| 9,830 rounds | 5 stoppages (+1 w/non-LCI extractor) |
0 malfunctions | 0 parts breakages |
Seven and a quarter pounds: that is what my Glock trigger weighs now. I very lightly polished the trigger bar, “minus” connector, and firing pin block before putting the NY1 trigger spring back in the pistol. Seven and a quarter pounds is more than three times the weight of the fully loaded gun. Conventional wisdom says that’s very bad.
But nonetheless, I shoot it better.
| -/std | -/NY1 | |
| Dot Torture @ 10yd | 39 | 44 |
| F.A.S.T. average | 5.39 (c) | 4.87 (c) |
| Press Six | 48 | 53 |
The biggest difference for the F.A.S.T. was the press-out, especially after the draw. So it’s no surprise the Press Six drill went more in favor of the heavier trigger, as well. As for the improved ten yard Dot Torture result? I attribute it to a more rolling trigger break. Of the six shots I dropped, however, four of them were WHO… evidence that the heavier trigger starts to make more of a difference when my less-trained finger is running the gun.
There will not be an update next week. I’ll be traveling and not likely to get any range time.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Previous Glock 17 gen4 Endurance Test posts at pistol-training.com:
- Week 5
- Week 4
- Week 3
- Week 2
- Week 1
- 99.8%
- It Lives
- Week Zero
- When Will It Stop?
- Announcement
Is it just me or has there been 5 stoppages in every report so far?
Silly me, I was thinking those were stoppages for each week. Never mind.
I prefer the regular gen 4 trigger with a ZEV Tech Custom Trigger Spring. It basically gives it a gen 3 pull weight with a cleaner break and stronger reset.
So now the big question- do you trust it, Todd?
I trust it enough to carry it. I don’t trust it enough that I’d spend $500 on another one yet.
I tried running the NY1 and ‘-‘ connector – while the pull felt more consistent, I didn’t like the “springy” reset as the spring pushes the trigger back forward…
I know more dry fire would help, but the difference wasn’t that great from the stock unit.
I guess the bright side is that none of the parts have broken yet.
What is so wrong about a trigger pull 3X the weight of the loaded weapon?
I am not trolling, I honestly do not know what the expectation is for a striker-fired pistol or any other weapon for that matter, except precision rifle and competition guns, which I understand to be around 3-3.5 lbs, based on user preference.
I am quickly finding that my military firearms training (US Army Infantry) is woefully inadequate on the technical knowledge side of the house (less inadequate if other areas).
If the answer is too long for this forum, a pointer to the proper point of education would be great.
Thanks.
Matt:
As another former Army guy, let me take a stab at an answer. The theory is that if you have an 8 pound trigger pull and pound and a half weapon, the force needed to pull the trigger is also more than enough to pull or push your weapon off target. Thus, the lighter the trigger pull the more accurate you are likely to be in shooting the weapon.
Obviously, there are also countervailing forces and issues of leverage (for example with the length of the trigger pull), but all else being equal, it is certainly the case that precise accuracy and light trigger pulls tend to go together. You will sometimes, for example, see target 1911’s with extremely light triggers.
Light triggers have their own issues, though, and it is not obvious that combat pistols benefit from light triggers. One group of Tier 1 shooters is said to have very light connectors on their Glocks, while another apparently uses HK 45c’s with a very tough first round double action pull. There is probably a current consensus that a trigger pull in the 4.5-6 lb range is optimal for a combat gun, but whether that is group think at work or a sensible conclusion is itself open to argument. Personally, I think a lot depends on the individual and that hard-and-fast rules in this area tend to ignore the differences between shooters.
Anyway, I hope that helps to explain the issue.
Given SteveJ’s excellent response, I have absolutely nothing else to add in answer to your question, Matt. Thanks, SteveJ!
Unfortunately, When I did have the opportunity to fire a wide variety of firearms I didn’t know or think to pay attention to trigger weight, length of pull, over travel, or reset though we were at least trained to understand slack in the trigger and what trigger reset is.
I am sorry for asking these basic questions, but I have not seen any resources online that discuss and define what many of the technical shooting terms mean. I have been able to pick up the meaning of some terms in context (like over travel, length of pull, etc.) but that gives me a vague connotative understanding of the words, not a true technical understanding.
Again, any help pointing me in the right direction is welcome. I understand how frustrating it can be to explain things to people when there are resources available for them to learn on their own.
“I trust it enough to carry it. I don’t trust it enough that I’d spend $500 on another one yet.”
With respect, Todd, don’t you have that backwards?
You wouldn’t “bet” $500 dollars on another one, but you’d bet your life on it?
Matt — Valid question.
I trust the one I have in my possession. It needed tweaks to run properly, but as of this past weekend it has fired about 10,000 trouble free rounds.
As for the gen4 9mm in general, I continue to see enough people having enough problems that I wouldn’t invest in another one right now.