Anybody know how heavy the trigger pull is on a Colt LEO carbine?

I did the water jug pull weight test on my Chip McCormick single stage straight trigger. It fires at 2 1/4 lbs. I won't bother to do the water jug pull test on the factory Colt trigger,.... I  figure that even all the weight of a gallon of water hanging on it will not get it to fire!

Anyway....IS THERE A RELIABE WAY TO BRING THE PULL WEIGHT OF THE FACTORY COLT TRIGGER DOWN? The catch word is reliable.


I have put a Chip Mc trigger in one rifle already, and plan to put a Chip Mc trigger in the other as well. (if it ever arrives)
So.....I have the two sets of the original Colt triggers from two different Colt Rifles, and plenty of time I can experiment with. (while I wait for another large pin Chip McCormick trigger to arrive)

EDIT:  I did the water jug trigger pull test out of curiousity just to see how bad the Colt trigger was. This trigger releases at 6 lbs 13 1/2 ounces! How do you spell Index Finger Hernia?

search the 15min trigger job

colt makes their own match trigger for these rifles.    very nice trigger pull

Thanks for thread. Think I'll order those $4 springs from Brownells that are mentioned  too.

I still wonder what that heavy factory pull actually is???  Maybe I'll get my water jug apparatus and Oehler scale all set up and see. Then I'll try the modification on the trigger springs and compare and see how much pull weight is shaved off.

I'll get back to you and let you know what the trigger weight of my Carbine is before hand.

Check with 'Geohans' before you do anything. Charles.

What is Geohans? An ARFCOM subscriber with experiece on this? Is it a parts supply house??? or what???

Sorry, Geohans is an ARFCOM team member with some similar Colt questions and experience that I beleive will be helpful for you to consider. Charles.

I've been through the whole thing.  Ordered a Colt Match competition trigger, sent it back.

1911builder took my stock colts, a new 6920 and a new 6721, and polished the trigger surfaces with a stone.

The 6721 came out perfect, MUCH better than the Colt "match" trigger.  It feels like the trigger pull of a Heckler and Koch P7, but shorter.  A great stock trigger, with enough resistance to convince you it's not a match trigger, but a nice clean predictable break.

The 6920 trigger job didn't work, so I bought a new  Colt trigger from SAW  (30 bucks) and 1911builder did it again for me.  No charge.  He had told me beforehand that the trigger on this particular gun, which (like all stock triggers) is manufactured with VERY poor tolerances and has only a hardened surface, did not have a good geometry.  It was distinctly different in geometry , purely by chance, from the 6721 trigger.  He warned me that it would not have as good a result.  He repeated the polishing job on my replacement trigger, and it turned out very similar to the excellent first one.  Both are hands down better than the Colt competition trigger.

the difference in trigger parts is pure luck of the draw.  If your trigger happens to have been stamped out on a good day at the factory, it could have great potential for a little polishing.  If not, you could polish right through the hardened surface and still have a lousy trigger pull, which will then deteriorate as the soft metal wears.

Please note, the quality of the triggers is NOT dependent on which Colt model you buy- just the quality of the stamping of the individual part.

I would recommend you get in touch with 1911builder.  He'll tell you exactly what he can do, and whether you would need to send him your lower or just your trigger.  I would bet he could look at the trigger and tell you in a minute or two whether your particular trigger is going to polish well, or if it will be risky.  Bottom line, he absolutely guarantees his work, and will not stop til you're happy.

Smoothing the surfaces of the trigger is a much more reliable method than replacing springs, or bending them, or whatever you're supposed to do in 15 minutes.

I leave for Germany Tuesday and will be gone 10 days, so I may have difficulty following up on this discussion.  Talk to 1911!!

About Geohans,

Now this is a guy that knows how to post! .....Chock full of information, and he didn't even have to edit it to get it right!   Geohans, I realize that you might not receive this reply before you head off for Germany, but thanks for the valuable input.

I am always suspicious of factory enhancements like the Colt "Competiotion trigger".This particular trigger never really seems be mentioned in comparison to Chip McCormick, JP, etc. So I had no intentions of buying it anyway. Kind of reminds me of the Colt shorty scope that was offered some years back...another  factory sponsored dud.

I already ordered a Yellow Tavern AR-15 spring kit from Brownell's. It's worth a try for $4 plus $8 priority shipping. I will see if I can install these springs and then smoothen the Colt trigger and sear surfaces with 600-1000 grit paper myself. Hopefully, it will be acceptable. If not, I will continue to wait for a Chip McCormick trigger, and lost little in the effort.  

I am tired of all the hassels and worries of sending stuff off to gunsmiths for work. It is time consuming, and a risky PIA to ship firearms. I also worry if stuff will get scratched, dented, at the smith or during shipping. This same 6721 arrived to me from the dealer when I purchased it, with the front post having punctured through the doubled box!  A pefect example why to avoid shipping firearms if possible, and just order your own parts or replacement trigger.  Just my personal preferences.

Thanks again for the good info.

Schoene Gruesse!

Yes, sounds like a good coure of action.  I'm sure 1911builder would be happy to discuss it with you, even if you don't send anything to him.

The surface on the Colt triggers, as you know, is only hardened to a few thousandths of an inch.  If you polish through that, it's "tschuss!"

How about just applying some moly paste, then shoot and dry-fire the piss out of your rifle until the trigger slicks up on its own?  

Josh

How about just applying some moly paste, then shoot and dry-fire the piss out of your rifle until the trigger slicks up on its own?  

Josh

Geohans posted:
The surface on the Colt triggers, as you know, is only hardened to a few thousandths of an inch. If you polish through that, it's "tschuss!"

I don't know what that word means, but it does kind of remind me of "tush", "piss", "puss", etc. Uh....not a good thing I presume?

Josh posted:  
How about just applying some moly paste, then shoot and dry-fire the piss out of your rifle until the trigger slicks up on its own?  

Thanks Josh,
But, on the topic of improving performance simple and easy with "paste", my wife would tell you that even with all the Ultra Brite paste I could buy, my smile would be improved but I'd still be the same ass hole that she married 31 years ago.  

Tschuss= hasta la vista, baby!

Never mind the "15 Minute Trigger Job"!

I've got a Colt 6920, and  I sent off for the Brownell's Yellow Tavern  Spring replacement kit for $4 plus $8.50 shipping, and received it 3 days later.

 I shouda bought me a couple of  6 packs of root beer with the money instead. I installed and reinstalled those springs over and over, each time that I kept polishing the sear surface narrower and narrower.  1 1/2 hours later after taking the parts out, and then putting them back in  to check the progress,  I finally gave up!  All I could manage was a slight improvement. Trigger still creeps a mile, and pulls way too hard for my taste.

Darn! Gotta keep waiting to find somneone to sell me a MCCormick large pin trigger!!!!

Just got my new single stage curved Large Pin McCormick trigger in today after a 4-5 week wait.....

Do you remember our Australian buddy Crocadile Dundee in that scene when he  said "Now that's a knife!"

Well, I say, "NOW THAT'S A TRIGGER!"

A friend of mine, who is a dealer,just installed a RRA large pin 2stage match trigger in a Colt LEO lower.Felt great.A lot better than the factory trigger.

I just got done with the lower of my first build. Used an Eagle Arms from Armalite and a CMT LPK. When I got it together, the trigger just had to be 8 lbs plus 2 steps and another stage of creep. The solution was either fix that one or order a JP single stage like I have in my Armalite factory rifle. First remove the parts and clean them with paint thinner or brake clean. Next take a Dremel tool with automotive rubbing compound to the forward edge of the trigger (top and front) and it won't hurt to hit the hammer notch as well. Reassemble and put automotive rubbing compound on the hammer notch that engages the trigger. Protect the reciever from the hammer fall and start working it in. Add more compound and keep going maybe 50 times. Remove and clean all compound out. Reassemble dry and repeat the dry fire process 50-100 times this time using Flitz or like metal polish. Clean. Clean and clean again. I use JP lighter trigger springs, but first get all the yellow paint off. Reassemble and this time use a dab of McCormic Trigger Slick. My result was great, very smooth, about 3.5 lbs and a nice rolling let off. Well worth the effort. This is just an hour or so more work than the 15 min job and way cheaper than one of the commercial kits.