Geissele SSA-E trigger for defense?

I’m curious as to what everyone’s thoughts on using the Geissele SSA-E trigger for serious use in a home defense or patrol rifle carbine. Is it too light of a trigger pull or is it just fine?
 

Derek Cox

Amateur
I've got one for my HD rifle and it doesn't seem too light, it will be going in all of my ARs moving forward. The 2 stage pull gives enough leeway and the break is crisp and light.
 

pointblank4445

Established
Depending on who you ask, the recommended weight for an LE sniper's trigger is generally recommended between 2.5lbs and 4.5lbs. I believe the ASA states 3 or 3.5 up to 5lbs. My SSA-E's break at 3.5-3.6lbs.

For me, they are my go-to AR trigger for precision work. I consider it a little light for my liking in a general purpose gun. I like the Tricon for general purpose/non-precision AR work.
 
I'm running one in my patrol gun. Subjectively I am more accurate running the SSAE compared to the BCM Trigger that I was running before. Its much cleaner, and while lighter, I don't feel the grittiness affecting my thought process on the trigger pull. I also have an SDE on a personal gun (flat faced version of SSAE) and am trying to decide if I want to go with the SSAE or the SDE for my HD/Travel rifle as well. If it was a one stage trigger I would have different thoughts on it I think but I think its about perfect for a duty/HD gun.
 

CK837

Amateur
I have an SSA in my patrol rifle and the straight trigger version of the same weight in my SBR. Personally, I would keep the SSA-E for a precision setup and SSA for home defense carbine or patrol rifle. The weight difference isn't much, but it is slightly noticeable. When you're smacking the trigger at a 10 yards or less cuz someone needs holes in them right now you won't notice the extra pound or so of weight. One of the perks of a two-stage trigger is that you can take some slack and weight out of the trigger, but on the SSA-E trigger I personally find that second stage is light enough that on a fighting carbine it's possible to miss the wall and just break the shot. Literally any Geissele trigger is going to be cleaner and lighter than a BCM or mil spec style trigger. I used an ALG Enhanced Mil-spec for a long time and it was just fine, but the Geissele SSA is a Rolls Royce.
 

Paul053

Amateur
I’m curious as to what everyone’s thoughts on using the Geissele SSA-E trigger for serious use in a home defense or patrol rifle carbine. Is it too light of a trigger pull or is it just fine?
There's an old geissele video where Bill talks about his triggers and recommended the ssa weight for a home defense gun. I think he mentioned that the extra weight you won't notice if you have to shoot but that extra weight maybe what prevents you from shooting someone unintentionally.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 

Fatboy

Established
I am one of the guys that runs a G trigger on my work gun. In rapid shooting, or shooting on the move I really don't notice much of a difference between it and a regular trigger. Where I notice it shines is precision type work for me. Everything from zeroing to shooting at distance where I'm on a steady rest.

I would have zero issues using it if I would need to defend myself or others with it.
 

TheTick

Member
I have an curved SSA-E in both my work guns and love them. I've made God-only-knows how many room entries and aimed it at God-only-knows how many people without a single ND/AD. I guess something to add is that we work the safety on/off when on/off sights. It's probably not a good idea in any regard to have the safety off when breezing through a house. Safety on and finger discipline, to me, kinda makes the weight of the trigger a non-issue.

That being said, I don't "take up the slack" on any shots I take either.
 

RICKDAWGGG

Industry Nobody
Staff member
Moderator
I also run Geissele and Larue 2 stage triggers in my guns, and agree that they are perfectly fine for duty use. Trigger discipline, as was mentioned, is the key. My experience mirrors Fatboy's, I never noticed the weight difference much when shooting fast, but definitely when shooting for precision.
 

pointblank4445

Established
Since we seem to be stuck on lightness being directly related with being duty worthy.

There's an old video of Bill Geissele talking about how all other makers compromised spring weights to achieve desired results and Bill wanted to maintain use of the Milspec springs to maintain reliable ignition. I would agree that with several other designs, weak springs, low-mass hammers and thinning out certain parts (and reducing engagment surface) ultimately will yield a problem.

So given that, would your responses be the same for Geissele HSNM trigger with Match spring set?...if pull weight is a non-issue solved by trigger discipline? Having dealt a broken Geissele SSA hammer bind up a gun, I know I wouldn't go that route with the HSNM lower-mass hammer for a duty gun. The SSA-E is at the edge of my limit...and even then whatever extra voodoo Bill does to make it "E" probably won't make it into my 20k bullet-hose AR.

It's personal preference in where we draw the hard line of what enhancement is still "duty" worthy and what isn't (revisiting the "pistol upgrade" modcast).

Curious to hear what other peoples hardline is for a duty/non-duty AR trigger.
 

RICKDAWGGG

Industry Nobody
Staff member
Moderator
I probably wouldn't trust a dedicated competition trigger like the HSNM without significant testing data (and it may be out there, I don't know) but the SSF (full auto version of the SSA-E) was blessed off by Crane after being tested, so that is pretty significant to me. Personally, I like the weight that they are set at, and I would not prefer a lighter trigger, even if it wasn't at a cost of reliability.
 

user12358

Regular Member
Curious to hear what other peoples hardline is for a duty/non-duty AR trigger.

Must not have reduced power springs and must not be a cartridge/drop in design is my line in the sand. I have seen quite a few mil-spec and mil-spec style triggers bricked by debris, there is no reason that you should give yourself even less clearance inside an AR trigger pocket. As far as spring weights, it doesn't matter how light the trigger pull is if it doesn't ignite the cartridge, your trigger should at least be delivering as much force as a mil-spec hammer.

I personally don't use anything lighter than an SSF/SSA and have no desire to put anything lighter than a SSA in a work gun. That being said, I have never used a precision rig for any significant amount of time professionally.
 
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