M&P Apex trigger has me stumped - Aaaaarg

[71Commander]

Had the Apex competition spring/sear kit, with stock trigger, in my M&P for years. Had it milled out for a RMR a few years back. Everything has worked perfect.  With the allowance of the Apex flat faced trigger trigger, I installed the trigger, trigger return spring and sear. When dry firing, the striker resets. There is a distinct click when I pull the trigger. When I load a round, there is a click but no primer strike. Not even a mark showing a light primer strike. I have a heavy duty striker spring.

 

What am I missing?

Edited April 18, 2018 by 71Commander

[WarrenZ]

 

 

Doesn't the fss kit come with a specific striker block? 

 

If that isn't it Open the candycane on the trigger bar a couple of thou more.

Edited April 19, 2018 by WarrenZ

[71Commander]

51 minutes ago, WarrenZ said:

 

 

Doesn't the fss kit come with a specific striker block? 

 

If that isn't it Open the candycane on the trigger bar a couple of thou more.

That's my next attempt in a fix.

[Snausages32]

I just bought and had installed the apex flat faced trigger kit, along with the gunsmith barrel.  

 

Like you, I already had the competition spring kit in there, and I wanted to know if I could just buy  the trigger ($70) vs the whole trigger kit ($170).  I called apex and they told me that each part of the trigger kit is made just for the trigger kit, and that it wouldn't work with existing parts plus the trigger - I needed the whole kit.

 

If you install everything that came with the trigger kit, that should fix your problem.

 

[71Commander]

17 minutes ago, Snausages32 said:

I just bought and had installed the apex flat faced trigger kit, along with the gunsmith barrel.  

 

Like you, I already had the competition spring kit in there, and I wanted to know if I could just buy  the trigger ($70) vs the whole trigger kit ($170).  I called apex and they told me that each part of the trigger kit is made just for the trigger kit, and that it wouldn't work with existing parts plus the trigger - I needed the whole kit.

 

If you install everything that came with the trigger kit, that should fix your problem.

 

Thanks.

[Avedis]

The standard Apex sear that is included in the CAEK, DCAEK, ETC kits will not work in conjunction with the Flat Faced Trigger. This is because the lobe on the sear is not long enough. The flat faced trigger and forward set sear were made to work together. 

 

This compatibility issue has become so common that Apex has disabled the online checkout for this product (flat trigger only) on their website. You must call to order it. They are no longer selling it to their wholesale customers either. 

 

Full kit available here:

https://www.twobrostactical.com/products/m-p-forward-set-sear-flat-faced-trigger-kit-aluminum

Edited April 20, 2018 by Avedis

[tkane]

I started with the competition kit. Later went to the flat forward set trigger and had dead trigger issues. Replaced the competition kit striker block with the one that came with the flat forward set and never had another issue.

[71Commander]

8 hours ago, tkane said:

I started with the competition kit. Later went to the flat forward set trigger and had dead trigger issues. Replaced the competition kit striker block with the one that came with the flat forward set and never had another issue.

 

That's not it in this case. I removed the striker block and got less than 50% ignition. It's a bowed trigger bar. Wasn't allowing the sear to disconnect between shots. Trigger bar loop was always under the sear.

[thebridge]

Btw..  you’ll likely have an issue with the APEX sear not resetting if you use it with the competition sear spring.  There’s not enough time for the little guy to always get the job done.  

When I was sorting this out with my 5” 9, I couldn’t tell much, if any, difference between it and the factory one. 

[71Commander]

8 hours ago, thebridge said:

Btw..  you’ll likely have an issue with the APEX sear not resetting if you use it with the competition sear spring.  There’s not enough time for the little guy to always get the job done.  

When I was sorting this out with my 5” 9, I couldn’t tell much, if any, difference between it and the factory one. 

Now that sux. I didn't change the sear spring. I changed the RAM spring.

[thebridge]

Then you should be ok.  I don’t have the ram

[thebridge]

have you solved the problem?  I might know what’s up.

[71Commander]

Still working on it.

[thebridge]

So you’ve removed the striker block and getting 50% ignition, and with it installed the striker is not passing it?  Is that correct? 

[thebridge]

I’ll take a stab at it before you reply...

 

The light strike problem..

Pull the striker out.  As you do notice any resistance.  This should be straightforward and like clock work...press down on the plastic housing thing, remove the plate from the rear of the slide, push down on the block (click) and the striker comes out.  If any friction is felt,  I would look for a reassembly error when you put in the competition spring.

 

No strike when everything is assembled...

If I’m reading your first post correctly, it sounds like the stiker is hitting the block.

If I remember correctly..by CLOSING the loop (candy cane) it allows the trigger more travel rearward before the sear is engaged and the striker is released. This will also give the cam on top of the trigger bar more travel to deactivate the striker block.

If I’m correct about this, and if you close the loop to much, you’ll end up not releasing the striker at all.  If that happens, open the loop a small amount at a time until you have a very small but noticeable amount of over travel (mine is about a business card thickness), short reset and enough travel to deactivate the block.  CB

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by thebridge

[Snausages32]

I had a light primer strike on my new trigger kit recently, and the fix on mine was a stronger trigger return spring.  My gunsmith said the one that was included just wasn't doing the job, and he had a stronger one.  I went from 15 light strikes out of 100 shots, to working perfectly.  He installed it Friday, and Sunday, two days ago, I tested it, and that was it.  Maybe that'll help?

[Magsz]

A trigger return spring has nothing to do with light strikes, zero, zilch nada bud.

 

Something was probably assembled wrong and when the gun was taken apart to change the trigger return spring, it was reassembled correctly.

[Snausages32]

On 4/27/2018 at 12:54 PM, Magsz said:

Something was probably assembled wrong and when the gun was taken apart to change the trigger return spring, it was reassembled correctly.

 

Extremely likely. 

 

If I remember right, he said something about it not resetting completely.  I also had a gunsmith fit barrel installed at the same time, however.  Maybe a combination?  Who knows.

[71Commander]

In my case, likely culprit is the old style sear housing block. Couldn't use the larger OD sear spring. Going to get a new one and reinstall.

[matteekay]

So... I wound up here after searching around and trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong with the Apex FSS/flat trigger kit.

 

First, I installed it following the instructions and had it fully functional in dry-fire. Took it to the range and I was getting the random dead trigger - every few rounds, there would be a light "click" but the striker wouldn't release. I'd reset the action and the gun would run fine before another random stoppage.

 

I did some reading and determined the candy cane loop was opened too wide (and it was really wide). So, I cranked it down to where it was almost completely closed and took it back to the range. Now I'm encountering reset issues where another round chambers but the trigger doesn't reset at all (I have to rack the slide at least a little to activate it again). Am I right in thinking that the loop is now closed too much? Is it really that sensitive?

 

The most aggravating part is that I can only reproduce the issues in live-fire. Everything worked every time in dry-fire and I'm not sure why that is.

 

[mpom]

I would remove the slide and observe the interaction between the candy cane and sear, as trigger is slowly allowed to go forward from full press, after the rear of trigger bar is pushed to left at full trigger press. Candy cane should snap past sear for a reset, which may or may not be happening. I usually polish the trigger bar section that slides against the sear to make the reset smoother. Also, the top of trigger bar that contacts the striker block both on forward and rearward movement may need to be polished.

[matteekay]

Excellent, I'll start there. Thank you!

[71Commander]

Still working on it.

[Snausages32]

If the trigger isn't resetting all the way, try a stronger trigger return spring if you can get one.

[Fastlil1]

Is the apex trigger often this difficult to install properly? I'm planning to get one soon, and am debating between installing it on my own or dropping it at the gunsmith.