Time for a new trigger?

[theycallmeingot]

I used to shoot an M&P.45c in USPSA, because that is the only handgun I had. I bought an apex trigger for it, and I thought the gun was pretty decent, but not competition material. I decided to buy a competition-only gun. Basically, I chose between a M&P9Pro, a G34, or a XDM5.25 in 9mm. I went with the XDM for a few reasons, but one of those reason was it had a very good trigger, IMO. The M&P would have gotten changed before the first shot was fired, the glock, shortly after. Both of those would have added cost to the gun. I've had my XDM for about 6 or 7 months, and I think I shoot pretty well with it, and I've never changed anything about the trigger.

Me and a couple friends were shooting the other day. We had the XDM 5.25 stock trigger, a G17 stock trigger, and an M&P.45c apex trigger. we were shooting a couple steel challenge setups. The 45 loads were 170PF. All 9mm loads were 130. Long story short, everyone shot cleanest and the fastest with the M&P, and the worst with the glock. I was sort of blown away, because I put a lot of rounds through the xdm, and i haven't shot the 45 in about 6 months. We were shooting very high speed, and I know that i don't exercise proper trigger control when I'm shooting that fast. I can sometimes feel myself slapping the trigger. I started to purposely slap the m&p trigger, and it was a clean shot each and every time.

I've heard it argued that trigger jobs don't make THAT much difference in USPSA and similar action pistol sports, because you're going to shoot so fast that you don't notice how it feels, and you end up slapping it anyway. I almost think the opposite would be true. The lighter the trigger pull, the less you have to focus on trigger manipulation. It might just be me, and the people i shoot with, but I always have to really focus on trigger manipulation with a stock glock trigger. Slightly less so with the xdm trigger.

I know without details as to where the shots were going, it's hard for anyone to diagnose WHY i missed more plates with the xdm, but I think it may be time for a new trigger in the XDM. Thoughts? I'm a B shooter, just so you have something to go by when you assume my level of accuracy/ability. This gun will only be used for USPSA matches. Absolutely no bullseye-type shooting, except maybe once a month when i shoot groups just to brush up on accuracy. To be clear, I can get much tighter groups out of the xdm slowfire, than i can the m&p. i'm just thinking that during fast shooting, my trigger control might be slacking and causing some shots to pull left.

I know i'll get a lot of 2 types of answers. Any thoughts appreciated. If you vote trigger job, be sure to tell me which one you recommend. If you vote no trigger job, you're instead voting i spend 100 bucks on reloading components. it's WIN WIN. This turned out to be a much longer post than the point warrants.

[PKT1106]

Even though we are shooting fast in USPSA, we are not "slapping" the trigger. They are controlled trigger movements to keep you on target and index correctly on follow-up shots. And yes, you do notice the difference once you have been in it a while.

I have an XDM40 in 4.5" that I dropped a Powder River Match trigger kit into. Made a world of difference to me. Little bit faster splits, but the main thing that helped was the shortened take-up, activation and reset as well as the lessened force required to pull it. Do I recommend a trigger job? Yes, if you're going to keep shooting your XDM. If you're looking to move to something else, you may want to reconsider and save your money.

That being said, I dry-fired a few STIs and a couple SVs over the weekend and I can tell you that they are worlds apart from my PRP trigger. Much lighter, much cleaner break, minimal take-up, activation and reset and very smooth. I am looking to get into an STI or similar, but since I already put a new trigger into my XDM, it's kind of a moot point.

[theycallmeingot]

Thanks for the insight. As of now, I have no plans to switch to another platform in the immediate future.

[reptoid]

The PRP Ultimate match trigger kit I installed in my XD made a world of difference. Worth every penny in my opinion.

[chevyoneton]

The PRP Ultimate match trigger kit I installed in my XD made a world of difference. Worth every penny in my opinion.

Same here except it was in my XDm 5.25. The factory trigger was not terrible, but the PRP Ultimate was well worth it. Would do it again in a heart beat.

[ummm]

The PRP Ultimate match trigger kit I installed in my XD made a world of difference. Worth every penny in my opinion.

Same here except it was in my XDm 5.25. The factory trigger was not terrible, but the PRP Ultimate was well worth it. Would do it again in a heart beat.

+2 -- PRP Ultimate kit was night and day better than the factory, and improved my results.

I'm a total novice, but I wonder -- is it the case that the better you are the less difference a trigger job will make, because you've already got epic trigger control? Of course, none of those top guys are shooting guns without massively upgraded triggers, but in their case it could be that every advantage, even a tiny one, must be taken. Just a curiosity thing.

[theycallmeingot]

The PRP Ultimate match trigger kit I installed in my XD made a world of difference. Worth every penny in my opinion.

Same here except it was in my XDm 5.25. The factory trigger was not terrible, but the PRP Ultimate was well worth it. Would do it again in a heart beat.

+2 -- PRP Ultimate kit was night and day better than the factory, and improved my results.

I'm a total novice, but I wonder -- is it the case that the better you are the less difference a trigger job will make, because you've already got epic trigger control? Of course, none of those top guys are shooting guns without massively upgraded triggers, but in their case it could be that every advantage, even a tiny one, must be taken. Just a curiosity thing.

i would say that logic makes sense. It might be reasonable to say if you're one of the top guys, a trigger upgrade may only improve your shooting 1%. But that 1% might likely be all that's required to make you better than the next guy.

For me, with mediocre trigger control, i'm thinking the trigger may improve my shooting by more than 1%. Although my misses usually come in practice, and not on match day. Still haven't figured that one out.

[hgr2]

The thing I like about a good trigger job on an XDM is that there is no thinking about the trigger between shots. Powder River knows how to take the trigger out of the equation and you make good hits.