AR-Gold PCC trigger experiences

[Bill Schwab]

Love the AR-Gold triggers in my "real" AR's, so I've been eyeing the new AR-Gold PCC trigger. Anyone here using one and care to share experiences?

[ziebart]

I have one. It has some side to side play. And I'm not sure if it's the TACCOM bolt but I feel some trigger slap. Happened with the GI trigger too.

[RaylanGivens]

I have an AR Gold .308 trigger in my PCC and like it.

 

Note that the AR Gold PCC trigger is completely different...  The trigger weight is not adjustable and is set at 3.5 pounds from the factory.

 

[Roy T]

I have a standard Gold (AR15) in my Frankenstein gun with Taccom innards and after about 2500 rounds I have had no problems

[mellino19]

I have one coming soon and can let you know when I install it. Currently running a CMC PCC 3.5lb flat trigger and want to see how they stack up against each other in terms of break, reset, and overall performance.

[Bill Schwab]

5 hours ago, mellino19 said:

I have one coming soon and can let you know when I install it. Currently running a CMC PCC 3.5lb flat trigger and want to see how they stack up against each other in terms of break, reset, and overall performance.

 

Thanks, I'd appreciate it!

[mellino19]

So my AR Gold PCC trigger came in on Monday, I just got around to installing it tonight.

 

Since I mentioned that I have a CMC PCC trigger I just want to start with saying it has basically ZERO take up and comes in at maybe 2lbs 10 oz.

 

The AR Gold PCC trigger has maybe maybe 1-2mm of take up, very small but it’s there. The trigger comes in at 2.5lbs flat.

 

While no take up on the CMC is nice, I feel like it’s led me to trigger freeze because I’m not finding the reset for some reason, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how the AR Gold performs at the range. Maybe the Gold is more slap friendly because of that take up and if/when I slap the CMC I’m beating the reset? I’m gonna try to get out to the range Saturday and get some rounds through it and see the difference and report back! 

[mellino19]

Alright I got to a practice last night and ran the trigger for about 50 rounds or so.

 

A little foreshadowing on my setup: I'm  running 16" JP barrel with a JP bolt, Blitzkrieg 5015HD buffer, a 2.6oz weight from Blitzkrieg, a JP 308 rifle length buffer spring, and 143pf ammo. It is a short stroke setup. The bolt carrier I'm using is the main example on the AR Gold web page regarding PCC bolt compatibility.

 

I had failure to reset about 5 times or so - bolt would cycle, pull the trigger, nothing happens - rack it back and continue for maybe another 8-10 rounds before it would happen again. I've never had a problem with CMC and haven't changed my load OR my buffer set up.

 

I had two theories once I found experienced this:

1. I'm overrunning the pre-travel and not letting the trigger reset

2. The buffer/bolt aren't going back far enough to push the hammer down enough to catch for the rest.

 

I decided to pull out the 2.6oz weight and run our practice stage again and had zero issues. I decided that I'm going to pull out the rifle length buffer spring and install my Sprinco Orange (308 carbine length) spring and run it this weekend at the range to see if it's more reliable.

 

Other than the function hiccups, the trigger is very crisp and breaks like glass. Maybe I'll bring my CMC with me and do a comparison video to get up since there aren't many floating around on youtube.

 

Hope some of this info helps!

[RaylanGivens]

@mellino19 Good report...  With the 308 rifle spring...  the SS buffer weight...  and the 5015HD buffer you are sprung really hard...  I wonder if removing the buffer weight helped because you added some room for the trigger to reset or because it lightened the overall spring rate...

 

I've tried the Sprinco springs and like them except for the annoying 'twang' noise they make.

 

[mellino19]

5 hours ago, RaylanGivens said:

@mellino19 Good report...  With the 308 rifle spring...  the SS buffer weight...  and the 5015HD buffer you are sprung really hard...  I wonder if removing the buffer weight helped because you added some room for the trigger to reset or because it lightened the overall spring rate...

 

I've tried the Sprinco springs and like them except for the annoying 'twang' noise they make.

 

yeah it’s a lot of preload on a rifle length spring but makes a softer shooter with quick cycling. I imagine doing just a spring swap will fix this little situation since I’m lightening the overall rate as you said. I thought I read somewhere that the JP carbine is slightly more powerful than the Sprinco so I may have to get the JP as well and find what works best 

[motherFNbrandon]

Any further testing with the AR Gold?

Very interested to hear your experience once it’s really up and running, especially vs the CMC.

Edited November 30, 2019 by motherFNbrandon

[mellino19]

Sorry for the delay, winter is here in New England and make it's a bit tougher to get to the range with daylight being gone by 4:30 and it being 20 outside. Matches are only indoors and like once per month. Luckily I shot one yesterday morning.

 

This may be long winded but I want to give as much detail with my experience as I can and I'm sure that's what most are looking for when it comes to asking how a product is!

TL:DR - I like the CMC more than the AR Gold

 

Anyways, I got some more rounds through my PCC with the AR Gold PCC Trigger. Thanksgiving morning I brought my gun to the range with my 143pf loads (125gr Blue Bullet RN 3.6g titegroup), and I brought a Sprinco Orange 308 carbine length buffer spring and a new frontier buffer spacer with me so I could tune everything; as I mentioned before, when I first put it together my second round would not fire due to failure to reset (Blitzkrieg 5015HD buffer, 2.6oz weight from Blitzkrieg, JP rifle length spring, JP bolt carrier, 16" barrel).

 

I tried multiple configurations to get a reliable running gun, ultimately I settled on just swapping out the JP Rifle length 308 spring for the Sprinco Orange 308 Carbine length spring and keeping the short stroke setup. It ran great at the range and I shot it again Saturday afternoon with friends with zero hiccups outside while it was about 30 degrees.

 

Sunday I ran the gun at a match and on the first stage I had at FOUR failures to reset on a 58 round stage. After that I ran to a safe table and put my setup BACK to being just the 5015HD and the JP Rifle Length 308 spring and finished the match without a problem however a bit more dot bounce.

 

I MIGHT be able to get it to run better with the short stroke setup and a JP Carbine length 308 spring as it's a bit weaker than the sprinco, which I would imagine will allow slightly more bolt travel to reset the trigger.

 

My first problem with the this trigger is that I have to reconfigure my entire recoil system to make it reliable. I shouldn't haven't have to tune my PCC to my trigger. My CMC, I never had a problem with ANY recoil system configuration in terms of reset and function - I think this is due to the design of the hammer. AR Gold's website gives PCC bolt carrier examples and essentially the JP is best for it, which I have...and still have problems.

 

My second problem that I initially thought might help me, is the bit of take up; as mentioned before, there's about a 1mm to 1.5mm (maybe 2) take up before it breaks. AR Gold mentions it's like a fine 1911 trigger...I've felt 1911 triggers with much less take up. While the break and reset are crisp, I feel like this take up screws with my splits a bit; keep in mind with that statement I have thousands of rounds through my CMC and probably 700 through the AR Gold.

 

In all honesty, I like the CMC more and I was able to have a recoil system configuration I liked a lot more. The AR Gold isn't bad, but the fact that I have to reconfigure my gun to make it work is a bit of a turn off. Currently my CMC is back in Texas because I was talking them about occasional trigger freeze experience and I wasn't sure if it was me or the trigger, they asked me to send it back to them anyways so they can check it out. I was hoping it was a "fix the customer, not the trigger" scenario but their customer service is great and they want to do everything they can.

 

To wrap up, in my opinion I think the CMC PCC trigger is better and more reliable than the AR Gold Trigger. The AR Gold trigger might work great in long stroke non-competition setups but when you're dealing with finely tuning your PCC for competition and using crazy buffer setups, it doesn't seem to be the best option especially for a short stroked gun and lower power factor ammo.

 

My PCC was setup great, and it's going back to that setup.

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by mellino19

[SwedishMoose]

I'm planning a build and am having trouble deciding between a CMC, Hiperfire 24c, and an AR Gold. 

 

I've always been curious about the AR Golds, I've seen everyone say the 24c's are good, and I'm used to CMC Flat's for 5.56 rifles. 

 

Can anyone else echo these frustrations regarding the AR Gold? The in depth review has scared me away but I want to make sure the sample size of 1 isn't really just a lemon. 

[Bwillis]

1 hour ago, SwedishMoose said:

I'm planning a build and am having trouble deciding between a CMC, Hiperfire 24c, and an AR Gold. 

 

I've always been curious about the AR Golds, I've seen everyone say the 24c's are good, and I'm used to CMC Flat's for 5.56 rifles. 

 

Can anyone else echo these frustrations regarding the AR Gold? The in depth review has scared me away but I want to make sure the sample size of 1 isn't really just a lemon. 

Get the 308 hammer  Ar gold trigger. Pair it with iron city or shooting innovation bolt you won’t have issues. I’ve used Ar gold and iron city bolts in two different pcc’s with just about every buffer and a ton of different springs and short stroke setups.