School Me On Trigggers...

[Kokomo1]

I read a lot about triggers, some technical and some opinion. The technical is not always understood and opinions can be very confusing. For reference, I have a Springfield XD 9mm sub compact and an XDs 9mm.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Both of yours are striker fired. No cocking needs to take place before pulling the trigger, once you rack in a round its ready to go. However if you pull the trigger and get no bang, you must cycle the slide by hand in order for the trigger to function again. There is no way to cock the weapon without cycling the slide (no external hammer).

Other options:
Single action only: You must cock the weapon prior to firing. On a revolver, you must cock before each shot. On a semi-auto (like a 1911) it will cock itself every time the slide moves between shots.

Double action only: Pulling the trigger cocks the weapon and then fires it. Differs from striker fired in that if you get no bang, you can pull the trigger again without cycling the slide and it will try to fire that round again. Revolvers will rotate to the next cylinder.

DA/SA: A combination of the above two. The first shot will be double action and all subsequent shots will be single action, or you can thumb cock the hammer and all shots will be single action. With a revolver, you'll need to thumb cock prior to each shot if you want to shoot single action, but you can just pull the trigger and it will work like a double action.

Anything more specific you wanted to know?

 

[Kokomo1]

For example, in this post - ingunowners.com/forums/handguns/300321-xds9_in_the_house-2.html#post4267631 - poster comments about how awful the trigger is on the XDs. While I know opinions are a dime a dozen, what are the trigger nuances people fixate on?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Generally you rate a trigger based on the following criteria:

1) Weight: This is the pounds of pressure applied to the trigger to fire the gun.
2) Travel: This is the distance the trigger travels before the gun fires.
3) Over travel: How far the trigger can continue to move back after the gun fires.
4) Reset: How far the trigger must be let back forward before it can start back to fire again (if you don't let it go far enough it won't reset and won't fire the gun). Reset also includes if there is any tactile or auditory indication the gun has reset.
5) Smoothness: Does the trigger feel smooth or gritty?
6) Stack: Triggers tend to get heavier as they get closer to firing the gun. Is it linear and predictable or does it suddenly hit a spot where it becomes significantly harder all of a sudden.
7) Feel: The actual feel of the trigger against your finger.

 

[chezuki]

EDIT: ^BBI nailed it.




A lot comes down to personal preference or simply what you are used to. "Break" is the point where the trigger has been depressed enough to fire the shot. 1911 guys tend to prefer the crisp break and zero pre/over travel of SAO. Striker fired pistols are going to have some "pre-travel" (the slack in the trigger before it reaches the break point) and some have "over-travel" (where the trigger still moves rearward some after the break). This varies some between manufacturers as the actions are slightly different.

Another aspect people pay attention to is "reset". This is the amount you have to release a fully depressed trigger before you can fire the next shot. It can be and obvious click that is both tactile and audible such as with a Glock, or it can be more subtle as with an M&P. Again, its a matter of personal preference.

 

[Kokomo1]

Thanks. I guess I need to try more guns and experience different triggers.

 

[threedhuntr]

Be sure not to let one or two bad experiences with a certain trigger type turn you off to that particular one.

 

[TheDoaner]

A great way to school yourself is to find a gun shop with a polymer gun with a laser and a 1911 with a Crimson Trace laser that will let you dry fire each with the laser held on a tiny point on a far wall. Then next week you can start a thread on which 1911 that you should buy.