So When People are Talking About trigger Jobs...

[PsychGuy274]

...what exactly are they talking about? Like mechanically, what's being changed/altered. Is this something that anyone with half a brain could do or does it need to be taken to a smith?

Sorry for the stupid question.

[SocomM4]

Im not sure If you meant ar15's ,but It's pretty easy on an Ar . All you are doing is polishing the parts to make them slide easier on each other .I used ultra fine sand paper then a well used diamond sharpener to make it smooth, then a dremmel and a felt wheel with some mothers aluminum polish and I gave short touches to the parts so I didn't heat them up. Also you can either mod your springs, or buy a set of JP reduced power springs to lighten it up some.I modded mine .

I'm very pleased with the results, and I think it should be done to every Ar .
I ended up with a very clean, smooth,crisp trigger that is right around 4.5 lbs

If you decide to do it, I offer this advice.
Take as long as possible when you do this.dont try to hurry or rush this.
Don't change the angle of the cut on the trigger.
And don't heat them up while polishing.

Changing the angle or the hardness of the parts will make them fail.

[dieselpower]

There are also drop in modules. There are videos on youtube showing how to polish the FCG parts.

I like a hard mil-spec pull myself. It loosens up after a few thousand rounds.

I am a functional shooter who wants the holes to be at least 3 inches apart at all times. A small tight group, or multiple rounds passing through the same hole is is worthless to me and needs to be avoided at all cost. A "trigger job" aids the competition shooter who is looking for multiple shots with 1 hole.

[PsychGuy274]

Sorry I meant for pistols

[negolien]

Ah don't know crap about pistol triggers my Stock Kimber and Glocks are fine for my purposes.

[Merc1138]

A trigger job can mean a lot of things depending on the pistol you're talking about. Usually it means to polish any engagement surfaces, adjust spring tension, and set undertravel/overtravel. Some have different parts that require different work.

A trigger job on a 1911 is not the same as on a glock.

Sometimes you can lighten the trigger pull or adjust slack yourself, sometimes you can just buy drop-in modules. If you have to do actual polishing work on things like the sear and disconnector engagement surfaces I'd say to send it to a shop. The reason is that those surfaces are usually made with specific angles, and any change to those angles might result in parts slipping(which would be very bad). A shop should have the necessary jigs to hold pieces in alignment, and polishing stones. You could buy the stuff yourself, but unless you plan on doing it a bunch there isn't much point.

[gatesbox]

As has been said, trigger job is different for every weapon. Usually it involves lightening the trigger pull, or creating a clean and reliable break. On many hammer type rifles and pistols this involves some sort of spring replacement and polishing trigger action parts like the hammer with precise polishing that does not comp,etely render the part useless. After market parts, hammers springs are usually available with more precise tolerances, and then there are some "drop in" cassette type triggers available for some firearms. An example of the latter being a timney type trigger which is available for ARs and I believe also 10/22s.

[PsychGuy274]

As has been said, trigger job is different for every weapon. Usually it involves lightening the trigger pull, or creating a clean and reliable break. On many hammer type rifles and pistols this involves some sort of spring replacement and polishing trigger action parts like the hammer with precise polishing that does not comp,etely render the part useless. After market parts, hammers springs are usually available with more precise tolerances, and then there are some "drop in" cassette type triggers available for some firearms. An example of the latter being a timney type trigger which is available for ARs and I believe also 10/22s.

So what would be involved for an SIG SP2022 in 9mm?

[gatesbox]

Not as many aftermarket "drop in" parts....some folks actually seem to find that adjusting the backstrap or the actual trigger might help...one guy in a post that I will link below sent his in to sig for a trigger replacement, thicker trigger for comfort not any change to mechanics. This got me thinking that in general it is often a good thing to send your guns back to the manufacturer. The armorers that will handle your gun will inspect it much more carefully and will often put a little extra love into the work. Almost everyone I have seen send their pistols in for warranty work has ended up getting a much smoother gun back....and usually the expense is very low.....bad news is that you are out a pistol while you wait....

That said, I have heard that you sig already has a pretty good trigger for it's class....what are you experiencing that you want to change?

[wash]

I haven't bothered to figure out how Glock's striker fired trigger works, I need to do that but on a ~traditional hammer and sear setup, a trigger job usually refers to polishing and changing the angles of the sear engagement surfaces.

Usually there is only a small amount of engagement between the hammer and sear, 0.030" or less when cocked and as you pull the trigger, that goes to zero and then the hammer is released. The angles on the hammer and sear are usually set up so that pulling the trigger actually forces the hammer slightly further back before it releases, this means the main spring is working to keep the sear at full engagement. It acts like an inclined plane, the steeper the angle, the more force it takes to pull the sear out of engagement with the hammer and that translates in to increased trigger pull weight. Polishing the surfaces makes them slide off of each other more easily, rather than a gritty feel where you are not sure exactly when the trigger is going to break.

If you know what you are doing and your parts are through hardened, you can stone your hammer and sear to give you a nice trigger pull but if you don't know, you can wreck your parts or even cause malfunctions like doubling, hammer follow or out of battery ignition.

If you want to DIY, you need to have a full understanding of how your trigger works and recoil can make it a very dynamic system. Look at what other people are doing and ask questions.

[r3dn3ck]

glocks are among the easiest to mod and all too often untrained people try to do it themlseves. There are 2 engagement points of interest and some springs. One is the striker actuator which draws the striker back and the striker itself. The actuator rides down the face of it. Gritty pulls can come from crud in there. The other point of interest is the disconnector. There's an angled ramp on it which helps set the effort required to pull the trigger. The trigger bar rides down the disconnector to cause the striker actuator to fall out of the way and allows the striker to move forward. Changing angles and ramp rates is one way of mucking with that system.

I've watched a glock armorer take bits of that assembly and whittle at them and polish them up and get a nice 3lb pull. I'm sure you could also muck with the springs but again, not my bag. I'm usually pretty happy to have a combat handgun have a combat trigger pull.

Interestingly and completely off topic, i just realized that if you assemble the trigger spring into the gun the wrong way you can make a glock into a magazine fed single shot as the slide will lock open after each shot. Those that have messed about in their glock trigger will know of which I speak. Wonder if that could help with off-roster glocks if there are any.

[9mmepiphany]

So what would be involved for an SIG SP2022 in 9mm?

You have a 2022 that really needs it's trigger tuned?

It is generally accepted by SIG folks that the SigPro comes from the factory with one of the better triggers in their line.

As a point of reference, a SIG Classic P-series Action Tune involves work on 20+ surfaces...it is all about how fine a resulting trigger stroke you want.

To give you an idea about the range of work involved in a trigger job...I'll use the S&W K-frame revolver
1. Down-N-Dirty - install reduced rebound spring and loosen mainspring tension screw
2. Hobbyist - install same rebound spring, add reduced tension mainspring, polish rebound slide and engagement surfaces
3. Serious Gunsmith - everything listed under hobbyist, plus adjust headspace and tolerances of cylinder
4. Revolver Specialist - everything listed under Serious Gunsmith, plus adjust barrel gap and throat, balance spring rates, optimized leverage of hammer

[SocomM4]

I like a hard mil-spec pull myself. It loosens up after a few thousand rounds.

I am a functional shooter who wants the holes to be at least 3 inches apart at all times. A small tight group, or multiple rounds passing through the same hole is is worthless to me and needs to be avoided at all cost. A "trigger job" aids the competition shooter who is looking for multiple shots with 1 hole.

Can you explain this more in depth? This Post confuses me because it reads like you are saying you want your impacts at least 3 inches apart and that a trigger job hinders this.
I understand the 3 inch part and feel the same, if i was forced to fire at something human shaped or even an animal i would want to spread the damage over as much of vitals country as possible too.But you say you like a hard "mil-spec" pull,and implied that a smoother lighter trigger would make your shots too tight, like the stock "mil-spec" trigger is responsible for spreading those shots and not your aim. There isnt more vital of areas than the heart and brain.Isnt it then in the shooters best interest to hit those areas as quickly and efficiently as possible?

[2shotjoe]

oh, i thought trigger jobs was a sexual term on calguns...... D:

[surfNshoot]

There are also drop in modules. There are videos on youtube showing how to polish the FCG parts.

I like a hard mil-spec pull myself. It loosens up after a few thousand rounds.

I am a functional shooter who wants the holes to be at least 3 inches apart at all times. A small tight group, or multiple rounds passing through the same hole is is worthless to me and needs to be avoided at all cost. A "trigger job" aids the competition shooter who is looking for multiple shots with 1 hole.

Diesel,

I usually agree with most things you say but this is a bit redic. Are you talking about 3 inches at 100 yards??? well at 400 yards that is a foot. I call that a MISS. I've been shooting long enough to know that a trigger is everything. Seriously... What are you shooting at. Most and I say most because most are shooting at targets not men and probably will never. Come back to reality with this. Triggers make a huge difference and should be given the attention they deserve. I run a ssa-e trigger in my carbine and it is night and day difference. I shoot 2 MOA with it and that is a hit on a man size target at 400 yards. Don't discount it because you don't have one or choose not to use one.