how to DIY glock trigger

[openglock34]

this may be helpful for others and will certainly be helpful for me..i looked all over this forum and tried to find this info but it seems to be scattered..now that i got my appology out of the way for starting another topic here is the question..Does anyone know the best way to do your own glock trigger to get it light, crisp and smooth etc. i know some of the obvious polishing but ive heard about re-drilling the trigger spring hole and stuff like that, can anyone point me and the rest of us rookies in the right direction as a step by step DIY trigger for the glock possibly including parts. I did my trigger myself but really it is only a light connector and polished with overtravel stop, much more room for improvement.

thank you in advance,

-shawn

[DaG]

I got mine down to 2.8 lbs by lots of polishing and clipping coils off the springs. I think there is a guy named JoeD that says he can get it down to 1 lb (I think).

DaG

[Flexmoney]

Did you check out all the info in the thread that is pinned here at the top of the Glock Section?

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5351

[Chriss Grube]

Here you go step by step.

Take glock and place in box.

Call Charlie Vanek for address

Go to Fedex and ship gun to Charlie

Wait 3 days for Fedex to bring it back

There you have a nice 1.5# trigger

No chance of really fubaring things

[TRG65]

I will take some pictures tomorrow and post them of my drilled trigger bars, and my components. (No class tomorrow afternoon)

My G-34 is at about 1 5/8 -1 3/4# depending how much I lube it. And I did a trigger over the weekend I went a little too far on, so I will post pictures of both and compare.

Seth

[openglock34]

my mistake flex, i guess after the 3+ hours i had been staring at what this site had to offer i overlooked it (not sure how) but i did. whoever has the power can delete this topic if need be. must have been tunnel vision

[eric nielsen]

What Chris said.

Box - Mail - Vanek - Open box - Try trigger - Smile

[TRG65]

It would be easy to just send off the gun for a trigger job, but I don't think it is necessary.

In the picture below notice 2 things. On the top bar the nose of the trigger bar is "sharper" the bottom is stock, I have "smoothed" the top. I have also beveled the inside so less metal contacts with the top of connecter and hence less friction.

The second thing to notice is the angle of the tabs which attach to the trigger return spring. The bottom is again stock, but the top has been heated and bent out. This radically changes the amount of forward travel on the trigger. At the position shown in the picture the trigger shoe safety will not engage....but it makes for a nice short trigger pull.

This is the hole system I have in drilled in the bottom trigger bar above.

This is the hole system I drilled in the top above trigger bar.

It is also important to polish. This discoloration usually has occured by the time I finish my polishing routine.

I don't have a trigger pull gauge here to measure the weight of either trigger. The bottom bar in the first picture had about a 1 5/8# pull when I had a friend measure it. I have replaced a bunch of springs in that gun as well as drilling and polishing the trigger.

The top bar is very similar in weight, but with only clipping coils from the striker spring. I'm also using a stock return spring, as compared to the xtra pwr for the 1 5/8 measured gun. This bar yeilds a smoother pull, w/o as crisp a break

I hope this helps all the DIY'ers. I truly don't believe you need to have someone else do your glock triggers. All the parts can be bought rather cheaply or come with the gun to get a pretty dang good trigger.

[RoseMech]

I would love to lessen my trigger, but unfortunately my comp gun is my carry gun also.

Rose Mech

[Joe D]

Seth, beware!!! The trigger bar shown in the very top picture is borderline full auto. If you bend the spring leg out you CANNOT allow the top part of the bend to raise up.

[Thomas Moore]

RoseMech, that is why you buy a whole new trigger group and play with that one. in just a few minutes you can have your carry group back in the gun and a carrying you shall go.

[TRG65]

Both triggers yeild light trigger pulls, and have sufficient (not proper/designed amount) engagement between the trigger bar and the striker for gun the trigger bar is in.

Since I took the picture I have bent the tab back to a mid point, but for a different reason than mentioned. I bent it back to allow for the trigger shoe safety to engage. The top of bar is still flat on the part that contacts the striker tab, must just be the angle it sits in the picture.

Glock triggers can be made very unique. I can not switch these parts between their respective guns, or I get into the problems Joe metioned. Failure to catch the striker tab, resulting in malfunctions. In fact, the orientation of the trigger return spring, is critical, a verticle orientation exerts a lower amount of tension than a side ways orientation (lower in this case is better).

Drilling new spring holes lowers the amount of contact with the striker tab. The less contact, the more chance of malfunction, but the lighter the trigger pull. I have been using the bottom bar for over two years and as long as I orient the trigger spring correctly I have a reliable light triggered gun. Essentially in comparing to a 1911, if you lower the contact too much it is like having a sear round off.

Thus far in my tinkering, I have found that generally if you rack the slide very hard while holding back the trigger, you can tell if the trigger is going to reset properly or slip. If it slips, undo something you have done you are not holding a safe gun.

Obviously, these change are designed to produce very light trigger. Very light triggers are not for everyone, hence why most gunsmiths won't do them except for individuals they know. Undertake home gunsmithing at your own risk, you will ruin parts, you will have to buy new parts. And if you don't replace the part you will have an unsafe gun.

Most of the other changes I have done to the trigger groups in these two guns are pictured in the Dale Rhea article which is linked somewhere around here.

[eric nielsen]

I'll repeat from another thread just this: if you change the diagonal angle of the disconnector and/or you change the curve at the back of the trigger bar you are counting down the days until your Glock goes Full Auto.

This happens because of wear to the acute angle of the very top of the trigger bar, where it contacts the striker. Please - just trust the Austrian guys on the subject of timing the release of the striker. And if you *must* be a daredevil, check for wear & do it frequently. Sharp = good, rounded = bad. Once rounded, your trigger bar is trash, don't bother trying to bend it up. Buy another.

The 90 degree bend in the coil spring area is interesting. Many ppl do modify this area and the result is different "feel" with no apparent hazards. Never seen it done that far. Very clear photos.

PS - My Vanek job breaks at 22oz & with the .22 conversion slide it breaks at 25oz.

[TRG65]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but after modifying the couple Glocks I have; here is my take.

Taking metal off the curve at the back of the trigger bar removes metal which allows the trigger bar to sit higher, increasing the amount of contact with the striker. This from my experience seems to be good thing.

Now, on the other hand, like caspian28r said playing with the trigger return spring area can have dire consequences. I have reduced the amount of bend from the 90 degree shown in the picture to something between that and stock. 90 was too far and would not allow the trigger to return forward to the point where the trigger shoe safety would engage. I bent it back to about 1/2 way in between and now the trigger shoe safety will engage.

Each and every higher hole you drill in the trigger bar increases dramatically the chances for a malfunction.

I paid money for a glock trigger job, once several years ago, and was rather upset with the result. That started my quest for how to do them myself. Before that I had just changed out parts.

I think its great that so many people are pleased with the Vanek triggers. I've seen posts at 1 1/4 up to 1 3/4. I don't know what the cost is but I would guess 175 or 200? I would rather spend that (175 at the upper end) or less depending on how extravagant I would want to go, and be able to say it's a Ritzman trigger, rather than a Vanek trigger. I would end up with about the same pull weight by the time I was done.

I'm in the process of acquing a another 17. The only thing I'm leary about doing is the final fitting on the Bar-sto. That gun will be pretty well tricked out, at least all the mods I want, and it will be entirely my creation. I want the satisfaction of not only doing well, but doing well with a gun I built.

The camera is one of the new Cannon EOS 20Ds, it is a digital SLR. That was our five year aniversary present to ourselves. We are extemely pleased with the quality of pictures it takes.

[MBaban]

Here is the Vanek site: http://www.vanekcustom.com/price.htm

According to the site it is $185 plus $50 shipping. I don't have one yet, but mine is just above 2.5 with clipping 2 coils from the FP safety spring, polishing, reduced FP spring and 45 angle cut on the FP tang.

[Thomas Moore]

my g34 went full auto yesterday. be very careful with this trigger setup. i will have to play around with the spring leg to get it back to where is was.

otoh, it was fun shooting a glock full auto, it's very fast.

[eric nielsen]

[broken-record-mode on]

You have to check the acute-angle tab that pushes & releases the striker.

It will start to show wear and rounding-off just before the gun goes full auto - which it will if the nose is modified. I tried it several ways and the result is always bad.

[Thomas Moore]

i think i'll just put a new one in and leave it alone.

[standles]

Dale Rhea also markets a trigger. It is drop in and you do not have to send the gun to him. End cost is about the same either way and both have thier camps of dedicated followers. Just offering another option. I have not tried a vanek trigger but have a Rhea one in my G35. It is a very nice trigger and is miles above what the std factory trigger is.

Later, steven

[eric nielsen]

One of those two guys has a lot more angry customers than the other.

Sort of like Lee vs Dillon.

[chp5]

Not everyone likes the Glock trigger set up the same way. There are a couple of camps for shooting the Glock trigger – slappers vs. resetters.

Slappers let the trigger out all the way (or almost all the way). Slappers generally like the lightest, shortest trigger they can get. Reset is irrelevant (as long as it’s reasonable), because they let the trigger out and “slap” it. Three pound connectors are best for this set up.

Resetters don’t slap, but only let the trigger out just past reset and then squeeze. I’m a “resetter” and, for me, the weight of pull is secondary to a very short reset. The 5 pound connector has a shorter reset than the 3 pounder as a result of the angle of the connector (that same angle gives the 3 # connector a lighter pull than the 5#). So, as a general rule, you have a trade off – 3# connector with a lighter pull but longer reset or a 5# connector with a heavier, stacking pull but with a shorter reset.

Now, maybe Charlie V or Joe D can take a 3# connector and make it reset like a 5#, but I’ve yet to see that set up (which is not to say it hasn’t been done). I have a Charlie trigger. It’s light and has the regular reset length of a 3# connector.

I will also have a Joe D trigger sometime in the not-too-distant future.

[Heath]

I've re-shaped the nose on my trigger bar a bit. I've got about a thousand rounds through it so far. I'll let you guys know when it goes full auto.

The trigger pull is a bit longer as a result and the effort is reduced. I reset the trigger, but I still prefer the 3Lb connector with a longer reset and reduced effort over the 5Lb connector and increased effort.