AR-15 DIY trigger job

[24_minutes_to_1000]

I read this how-to last night at AR-15.com and figured I'd give it a shot since my trigger was creepy as hell and broke at about 2 tons.

It took me less than a half hour and now I have a virtually creep-free, clean breaking trigger. Saved me a good bit of money on a replacement trigger.

http://www.sargenthome.com/15_Minute_AR_Trigger_Job.htm

[EBR Works]

I did this last month for my retro AR build. A huge improvement and no issues.

[OutlawDon]

Cut the tail of your hammer off for faster lock time. I did it on mine and I like it. No issues.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=400702

[sava6e]

Cut the tail of your hammer off for faster lock time. I did it on mine and I like it. No issues.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=400702

why would you want your hammer to lock faster???

[Tyler]

For one the hammer will move faster and thus make it better against harder primers. A good idea if you should a lot of surplus ammo.

-Tyler

[FMJBT]

Cut the tail of your hammer off for faster lock time. I did it on mine and I like it. No issues.

+1

This will actually help to improve reliability when the springs are cut down for the 15 minute trigger job. Much less mass for the single leg of the hammer spring to swing around.

In addition, a 1/4"-28 tpi set screw can be installed in the pistol grip screw hole to adjust sear engagement for even less creep. All the mods together still won't compare to a nice aftermarket trigger, but they make the stock assembly MUCH nicer. Personally I've never felt the need to upgrade the triggger after performing these simple modifications.

[OutlawDon]

why would you want your hammer to lock faster???

A reduction in lock time will cause your rifle to hit closer to where you held the sight when you pulled the trigger. Everyone's rifle is moving when it's fired. The amount of movement may be almost imperceptible, but that's all it takes. If you're shooting at a trophy deer at 300 yards, movement at the muzzle of only 0.058 inches means a missed animal. If you're a competitive silhouette shooter, just 0.022 movement makes the difference between a hit and a miss on a 500 meter ram. When lock time is reduced, the probability of hitting your target is increased.

http://www.davidtubb.com/speedlock.html

[Forestgnome]

A reduction in lock time will cause your rifle to hit closer to where you held the sight when you pulled the trigger. Everyone's rifle is moving when it's fired. The amount of movement may be almost imperceptible, but that's all it takes. If you're shooting at a trophy deer at 300 yards, movement at the muzzle of only 0.058 inches means a missed animal. If you're a competitive silhouette shooter, just 0.022 movement makes the difference between a hit and a miss on a 500 meter ram. When lock time is reduced, the probability of hitting your target is increased. Faster lock times is something benchrest shooters look for.

http://www.davidtubb.com/speedlock.html

+1 on that. The faster lock time shouldn't affect primer reliability until you shave too much off and the hammer doen't absorb all the spring energy. Otherwise it's the exact same amount of energy being transferred from the spring to the hammer to the primer.

[salvageland]

isn't it because the decreased mass of the hammer gives it a higher velocity resulting in a higher force exerted on the firing pin and primer...

[Jicko]

One caution tho. If you do any of these DIY trigger/hammer tweak, make sure that is your recreational gun.... some of these may work at first, but over time, and in different conditions (dirtier gun... different batch of ammo etc...) may not be 100% reliable....

So, just beware...

[Forestgnome]

isn't it because the decreased mass of the hammer gives it a higher velocity resulting in a higher force exerted on the firing pin and primer...

Kinetic energy is mass times velocity^2. The hammer gains energy from the spring in the form of velocity. The amount of energy absorbed from the spring is a constant, as long as the spring is loaded throught the travel of the hammer. Too light and the hammer's velocity increases so fast that it leaves the spring behind and doesn't absorb all the energy. Too heavy and the spring can't move the hammer. In between those two extremes the energy is constant, but the velocity can be adjusted (lock time). A given amount of energy will do the same damage (transfer energy) to the primer irregardless of velocity. The primer is set off by imparting enough energy.

[Arteel]

Why do you only cut 1 side of the hammer spring?

[slick_711]

Why do you only cut 1 side of the hammer spring?

Well if you cut both sides the hammer won't move at all now will it? Just cutting one side leaves the hammer still under spring tension but less so.

[Arteel]

Gotcha.

Well if you cut both sides the hammer won't move at all now will it? Just cutting one side leaves the hammer still under spring tension but less so.