So You Want a Sub 2# Glock Trigger

[Woody Allen]

Anybody have any tips on drilling the new hole in the trigger bar? I've spent a lot of time trying, and I only have a shallow divot to show for it.

I annealed the steel, and I'm using a 5/64" ACE cobalt hard metal bit. I tried running the drill press as slow as it goes (500rpm, I think). When I saw that wasn't doing much good, I tried running the drill faster. I still have little more than a shallow divot.

I've drilled new holes for the trigger spring before, which was tough, but this is friggin ridiculous.

Take a punch (pointy end) and place it on the trigger bar where you wish to drill the hole. Rap it with a heavy hammer and you get a dimple/divot. Use a 1/16" split point cobalt drill bit (sell them nearly everywhere-DeWalt No. DW1204). Use a hand held variable speed drill with only medium pressure. Run the drill very very slowly (just barely turning) and you will see threads of metal climb up the bit (too fast-no metal removed-too slow-no metal removed). After a minute or three the hole is drilled. It is not necessary to anneal/heat the steel or use cutting oil (the drill bit never gets hot-never even gets warm). Key is the cobalt split point bit, very very slow speed and medium pressure.

[mballai]

Take a punch (pointy end) and place it on the trigger bar where you wish to drill the hole. Rap it with a heavy hammer and you get a dimple/divot. Use a 1/16" split point cobalt drill bit (sell them nearly everywhere-DeWalt No. DW1204). Use a hand held variable speed drill with only medium pressure. Run the drill very very slowly (just barely turning) and you will see threads of metal climb up the bit (too fast-no metal removed-too slow-no metal removed). After a minute or three the hole is drilled. It is not necessary to anneal/heat the steel or use cutting oil (the drill bit never gets hot-never even gets warm). Key is the cobalt split point bit, very very slow speed and medium pressure.

Broke two bits, very small dent in surface, wasted two hours going very slowly. Looks like I have to buy someone else's handiwork, unless someone knows how to do this.

[Woody Allen]

Take a punch (pointy end) and place it on the trigger bar where you wish to drill the hole. Rap it with a heavy hammer and you get a dimple/divot. Use a 1/16" split point cobalt drill bit (sell them nearly everywhere-DeWalt No. DW1204). Use a hand held variable speed drill with only medium pressure. Run the drill very very slowly (just barely turning) and you will see threads of metal climb up the bit (too fast-no metal removed-too slow-no metal removed). After a minute or three the hole is drilled. It is not necessary to anneal/heat the steel or use cutting oil (the drill bit never gets hot-never even gets warm). Key is the cobalt split point bit, very very slow speed and medium pressure.

Broke two bits, very small dent in surface, wasted two hours going very slowly. Looks like I have to buy someone else's handiwork, unless someone knows how to do this.

I don't know what to tell you. I just did two trigger bars the date I wrote that (from Brownells). First, 1/16 split point cobalt bit-I tried other cobalt bits with no success. Second, gotta make the divot/dimple-gives the bit something to dig into. Third, bit just barely turning. Just barely press the trigger on the variable speed hand held drill and let off (barely turning). PM me if you want me to walk you through it.

[mballai]

Well I bought the only two 1/16th split point cobalt bits I could find and they are now both broken. I think I followed your instructions to the letter. Maybe having a drill press would help, but that's out of the question. Maybe a newer trigger assembly isn't as hard as the older one I tried? Won't know unless I can get more bits and try again.

[Joe D]

The newest style Glock trigger bars require a slightly different hole location. Relocate the hole .140" instead of the .120" location.

[WARDOG]

That's makes sense..

I used a new trigger bar, relocated the hole to .120, and had doubles, tried some trigger housings and stumbled in a LWD one that was somewhat defective because with non modified trigger bars everthing dragged and froze.

I Installed the modded trigger bar with LWD 3.5 connector and the LWD defective trigger housing.

Perfect. trigger pull smooth as silk, perfect sear engagemente and 1lb 11oz break.

Now I understand why. The defective trigger housing push the trigger bar upward. With a normal bar it's too much and drag, with the modded one is perfect maybe because new trigger bars must be drilled higher.

So far, 4000 rds without a hiccup.

Edited July 15, 2008 by WARDOG

[WARDOG]

I just received 20 trigger bars from midway, they all have long noses and a gray finish, are they the newer .140 ones?

Many thanks for any info,JoeD.

[Joe D]

Can you post a picture? The new ones have a distinct look. The stamping is not as good as the older ones. They will still work.

[racerba]

Take a punch (pointy end)...

funny

[WARDOG]

I really enjoy working on guns, this glock trigger job thing is like solving a riddle!

I tried some trigger bar (right now the count is at 10, but growing steady...).

So far what I learned is that for trigger pad (plastic) .120 to .125 is the correct distance from the original pin, more than that and you won't have sufficient sear engagement.

However, the location WHERE you drill the new hole in relation to the old pin hole, like the revered Joe D said, determines different striker releases.

I tried to relocate a new hole UP (.120) and FORWARD (.140) the new hole, and the release was early in the pull, but reset was very very long. Trigger break at 2,14 lbs with some mushiness. Sear engagement full .

Relocating the hole UP (.129), and somewhat IN LINE with just a tad (like .20) FORWARD the old pin hole, and using an old trigger bar gave me best result, non perfect, but quite good.

Striker release toward end of pull, medium reset (not long but not super-short either) sear engagement tricky with this combo, I have to use an LWD trigger housing that cause the cruciform sear to ride higher in the frame, with an OEM housing sear eng. is too little and you have some doubling.

With LWD housing sear eng. is quite good, albeit on the edge, but weight of release in very very good at 1,11 lbs.

Seems that you have a narrow window where to drill new holes in trigger pad, I will try to drill various pads keeping even the UP measurement and drilling back or forward in small increment.

One thing to be really sure is that the drill press is set perfectly perpendicular to the pad. If you drill the new hole not perfet the trigger bar will drag like crazy, and the trigger will not come forward.

After breaking two cobalt bits on a new trigger bar, I tried the alternative trigger job method, i.e. reshaping the trigger bar nose. I did it freehand with a dreamel with a sanding drum.

Tried to shape a gentler curve, less rounded, hard to explain. Tried to grind square then stoned flat and polished like crazy.

Result were interesting, trigger pull was 2.12 lbs perfect sear engagement, some sort of roughness that will go away with more polishing but the reset was the crispest and shortest I've ever tried on a glock.

I tried an LWD connector, but best result with this trigger bar was with a 3.5 OEM connector.

As far as connectors, I tried several.

LWD ones are very tricky, they are rough out of the box, and installend in trigger housing they stick out MORE than OEMs, that lend to disconnector dragging heavily on slide, sometimes failing to reset, other than that they put pressure on trigger bar nose, so trigger pull is heavier somewhat.

I bend them very carefully in order to stick out from housing the same amount of OEM connector, polish them to perfection, and stone disconnector to mirror finish. Now they have the crispest release and the crispest reset.

I bend the trigger bar spring tab using Joe D reference of .820 to .840 from end of tab to end of nose, and this reduces the pretravel leaving all safeties functional, all my homemade cheapass trigger jobs have all safety working.

I use a lightened striker (LWD) with a trapper striker spring (not sure of weight, but it pops every primer) tried a wolff striker spring but dragged somewhat in the channel.

So far the perfect job would be the one with nose reshaping but with a lighter pull, or the LWD housing one but with a crisper and shorter reset.

The quest continues.

To Joe D: I really appreciate if you would point me if I'm screwing something, Basically I'm working by feel, trying and trying (and stocking ruined trigger bars...). I will post pics of my new batch of trigger bars later this mornig.

[Joe D]

I am always looking for the perfect trigger. My latest experiment utilizes a stock 5 lb connector. I am getting a very short, crisp 1 1/2 lb pull with a good reset. The pad hole location effects the pull more than some think. When drilling the hole in the bar I find it best to go straight up the leg. A carbide bit makes drilling the bar very easy.

You are correct about the pad hole. I have a small block that I rest it on when drilling.

BTW use a cratex wheel to reshape the nose. It removes metal and polishes at the same time.

One more thing - watch out for the height of the nub that pushes the striker safety down. If it is too high it will drag on the slide.

I have a drawer full of ruined trigger bars and pads.

[FJR]

Joe,

Great advice! Thanks for posting this info.

[Matt Griffin]

FWIW, I started messing with this last night, and the DeWalt Cobalt split-tip bit cuts through the trigger bar like butter. The advice to turn it slowly and judge by the curl of metal was spot-on, I was through the bar in less than a minute.

QUESTION: Does anyone have a good way to view the striker safety engagement short of a chopped slide? I'm thinking a dentist mirror up through the magwell might do it.

H.

[Matt Griffin]

First effort was trigger bar, .12 up the leg, trigger pad back about .14, reshaped shoulder of bar going into the trigger. Stock 3.5 connector, extra power trigger spring, polished and reshaped striker safety, reduced striker spring.

It's a short but heavy extremely crisp pull, with overtravel. I initially had a Rocket connector, but the trigger bar was rubbing when it first met the connector shoulder, so I switched the OEM one back in.

I'll try to take it out to the range and see what I have wrought.

H.

[WARDOG]

Have you tried to put back the OEM trigger spring? If you bent the trigger spring tab as for JoeD advice, I've found that putting a heavier trigger spring increases trigger pull weight

[Matt Griffin]

Not yet, I knocked it out at lunch. I'm going to swap it into a stock g17 and start working the components in one at a time, to see what does what.

H.

[Joe D]

The one connector I never use is the Ghost. I like either Glock, Scherer or LWD. It all depends on the feel you want. I find the Scherer to be a little more crisp than the Glock.

Changing the location of the pin hole in the trigger pad will alter where the striker releases. Some folks with smaller hands like it to release at the very end of the travel. Others with larger hands like it to release in the middle. It all depends on where you put the hole.

There is never any reason to use a heavy return spring.

[Matt Griffin]

I moved the hole back, and the main effect seems to have been that the sear engagement is much greater now, the trigger bar is angled upward towards the sear. So I have a heavier but crisper pull, but I don't know that it has really shortened the stroke. I measured vs. a Sotelo kit in one of my guns, and the travel to the release is about the same. It feels shorter for some reason, but it isn't. Tricky stuff, this.

H.

[Joe D]

I wil try to post some pictures this weekend showing the various pin locations. The location of the hole on the trigger bar is important. As I posted earlier, the new TBs require a slightly different location.

[WARDOG]

It would be terrific to see some pics of your pads, JoeD!

BTW I just ruined another trigger bar hehe..

That glock trigger job thing is becoming addictive...

[Joe D]

I have a drawer full of ruined trigger bars.

[Big Lau]

New to Brian Enos and USPSA in general so forgive me if I'm off topic, but you folks seem like you know triggers...

I have been shooting a Glock 35 stock trigger group except for a lighter striker spring. Went bang every time.

I was having trouble with the trigger weight so I bought a Novak 2.0-2.5 # trigger kit from B&B. Shipping service was great and the trigger group looked fantastic. I'm no gunsmith by any stretch, but I dropped the whole package right in.

However, now I'm experiencing light strikes, with no changes in loads. Any ideas would be appreciated. I like the feel of the new trigger and would love to be able to make this thing work.

[vluc]

New to Brian Enos and USPSA in general so forgive me if I'm off topic, but you folks seem like you know triggers...

I have been shooting a Glock 35 stock trigger group except for a lighter striker spring. Went bang every time.

I was having trouble with the trigger weight so I bought a Novak 2.0-2.5 # trigger kit from B&B. Shipping service was great and the trigger group looked fantastic. I'm no gunsmith by any stretch, but I dropped the whole package right in.

However, now I'm experiencing light strikes, with no changes in loads. Any ideas would be appreciated. I like the feel of the new trigger and would love to be able to make this thing work.

what primers are you using?

[Big Lau]

New to Brian Enos and USPSA in general so forgive me if I'm off topic, but you folks seem like you know triggers...

I have been shooting a Glock 35 stock trigger group except for a lighter striker spring. Went bang every time.

I was having trouble with the trigger weight so I bought a Novak 2.0-2.5 # trigger kit from B&B. Shipping service was great and the trigger group looked fantastic. I'm no gunsmith by any stretch, but I dropped the whole package right in.

However, now I'm experiencing light strikes, with no changes in loads. Any ideas would be appreciated. I like the feel of the new trigger and would love to be able to make this thing work.

what primers are you using?

Winchester Small Pistol.

[Micah]

I'm not familiar with the Novak kit...does it include a modified striker?

A year ago Federal primers were MIA and I switched to WSP without a problem, but then again I use a stock striker and spring. Federals are a bit softer than WSPs.