Posted: 7/26/2017 2:35:43 PM EDT
[Last Edit: engineer40][Edited]
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I'm not much of a striker fired pistol fan and I had never owned a Glock (but I have a small arsenal and I'm definitely more than a "casual" shooter). Last fall on Cyber Monday I got a great deal on a Glock 40 MOS and a Glock 43.
After almost posting the G40 for sale a few times, I decided to see if I like it better after I do a trigger job. I'm an engineer by trade so I always test/troubleshoot things 1 variable at a time. Some interesting results occurred for me, which go against common thinking with Glock trigger modifications. My Wheeler trigger pull scale measures in 8ths, not digital like the Lyman. So you'll see fractions below. I did not simplify fractions to make this easiest to compare results. I did 5 pulls per modification. Obviously measured in pounds. All modification measurements were done by themselves with no other mods, unless otherwise noted. Factory trigger pull weight: 5 1/8, 5 2/8, 5 0/8, 5 1/8, 5 2/8 (Actually better than I was expecting). Only mod; Zev Lightened safety plunger spring: 5 2/8, 5 0/8, 5 1/8, 5 1/8, 5 1/8 (Looks to have made no difference). Only mod; Lone Wolf reduced weight safety plunger: 5 1/8, 5 1/8, 5 0/8, 5 0/8, 4 7/8 (Slight improvement in pull weight. It did have a different contour comparing to the factory safety plunger. I changed back and forth a few times, and I couldn't notice any difference that the change in contour helped with). Lone Wolf Safety plunger and Zev safety plunger spring together: 5 2/8, 5 1/8, 4 7/8, 5 0/8, 5 0/8 (Not any different than just the Lone Wolf Safety plunger by itself). Only mod; Wolff 6lb trigger spring: 4 7/8, 5 0/8, 5 0/8, 4 7/8, 4 6/8 (Slight improvement in pull weight). |
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Continued...
Only mod; Wolff 5lb striker spring: 4 4/8, 4 6/8, 4 3/8, 4 4/8, 4 4/8 (It's obvious the striker spring weight makes the biggest difference by far in trigger pull weight). Only mod; Wolff 4.5lb striker spring: 4 2/8, 4 1/8, 4 3/8, 4 3/8, 4 5/8 Only mod; Wolff 4lb striker spring: 4 2/8, 3 6/8, 4 1/8, 3 7/8, 3 6/8 (I kept the 4lb striker spring installed for the rest of my testing). Wolff 4lb striker spring + Plunger + Plunger Spring: 3 5/8, 3 5/8, 3 5/8, 3 5/8, 3 5/8 (Must have got lucky, every pull was the same. Seems like combining the plunger and plunger spring with the lighten striker spring made a larger difference here than when tested without a lighten striker spring above). Wolff 4lb striker spring + Plunger + Plunger Spring + Lone Wolf UAT trigger: 3 1/8, 3 2/8, 3 2/8, 3 2/8, 3 2/8 (Ultimate Adjustable Trigger with trigger bar) Wolff 4lb striker spring + Plunger + Plunger Spring + Lone Wolf UAT trigger + Lone Wolf Reduced Weight steel Striker: 3 1/8, 3 0/8, 3 1/8, 3 0/8, 3 0/8 (Some improvement in pull weight which surprised me. Possibly the factory striker had rough surfaces?) Everything above + 6lb trigger spring: 3 1/8, 2 7/8, 3 1/8, 3 0/8, 3 0/8 (With the 6lb trigger spring combined with the 4lb striker spring, the trigger didn't reset every time. Since the 6lb trigger spring didn't help nearly as much in pull weight as the 4lb striker spring, I took the 6lb trigger spring back out for the final test and left it out for good). Everything above minus 6lb trigger spring + polished internals: 3 1/8, 2 7/8, 2 7/8, 2 7/8, 3 0/8 (This is how to kept the pistol and continue to shoot it). |
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Continued...
Looking back if I had to spend money on all of this stuff again I would; -Not even get the lighten safety plunger or plunger spring unless I was also installing a lightened striker spring. Seemed like when added together, it did help. -Polishing the internals helped a tiny bit with pull weight, but it helped a ton with smoothness of trigger. I don't plan to buy anymore Glocks, but if I ever ended up with another I will always polish the internals. -The Lone Wolf UAT trigger I have adjusted to have the smallest amount of pre-travel and over-travel possible and still maintain all 3 Glock safeties in working order. Having an adjustable trigger helped at least as much as the trigger pull weight reduction did in regards to me being able to shoot quicker & more accurate. -I did not test the lightened striker spring with the factory striker. Everything I read, that wouldn't be reliable. Lightened striker has been working perfect. I've shot the pistol about 250 rounds since finished up this trigger work. I have a stockpile of CCI primers and have had zero light primer strikes yet. If I start getting any light primer strikes, I will invest in some Federal primers. I have no reason to brag or try to skew the testing results in any way. Truth be told I don't enjoy Glocks compared to my CZ's and 1911's. (But the 2 Glocks I bought do work well for the reasons I purchased them. I personally just don't shoot Glocks as well.) I thought it would still benefit the community here to post my results. Because it took a ton of research and YT videos before I decided how I wanted to modify my Glock trigger and I was super curious how each different mod would actually change the trigger. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions. I'm happy to answer. Thanks. |
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| Helpful hint I did some of this when I was looking to improve my trigger. To get the most consistent trigger pulls with a gauge I used sticky tack on the trigger face so the gauge indexes each time on the trigger shoes the same way. If you move slightly up or down on the shoe you will have varying results but if you measure from the same point each time the weight will be very consistent. I measured all mine at the 3/4 mark down on the shoe. |
From flesh to steel and blood to blade I fight to exist... A rival of justice, extreme rush of hatred... Survival in a twisted world where nothing is sacred.
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Good suggestion. I just used a #2 pencil to mark the location to pull from. Then erased the mark when I was finished.
Originally Posted By EdgecrusherXES:
Helpful hint I did some of this when I was looking to improve my trigger. To get the most consistent trigger pulls with a gauge I used sticky tack on the trigger face so the gauge indexes each time on the trigger shoes the same way. If you move slightly up or down on the shoe you will have varying results but if you measure from the same point each time the weight will be very consistent. I measured all mine at the 3/4 mark down on the shoe. |
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Originally Posted By engineer40:
Good suggestion. I just used a #2 pencil to mark the location to pull from. Then erased the mark when I was finished. |
From flesh to steel and blood to blade I fight to exist... A rival of justice, extreme rush of hatred... Survival in a twisted world where nothing is sacred.
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Originally Posted By Tim300wsm:
I have been struggling to decide what to do with my trigger(It's awful) and it looks like this combo will be what I'm looking for Using it and shooting it will still have the biggest effect on smoothing it out. |
From flesh to steel and blood to blade I fight to exist... A rival of justice, extreme rush of hatred... Survival in a twisted world where nothing is sacred.
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It was either 1) improve the trigger or 2) sell the pistol. I REALLY wanted to love this pistol. I still don't love it. However at least now I can get hits at 50+ yards. I got my G40 for both woods protection and possibly hunting. Heavy, long, gritty, stacking pistol triggers are horrible for distance shooting.
Originally Posted By lanco:
And with ALL that testing, your result is little to NO difference and a Compromised pistol in the one area, where there is NO compromise, RELIABILITY! You'll have problems out the wazoo, like all the other turkeys that fool with the internals! |
| Thank you very much for such a detailed analysis. I started shooting pistols a couple of years ago and now have several Glocks. Since I was basically new to shooting pistols, I did a lot of research, belong to several forums, etc. I tried to find as much information as I could concerning modifying Glock triggers. The information you presented far exceeds anything I have come across! Job well done and thanks again!! |
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Originally Posted By 98bluewave:
Thank you very much for such a detailed analysis. I started shooting pistols a couple of years ago and now have several Glocks. Since I was basically new to shooting pistols, I did a lot of research, belong to several forums, etc. I tried to find as much information as I could concerning modifying Glock triggers. The information you presented far exceeds anything I have come across! Job well done and thanks again!! So far so good with my mods. Still no light primer strikes and still using CCI primers, which are known to be some of the harder primers out there. |
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Originally Posted By lanco:
And with ALL that testing, your result is little to NO difference and a Compromised pistol in the one area, where there is NO compromise, RELIABILITY! You'll have problems out the wazoo, like all the other turkeys that fool with the internals! |
From flesh to steel and blood to blade I fight to exist... A rival of justice, extreme rush of hatred... Survival in a twisted world where nothing is sacred.