trigger safety

[cpa5oh]

Shot a Level II match today and the RO at the chrono stage almost DQ'ed me because he said my trigger safety was "disabled." He said he was able to release the striker without touching the trigger safety. I couldn't duplicate that, his helper couldn't duplicate it, and the range master couldn't duplicate it, so I didn't get DQ'ed. But the RO was arguing that the trigger safety wasn't resetting every time he pulled the slide back and that the gun wasn't safe...

Question - is this even possible (that the trigger safety doesn't reset with the rest of the trigger every time?) If so, what could cause that? And what would be the fix?

This Glock 34, which was brand new at the start of the season and has maybe 5,000 rounds through it, has the following modifications:

- polished trigger bar (just used Flitz on a little Dremel buffing wheel)

- Zev V4 Race Connector (which I've heard called the "2 lb connector)

- the trigger and plunger springs from a Zev competition spring kit (didn't use the 4 lb striker spring that came with the kit)

- Zev "standard" striker spring (which I think is rated the same stiffness as a stock striker spring...I can't deal with light strikes)

- Jager striker

- KKM Barrel

Thank you! I think the gun is fine, and it passed inspection at two other Level II matches within the last month...but I certainly want to take every precaution possible because the last thing I want is anything that is unsafe.

[KyalSharpe]

Interesting, i dont see how that is possible unless it is stuck back somehow ? i think you will be fine.

[stick]

I have the 34 and did almost the same mods with a ghost rocket kit. My barrel is stock, I've never heard of Anyone having issues. I think the RO had a stick up his a$$.

[SDM]

I have a 34 with a heavy trigger spring. if you ride the slide forward it won't always reset. If you let it slam forward it jars enough to reset it. 17doesn't do it with the same spring.

A couple of months ago I saw the chrono man give a squadmate the same grief, but with a limited 24. I don't see how that's any different than pinning a grip safety. The other two safeties still are operating.

[rooster]

The heavy trigger spring will do this. I never could get a heavy trigger spring to work reliably with any glock that I tried it in. Get rid of it not needed, I have got pulls down to 2.5 lbs without it. Replace with stock and I would bet your problem goes away.

[Tuflehundon]

Have you taken it apart and checked everything? One of the guys I shoot with had an issue with his safety not resetting and when he took it apart, the safety plunger spring was sideways below the plunger. That was causing it to not reset properly all the time.

[jbj]

This thread kind of made me nervous about mine since I put the Zev competition spring set and the V4 connector in last night. I went to basement to check it out, and I had the same issue if I let the trigger out slowly. No problem if I released the slide with the slide release or if I grabbed a handful of slide and used the sling shot method.

I put the stock trigger spring back in and it still did it. So I tried putting the stock safety plunger back in and it seemed to fix it. Then I threw the Zev safety spring back in and it works fine. I about 99.999% sure the spring wasn't in sideways as I paid special attention to it when I disassembled the gun. After I put everything back together (Zev safety spring and the stock trigger spring) it now seems to be working perfectly. I'm not sure what the deal is. Maybe the safety spring wasn't seated correctly, but it sure looked like it to me when I took it apart. I'll certainly be paying attention to this issue.

Edited June 17, 2013 by jbj

[cpa5oh]

The heavy trigger spring will do this. I never could get a heavy trigger spring to work reliably with any glock that I tried it in. Get rid of it not needed, I have got pulls down to 2.5 lbs without it. Replace with stock and I would bet your problem goes away.

If I put the stock trigger spring back in, won't I have essentially a stock trigger? It'd be stock striker spring (for reliable ignition - can't rely on Federal primers in this market,) stock trigger spring, lightened safety plunger spring...just the connector, polished trigger bar, lightened plunger spring, and Jager striker would be the modifications left. I thought the striker spring and trigger springs were the biggest determinants of trigger pull weight - I'd be running stockers for both. Guess I'll just have to do it and see what happens.

[cpa5oh]

This thread kind of made me nervous about mine since I put the Zev competition spring set and the V4 connector in last night. I went to basement to check it out, and I had the same issue if I let the trigger out slowly. No problem if I released the slide with the slide release or if I grabbed a handful of slide and used the sling shot method.

I put the stock trigger spring back in and it still did it. So I tried putting the stock safety plunger back in and it seemed to fix it. Then I threw the Zev safety spring back in and it works fine. I about 99.999% sure the spring wasn't in sideways as I paid special attention to it when I disassembled the gun. After I put everything back together (Zev safety spring and the stock trigger spring) it now seems to be working perfectly. I'm not sure what the deal is. Maybe the safety spring wasn't seated correctly, but it sure looked like it to me when I took it apart. I'll certainly be paying attention to this issue.

I can't duplicate what this RO says he was experiencing...but what you describe could very possibly be what was going on. You eliminated the trigger spring from being the problem...

I just looked at the trigger safety itself (the part that sits in the trigger pad) and I don't really understand it. A part of it sticks out of the back of the trigger pad housing and when the slide gets pulled back it gets pushed in by the frame (down near the opening that the trigger goes down through) - what holds it in the forward position (engaged?)

[jbj]

I figured mine out. When I twisted the trigger bar to place it back in the trigger mechanism housing, the trigger spring was getting twisted. In other words, the hook on the spring was horizontal. The spring hook should be vertical and catch on the notch at the bottom of the metal. That little difference was the reason for the middle part of the actual trigger not coming all the way forward and doing it's job.

I tried this with the stock trigger spring and the Zev comp. If I didn't have the hook connected correctly, the middle part of the trigger would not reset all the way forward. So in my case, it was operator error. Perhaps, the last time you took it apart and put it back together, you did the same thing. Either way, I'm glad you started this thread. I'm certainly better at taking my Glock apart and getting it set up better.

[cpa5oh]

jbj, thanks for that post. Despite the fact that I still couldn't get my trigger safety to malfunction, I took my G34 apart looking for a twisted trigger spring...I don't think my trigger spring, where it goes through the hole in the trigger bar, was straight up and down. I don't know if I caused that when I put it back together the last time or if it worked its way to being angled and slightly bound up on its own.

At the same time, I put a little bit of grease where the trigger bar touches the disconnector (if I recall, Vanek ships his triggers greased in that spot.)

The trigger safety resets more positively for sure now and the trigger is definitely smooth (I'm not sure that it was rough before...but I thought I noticed a few times that the trigger didn't feel as good as it had.) If the trigger safety really were malfunctioning before, it most certainly isn't now. Thank you so much for that post - I'll bet it helps others, too.

[jbj]

Thanks cpa. I actually found a thread where other guys had described the same thing about an hour after I found out what my issue was. But your original question got me to dive deeper and pay more attention to what the heck I'm doing.