Reducing Trigger Weight on a Self Defense Carry Pistol.

Freedom Forged

Regular Member
Excluding gaming, bullseye shooting etc. Speaking only about any EDC self defense pistol, is their an accepted minimum trigger pull weight. A standard weight that most everyone would agree that a responsible person would not go below. 5#?, 4.5#?, 4#?, 3.5#?, 3#?

Discuss please.
 

spinmove_

Member
Ahhhh, legit question. Maybe I'm confusing the two due to lack of experience.

Well, you didn’t really specify what kind of pistol we’re talking about. Guessing by the weights you listed I would say SFA, but you never know.

My point in my previous post was two-fold. 1.) A lighter trigger is technically easier to shoot, but by what difference are you really going to see by going how much lighter? 2.) If you go too light, you risk affecting reliable function.

If you think a lighter trigger is going to allow you to be more precise, I’d argue that you need to work on grip and trigger control. If you think a lighter trigger is going to allow you to split faster, I’d argue that your recoil management and trigger control need work.

In my experience a smoother trigger is more beneficial as it’s more predictable and less distracting to the overall shooting process. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to clean up trigger action and wanting it smoother. Just don’t confuse it for wanting a lighter trigger weight.


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Low_Speed_Notper8or

Regular Member
I think it depends on the length of Travel of the trigger, if it has a DA, as well as if there is a manual safety.

What I would find acceptable on a Glock type gun with a hot trigger and short travel versus something like a high power or 1911 that is SAO with a thumb safety is different. And also if you have a DA-SA gun then the SA single action trigger weight is kinda irrelevant. Like I would be perfectly fine carrying a cajunized CZ-75 with a 2 pound SA trigger if how I carried it would be in double action with the thumb saftey on, though I would be exceptionally wary of a 2 pound glock trigger.

That being said once you get under like 5 pounds with a clean break I think you start getting into diminishing returns with the trigger and its effect on your shooting
 

Grayman

Established
I agree with all of the above and will add the following:

Assuming based on other posts by the OP we are discussing a gen 3 Glock 19... With a Glock smoother and lighter are two different subjects but not necessarily disconnected.

With a Glock the biggest gains you will find over stock are in the pursuit of a smooth trigger pull. This can be accomplished several ways either through aftermarket parts or through polishing the stock components. This polishing will occur naturally through extensive use or done in a simple end user process. Some time ago there was a post or write up titled "make your stock Glock rock" that covered several ways to help smooth up the factory trigger.

Be advised that by smoothing the trigger you will decrease the weight of pull. The reverse, however, is not necessarily true. By decreasing pull weight you lessen the mechanical strength needed to accomplish the task but that doesn't mean it's easier. A light gritty trigger is far harder to consistently master than a smooth heavy one!

As to the original question about weight I would say you should try to stay within the factory specs. I prefer not to worry about the need to justify parts or modifications to a jury of peers which result in an out of spec "death machine".
 

SmElly

Regular Member
Excluding gaming, bullseye shooting etc. Speaking only about any EDC self defense pistol, is their an accepted minimum trigger pull weight. A standard weight that most everyone would agree that a responsible person would not go below. 5#?, 4.5#?, 4#?, 3.5#?, 3#?

Discuss please.
I hate to be a paranoid douche, but I dont really like messing with internals. I'd rather train more/get better with a mediocre trigger, than compromise the reliability of my carry blaster by even 1%

There are exceptions, of course. Lotta knowledgeable dudes swear by the CGW and Graygun stuff.
 

alexander

Newbie
Sorry for bumping an old thread, but I'm also curious regarding this matter. By replacing the safety plunger spring and trigger spring, is it making it any less reliable?
 

Ryan St.Jean

Regular Member
I put a 4 pound connector in my glock and leave the rest alone. I would be hesitant about a trigger weight much below #4.
 

MOT

Regular Member
All very interesting. I have resisted doing anything to my gen4 glock triggers other than shooting and dry firing. The most used one does have a noticeably lighter pull relatively speaking. Of course reliability is a must and so I’m leery of making changes. That being said, there seems to be lots that can be done with the mechanism to make it smoother and or lighter. How about the overtravel? When I’m dry firing I notice the sights bobble and it seems to be in the space between where the trigger releases the striker and where it bottoms out. Is this just a lack in proper technique/fundamentals? Also is there anything in the way of a glock trigger with shorter length of pull? Grip reduction work being an alternative solution perhaps..? With my non dominant hand I sometimes have a slight reach issue trying to disengage the glock trigger dingus. Especially with gloves on. All this being said, if a simple modification that doesn’t hurt the safety/reliability I’m open to it. Especially if it’ll help with those 25yd b8s. However is there something to be said about just rockin stock because anything better could spoil a persons trigger tolerance over time? Just some brain spillage...
 

alexander

Newbie
Thanks for the replies. I've always ran OEM minus connectors. After listening to podcast 169, I've been tempted to try the wolff trigger spring and wolff reduced power plunger spring.
 

Yondering

Regular Member
Thanks for the replies. I've always ran OEM minus connectors. After listening to podcast 169, I've been tempted to try the wolff trigger spring and wolff reduced power plunger spring.

That's a pretty good way to go.


How about the overtravel? When I’m dry firing I notice the sights bobble and it seems to be in the space between where the trigger releases the striker and where it bottoms out. Is this just a lack in proper technique/fundamentals? Also is there anything in the way of a glock trigger with shorter length of pull?

Some aftermarket trigger shoes reduce length of pull, and of course the gen4 pistols have a shorter length of pull than gen3 and are better for smaller hands.
There are a number of aftermarket triggers that reduce pre-travel to varying degrees, some adjustable and some fixed. IMO removing a little bit of the pre-travel is OK but not very much. Some aftermarket triggers attempt to remove most or all of the pre-travel, which is unsafe IMO and defeats the "double action" nature of the Glock trigger.

Overtravel can be reduced by several methods, the most common are adjustable triggers, overtravel tabs on connectors, and stops in the connector housing. Proper adjustment of these can be helpful, and IMO is part of a good trigger. However, improving your trigger pull technique should come first; with good trigger control you should be able to dry fire a stock Glock trigger with no sight bobble.
 
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For me, the Best trigger/ connector combo in my G19 is an Overwatch Falx trigger with a Lonewolf 3.5# connector.
The trigger shoe feels really awesome against my finger and it reduces the pre-travel a slight bit.
The connector smooths out and lightens the pull weight and really shortens the reset, which allows me to reduce my split times.
 

Adam84

Newbie
Be careful running the Lonewolf connector, I had 2 of them that caused my gun to go full auto. When I contacted them about it the first time they said "oh yeah they do that sometimes. We'll send you another one."

Both connectors were immediately broken and the gun has been returned to stock.
 
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