Safest Glock Gen5 trigger enhancements

[wild cat mccane]

Hey all,

I'm not looking to pretend to turn my gen5 G19 into a single action gun. I want to keep the safety of a Glock.

However, I would appreciate less take up and a less long reset. Too much to do safely? That's fine.

Anyone simple things or do you have to start getting into the "unsafe" territory do get any enhancement?

[Nodak1858]

I put a Ghost Inc. 3.5 lb trigger connector in my guns, I think it made a nice improvement over the stock feel. Still a Glock trigger but a better feel IMHO.

[TunnelRat]

Originally Posted by wild cat mccane

I'm not looking to pretend to turn my gen5 G19 into a single action gun. I want to keep the safety of a Glock.

However, I would appreciate less take up and a less long reset. Too much to do safely? That's fine.

I think from my perspective the second paragraph essentially removes the “safety of a Glock”, at least relative to the other options out there. If I want a better trigger than a Glock I honestly just buy a different pistol because to me while the Glock doesn’t have a great trigger (though the Gen 5 trigger seems decent) it’s never held me back shooting against people with subjectively better triggers in other pistols.

That said, there are a ton of aftermarket Glock triggers, with some geared for competition, some for defense, and some essentially change the trigger shoe and the geometry of the trigger itself. If you don’t want to change the amount the striker is cocked or the weight of the break, you’ll have to do some digging. That last category I mentioned, geometry, might be your best bet. You have Overwatch Precision, Apex, the list goes on. I have done connector swaps in the past and while they can change the break weight and some of the feel, they often reduced the strength of the reset, which is something I like in Glocks relative to other, lighter triggers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wild cat mccane]

Thank you both.

Yes, the reset is a Glock strength for sure. It's just a tad too long. Dead weight take up for me is okay, it's the pull through is a little long.

I've learned here about the Timney trigger issues, I'm hoping there is something like just the Ghost bar, but if a trigger replacement is the ONLY way to do it, I want something that is 100% not in question for drop safety, etc.

Just a slight clean up would be sufficient.

[wild cat mccane]

Is the Ghost connector considered "safe" by most?

Seems like a very cheap and easy place to start. In theory I understand it would be safe, but that's all I'll claim to know.

[Sharkbite]

Changing the connector to a lighter (like a 3.5#), will also make the trigger feel more spongy. The reduced weight is a result of lessening the angle the trigger bar need to slide down to release the striker. The shallower angle makes the trigger even less crisp.

Depending on shooting style (if you take out slack and then break the shot) you may not like the mushier trigger feel, i dont like it. You mention liking the tactile reset. If you ride the reset, you will not like the mushy trigger break after that with a 3.5# connector.

I gave away the 3.5# connectors that i took out of my G34 & G35. Try just polishing the mating parts and see if you like that.

[ChimpMunk20]

I have the apex in one of my gen5 Glocks and I like it better than stock for sure. I also have apex triggers on some Gen3 and gen4 Glocks and I like them better than the gen5. The gen5 has less of a wall and a less crisp break to me, more creep. It’s smooth but less crisp compared to gen3 & gen4. I would highly recommend the apex trigger for all generations.

[wild cat mccane]

Thank you kindly all!

Apex also provides their own trigger bar, so I wonder if the complaint of the Ghost 3.5 trigger bar would be similar in the whole Apex trigger kit?

Again. Thank you all very much...

[JDBerg]

I like the Apex Action Enhancement trigger package on my Gen3 17. Smoother take up that feels lighter with a nice reset, and you don’t need to mess with the stock springs. On my Gen3 19, I have an Apex FPB plunger and the Apex connector with the takeoff trigger bar from my 17, this is almost as good as the trigger on the Gen3 17. Never felt the need to work the triggers on my Gen4 21 or my 19X, which is essentially a Gen5 setup.

I like a lot of the ZEV triggers for Glocks that I’ve tried on other people’s Gen3 guns when I was back in Cali. I think the Pyramid triggers are way too light for any Glock that is intended for carry, it’s a decent trigger for guns setup for range use only.

[JohnKSa]

Be very careful with any simple drop-in part that claims to reduce Glock trigger travel.

All the Glock passive safeties are disengaged by trigger movement--the trigger travel does the work not just of firing the gun, but also of disengaging the passive safeties.

I'm not saying there isn't any room to reduce the trigger travel before the safeties start disengaging--there is some, but not much. Maybe 2mm or so at the tip of the trigger.

If you can tell there's a noticeable change in trigger travel after installing a drop-in part, the passive safeties on the gun should all be checked for proper function.

[unit 900]

My Gen 3 G19 has thousands of rounds through it. That alone helped the trigger pull. I did the $.05 trigger job as well. I have it set up with a NY trigger (not a NY+) and it's perfect for me. Reset is crisp and the trigger break is comfy. I've heard that the original NY trigger and a (-) connector make a very nice, revolver like break and reset.

[JohnKSa]

I've heard that the original NY trigger and a (-) connector make a very nice, revolver like break and reset.

I have that setup on a G17 and like it. The pull weight is very similar to the standard connector and spring, but the travel to break is slightly longer which, to me, gives it a bit more shootability.

[claydoctor]

I had a Glock 23 years ago but sold it because after a few magazines, it made my trigger finger sore, from that skinny trigger inside a trigger. With the advent of aftermarket wider inner triggers, I'm thinking of giving it another shot, pun intended. Specifically a Gen 5 Model 19. I see Apex and SSVI among others and am thinking about the latter, which seems to sell just the trigger shoe itself. After consulting YouTube, I think just replacing the shoe might be something I'd want a gunsmith to do. Comments or your experience welcomed.

[Sgt127]

I personally think a Glock trigger should be left alone.

As I recall, the US Military felt the lightest weight a trigger pull should be, on a 1911, to pass inspection, was 5.5-6.5 pounds.

That’s on a gun with a manual thumb safety and a grip safety.

No one advocated carrying a 5.5 lb trigger pull cocked pistol around without a manual safety until the Glock “Sate Action” trigger came on the market.

[Limnophile]

Originally Posted by Sgt127

I personally think a Glock trigger should be left alone.
No one advocated carrying a 5.5 lb trigger pull cocked pistol around without a manual safety until the Glock “Sate Action” trigger came on the market.

I'm old enough — being a gun owner for the past six decades, since getting my first .22 when I was 8 — to remember when gun safety was taken seriously. Now the gun community is obsessed with short and light trigger pulls on pistols with no affirmative safety and AIWB carry. SMH.

[TunnelRat]

Originally Posted by Limnophile

I'm old enough — being a gun owner for the past six decades, since getting my first .22 when I was 8 — to remember when gun safety was taken seriously. Now the gun community is obsessed with short and light trigger pulls on pistols with no affirmative safety and AIWB carry. SMH.

I take gun safety seriously. I don’t consider a Glock trigger as not being in line with that. YMMV.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JDBerg]

Originally Posted by Sgt127:

I personally think a Glock trigger should be left alone.

As I recall, the US Military felt the lightest weight a trigger pull should be, on a 1911, to pass inspection, was 5.5-6.5 pounds.

That’s on a gun with a manual thumb safety and a grip safety.

No one advocated carrying a 5.5 lb trigger pull cocked pistol around without a manual safety until the Glock “Sate Action” trigger came on the market.

IMHO, whether a Glock trigger is modified or remains stock has to do with how you are using it, and the Generation of the Glock in question. Again, “MHO”, but there was room for aftermarket improvement on the 2 Gen3’s that I have, whereas my Gen4 & 5 are left stock.

I was in the military when the 1911-A1 was still being issued and I can tell you that there were valid reasons to replace the 1911 when they did, but I have always questioned replacing a .45 ACP service pistol with a 9mm alternative. I never had an issue with the triggerpull weight or the manual safety on the 2 1911 replacements that the U.S. Military issued since the 1911 was taken out of service.

[Limnophile]

The best Glock trigger enhancement is to trade in the Glock for the comparable CZ P-10.

[Nathan]

I’m going to try to answer the question as asked. Please in no way interpret this as me endorsing a Glock USA action to be safe in any way.

From a stand point of potential to fire when cocked and trigger not pulled, Glocks are safe. There is little to no stored energy until pulling the trigger.

Thus shortening the stroke is basically not possible….because you have to pull it to build the energy to release it to fire.

I gained all my knowledge on the Gen 3, but it looks similar today. I would tell you that like most trigger mechanisms, money is better spent on an experienced trigger tuning gunsmith than on replacement parts.

First, remember that much of the creep or better phrase junk felt in a Glock trigger pull comes from frame to slide looseness. That really cannot be fixed as far as I know.

Next, what trigger do you want to feel? I preferred the smooth one with the dingus slightly lowered to be a little more flush with the face. Others prefer flat face, serrated, wide dingus, etc.

10 min trigger job: Polish all mating surfaces and lube lightly with gun oil. These are trigger surfaces, so don’t change the geometry!

Then really polish the trigger bar well where it mates to the connector. No geometry change, just glass smooth under magnification.

Do the same for the firing pin block and where the trigger bar touches it. Try the lighter spring here…..I found little effect and changed it back.

You can change the connector, but that changes the geometry and thus the max force pull length(creep). I found the standard one was best.

Increase the trigger spring to get the pull weight down or up. Get a couple and just try them. It changes the overall feel.

Striker spring. This reduces pull at the expense of reliability. I cannot tell you where reliability will suffer, only that what ever tests well on range day has the potential to go bad when you need it.


After all this, I had a smooth 5.5lb trigger with 2lb take up and a reasonably hard “wall”. It was not a 1911 trigger or S&W revolver trigger. Not even close, but it was ok.

[wild cat mccane]

Thanks all. I continue to read this and havent done anything yet.

I am eyeballing the Apex kit...but point of getting the g19 was from what i learned here about how the glock is fundementally different in safety. One of the best threads i have read on here. Shame it got closed.

It's the reset that i dont like.

Still following and thanks all

[44 AMP]

As I recall, the US Military felt the lightest weight a trigger pull should be, on a 1911, to pass inspection, was 5.5-6.5 pounds.

That’s on a gun with a manual thumb safety and a grip safety.

The military is an admirable institution with many fine and valid ideas. Some are simply not "optimal" for civilians.

The military also required the gun to be carried holstered, in condition 3. Chamber EMPTY, hammer down....a fine, and safe method of carry, particularly when you are looking at carry by literally thousands of young men who were not well trained pistol users.

I was in the military when the 1911-A1 was still being issued and I can tell you that there were valid reasons to replace the 1911 when they did, but I have always questioned replacing a .45 ACP service pistol with a 9mm alternative.

I was also in the military (Army) when the 1911A1 was the standard service pistol, as a Small Arms Repairman in the 70s. I handled and instpected a lot of 1911A1s and even a few 1911s that were still in service. Some of those guns had spent virtually their entire service lives in arms rooms, and some had "been through the wars"...but every one was serviceable, by the official GI standards.

Of the thousands of 45 pistols within my areas of responsibility, only 3 ever came to my shop for repair, and all 3 of them were due to user caused damage.

The reason the US military replaced the .45 when they did (mid 80s) was because the very newest 1911A1s in the inventory were purchased in 1945. While they were still serviceable, all were old, and a great many of them were worn and sloppy due to generations of GIs taking them apart and putting them back together, racking slides, dry firing and other wise generally playing with them, OUTSIDE of actual use in combat.

Replacing the .45 with the 9mm was the result of a political deal, from the late 1950s. At the time, we were pushing to have our new rifle round (7.62x51) adopted by NATO. In exchange for NATO adopting our rifle round as standard, we agreed that we would adopt their pistol round (9mm Luger) as our standard, when we replaced our .45s. The Europeans got a bit put out when we didn't replace our 45s within a few years as they expected us to do, but we did keep our word, and when we finally did replace our .45s, the replacement pistol was a 9mm.

I'm not a Glock fan, quite the opposite, but I have shot them, and found the trigger "slap" against my finger to be uncomfortable.

I have no suggestions about modifications to the GLock, other than to replace it with a different pistol, if possible. Just my opinion, lots of people feel otherwise.

[JohnKSa]

There is little to no stored energy until pulling the trigger.

The striker spring is about halfway compressed by length when the trigger is forward. That equates to about 25% of the energy that would be stored at full compression.

[Sgt127]

There is enough stored energy in a Glock, at “rest” to fire a primer at least 75% of the time from my experiments.

[Nathan]

There is enough stored energy in a Glock, at “rest” to fire a primer at least 75% of the time from my experiments.

That is interesting….care to share some details?

[Sgt127]

Sure. Mark where the striker is at rest. Through the mag well.

Disassemble the slide. Remove the firing pin block assembly. Chamber a primed case.

Draw the striker back to the marked “at rest semi cocked” position. Let the striker go.