I am looking for a good aftermarket trigger for a Glock 19 Gen 5. I have no experience with aftermarket triggers in handguns. Searching has led me to quite a few, including Overwatch and Apex. I would appreciate some recommendations. I switched handguns with my oldest Daughter, as the Glock 19 was not working for her and she preferred my EMP 3. I intend to use the 19 in my carry rotation. Thanks ahead of time.
Sidearms & Scatterguns Good Trigger for a Glock 19 Gen 5
- Thread starter Redlion
- Start date
they won't help, just learn how to shoot a glock. its not a paper punching target pistol. i use to be a reset rider, now its just a slap and let off. hard to explain but dont try to ride the trigger.
edit; the gen 5 trigger is a bit smoother and it took me a bit to get use to how much different they feel. they ramped the little nub thingy in the slide. can't recall the name of that part but i find myself double tapping sometimes when doing fast double taps.
edit; the gen 5 trigger is a bit smoother and it took me a bit to get use to how much different they feel. they ramped the little nub thingy in the slide. can't recall the name of that part but i find myself double tapping sometimes when doing fast double taps.
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I don't want to dissuade you too much but you're kind of chasing a red herring.
A Glock trigger will never, ever be a 1911 trigger regardless of what you do to it.
A factory Glock trigger, especially for a carry gun is a reliable, shootable option. It's certainly not as easy to use as a 1911 trigger but anything can be learned and adapted to. It's just a matter of whether or not you want to put the time into learning that trigger.
Having said that. If you want to lighten the trigger pull a bit but keep things reliable you can talk to someone like Charlie Vanek at Vanek Custom or Johnny Glocks.
The more you monkey with this crap the less reliable the gun will be. There's always going to be a balance.
Despite not being a huge fan of glock triggers, I bought a gen 5 g19 for my first carry gun just because I wanted to be able to shoot a stock glock well (because they are everywhere). At my first pistol course, I noticed the instructor could shoot his stock glock better than the students could shoot their modified guns. A glock shooter can always do well with a 1911, but not the other way around.
Just some background. I currently own five 9mm Glocks and have more than 500k rounds through them. I have tried every reputable trigger that you can drop in them.
Option 1 - install the minus connector on a stock trigger. It will lighten your trigger pull to about 4.5 lbs plus or minus a little. When you break the trigger in a little closer to 4.2 lbs.
Option 2 - Install the minus connector and then polish the components.
Option 3 - Tactical Trigger. Tactical Trigger makes an incredibly robust after market trigger that is drop in. If you are familiar with a Glock and have a punch it will take you all of five minutes to install it. I have the trigger in three of my five Glocks and we have it in two of our rentals. We have hundreds of thousands of rounds through them and they are still going strong. Curved or flat face, metal or plastic shoe. I like the metal shoe and the flat face trigger.
Glock performance trigger, hard pass as they are unreliable.
Aftermarket performance triggers - They all do what they advertise in that they give you a different trigger pull profile. Usually this involves less take up and reset with a lighter then factory pull. Some of them are adjustable and you can get a really light pull. Buying one of these is a use case issue for me. I do not like light triggers for pistols (especially defensive handguns) and I prefer a more positive and tactile reset of the trigger. If you don't mind any of that or having to tinker with the triggers on occasion, they all work to various degrees. In my opinion and in my experience using them, they are not as reliable as the listed options and I would not put them on a defensive handgun.
I'm going to be uncharitable here and ask, just how good are you with a handgun.
Taking all the time you need, can you land six shots into a 3x5 card at 5 yards? 7 yards? 10 yards? All are doable with a stock Glock trigger if you know how to shoot.
How fast can you do a Bill drill (six shots from the draw at a USPSA target 7 yards away with all rounds in the A zone). The standard is 2 seconds and it can be done on demand with a stock Glock, but let's be charitable and do it from low ready in the same amount of time.
And last but not least, drop the stupid carry rotation. Most people never get actually good with one handgun, let alone with several.
Be honest with yourself. One single miss in a real gunfight could end up costing you your freedom.
This. Buy a few different connectors, striker springs, etc. They all feel different and you will probably like one over another. You can also polish all of the surfaces.
Really good question, and good advice.
For a gen 5 Glock 19 I would buy one that is not MOS and have the frame cut to accept the Trijicon footprint and install an RMR. I would install the minus connector to reduce the trigger pull weight. I would replace the plastic sights and get some that are higher that I can still see through the dot window. I would add Talon grips. Whatever the total cost of that pistol, I would then spend at least an equal amount of money on ammunition and shoot it with just that one pistol.
I'll never buy another handgun that isn't ready to accept adapter plates for optics. Even MOS. Plenty of aftermarket plates that don't suffer Glock's mistake.
I also don't bother with backup sights
very true and ya know, being the glock shooter that i am, i own a few 1911’s and love those too but i can’t shoot DA/SA triggers worth a shit but i’m no pistolero either.
Minus connector, overwatch flat trigger(that's what I prefer, but does not really changing the actual pull weight or dimensions of factory trigger pull), and a lighter striker safety block spring. These will help smooth/lighten trigger pull but not compromise safety or reliability.
These triggers have a very different feel than a stock glock. Like'em or hate'em, they are different. I am an avid 1911 shooter and these feel better to me than any other custom glock trigger profile.
Made by a stand up guy too.
Made by a stand up guy too.
Wheaton Arms Elite Pro-Carry Glock Triggers - Wheaton Arms, Inc.
wheatonarms.com
Yeah those are some of the things you want (minus connector and safety block spring).
My competition 34s use the Tactical Trigger aluminum flat shoe, a minus connector (standard with 34s), a lighter striker spring (reduces trigger pull half a pound, does not work great with hard primers) the lighter safety spring, reduced main spring (I think 15 lbs).
It shoots really nice but I changed enough for it not to be a defense pistol anymore, strictly USPSA range.
FWIW, I have thousands and thousands of rounds on Gen 5 triggers. Unless yours is wonky, you have to spend a LOT of money to get a better trigger. They are the best trigger Glock has ever made. You do need to make sure you lube and clean the connection points every few thousands rounds, basically when they start to get a little gritty.
Only thing I do to Glocks is put a flat Overwatch Precision Trigger in it. I get the one with the Glock OEM trigger bar, so the shoe is the only difference. I don't change the connector or anything else.
I used to use the Glock - connector, but find them mushy compared to the standard factory connector.
I used to use the Glock - connector, but find them mushy compared to the standard factory connector.
The performance trigger is a single action conversion and requires maintenance. Normal Glock triggers generally require no maintenance.
They fail at a high round count compared to other options. To me, the better you make a Glock trigger, the less reliable the gun becomes so it is a trade. My besting shooting competition Glocks are also my least trustworthy Glocks. My carry pistol has a minus connector and that is it. My competition 34s have stippling and other frame works, after market fiber optic sights, red dot, minus connector, reduced weight main spring, reduced weight striker spring, titanium striker, metal trigger shoe, I think heavier guide rods, just a lot of changes.
This^. I messed around with a Glock 34 for a little bit as my competition gun and installed a reputable after-market trigger w/ lightened striker spring. Felt good initially but the longer I shot it the less reliable it became. Main issue was light strikes, even with the lightened striker. Ultimately I reverted everything back to stock other than the minus connector and just focused on learning how to run the Glock trigger.
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