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I shoot my AR off th bench at the range only. I am looking for the best single stage bench trigger and am looking for some advice.

AR's and single-stage triggers don't gee-haw. If you want the BEST AR trigger, bar none, get an AR Gold. IIRC the first stage is 12 thousandths, about like a Les Baer or Bill Wilson AR trigger.

Ok thanks. I am an AR novice, why are single stages not good?

Who has the best price on those triggers?

Lots of stuff reciprocating and clanging together, alot different than a 700 Rem, enough to make safety questionable.

Not only are light single stages a safety issue, a light AR trigger doesn't always have the balls to consistently set off primers.

My vote is for the AR X-treme trigger. Adjustable stages, coated in Zero-Fail, and has the fastest lock time of any AR trigger on the market.

The AR isn't ever going to be a competitive bench gun, so why screw it up trying to make it one? Sure, you may out shoot your buddy's factory bolt action, but you don't need a single stage to do that.

B.S. !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate to be redundant B.S. !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buy a JP single stage and be happy !!!!!!!

Go to benchrest central and a loser on that forum named "Mike in Co." claims he has set every benchrest record on the planet with an "AR"

Why not just get a giessele trigger and be done with it? They have some designated marksman triggers that should work.

I am now more confused than ever

You are wrong on this one. To get a super light single stage pull, you will not be safe unless something has been totally redone in the last year or so.

The operative word is your definiton of both clean and light. I"m picky. When I talk light I'm talking 16 oz or under. When i'm talking crisp and clean, its like a glass rod snapping. You feel NO movement until it goes bang.

There is not a single stage that works in the AR and is safe that will meet that. Certainly not a JP.

But then the JP is MUCH better than factory for sure.

Folks also need to get over the issue of 2 stage. It is NOT hard to use or get used to. If you are getting used to the AR after a bolt gun, switching triggers is just as easy from 1 to 2 stage in getting used to.

And yep you are correct, it won't ever be a bench gun but more than a few have shot and earned screamer patches which ain't bad for an AR....

JP is exactly the one that I had problems with. I used 2 of their lightest springs (IIRC, it was yellow, the original + the one JP replaced it with) and they both had problems with CCI 41s.

I'm glad to hear about whatshisface shooting some screamers with his AR. I'm sure that Kelbly is shaking in their boots over the prospect of their actions being replaced on the line by ARs.

My opinion only here. A single stage trigger is a bolt gun dream. AR's have two stage on all mine.

I've had a JP on an old Bushmaster lower that's been the home to several uppers and stock configurations since the 1990's and haven't had any problems. It certainly isn't 16 oz trigger, but I don't want a trigger that light on an AR. That being said, I prefer a two-stage trigger. I finished up a build last night and used a CMMG two-stage that I picked up yesterday at a gun show and I like it, especially considering the price. We'll see if I still like it after a few thousand rounds.

Jeff, you are wrong on many counts of this post, perhaps all.......NO absolutely ALL!!
YOU ARE FULL OF S*&%#.
Try a JP for once and leave your prejustice behind !!!!!!!!!

btw: Glass is my buisness......a glass rod snapping is not as smooth as you think....better wear a glove or your finger will be bloody.

The only reason you had problem's with a JP is because you only used just the spring's or you did not install them correctly.
Use the entire kit trigger, springs, hammer, pin's.....common sense.
forget Kelbly they only make bolt trigger's for BR gun's.

Duh, I wouldn't break a glass rod, its a metaphor.... glass won't bend or give basically and when it shatters its all of a sudden, compared to many other materials.

I have pulled a JP on others guns. They ain't it.

What I said is I"m really picky on triggers.

In fact if a trigger in an AR is not installed with sized pins, it can't be perfect, just how it goes with the modular system of an AR.

And calm down a bit there bud, Kelbys has no intention of triggers for ARs, the comment was in reply to my comment that some folks have shot screamer groups with ARs at BR matches before.

BTW if you are game, I'll take you up on it, I have some spare lowers laying around, after Jan 1 I'll oder a JP kit and you can put it in my lower so its done correctly according to you. Then I can figure out whether its perfect or not.

Ah, the perenial "Best AR trigger" and "single stage Vs 2 stage" debates, rolled into one. Can it get any better?

I know it's hard to believe but everyone has opinions and everyone has favorites. I also notice that people's favorites also happen to be the ones they have, how convenient is that?


A single stage trigger is one that offers resistance as soon as you touch it and will trip the mechanism when you reach and exceed the set resistance

A two stage trigger is one that offers some resistance as you initially press it but will come to a perceptible second stage when you need additional pressure to trip the mechanism.

Let's say you need 4.5 pounds of pressure to trip the mechanism. That weight is the minimum allowed for Service Rifle competition. Now, if you have a single stage you need to apply that pressure to trip the trigger. On the other hand you can set up a two stage trigger to have a 3 pound first stage and a 1.5 pound second stage. So you just pull through the first stage, hold there, refine your aim and apply the 1.5 pound required for the second stage and trip the mechanism.

For certain weights requirements, many people feel a two stage trigger is more conducive to enhanced trigger control. I happen to agree with that premise. Others are free to disagree.

In a bolt action rifle, the firing pin in the bolt is under pressure from its spring and is just waiting to be released so it can travel the few fractions of an inch to go through the firing pin hole and hit the primer. A very short distance indeed and with a good spring, the lock time, the elapsed time from release of the sear to firing pin contacting the primer is about 2 milliseconds.

The trigger mechanism of the AR is VERY different from a bolt action rifle. When the trigger is tripped, the hammer is released and it must travel up to the firing pin, which will then move forward through the firing pin hole and then strike the primer. The lock time in an AR is very long, in the order of 8 to 12 millisecond depending on the trigger and the springs used.

For the longest time, all the work on AR triggers was done to make the first and second stage work as well as possible to achieve light and crisp releases, but within the 4.5 pound minimum requirement for Service Rifle. If you see the NM or National Match moniker attached to a rifle, its trigger must be a minimum of 4.5 pounds total. The best way to achieve a great trigger in 4.5 pounds is with two stages.

Bill Geisselle entered the scene about 6-7 years ago, and he designed an AR trigger that had three qualities, which taken together made it the "best". The first quality is the ability to adjust the two stages independently to achieve a desired pull in the combination that you want, crisply. The second quality was a high-speed hammer. He designed the hammer and release in such a way that the lock time was reduced to something around 4 milliseconds; I think they now claim 4.4 or some such at their website. He was the first with such a design, or at least the first to tout it. The third quality is durability of design. His trigger does not deteriorate over time. This is very important as we will see.

The stock GI trigger has that third quality in spades, as long as you do not take a stone to it, it will last just a day short of forever. The various other triggers such as the JP and CMC and others had the first quality all sewn up, but many of them were simply not durable. My neighbor got the Chip MC one and it doubled after a few hundred rounds. I have heard of similar issues with all the other aftermarket ones, except for the Geissele.

In the last couple of years, new triggers have appeared and old triggers got reworked are grew new models. I absolutely love that, because we now have more choices than ever before and that's great.

I purchased a Geissele trigger over 5 years ago, the serial number on it is three digits. I installed it in my Match AR15 that I use for FTR competition. I set the first stage to about two pounds and the second stage to 8 ounces. I have shot thousands of rounds through this rifle, it is well on its way through its second barrel and I have dry fired it at least as much as I have pulled the trigger on real bullets. The trigger is the same as it was set almost 6 years ago. I aim on the target, take up the first stage and hold at the second. When the crosshairs are exactly where I want them to be I simply think about the trigger and the rifle fires. To me, it does not get any better within the design of an AR.

My .308 Match rifle has a single stage Timney set to about 6 ounces. I just look at it and it fires. I like both triggers a lot and shooting the AR is just a lot of fun and it is spectaculary precise.

In recent years, new AR triggers have been introduced and as far as I am concerned the verdict is still out on them. Where the military has recognised the durability of the Geissele and have purchased it in large quantities, the new triggers do not yet have a track record in that respect. That is not a knock against them, it's a fact of life which only one thing will confirm or infirm and that is time.

One of them makes the claim it has the fastest lock time, around 4.1 millisecond. Wow, that sure beats the 4.4 millisecond of the Geissele, doesn't it? In someone else's book. To me, the difference is inconsequential. Now whether this trigger has the other two qualities I mentioned above, I do not know. It may very well have them, I will leave that to others to decide.

Another trigger claims to have fast reset time. That has never been an issue for me so I can't speak to it; I never do magazine dumps in my ARs.

The bottom line is that you have to decide for yourself what you are looking for in a trigger. The great thing about the AR is that if you do not like the trigger you can easily change it, it's not a final answer type of deal.