DIY Welded overtravel stop

[MemphisMechanic]

Want2race and Mully383 gave me the idea. I certainly can't take credit for it.

I've done this to two guns now, and it feels like they lost a pound or so of pull weight - the further back the trigger goes the more compressed the springs get, plus the perceived weight of the trigger slamming into the frame after the break has disappeared.

First shot is the unmodified trigger bar.

Second shows where the trigger bar was given a small weld, which was then filed down to the same thickness as the trigger bar.

From there it was reinstalled and fit to the gun... which simply means filing the "beak" down until it runs into the sear housing behind it just as the shot breaks. I then give it an extra pass of the file. Zero overtravel is bad for reliability if things get loose or hot, so I like to leave a tiny bit of slop to ensure it runs 100%.

Final photo shows where the trigger stops after the striker falls. It doesn't look like much, but it sure feels like it.

Edited June 15, 2016 by MemphisMechanic

[MemphisMechanic]

If anyone has a spare trigger bar and lacks access to a welder, I'd be happy to do it for you cheap if you cover round-trip shipping. PM me if you want to take me up on that offer.

[ddc]

Very nice. How much did you end up extending it?

[mpom]

Nice. I also fashioned a trigger overtravel limiter by cutting 2 small pieces of 1/16" Allen wrench stock, cut to length so do not stick out beyond slot in right side of sear housing.They were epoxied in place, perpendicular to sear housing, inside rear slot in sear housing. Trigger bar end contacts them to limit rearward travel. Same idea, extra metal is stationary rather than attached to trigger bar. No access to welder. Works great; just enough overtravel for reliability, super short reset.

[MemphisMechanic]

Very nice. How much did you end up extending it?

I'd estimate roughly 1/32" to 1/16" or so. I can take a caliper to both of the modified guns, but I no longer have an unmodified trigger bar to compare it to.

Of course, the exact amount that's needed will vary depending upon the particular sear and trigger bar in your gun. This type of thing needs to be fitted, it wouldn't be a drop-in proposition. But doing so involved five minutes of my time with a file. I didn't even need to disassemble the gun to do so - simply strip the slide off, and a small file makes short work of the tab sticking up out of the frame. Slowly file until you can smoothly drop the striker just as the trigger runs into the stop.

Edited June 15, 2016 by MemphisMechanic

[FightFireJay]

That's some good work, Memphis. I've recently been thinking about such things, after seeing all of the over travel options for Glocks. But I did something different (no welder access)...

I compressed the trigger bar loop, top to bottom. This makes the sear actuate further to the rear so that the striker block tab (part that you welded) still acts as the over travel stop, but instead of adjusting the stop, I have adjusted the "timing".

To be fair, this was actually a happy accident. After installing some Apex parts including sear and USB I was getting some damage to the striker from hitting the striker block. It wasn't being pushed out of the way far enough to fully clear the striker, but it wasn't enough to stop it or even cause light primer strikes. It was, however, peening over the edge of the striker safety tab. So I filed it flat again, adjusted timing, re-polished everything, and as a happy accident, I also have less overtravel and a shorter reset.

[FightFireJay]

I compressed the trigger bar loop, top to bottom. This makes the sear actuate further to the rear so that the striker block tab (part that you welded) still acts as the over travel stop, but instead of adjusting the stop, I have adjusted the "timing".

Well, I went back and rechecked... my trigger is still acting as the overtravel stop. The striker block activation tab, um... thingy, is not touching the sear block. It's super close, but not touching.

[Mully383]

Very nice job. But It sounds like your using a stock sear? If you are it would seemed to me that doing what thehotrodpig did and cut and lengthend the trigger bar in the middle that way it cuts out some of the pretravel and then if you needed to add some over travel stoppage at that point.

[Mully383]

Oh and the 4 th pic It looks like you changed the ramp for the striker block. Not really sure how that's going to change the operation but it may be where you lost some trigger weight

Edited June 21, 2016 by Mully383

[MemphisMechanic]

I"m running an Apex sear, and the ramp angle is identical. I ground the weld and polished it to make an extended portion which matched the slope of tab that lifts the firing pin block.

My gun already had a properly timed Apex sear, trigger bar loop, and firing pin plunger. I was careful not to mess with that. It's also the reason I don't understand why lots of guys want to run a FSS and try to reduce pre-travel. I never notice pretravel during a match - just slide the trigger back until you hit the sear and then begin the trigger press - and it keeps the striker/firing pin block 100% functional and Production legal.

[Mully383]

I like the reduced per travel, not that I have long fingers but it keeps me from getting my booger hook to far in there. I guess it mostly personal preference and I've only tried or had the fss sear. But I'm glad there's others out there willing to weld and make there pistols perform like they think they should..... till someone starts making aftermarket trigger bars that is.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Mully383

[TacticalReload]

I get the feeling that people aren't making that part because of the wide gun-to-gun variation.

[Mully383]

I get the feeling that people aren't making that part because of the wide gun-to-gun variation.

If there was that much of a variation i don't think they could make aftermarket Sears. Of course some guns do need timing adjustments to make them work but that's not to hard Edited June 22, 2016 by Mully383

[MemphisMechanic]

My gun and my girl's have identical internals. She's got a 4" and mine is an old school 9L. I believe there are several designs to be found in trigger bars in that time. Someone mentioned this on another forum, although it was the first I've heard of it.

To get all but a couple of thousandths of overtravel dialed out, the tab on my trigger bar ended up being .280" front-to-rear and hers is right around .260" if I recall correctly. I remember that there was a large difference. Hers stops with the trigger noticeably further forward in the trigger guard than mine does.

[TacticalReload]

I get the feeling that people aren't making that part because of the wide gun-to-gun variation.

If there was that much of a variation i don't think they could make aftermarket Sears. Of course some guns do need timing adjustments to make them work but that's not to hard

While I don't disagree on the premise, I swapped or modified the internals on more than half a dozen different M&P's; and I don't think any two of them had identical sears (angles, lobes, striker engagement surfaces), trigger bar loops, or trigger pull weights. I've seen FAR more variation in M&P's than I have from Glocks or any metal framed pistol models.

Edited June 23, 2016 by TacticalReload

[MemphisMechanic]

Exactly. I completely agree with you, and I've slapped Apex guts into more than a few of them.

[Mully383]

I get the feeling that people aren't making that part because of the wide gun-to-gun variation.

If there was that much of a variation i don't think they could make aftermarket Sears. Of course some guns do need timing adjustments to make them work but that's not to hard

While I don't disagree on the premise, I swapped or modified the internals on more than half a dozen different M&P's; and I don't think any two of them had identical sears (angles, lobes, striker engagement surfaces), trigger bar loops, or trigger pull weights. I've seen FAR more variation in M&P's than I have from Glocks or any metal framed pistol models.

I can definitely agree that m&p's vary in the trigger a lot. Mine range from horried to OK in there stock configuration. But I would put my money on the differences being the trigger bar and the sear. I'd imagine the frame would be the tightest clearances.