socman777 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 (edited) Yes, yes, who hasn't heard of the now infamous Glock "25 cent trigger job"! Apparently this is based on the smidgeon of Mother's or other polishing compound used to do it. But it doesn't count a good Dremel, or the special polishing tips, stones etc. many use to do this. More like $100.25, lol. And it is quite true than an aggressive Dremeling at high speed might just take off a bit too much metal and round your corners. The advanced 25 cent job has you cleaning with some 000 dry steel wool, stoning with maybe 3 stones, Dremeling to polish, then a final light stoning to get your edges back. I even ran across a guy who then loads the trigger assembly up with JB bore paste (or similar), reassembles the gun and then dry-fires it for a couple 100 rounds to achieve a "final mating" of parts. Then meticulously cleans all to remove every single particle of this potentially wearing compound. Whew! Hope he doesn't miss any. And the method more akin to a real 25 cent job - using Q-tips and polish (more like a $10.25 job) will take you - almost literally - forever, at least if you want a real polish, ala the Dremel boyz. And with no sense of edges. Really little more than a good cleaning with a light polish. This method was really pretty lame, at least for me. And now my ears are fulla wax, having used up the last of our Q-tips. I finally discovered a method that I think is the true champeen of easy - cheep - effective trigger jobs for the rest us non-machinists. Let's call it the $1 trigger job. And it is truly a buck (well dang close anyway). The Kiss (actual name) 4-Way Ultra Shiner. What!? You never heard of this? Ask your wife. This handy dandy little trigger machine is hiding in the cosmetics department of your neighborhood drug store where somehow, our fair partners have mistaken this fine customization tool for a nail shaper/polisher. Actually the "Kiss" comes in two versions. The 4-way Nail Shaper (with 4 grits - 180, 240, 400 and 600) and the ultimate, intergalactic version - the aforesaid 4-way Ultra Shiner (nice name, eh?) - which is 240 - 400 - 600 and (est) 800 or 1000. Awesome. I used the latter, the Ultra Shiner and spent about 20 minutes, give or take: ended up with a noticeably smoother trigger. I focused on the key areas on the trigger bar, connector, safety and firing pin lug (the usual). This tool fits nicely, can be precisely positioned, and - it works. I only found one area which needed a bit of light 240'ng, but the rest of the job was done using the 400 - 600 - 1000 (marked 2,3, and 4 on the tool). The advantages as I see it: 1. It really is cheep - about a dollar. That's it. In the interest of full disclosure I did use our nice household magnifying glass, but we all have one of those already, right? 2. It promotes and maintains your crisp edges. 3. It really does achieve a good, smooth polish with light easily controlled strokes. All essential areas can be reached, angles and edges easily maintained and polished. Including the safety. 4. As far as "removing too much metal" (a common concern of the $10 or $100, er 25 cent, methods), the hand method insures that you'll be working safely and carefully. To remove too much metal you would have to virtually go nuts. This is a great method for those who want an easy, quick, reliable and competent method that poses little, if any risk to your fine gun. A final observation - I found a few, hard-to-remove scratches and what looked like tiny, tiny pits here and there, apparently a product of the stamping/manufacturing process. Certainly it is possible to eliminate ALL of these - even with the $1 trigger job - but I really don't see the point. To do so you really WILL have to remove metal. And I feel that if these key areas are otherwise shiny smooth, there will be no real detriment to leaving these there (in comparison to removing some real metal). My apologies to the anal-retentives. The proof is in the pudding: my 3.5 G-34 factory trigger is now noticeably smoother, breaks nicely, and I did not risk its reliability or longevity in any way. In fact, I probably improved it. Anyway, that's all she wrote. Enjoy... the true $1 Kiss Ultra Shine Trigger Job! Edited July 1, 2009 by socman777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Interesting find. Mods...maybe you could move this to the Glock forum....maybe ????? Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socman777 Posted July 1, 2009 Author Share Posted July 1, 2009 (Originally posted in "General Gunsmithing", copied on request) Yes, yes, who hasn't heard of the now infamous Glock "25 cent trigger job"! Apparently this is based on the smidgeon of Mother's or other polishing compound used to do it. But it doesn't count a good Dremel, or the special polishing tips, stones etc. many use to do this. More like $100.25, lol. And it is quite true than an aggressive Dremeling at high speed might just take off a bit too much metal and round your corners. The advanced 25 cent job has you cleaning with some 000 dry steel wool, stoning with maybe 3 stones, Dremeling to polish, then a final light stoning to get your edges back. I even ran across a guy who then loads the trigger assembly up with JB bore paste (or similar), reassembles the gun and then dry-fires it for a couple 100 rounds to achieve a "final mating" of parts. Then meticulously cleans all to remove every single particle of this potentially wearing compound. Whew! Hope he doesn't miss any. And the method more akin to a real 25 cent job - using Q-tips and polish (more like a $10.25 job) will take you - almost literally - forever, at least if you want a real polish, ala the Dremel boyz. And with no sense of edges. Really little more than a good cleaning with a light polish. This method was really pretty lame, at least for me. And now my ears are fulla wax, having used up the last of our Q-tips. I finally discovered a method that I think is the true champeen of easy - cheep - effective trigger jobs for the rest us non-machinists. Let's call it the $1 trigger job. And it is truly a buck (well dang close anyway). The Kiss (actual name) 4-Way Ultra Shiner. What!? You never heard of this? Ask your wife. This handy dandy little trigger machine is hiding in the cosmetics department of your neighborhood drug store where somehow, our fair partners have mistaken this fine customization tool for a nail shaper/polisher. Actually the "Kiss" comes in two versions. The 4-way Nail Shaper (with 4 grits - 180, 240, 400 and 600) and the ultimate, intergalactic version - the aforesaid 4-way Ultra Shiner (nice name, eh?) - which is 240 - 400 - 600 and (est) 800 or 1000. Awesome. I used the latter, the Ultra Shiner and spent about 20 minutes, give or take: ended up with a noticeably smoother trigger. I focused on the key areas on the trigger bar, connector, safety and firing pin lug (the usual). This tool fits nicely, can be precisely positioned, and - it works. I only found one area which needed a bit of light 240'ng, but the rest of the job was done using the 400 - 600 - 1000 (marked 2,3, and 4 on the tool). The advantages as I see it: 1. It really is cheep - about a dollar. That's it. In the interest of full disclosure I did use our nice household magnifying glass, but we all have one of those already, right? 2. It promotes and maintains your crisp edges. 3. It really does achieve a good, smooth polish with light easily controlled strokes. All essential areas can be reached, angles and edges easily maintained and polished. Including the safety. 4. As far as "removing too much metal" (a common concern of the $10 or $100, er 25 cent, methods), the hand method insures that you'll be working safely and carefully. To remove too much metal you would have to virtually go nuts. This is a great method for those who want an easy, quick, reliable and competent method that poses little, if any risk to your fine gun. A final observation - I found a few, hard-to-remove scratches and what looked like tiny, tiny pits here and there, apparently a product of the stamping/manufacturing process. Certainly it is possible to eliminate ALL of these - even with the $1 trigger job - but I really don't see the point. To do so you really WILL have to remove metal. And I feel that if these key areas are otherwise shiny smooth, there will be no real detriment to leaving these there (in comparison to removing some real metal). My apologies to the anal-retentives. The proof is in the pudding: my 3.5 G-34 factory trigger is now noticeably smoother, breaks nicely, and I did not risk its reliability or longevity in any way. In fact, I probably improved it. Anyway, that's all she wrote. Enjoy... the true $1 Kiss Ultra Shine Trigger Job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01G8R Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 (Originally posted in "General Gunsmithing", copied on request)I even ran across a guy who then loads the trigger assembly up with JB bore paste (or similar), reassembles the gun and then dry-fires it for a couple 100 rounds to achieve a "final mating" of parts. Then meticulously cleans all to remove every single particle of this potentially wearing compound. Whew! Hope he doesn't miss any. Enjoy... the true $1 Kiss Ultra Shine Trigger Job! For clarification I'm the guy that uses the JB Bore Compound to lap in the trigger work. I want to make sure I'm quoted correctly. I only use JB Bore Compound (NOT similar). I do not use any other lapping compound or any other abrasive paste. The JB works well for me and doesn't pose any problems if you clean properly after using it. It is very mildly abrasive and non-embedding. You method sounds like a cost effective solution to getting a smoother pull. Did you check the trigger pull with a gauge before and after you completed your work? I'm wondering if you experienced any decrease in pull weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socman777 Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 (edited) Your method sounds like a cost effective solution to getting a smoother pull. Did you check the trigger pull with a gauge before and after you completed your work? I'm wondering if you experienced any decrease in pull weight. I really wish I had. Using the milk jug and water technique, the after pull weight seems to be about 4.7 lbs or a tad more (at my typical finger position). Sure wish I had measured it before, but truth be told, I was more concerned about smoothness and break. The best I can say is that it feels lighter, and that the typical weight for this trigger is about 5.5 pounds at this finger/trigger position (Ayoob). As far as smoothness and break goes, I am very satisfied with my $1 trigger job. It could not have been any easier. Edited July 2, 2009 by socman777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyroWebs Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 I thought this was my secret! I just did this 2 weeks ago and my oh my does it work great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rstimpfling Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 I use one from Walgreen's. It has 7 different polishing surfaces. Each one a bit smoother than the previous one. Costs about 3 to 4 dollars. When I am done there is a bright mirror finish on the trigger metal parts. It takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to fully polish everything including disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly. I also give the striker the same treatment. Polishing the striker gives an even smoother and softer trigger pull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socman777 Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 FWIW... JB, why I never thought of measuring the trigger pull before and after - despite the fact that I really wasn't concerned with lightening the pull, was pretty dumb. I'd really have liked to know something beyond "it feels lighter'. But as it so happens I have a new G-26 arriving, hopefully tomorrow. Think I'll run a hundred rounds through it, then whip out my Kiss 4-Way Ultra Shiner and have at it. After I measure the stock pull. This time too, I'll take some pics and save a coupla thousand words. Stay tuned... ********* Question to Kyro: did you run into any manufacturing minipits and or defects, how bad were they, and how far did you go with your "shiner"? Were you using a "Kiss 4-Way? What grits did you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Could you post a pic of this 4-Way Kiss Shiner thingy? I'm not quite visualizing it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 (edited) Ask.... ...and you shall receive. That and I'm trying to hit 1700 posts. Jim Edited July 3, 2009 by JimmyM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Note: Topics merged. No need to cross post. - Admin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Ask.......and you shall receive. That and I'm trying to hit 1700 posts. Jim Thanks - I had this image of some high tech electric nail buffer, not a souped up emery board (and I'm trying to hit 3K posts myself ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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