Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles question : AR triggers

John Holliger of White Oak Armament on single stage triggers used in Highpower;
https://www.whiteoakarmament.com/resources/faq.html#triggers

Granted, not everyone will shoot an AR the way we Highpower competitors do, but keep in mind that light trigger with no creep come with a toll on engagement. Good luck and be safe.

How hard are you going to use this gun, how many rounds per year will you fire & what are you going to use the gun for? All have a bearing on what type & what quality level trigger would be best, IMO.

Good questions. The answer has changed from the time I bought it to now. I didn't .. and don't .. plan to shoot it with anything like the volume of a competitive high power shooter. For that, a quality single stage will be fine; I have several but run them at 3-3.5 lb, most with a half cock notch hammer similar to a 1911 Initially I planned for mostly personal defense at a rural home on a fairly large piece of property. For that, I would highly recommend a good 2-stage like a Geiselle G2S as it's simply less likely not fire until you are really, really ready. My best single stage triggers are SENSITIVE & you need to be very careful when caressing the trigger as there is absolutely zero creep or discernible movement until it goes off The AR has proven unreliable <for me> in critical ways. I don't have confidence in it. It works as designed, but counter to my conditioning, and I keep dropping the magazine when I intend to release the safety. Condition yourself to use your thumb to release the safety & you will not have that problem, likely just a bit mental & need a little practice.........sit in your living room & practice releasing the safety until it just becomes 2nd nature & automatic. Do not use your index finger on the safety, only on the mag release With the more vertical rear grip, the mag release is where I'm used to finding the push button cross-trigger safety. S-H-I-T.

So now I'm trying to save it by making it a varmint gun. It has shown that it has the mechanical accuracy. It has also shown that it does not have the practical / field accuracy because of the trigger. It's simple .. I either get it down to a safe and functional pound and a half, preferably less, IMHO, that's too low for an AR & you will surely run the risk of the possibility of slam fires, or worst case, the gun firing when you move the safety off or I'll shoot the rest of the ammo on hand then clean it up and sell it.

At this point, I'm looking at replacements. Most likely will be a marlin lever action .357 or .44. Does the jobs as I need them done in my setting. Possibility of a Mini-14, not because of any advantage other than more familiar ergonomics. They generally shoot patterns, rather than groups, just sayin' Dunno. Not happy.

Tom

Ok, then see my comments below in red.

Also, I'd suggest that you pay attention to what Yondering says on these kind of threads; you may not like it or you may not want your gun configured as he does, but he knows what works & his advice is solid.

Well stated. The man that can't adapt to multiple platforms simply isn't trying hard enough IMHO.

Who makes the best, light, single stage trigger for an AR-15?

I'm on my first excursion into ARs and I've learned I don't like 2 stage triggers nor heavy 4+ pound triggers. I'm looking for a single stage, pound and a half or less. 8 ounces would be approaching good. Is there anything out there?

Tom

Wait, so our choices go from an AR with a 1# trigger to a lever action .357?

the 2 stage is part of the secret sauce with an AR 15 .

An SSA-E 2-stage at a total of 3.5#'s is a wonder to behold.

And he thought the AR has a bad trigger

If you go with a trigger that light, you'd better have damn good trigger control. If you are the type that immediately releases the trigger after firing, you will get some surprises.