think we who frequent these forums may go overboard in our thinking.

Take the trigger on my Ruger LC9,,,
Yes it is a long pull and is somewhat heavy,,,
But the way people talk about it makes a newbie think it's unusable.

I'm a proponent of simply shooting the gun enough to get used to it,,,
Aside from an old soviet Mosin-Nagant revolver,,,
I've never met a trigger I can't shoot.

They were just heavy, light, or whatever and I dealt with them. I still don't think it matters one bit in a service or combat weapon.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with this.

Aarond

.
 
No matter what most say, including pistol game competitors, the pistols or revolvers used are toys compared to service weapons.

The third poster in this thread commented on how we now have "lawyer triggers."

No, we have safe triggers. Back in the 1970s, and 1980, the Colt GM triggers usually were 7 pounds or a bit more. That weight has been dropped a bit now but still many hate those heavy 5.5 pound triggers.

The trigger pulls on the vaunted Smith revolvers of the 1930s and up through today would all be considered "too heavy" in double action and the Colt such as the Official Police had a stagy heavy trigger in DA.

Glock now advertises standard triggers at 5.5 pounds and that seems to be an industry standard today, not so much the old 7 plus pounds for autos. But in DA mode for revolvers, I believe the pulls are still more than 12 pounds.

Service weapon triggers for when your adrenaline and hackles are up, toy
triggers for when you are "target" shooting or competing in games where no one is shooting back at you.
 
Take the trigger on my Ruger LC9,,,
Yes it is a long pull and is somewhat heavy,,,
But the way people talk about it makes a newbie think it's unusable.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. The Ruger LC9 is actually a fairly decent trigger. Compare it against the following and I think most would stop crying about the LC9:

COP 357
AMT 45 Backup
Detonics Pocket 9 (double action)
Colt M2000
Older Smith & Wesson 357 revolver
Heck, just about any older double action revolver for that matter.
 
I still don't think it matters one bit in a service or combat weapon.
Click to expand...

Other than a fine target weapon does it really matter?
Click to expand...

First off let's agree that there is a LOT of the shooting world in between "fine target weapon" and "service or combat weapon."

Pervious generations have long held that one can shoot a gun with a good trigger and bad sights better (more accurately) than a gun with good sights and a bad trigger.

Also understand that a heavy trigger is not a bad" trigger automatically. The pull weight is a separate matter.

I will accept a poor (relatively speaking) trigger on a bellygun that I would never tolerate on a deer rifle. There is a lot of shooting that requires more than COM @ 7yds accuracy.

One can adapt (learn) to compensate for a poor trigger, IF, and as long as the trigger is consistent and repeatable. If it isn't, you simply cannot.

One of the WORST triggers I have come across in recent memory was on a GLock compact .45ACP (I forget the model #).

The pull itself wasn't too bad, but it was inconsistent! Every time the gun fired, it was at a different point in the trigger pull. We fired a couple hundred rounds, and could find no pattern, it was just random seeming. One round would fire with a fairly easy pull, the next would seem to take three days of pulling on the trigger to get it to fire, and the round after that would be in yet another place on the trigger pull. You could hit somewhere COM at short range, but everything beyond that was more luck than anything else.

That gun was picked up on a Friday, shot on Sunday, and returned to the shop on Monday!

There is a good reason for long, heavy triggers on combat guns. A reason for two stage triggers. But there is no reason for those kinds of triggers on ALL guns. And the pull on a combat gun doesn't have to be crap to be safe, either. But many are.
 
It would take a pretty atrocious trigger for someone to notice it when their life was in danger, true enough. The rest of the time, triggers are like coffee. If you just need some caffeine to get going in the morning, any coffee will do. If you decide to pay attention, you find that there are coffees that you like better and worse than others. But you have to decide that it matters to you.
 
44 AMP said:
The pull itself wasn't too bad, but it was inconsistent!
Click to expand...

That's my big "fuss" about triggers.

I don't care if the pull is long and heavy, just so long as it is consistent.

In some regards, I like as long, heavy trigger pull, I've found that it helps my follow through.

But consistency is key.
 
I have two of basically the same rifle, except the trigger. One has a stock GI milspec trigger group. The other rifle has a Timney 3lb. Excellent trigger...

You can tell which rifle I was firing by looking at the paper targets... big difference.

A good trigger probably gives the most noticeable accuracy improvement
 
connection

Here's a good quote on triggers, from memory and a Jeff COOPER column.

"Ones trigger is his connection to the target...." or words to that effect.


Triggers can be to light for safety. But almost everyone will shoot a light trigger better than a heavy one, me thinks.
 
For me consistency and crispness are the important considerations. I can shoot pretty accurately with a heavier than standard pull weight if it is crisp and consistent.

My Glocks and 1911's have almost identical triggers. The Glocks have a bit of takeup, but after that all of them have a very crisp 5-6lb trigger pull. My revolvers have a bit less pull weight in single action, but are even smoother.

On my bolt action hunting rifles I find about 3 lbs to be a good compromise. I could live with a little less on varmint or target rifle, but for use in the field wearing gloves 3 lbs is good enough. I've done surprisingly well with some pretty heavy triggers, it is just a matter of getting used to them and knowing exactly how much pressure is required on the trigger to get the gun to fire. Once mastered many guns with heavy triggers are more accurate than the man pulling the trigger.
 
The more I have gathered up different fun guns, the more I have learned to appreciate better and better triggers.

But I know who I am, how I got here and I know how I handle pistols and revolvers, and I really am in love with almost all the guns that I have kept over this expanse of time. The bottom line for me is that I will continue to chase down new acquisitions and absolutely appreciate those with terrific triggers. And in the mean time, I can still shoot and enjoy the lousy triggers on some of my guns that never seemed "lousy" until I became far more aware of BETTER triggers.
 
Try it First

I never thought twice about a trigger except to note it was heavy or light. That is until I got my new AR 10 lower from RedX Arms. Two stage with a break at barely 3 lbs. Fantastic with my DPMS 18 inch SASS upper.
 
I have triggers in the safe ranging from true match triggers measured in ounces up to DA pulls well over 15lbs. In my experience and opinion, as long as it's not so heavy that pulling it requires heroic effort, trigger pull weight is not a particularly important parameter in terms of shootability.

That said, it is true that poor trigger technique can be masked by a light trigger and highlighted by a heavier pull weight.
 
jmr40 said:
My Glocks and 1911's have almost identical triggers. The Glocks have a bit of takeup, but after that all of them have a very crisp 5-6lb trigger pull.
Click to expand...

I feel sorry for you! You have some nasty 1911 triggers if they're almost identical to a Glock's!

Nothing wrong with a Glock trigger (I own about a dozen and shoot 5 different classes in GSSF matches 2 or 3 times a year), but they're nowhere close to a nice 1911 trigger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top