Stock Armalite Triggers - Worst POS ever

Riflechair

Riflechair

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Hi guys

I`ve owned a lot of military surplus rifles. This is my first AR15 - bought it for service rifle shooting. She has a Colt A4 upper and an Armalite A2 lower.

I have got to tell you though that the trigger on this bugger is the worst thing I have ever had the priviledge of owning. I don`t know a darn tootin thing about these trigger systems but oh my god it creeps, jumps, and just as you think you`re at the moment of truth it creeps again. I`m figuring a 10 or 11 pound pull.

What the heck am I going to do!
BCRA ain`t that far away and I`d like to get this cleaned up.
 
A $350 trigger assembly... ouch these rifles are money pits.
Anything a chap can do with the stock trigger to clean it up?
 
Rock River Arms 2 stage trigger is pretty decent and reasonably priced, I believe around (edit) $160. Questar has them. That's where I got mine.
 
What do you think?
Looks like i need a new unit?
Removing the case hardening on the metal components does not sound like a good idea.

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First off, don't wast your time with playing around with springs ( JP Yellow etc ) and other backyard trigger jobs

Next you need to decide if you want a single stage, two stage ( heavy first light second or light first heavy 2nd )

Single Stage - JP , Chip McCormick ( they also make two stage ) , Timney etc .

Two Stage - best bang for the buck by far RRA 2-Stage . The Geissele High Speed is my favorite . The Geissele SSA is less money and not as adjustable as the High Speed . The High speed can be had in 3 versions. If 3 High speeds I have 2 needed fitting so be prepared that it may not be drop in

Two Stage - light first stage. I actually prefer this since its closer to by precision bolt guns. The only one I am aware of that is like that is the new AR Gold. Don't have enough time behind it to form any meaningful conclusion

I think for you application that the RRA 2 stage if you are on a budget, the Geissle Hi Speed with the Service or DMR version if you have the money to burn. The Match version is 4 to 14oz on 2nd stage which is great for bench work but obviously very light. Don't underestimate the RRA 2 stage !

The best investment you can make is to buy the Brownells ( http:// .brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1030/Product/AR_15_HAMMER_DROP_BLOCK ) hammer drop block. Let dry fire the crap out of your lower while you are in front of the TV. Good way to get use to how your trigger breaks . Without it your, thumb gets sore trying to catch hammer before it hits reciver
 
Wow, you guys sure are eager to spend other people's money.

The AR should not have a trigger pull that heavy. The US MIL spec for the M4A1 carbine is 5.5-8.5 lbs with no creep. I'd take that bit about creep with a grain of salt, but from everything I've heard the letoff is reliably kept well under 10lbs.

Take your trigger apart and clean it, look for grit, chips and burrs, and get rid of them if present. You don't want to grind any bearing surfaces, but case hardening is usually at least 0.5mm thick, giving you lots of freedom to polish the surface with a fine polishing paste. I won't promise you a match trigger, but you should be able to improve things considerably.
 
Match trigger set

I ordered and installed the Armalite national match trigger set in my Armalite AR180B as the oem trigger was the same as yours was.End of problem and a excellent trigger and only a couple of hundred bucks to boot!Call Wolverine.--Thanks--Dieseldog!!
 
Tuff Armalite trigger pull

Actually if you go to the Armalite web site and look up in their library section of information there is an explination of why their triggers are so tough due to legal reasons and lawsuits.Also there is an explination of break in procedures and reccomendations of tuning by gunsmiths.--thanks again--Dieseldog!!
 
Other than the total weight, mine is only 7 lbs, my CMMG has the exact same trigger problems as your Armalite, it just plain SUCKS! In fact, it has the worst trigger of any of my guns.

Questions for RRA 2 stage trigger owners:
- How heavy is yours (1st and 2d stages)?
- Is the 1st stage the lighter or heavier one?

I'll try my hand again at the stock trigger, but I don't have much hope of improving it, so might have to go for the RRA unit, if it's what I'm looking for. Thanks.
 
Don't waste your time and money on a new one.Give yourself a .25 cent trigger job!

How do you do it you say?

Stage #1
Take off your upper.Find a piece of para cord or other similar rope/twine.Put said para cord under the hammer.#### hammer.Pull staight up on para cord as hard as you can while squeezing the trigger slowly.Trigger will be extremely hard to pull.If it is you know your doing it right.Eventually trigger will break and the hammer will go forward.DON'T let the hammer slam into the frame.Enough of this will dent the aluminum and make it so your bolt catch does not function.Repeat as much as nessisary.Put back on the upper and try it holding the rifle as per normal.

Stage #2
Enjoy your new smooth trigger.

Note:
This method does NOT change the trigger weight.What it does do is smooths out the pull so you don't notice the weight.
There are other options including honing the sear,but I have never really had to after using this method.
Doing this has smoothed out the triggers on all the rifles I have shot in competition including 2 second place CFSAC finishes, a third place at NSCC and a good showing at Bisley.You DON'T need a fancy light trigger on these guns to make them shoot.Save your money for practice ammo! ;)
 
On a 2 stage trigger, the trigger is under spring tension and has a distance it moves through under tension before it hits the 2nd stage like a wall. It is at this point feeling like a standard single stage, and simply breaks without creep after you pull through it. So for example, you pull initially at 3.5 lbs through the travel of the first stage smoothly, and feel it hit a solid point. Now when you add pressure to reach 7 lbs total, it breaks cleanly.
 
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