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Posted: 7/30/2012 6:23:09 PM EDT
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I put an ACT Trigger in a 9mm SBR a few months back, and compared it side by side with a stock Colt 6920 trigger, a stock DDM4 trigger, and a Geissele SSA right after it was installed. The comparison was dry fire only, without any actual rounds fired with the ACT. At that time the Colt had about 1000-1200 rounds on it, an unknown number of rounds on the DD, and the Geissele was unfired.
Obviously the SSA was the best by a mile. Much lighter, cleaner break, with the very light, but smooth take-up stage to provide an extra margin of safety. The Colt was typical of stock AR triggers. Heavy, with considerable creep. The DD actually had almost no creep, but the break was even heavier than the Colt. Compared to the other two stock triggers, the unfired ACT had about the same amount of creep as the Colt, but it was a bit smoother. The break was maybe 1lb lighter. I thought at that time that the ACT was an improvement over a stock mil-spec trigger, but not enough to justify the price. As it turns out, I may have to take that back.... I just did another back to back comparison, with the ACT now having about 200 rds fired. While that's not a lot of live fire, it has managed to make a huge difference in how the trigger feels. While it still has a bit of creep, the smoothness compared to the Colt trigger is much more noticeable. I also believe the pull weight has dropped by almost another pound or so. The SSA still blows it out of the water, but I'd say the ACT just about splits the difference now between the stock Colt and the Geissele. I'm now hesitant to say the improvement is not worth the $65 they're charging for these. It has become a noticeably better than stock trigger with just a bit of live fire use. I'm going to put a set of JP yellow springs on it and see how much better it can get. Right now its about 40% of the way between a stock trigger and an SSA. I'm hopeful that the JP springs will take it more than half way to the SSA, for less than half the price. |
| I am not very impressed with my ACT even with JP springs. It's not much better than the DPMS trigger I had with JP springs. I will likely go with another JP trigger or give the Geissele's a fair shot beside just a few pulls on a friend's rifle. The JP once set, no creep, very little over travel (purposely set for safety), and the 4.5# pull is enough resistance for safety for me. |
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A very well thought out review.
The ACT was not really designed to compete with more expensive triggers. It is not creep free, it is not crisp, it is not light. It was not designed to be. It is a "less bad" stock trigger. Stock triggers range from un-shootable to semi-ok. With a QMS or ACT you should always have a semi-ok trigger that is as reliable as a stock trigger. We could include a lower power hammer spring but then lock time and primer ignition might be compromised. It is better if the individual shooter tries the lower power spring on their own to see if it works with their ammo. |
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"Less bad" is an apt description for how it felt out of the box. The surprise was that it improved as much as it did in a relatively short shooting session. Do 9mm set ups wear triggers in faster in your experience? This one went from being a slight improvement over stock (like 5-10% better) to much better (30-40% better) in only 200 rds).
I have never been tempted to try lighter springs in the past because of concerns about reliability and knowing that even if the pull weight was lower, the gritty, creepy nature of the stock trigger would still be there. Because this rifle is a dedicated 9mm, I'm not as worried about having a full power hammer spring. This ACT has smoothed up enough in this rifle that I'm sure it will be a pretty nice set up with the pull weight reduced a bit more. |
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So I put the JP yellow springs in tonight. Haven't done any live fire yet, but did compare it to the SSA and stock Colt. I think the pull weight is now down to about the same as the SSA, maybe even slightly lighter. Overall trigger stroke is shorter without the 2-stage take-up, but the most noticeable difference to me is the quality of the break. The ACT/JP combo has a slightly mushy break, whereas the SSA is crisper/sharper. I believe the SSA will be a more controllable and predictable in live fire. I think the ACT/JP might actually present a slight liability in a high stress situation because it now so short and light, but without a really crisp, predictable break.
Compared to the stock Colt, the ACT/JP combo is a revelation. Much, much smoother and lighter. Still a bit of creep, but smooth creep. The Colt feels like it has sand in it by comparison, and feels like you forgot to take the safety off in terms of pull weight. The acid test will be a range trip. I can tell already that the ACT/JP will allow for better precision than the Colt. It will be interesting to compare it to the SSA in that regard. I am still a bit leary of how reliability will be impacted. I don't expect any issues with it being in a 9mm, but the spring are so much lighter that I would have some concern about lighting military primers in 5.56. Splitting the difference between the ACT/JP Yellow and the stock Colt would make for a pretty nice, yet still safe and predictable, stock-based trigger. I assume JP's red spring set splits the difference between the yellow and stock? If so, that may be the answer I'm looking for. |
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