Polishing OEM Glock Trigger

[SD]

Seen this on YT, that trigger function can improve by polishing the metal parts of the trigger? My 19 gen4 has a pretty bad trigger. Anybody try this, and what kind of results did you get? Or plan "B" purchase a drop in after market trigger? Side bar; I have a 19,17,34. 17 very nice trigger, 34 OK trigger, 19 primitive-is being polite.

[bravo7]

Or just dry fire and shoot it....a lot.....best trigger job ever.....and as an additional plus it improves proficiency.

[LOKNLOD]

There is a little bit to be improved by very lightly polishing the wear surfaces. A q-tip and Flitz is the safe method, Dremel with a polishing wheel is the riskier move...

Shooting and dry firing a few thousand times helps a lot too, and make sure the parts are properly lubed.

Replacing the gen 4 19 trigger/bar with a gen 3 trigger/bar can sometimes help too (use a 17 trigger to loose the serrated trigger).

Apex's replacement polished striker block can help too.

The inexperienced have messed up plenty of parts over the years with over aggressive "improving" so if you want to go for it, go slowly.

[spinmove_]

Switching to a Gen3 trigger bar is far more advantageous than polishing Glock internal parts.


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[HopetonBrown]

I like the TTI connector, it's electroless nickel plated so it's already slicked up. Put some grease on it and put the dremel away.

[Sigfan26]

Connector and trigger bar coatings make no difference. Sorry to break it to folks, but it's true. A drop of oil makes more difference than anything. And, before folks want to challenge the statement, that is coming from someone who has tested factory finish, polished finish, and NP3 finish.


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[peterb]

The inexperienced have messed up plenty of parts over the years with over aggressive "improving" so if you want to go for it, go slowly.

(Hangs head, raises hand)

I "improved" myself an unsafe double-firing pistol trying the Glock "$0.25 trigger job" on a Gen4G19. Replaced my over-polished parts with new factory ones and the gun ran fine.

Replacing the grooved G19 trigger with a smooth G17 trigger made the gun more comfortable to shoot.

[HeavyDuty]

What the heck do people use for a polishing compound when doing a .25 trigger job with a Dremel polishing wheel that can possibly ruin the parts and make the gun unsafe? As a test I've tried to alter the dimensions of a scrap trigger bar using Flitz and a Dremel, it takes much more effort than you'd ever expend doing a simple ten second buff.

[SD]

Thanks everyone for the good information. Well, the wife had some emergency at work last night, and went back at 19:00hrs. This left me without plans for the evening. I removed the trigger, before polishing I discovered a rough metal bur on the underside of the rounded part. Taking the advice from this thread I proceeded with caution, instead of using my file or sanders to remove this excess I took advantage of the wife not being here and used her emory board. Afterwards some Flitz & buffing wheel at ½ power with the Dremel. Very soon I had a mirror like shine. Reassembled everything, dry fired for function and now I need to squeeze some range time in to see if its any better or not. Start to finish took approximately 30, minutes and half of that was looking for the Flitz.20015

[peterb]

What the heck do people use for a polishing compound when doing a .25 trigger job with a Dremel polishing wheel that can possibly ruin the parts and make the gun unsafe? As a test I've tried to alter the dimensions of a scrap trigger bar using Flitz and a Dremel, it takes much more effort than you'd ever expend doing a simple ten second buff.

I honestly don't remember exactly what I used, but I'm sure I was working on the "If a little is good, more is better" principle......

[vcdgrips]

YMMV Greatly. I have been shooting Glocks since 1990. The most reliable, repeatable triggers I have had and used came the 5.5 TRS with a "minus" connector, a dab of grease/lub on the bearing surfaces and thousands of dry fires/live fires. Move away from this formula, particularly with non OEM parts or parts that get "polished" to the point that metal is removed at your own peril.

It is not a 1911 trigger and is never going to be. If that is driving your train then 1. get a 1911 or 2. consider the offerings of Apex for the M&P.

Be safe and well all.

[JSGlock34]

The introduction of the dot connector did much to improve the original GEN4 trigger pull. Sometimes I install a factory '-' connector, but I do not use aftermarket trigger parts in my Glocks.

I do find a judicious hand polish of OEM parts does help smooth out the trigger. Or you could just dry fire the snot out of it.

My GEN5 G17 does have the best out of the box trigger I've yet to encounter on a Glock. I haven't felt the need to polish it up, but am curious how that works out for folks.

[JBP55]

I have worked on many Glock triggers, most for range only. All were improved and none ever malfunctioned.
If you do not know what you are doing do not do it.

[LittleLebowski]

What the heck do people use for a polishing compound when doing a .25 trigger job with a Dremel polishing wheel that can possibly ruin the parts and make the gun unsafe? As a test I've tried to alter the dimensions of a scrap trigger bar using Flitz and a Dremel, it takes much more effort than you'd ever expend doing a simple ten second buff.

I use toothpaste on Dremel brush wheel thing (not wire, nylon,I think). No shit.

[Cool Breeze]

What the heck do people use for a polishing compound when doing a .25 trigger job with a Dremel polishing wheel that can possibly ruin the parts and make the gun unsafe? As a test I've tried to alter the dimensions of a scrap trigger bar using Flitz and a Dremel, it takes much more effort than you'd ever expend doing a simple ten second buff.I agree. No idea how long you would have to have flitz and a dremel on the connector to ruin it. It would take awhile. The whole process is pretty much idiot proof.

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[HeavyDuty]

Now, if you used an abrasive wheel instead of a polishing wheel or point I can see where you could very easily get into trouble...

[Leroy]

There are still some Glocks that no matter what you do with the stock parts the trigger will suck. I have one. Compared to my other Glocks the trigger has multiple crunchy spots.

[Darth_Uno]

I had a Gen 4 19. Never could get the trigger how I wanted. Got light primer strikes with a Gen 3 bar. Ultimately sold it it (with the Gen 4 bar reinstalled, which worked fine). Polishing helped, but some guns just "do what they do" and you're stuck with it. It worked, every time, just couldn't quite get it to where I wanted it to be. It wasn't even the trigger pull so much, there was just a very heavy, pronounced "snap" every time it released the striker no matter how I monkeyed with the springs. Not at all like any of my Gen 3's.

You can take 3 identical guns, put identical components in each one, and have three different trigger pulls. Just gotta experiment.

Best thing you can do though is the 1000 Round Trigger Job, but yeah, light polishing will speed that up.

[SD]

Made it to the range today. No significant improvements observed after polishing the metal trigger parts. Brought my HK USP 45, Compact along, its been along time since I had it to the range. Between the HK & 19, I shot the HK with a greater accuracy. ps and the Hk didn't hit me in the face or head with any brass.

[NMPOPS]

I have been doing the .25 Cent trigger job for years. I do it by hand (Mother's Mag Polish on a rag) no dremel , then oil as Glock specifies. Last, I'm probably an odd ball here, I install the NY1 trigger spring. I do like the feel of the NY1, it doesn't feel heavier to me just smoother and more consistent.

[breakingtime91]

Made it to the range today. No significant improvements observed after polishing the metal trigger parts. Brought my HK USP 45, Compact along, its been along time since I had it to the range. Between the HK & 19, I shot the HK with a greater accuracy. ps and the Hk didn't hit me in the face or head with any brass.

what kind of shooting were you doing? on the timer? drills? plinking?

[willie]

Unless my information is incorrect, Glock applies trigger parts and the safety plunger with .0002-3 of electroless nickel and then bakes the finish for additional hardness. Surface imperfections are on the bare metal itself. Using a power tool on these parts will very quickly remove the electroless nickel coating. The ultra smooth finish achieved would be on the softer base metal which will quickly wear. With wear come malfunctions. I've found that the best method for achieving better Glock triggers is switching out trigger bars. I do use Flitz polish applied with a Q-Tip. I've not shot a Glock with a non OEM trigger. My guess is that certain Robar treatments would produce a fine trigger.

[PensFan]

There are still some Glocks that no matter what you do with the stock parts the trigger will suck. I have one. Compared to my other Glocks the trigger has multiple crunchy spots.

That has not been my experience. Any mass produce parts produce have slightly different tolerances and produce different results. You can always improve upon a trigger that feels "less than".

[JBP55]

I had a Gen 4 19. Never could get the trigger how I wanted. Got light primer strikes with a Gen 3 bar. Ultimately sold it it (with the Gen 4 bar reinstalled, which worked fine). Polishing helped, but some guns just "do what they do" and you're stuck with it. It worked, every time, just couldn't quite get it to where I wanted it to be. It wasn't even the trigger pull so much, there was just a very heavy, pronounced "snap" every time it released the striker no matter how I monkeyed with the springs. Not at all like any of my Gen 3's.

You can take 3 identical guns, put identical components in each one, and have three different trigger pulls. Just gotta experiment.

Best thing you can do though is the 1000 Round Trigger Job, but yeah, light polishing will speed that up.

If anyone believes shooting a lubricated Glock trigger 1,000 rounds equals a good trigger they have never shot a Glock with a good trigger.

[Leroy]

That has not been my experience. Any mass produce parts produce have slightly different tolerances and produce different results. You can always improve upon a trigger that feels "less than".

I use suck in comparison to other Glocks. Any trigger can be improved, I have never run across a stock Glock trigger that wasn't shootable.

[Darth_Uno]

If anyone believes shooting a lubricated Glock trigger 1,000 rounds equals a good trigger they have never shot a Glock with a good trigger.

I've owned many Glocks, some stock and some far from it, and I wouldn't say Glocks need breaking in but in all cases the trigger smoothed out after enough shooting. Whether it's a "good" trigger is subjective.


I use suck in comparison to other Glocks. Any trigger can be improved, I have never run across a stock Glock trigger that wasn't shootable.

Right. I run Suarez flat triggers and 3.5# connectors in all of mine. That's my starting point. You could start messing with trigger and striker springs and it'd probably feel and function just fine, but IME in some guns it may lighten the pull but it loses crispness (gets mushy). I'd rather have a crisp trigger than a lighter one. Like I said, every individual Glock will feel a little different even if you put the same parts in them.

And since all mine get cycled into the carry rotation depending on what I want to carry that day, I'm not inclined to run a bunch of light springs in them. "But my Glock has..." Yes I'm sure it does and works fine. Just my preference.

[SD]

After several trips to the range "NO" noticeable improvement(from polishing & dry firing). Ordered a Ranger 4.5 connector kit. Will pop it in and see. Update after trigger time.

[LittleLebowski]

What the heck do people use for a polishing compound when doing a .25 trigger job with a Dremel polishing wheel that can possibly ruin the parts and make the gun unsafe? As a test I've tried to alter the dimensions of a scrap trigger bar using Flitz and a Dremel, it takes much more effort than you'd ever expend doing a simple ten second buff.

Toothpaste, no shit.

[HeavyDuty]

Toothpaste, no shit.

Lol. Toothpaste can be really abrasive, so I can see how that could do it. We used to use Pearl Drops to lap in brass model gears.

[RJ]

My GEN5 G17 does have the best out of the box trigger I've yet to encounter on a Glock. I haven't felt the need to polish it up, but am curious how that works out for folks.

With the Gen 5s being out for a while now, has anyone felt the need to do this ‘trigger job’ on one? What were the results if so?

[LittleLebowski]

With the Gen 5s being out for a while now, has anyone felt the need to do this ‘trigger job’ on one? What were the results if so?

Not a "need", but rather an SOP for myself and Glocks. I know, "dry fire will do that for you", but what if you could both dry fire and polish the trigger parts lightly?!!!

Results: I spent way less than five minutes total doing quick, light polish, and my trigger feels like I did a thousand dry fires. Not a mathematician, but that seems like a excellent ROI.

[Jim Watson]

If anyone believes shooting a lubricated Glock trigger 1,000 rounds equals a good trigger they have never shot a Glock with a good trigger.

Yup.
Wasn't a Glock, but a company expert once told me that his guns didn't need "trigger jobs," just 2000 dryfires.
So I clicked that sucker through the evening news for a while, and shot it a good deal, too.
2000 snaps and bangs later, I could tell no difference, so I sent it to a reputable gunsmith who made it a lot nicer.

Materials of construction: We see a lot of people bemoaning the decline into plastic and MIM gun parts, with the occasional residual grumble over cast pieces.
I go back a gun generation further, we thought the industry was hopeless when stamped parts started replacing milled.
But these days nobody thinks anything unusual about the working parts of his pistol being banged out on a punch press. But that is why your Glocks are so often rough and generally inconsistent. Bent sheet metal is just not very uniform.

[willie]

And this lack of uniformity is the reason that swapping out trigger bars can result in a smoother trigger.

[SD]

Installed the Ghost Ranger Trigger 4.5 connector yesterday. Dry firing afterwards noticeable difference some of the choppy creep was gone. Try to get to the range later today.21409

[SD]

Back from the range. How can such a small little piece of metal make such a huge overall improvement... Better trigger pull made for tighter groups on paper. Now to see if changing the springs will further enhance the overall performance
Installed the Ghost Ranger Trigger 4.5 connector yesterday. Dry firing afterwards noticeable difference some of the choppy creep was gone. Try to get to the range later today.21409

[SC_Dave]

My 2 cents, which may not be worth 2 cents.

The stamped parts that make up the assembly are different IMO from pistol to pistol to a degree. I can only imagine that some parts wind up getting more or less attention during the process than others, which is why some pistols of the same model and generation feel different than others.

I did the well known 25 cent polish job on my 19.3. I started with a Dremel using Mothers Metal polish. In trying to achieve perfection I went too far on the firing pin safety and polished though the plating. So, I went to my spare parts and got out a new FP safety and polished this one by hand. Much better. I moved on the the rest of the parts and had a good result.

The lesson learned; Polish by hand where you can, you stand much less of a chance of going too far. Polishing by hand is more difficult and time consuming. If you must use a Dremel use low, very low RPM and check it often.

My result; A noticeable difference. A much smoother consistent press, the "herky-jerky pull was gone. I liked it so well I polished my 26.3 as well. IMO I would recommend it especially if you are not happy with what you have.

SCD