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From my piece on The Firearm Blog:
One of the most common complaints about the Tavor (and most bullpup rifles) is the trigger. The dissociation between the rifle’s grip and trigger from its spring and hammer often leads to bad words like “long, heavy, gritty, spongy.” The Tavor has seen soaring popularity in the civilian market, which has in turn meant a renewed interest in aftermarket accessories.
Several companies have stepped up to the plate to offer replacement triggers for the Tavor. The first of these to hit the market was the Timney Trigger pack.
I had only a brief hands-on with this at Shot Show, not enough time for a full review. But I was impressed that Timney had their engineer there on the show flow and he was available for questions. I was keen to talk about Canadian rifles and how these triggers would fit. From what I saw and heard there, I was convinced that this was the trigger I wanted in my rifle.
The initial estimate of “shipping in 30 days” was overly generous for everyone. But in the first week of May I did receive my Tavor Timney Trigger. The longest part of the installation was finding a pen in my office to punch the Tavor’s captive pins with. After that, the factory trigger pack drops out in seconds and the Timney locks in place.
I can tell you as a long time Tavor shooter that this feels like a huge difference. I’m happier with this rifle now than I’ve ever been. But happiness is nothing compared to hard numbers.
Using a Reed force gauge I tested the pull of my factory trigger, with no modifications or workarounds applied to it. I did half a dozen good pulls, and took the average:
11.02 lbs per pull
Then, using the same process, I tried the Timney:
4.84 lbs per pull
I’d say those speak for themselves. The Timney is noticeably lighter, crisper, and with a shorter reset. Interestingly you still get an amount of creep from the Tavor’s linkage bar. The only way to remove this from the system would be to produce a new, shorter linkage bar, which would be a substantial challenge for most users to install.
I would be remiss if I did not address reports of early adopters having issues with light primer strikes or unintended slam fires from their Timney Packs. On various forums across the web, owners have had to exchange their triggers or send them in for repair. I was very fortunate to have had no issues whatsoever with my Timney trigger after 400 rounds downrange using a variety ammunition. It is possible that I received a unit with upgraded parts already installed, although Timney did ask if I’d had any issues after the first 100 rounds.
There is a communal hope that an improved trigger will also improve the communal groups of the Tavor. In my previous six thousand rounds I would ballpark my accuracy to have been:
1 inch groups at 50
3 inch groups at 100
6-9 inch groups at 200
Posted below are my 100 yard groups shooting American Eagle 55gr .223. This is far from a comprehensive accuracy report, but gives an indicator of my personal experience:
Overall I would recommend an improved trigger pack as one of the most substantial upgrades to the Tavor rifle currently on the market. I would stop short of saying this is something every owner needs. I would encourage new owners to experiment with the factory trigger before committing to spending $350 (MSRP) on an improved setup. The SAR-21 trigger has come a long way from my Israeli original, and there are lots of good reasons to keep it. But for those who’ve been wanting to upgrade from the milspec factory setup: Timney has delivered a lifeline.
