The Glock has undoubtedly become the most popular pistol for a great many reasons. From its overall simplicity and ease of use, to its reliability claims and complete support from aftermarket accessories, it has won a place in most safes across the US. Being very popular, people seek to become skilled in the platform and understand how to perfect the manual of arms on the Glock, including its trigger pull. The Glock trigger is the standard by which all other striker fired triggers are judged. From their modularity, to their stock characteristics, these triggers are a great example of what to expect from a double action only striker trigger. With this in mind, it is apparent that people still don’t understand how to run the stock trigger. There are other factors such as grip, and sight alignment method that are important as well, but your trigger pull takes it all and will make or break your shot. This means that you have only one true fundamental to focus on, and this is why I will only talk about the trigger in this article.
People will augment the trigger with aftermarket springs, or completely replace them with such light triggers that they end up risking a premature discharge. Rarely do I meet people who don’t want to augment their triggers with the hopes that their shooting of their pistol will improve. The theory is nice, but it doesn’t solve the base problem. The problem is that people don’t understand the trigger and don’t even try to understand it. The trigger is classified as a double action only trigger because the striker is brought to the rear as the trigger is pulled, and then released.
This trigger is actually quite easy to understand and master without much more help than just using it. I consider the Glock trigger to be a very simple and very good stock trigger for shooters of all skill levels. In fact I consider it to be one of the more exemplary triggers to learn on.
Now as far as modifying the gun is concerned, I am not against weight modifications on carry guns. I am tolerant of it as long as the shooter practices consistently according to the trigger they are employing. It is fine to lighten the trigger, but I only ask that you give the stock trigger time instead of just shooting a box of ammo and blaming the trigger because you can’t get consistent groups.
Lightening the trigger pull will make it easier to shoot accurately, but only because you set off the round before you have a chance to screw up one of the fundamentals due to fear of recoil. This doesn’t mean it makes you a better shooter, it just means that the gun protects you from correcting your bad habits.
https://youtu.be/5ljr9kH3arU?list=PLYUFsZkp0SkEvPkz0ChC8uZtxgj1_3YiA
Instead of replacing the trigger with a lighter trigger, I think people who buy a Glock should learn how to shoot the stock trigger correctly. If people actually learned to properly employ different types of triggers, I have a feeling that they would find less use for aftermarket parts. There are also ways to get a much lighter trigger pull without spending any money or even taking material off of the gun. The trigger is in fact very easy to shoot well if you have the right knowledge about how to use it and manipulate it for maximum effectiveness. I have found that the people who want to alter the triggers on their guns tend to lack good trigger control/discipline. But I will expand on that later and in more detail.
The way I see it, you have two methods that you can employ the trigger on the Glock. Both will still require a concentration in trigger control, mind you. First thing you can do is wait until you have acquired a good sight picture, take up the 2lb slack in the trigger and then apply the last 4lb of pressure to the trigger wall that breaks the shot all in one smooth pull. The next and less advisable way, until you are way more experienced and have way better trigger control, is take up the 2lb of slack on the trigger, then wait until you acquire your sight picture until you apply the last 4lb on the trigger to break the shot. When drawing a Glock, I feel that it is safer to go with the former since we tend to rush our actions under stress and try to combine all the actions in one. This means that instead of just taking the slack out of the trigger and holding it until you acquire an adequate sight picture; you may end up just letting off a round before you’re even fully extended and ready to fire. This can even happen to the most practiced people that are put in a life threatening situation. You would be amazed at how much strength you have in your trigger finger when your life is on the line. If you are going to practice something, keep it simple and safe for every situation you can in order to prevent accidents when shots count for real. This is important to remember when thinking that you should modify your trigger because you can’t hit consistent groups with your Glock.
If you do want to experience a lighter and smoother trigger pull and break, there are a couple of methods I use that are easy to do and cost you little to no money and don’t require any tools. If you want to lighten your trigger, you will have to oil it in the right places where the friction can cause creeps or hang-ups. This will decrease the perceived weight of your trigger pull overall. The places you want to oil lightly, aside from the normal lubrication areas are the face of the striker, the trigger spring, and the drop safety plunger.
You should also dry fire the pistol, not only to help wear the surfaces until they are smooth and help the oil penetrate the metal, but also practice to pull the trigger without disturbing the sight picture. The last thing you should do is actually shoot your Glock. Not one round every two seconds all the time, but shoot several rounds as fast as you can inside of a regular 11×8.5 sheet of paper. This is more than enough to help you understand the recoil characteristics and be more confident in slow fire. With these 3 methods, I have found that I can lighten my Glock trigger pull by a half of a pound to a full pound in 500 rounds.
What I hope you take away from this article is that in order to get better with your Glock trigger, you just need to improve your trigger pull method. There is nothing fancy required to accomplish this other than bearing down on the one fundamental that matters most, pulling the trigger without disrupting the sight picture. This will require discipline, practice, confidence, and a will to step out of your comfort zone to advance in your skills. The Glock trigger is an exemplary stock trigger and in my opinion does not need any help or improvements. It is already light and clean on the break at 5.5lb and doesn’t require anything special to run them well. Try it, learn it, perfect it, and enjoy it.
David served in the USMC for a few years. Deployed twice and got wounded. Retired and moved to Alaska. Has a passion for reviewing and testing guns and gear of all kinds. Enjoys working to dispel myths and show that you can train and practice in a realistic, safe, and practical way.
