There may be a zillion aftermarket triggers for the AR platform, but there’s a fairly finite number of drop-in units. In fact, in the photo above you’re looking at very nearly every drop-in trigger available at the time of this article — plus a standard, 3-piece unit — and a couple that aren’t quite on the market yet. After shooting with all of them and running each through the Dvorak TriggerScan, we’re ready to present the following roundup . . .
Below, you’ll find photographs plus subjective and objective information on the following triggers, in the following (alphabetical) order:
- American Trigger Corporation AR-GOLD
- Black Rain Ordnance DIT (Drop In Trigger)
- CMC Triggers Standard Pull (single-stage)
- Elftmann Tactical ELF Match / 3-Gun Trigger
- KE Arms DMR Trigger
- Nord-Arms AR15 Match Trigger
- Patriot Ordnance Factory Trigger System, Drop-In
- RISE Armament RA-140 Super Sporting Trigger
- RISE Armament RA-535 Advanced-Performance Trigger
- Timney AR-15 Skeletonized
- TriggerTech TT-AR-15
- Velocity Triggers Velocity AR Trigger
- Wilson Combat Tactical Trigger Unit, Single Stage
Not included in this roundup are the non-traditional triggers from Tac-Con and Franklin Armory, or any “white-labeled” versions of the triggers listed above (e.g. the Lantac-branded CMC, JJFU-branded ELF, Tactical Sh*t-branded KE, etc). Additionally, some brands offer both single-stage and 2-stage models, and in those cases I opted for the single-stage version since the majority of drop-in triggers are only available as such, and this would allow for a more direct comparison.
These tests are expensive, but I’d love to do more. Another AR-15 trigger roundup (component triggers this time) is on the “to do” list as well as a couple of flashlight roundups (tactical and gun-mounted). I’ve purchased air pressure sensors designed to log blast waves so we can compare the amount of concussion different muzzle devices generate, and these will be used in the next muzzle brake test(s). But I have a lot of gear to round up for these tests and the funding is low. Please consider supporting this sort of testing via my Patreon page. As a Patron you can also get free stuff, join live streams, gain early access, and more.
Drop-In Trigger?
A drop-in trigger unit means that all of the fire control group internals — trigger shoe (the part you put your finger on), sear (if not part of the trigger shoe, which it typically is on an AR), hammer, disconnector, springs, etc. — are contained in their own housing (or “cassette”) and are ready to use. The entire unit simply gets dropped into the lower receiver and held in place by the hammer pin and trigger pin (hereafter just referred to as “the trigger pins”). However, the pins have no bearing whatsoever on the physical relationship between hammer and sear, nor are they pivot/friction surfaces for hammer or trigger.
This is a departure from the standard AR-style fire control group. As seen above, hammer, trigger, and disconnector are all separate, loose pieces. This makes installation more difficult, but that’s the smallest benefit of going drop-in. Since the standard FCG parts pivot on the hammer and trigger pins, the hammer/sear relationship is controlled by the relative locations of those pins.
And the relative locations of those pins does vary. Different manufacturers using different equipment produce receivers with those holes on different ends of the acceptable tolerance spectrum. Assuming they’re in tolerance. For this reason, traditional format trigger manufacturers have to err on the side of excessive hammer/sear overlap to ensure safety and proper function. Installed in one receiver, a given trigger may have noticeably more or less creep than when installed in a different receiver.
None of this applies to drop-in triggers. The trigger manufacturer sets the exact relationship between hammer and sear via the housing. They can then tune that engagement, tune the spring tensions, tune the disconnector tension and overlap, tune in an overtravel stop, etc., and lock that all down. Regardless of your receiver’s trigger pin tolerances, you will have the exact trigger feel the manufacturer intended. Additionally, a factory-assembled drop-in unit allows for departures from the traditional fire control group (FCG) geometry and layout. A handful of the units tested here would be physically impossible to assemble on only one hammer pin and one trigger pin, and those manufacturers feel that they’ve improved on the standard geometry and function in various ways.
The Test
Subjective information for each trigger will primarily include my thoughts on how the trigger pull feels in person, how the trigger shoe feels, any quirks or flaws in machining/finish, etc. Objective information will include relevant statistics like materials, finishes, and MSRPs, plus data and graphs on some of the trigger pull fundamentals thanks to the TriggerScan unit. Trigger pull fundamentals will be defined as follows:
- Take-up. Also referred to as pre-travel or slack. This is rearwards trigger shoe movement prior to any sear movement. It could actually be intentional as in the case of a 2-stage trigger where that first stage is designed take-up, or it could be a necessary evil as in the case of a firing pin block that must be moved out of the way before the trigger can release the sear. On a single stage trigger, though, it’s generally undesirable. No slack and no play is the target.
- Creep. This is the distance the trigger shoe has to travel from when the sear begins to slide off of the hammer/striker hook(s) to when the hammer/striker fires. This is affected by the amount of overlap between the sear and the hammer hook, the shape and angle of that overlap, and the trigger linkage geometry. The ideal creep measurement is zero.
- Break. This is when the sear “breaks” off of the hammer/sear hook(s) and the hammer/sear fires. The break on different triggers feels different. On some triggers, it’s an instantaneous and sudden release of all tension on the trigger shoe. It’s a clean and total break. Imagine snapping a glass rod or a crisp candy cane. On other triggers, the trigger travel after the break (“overtravel,” defined below) has resistance, grittiness, sponginess, etc. It can feel like more creep and, sure, creep and a bad break can blend together. The break can be vague and it can even happen at slightly different points in the trigger pull each time.
- Overtravel. This is the amount of trigger shoe travel from the break to when the trigger stops as far rearwards as it can go. Like take-up, this is basically wasted motion and the ideal amount is no amount. This isn’t entirely practical, though, as reliability necessitates some fudge factor to ensure the trigger is capable of moving rearwards far enough to release the sear. Overtravel distance is an objective measurement, but there’s also a subjective aspect here, and that’s feel. At the rearmost point in a trigger’s travel it can be spongy or it can feel like it stopped up against a solid wall (and in some cases it actually does that, as it butts up against the trigger guard, frame, drop-in cassette, etc).
- Reset. Like overtravel, there is both an objective and a subjective aspect to trigger reset. Objective is, again, the distance measured in inches or millimeters for the trigger shoe to go from its rearmost point of travel forwards to the point where it resets (“reset” being defined as the first point at which you could pull the trigger rearwards again and it would fire again). The subjective part of a trigger’s reset is the feel and sound of it. Most shooters want a tactile reset — one that can easily be felt through the trigger finger while shooting — and an audible reset — one that can be heard, even while shooting. A tactile and audible reset says, “Halt! Reverse course.” It allows one to “ride the reset,” which means not moving one’s trigger finger farther forwards than necessary. This aids speed, accuracy, and consistency. The opposite of this would be the bad practice of “slapping the trigger,” which means lifting one’s trigger finger completely off of it and then coming back onto it for the next shot.
- Pull Weight. This is the rearward force, measured in pounds, that must be applied to the trigger shoe in order to fire the gun. It actually isn’t as important to me as the other fundamentals, but suffice it to say that a light trigger makes accurate shooting easier, as a lighter pull is less likely to affect the shooter’s aim. On the flip side, it’s a potential safety risk in certain scenarios. Some triggers offer end-user adjustable pull weight, some do not. There is no ideal pull weight number; it varies by situation and shooter preference.
Dvorak TriggerScan Information
A graph has been included for each trigger, and it visually demonstrates two main things: the trigger pull and the trigger reset. The trigger pull is the bold blue line, and the reset is the skinny red line. The vertical axis is pull weight in pounds, and the horizontal axis is trigger shoe travel in inches.
To assist with identifying the trigger pull fundamentals as shown in graph form — and with imagining what the pull feels like in real life based on a graph — here’s an example graph covered with annotations (green = trigger pull notes, bright red up top = reset notes, bright red text at bottom = notes on the numerical data shown for each graph):
So the trigger in the graph above has a 3-lb pull weight and travels 0.068 inches from first touch to break. Most of that travel is creep, rather than take-up. We can see from the graph that the creep is pretty smooth but for a couple points of grit in the first third or so and that the weight required on the trigger shoe during this creep actually decreases leading up to the break. After the break, resistance on the trigger shoe is reestablished quickly and it only travels 0.037 inches before 12 lbs of pull weight is hit (which I chose as the overtravel stop indicator). That’s right, it moves barely over a tenth of an inch from first touch to hard up against the overtravel stop.
On the reset graph, it appears smooth and consistent with the trigger spring pushing the shoe forwards with approximately 0.85 lbs of force. The blip at 0.090 inches of forwards travel is the actual reset point, and the tactile nature of that “click” is recognized by the TriggerScan as a very sudden jump to ~1.75 lbs of return force. With shorter overtravel and take-up distances, the reset distance can become closer to the “travel to actuate” distance.
Click any photo in this article to enlarge it.
Triggers:
Typical Mil-Spec or “Parts-Kit” Trigger
Your standard trigger is a bit of a mess, but is fairly typical of a “battle trigger.” Note: the scale on this TriggerScan graph is different from all of those that follow in order to fit the over 9-lb pull weight and long pull distance on it:
At 7 lbs of pressure the trigger begins to creep. And creep, and creep. Oh, and what rough creep it is. That bumpy graph visualizes a gritty, inconsistent pull. At about 9.2 lbs the pressure starts to drop and somewhere in there the actual break happens. Overtravel is extremely minimal, actually, but the full travel distance of a bit over 0.13″ makes it the longest in this test by at least 30% and in some cases by much, much more. And absolutely all of that extra travel comes from gritty creep.
For the life of me I couldn’t get the return graph to work on the parts-kit trigger. No issues with any of the drop-in units tested, but it simply refused to perform for the standard one. At any rate, for scale comparison the graph above shows the ELF trigger’s pull and reset as compared to the parts-kit trigger’s pull. The parts-kit trigger travels ~160% farther with about 800% more creep.
American Trigger Corporation AR-GOLD
The AR-GOLD uses a novel internal design that is a large departure from traditional AR trigger geometry. By moving the sear engagement point to the very tip of the hammer, there is less leverage and pressure on these friction surfaces. This helps to provide a low trigger pull weight without sacrificing hammer spring strength.
Hammer, sear, and disconnector are all particularly skinny. Now, I’m not really sure if this matters but some manufacturers like to brag about having full 1/4″ width parts and some people claim it aids long-term durability. I have no real opinion on the topic but will continue to point out how each model is built.
Only two triggers in this roundup lack a method of snugging up the unit inside of the receiver, and the AR-GOLD is one of them. There are no set screws, springs, or rubber pads on the bottom of the housing to provide that sort of tension.
However, the AR-GOLD (right) and the Wilson Combat trigger (left) do use spring wires to create a snug fit on the trigger pins as well as to hold standard trigger pins in place. On the AR-GOLD this does lessen trigger-pack-in-receiver wobble vs. the CMC, which employs no snugging feature whatsoever, but it isn’t as effective as the methods used by every other unit in the test.
Installed, the gold trigger shoe stands out and looks good.
There is a significant amount of take-up with the AR-GOLD. The company refers to it as the first stage of a two-stage trigger — designed to feel like the take-up of a nice 1911, which it does although it’s longer than most — but with a pull weight of ~0.35 lbs compared to the break weight of ~2.85 lbs I think it’s too light for a “first stage.” No matter what the marketing might say, from where I’m sitting this is nothing but slack (though I believe, functionally, it’s actually clearing a drop safety sear out of the way). If it wasn’t for that, the effective travel distance of ~0.016″ from on-the-sear to the break is the shortest in this test (e.g. closest to zero creep). It’s an extremely crisp break for sure, although it would feel even better if the tension on the trigger shoe dropped closer to zero after the break. Overtravel is short — normal for the triggers in this roundup.
As you can see in the graph, the reset is much shorter than the pull. In fact, it lines up pretty closely to the beginning of the actual trigger pull after the take-up is, well, taken up. This is no coincidence, as riding the AR-GOLD’s reset means the shooter does not have to repeat that take-up — well, maybe a tiny bit of it — and is, instead, right back up against the sear. Unfortunately, the reset itself is not very tactile at all and is barely audible, so it’s going to come down to muscle memory to stay right on top of it.
Housing Material & Finish: Machined aluminum, hard coat anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: Hammer and sear are hardened S7 tool steel. Trigger shoe appears to be cast metal and TiN coated.
Receiver Tensioning System: Springs hold unit on trigger pins, but there is nothing to truly snug it up in the receiver
Trigger Pull Weight: ~2.85 lbs as tested
Adjustable: Yes. Pull weight adjustable from about 1.8 lbs up to maybe 4.5 lbs. Factory setting is ~3 lbs.
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.075″ (~0.016″ after slack is taken up)
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.058″
Overtravel Distance: 0.037″
Travel to Reset: 0.055″
MSRP: $299.95
Black Rain Ordnance Drop In Trigger (DIT)
BRO is making a simple, affordable drop-in unit. The curve of the trigger shoe is a bit tighter than most, and reminds me of a lot of DA/SA pistols. It has some scalloping on the back for aesthetic purposes.
Hammer and sear are 1/4″ width, disconnector is a bit skinnier. I believe a standard hammer spring is used, which opens up the door for easy end-user replacements. Trigger pull weight is not adjustable.
Like most of the drop-ins here, a pair of set screws (tightened from the top side, after you figure out how to move the hammer spring tails out of the way) will protrude from the bottom of the housing and snug the unit up in the receiver by pushing it firmly up against the trigger pins.
That scalloping on the rear of the trigger shoe helps it stand out just enough for anyone who’s looking closely.
This is the graph of a very good trigger. Among this group of drop-ins it isn’t a standout — all of these triggers are pretty freaking amazing — but it’s a solid performer that anyone would very much enjoy shooting. That’s enough creep to feel and notice if you’re pulling the trigger very slowly, but it’s nice and smooth.
The DIT’s reset is strong, with a solid click that can be felt and heard.
Housing Material & Finish: Machined aluminum, hard coat anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: steel, but unspecified otherwise
Receiver Tensioning System: Set screws
Trigger Pull Weight: ~3.5 lbs as tested
Adjustable: No. Factory set to 3.5 lbs
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.044″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.037″
Travel to Reset: 0.064″
MSRP: $199
CMC Triggers Standard Pull (single-stage, straight shoe)
I actually like the simplicity of CMC’s bent stainless steel sheetmetal housing design. Certainly much more efficient than CNC machining a block of aluminum and then anodizing it, while functioning just as well for the purpose. That said, I do feel it should translate into a bigger cost savings for the consumer (although CMC asserts on its site that cost savings is not the reason they designed it this way). A full TTAG review on the CMC Trigger can be found here.
Hammer and trigger/sear appear to be investment cast steel, with the engagement surfaces very nicely ground and polished. The hammer and sear are about the “full” 1/4″ width, and the disconnector is the standard (i.e. Mil-Spec/parts kit), skinny style. Hammer spring is full Mil-Spec strength but made of much nicer stainless steel.
The CMC unit offers absolutely no provision for snugging it up inside of the receiver. No set screws, rubber, or springs underneath the housing, and not even a spring wire to hold onto the receiver pins (the use of locking pins is mandatory). As such, the unit will wiggle a little bit in most receivers. Were I running this trigger in my AR, I’d likely stick some stiff foam-style double-sided tape to the bottom of the CMC’s housing so it had to be compressed during install, effectively tensioning the trigger unit in the receiver.
CMC’s triggers are available with a flat trigger shoe as seen here (that indexing hook on the bottom is to assist in consistent trigger finger placement) or with a more standard-looking, curved trigger shoe. There are also cerakoted units in various colors and some white-labeled units with unique trigger shoe shapes, such as the Lantac-branded one. Two-stage models are also available.
That 0.005″ of take-up is due to the unit’s wobble room inside of the receiver. After that, the CMC exhibits decently smooth, linearly-decreasing-in-weight creep — the most creep of any trigger in this test — for nearly 0.06″ before a clean, albeit gentle break (as seen in graph form by the minimal drop in weight upon break rather than a deep plunge down towards zero lbs) and a quick overtravel stop. A reset distance of 0.09″ is long for this group of triggers but, as you can see, it’s smooth and consistent in feel on that return stroke and the reset itself is decently pronounced.
Housing Material & Finish: 410 stainless steel sheetmetal, raw finish
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: trigger and hammer appear to be investment cast steel, although material and finish are not specified by CMC. Disconnector appears to be machined from stock and blued, but this is also not specified by CMC.
Receiver Tensioning System: No
Trigger Pull Weight: ~3.025 lbs as tested
Adjustable: No. Factory set to 3.5 (as tested), 4.5, 5.5, or 6.5 lbs.
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.068″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.005″ (unit wobbling in housing)
Overtravel Distance: 0.037″
Travel to Reset: 0.090″
MSRP: $195.99
Elftmann Tactical ELF Match / 3-Gun Trigger
I won’t beat around the bush; this is my favorite trigger. Elftmann Tactical’s Match (solid hammer) or 3-Gun (skeletonized hammer) triggers are as good as it gets for zero creep, crisp break, short overtravel, and short and strong reset. The trigger shoes look awfully cool, the hammer springs are full power, the trigger and hammer pivt on sealed needle bearings, and a half-cock hammer notch provides increased drop safety. They’re also adjustable for pull weight. TTAG review can be found here.
Wire EDM-cut, hardened, A2 tool steel is used for the full 1/4″ width hammer, disconnector, and sear (trigger shoe). The housing is machined aluminum, which is then anodized. Hammer springs stop short of the set screws for hassle-free adjustment.
The ELF employs two set screws to tension the unit inside of the receiver. Unique to Elftmann is the inclusion of two additional, shorty little set screws that get installed on top of the snugged-down receiver tension screws. This provides locked-down, won’t-back-out assurance without going the thread locker glue route. A thin, steel plate is also included — again, unique to Elftmann (although Timney will send one on request) — for optional use between trigger unit and receiver to prevent the set screws from scratching the inside of your receiver (highly suggested for use in polymer receivers).
From this side-on view, that skeletonized trigger shoe almost disappears. In practice (i.e. “in real life”) it stands out a bit more and I love the look, curved or straight.
An ELF trigger shoe is rock solid at rest, with 0.00000″ of take-up. Pulling on it results in about as much flex and movement as does pulling on a telephone pole. Well, up until, in this case, 2.9 lbs of pressure is met and the trigger fires. The TriggerScan can feel 0.0185″ of creep, but I can’t at all. It feels just like the proverbial glass rod. The graph demonstrates just how drastic the break is, going from full trigger pressure down to almost zero pressure near instantly, which it does even if you’ve adjusted your break weight up to 4 lbs. The hammer hits so hard that it bounced the TriggerScan back in time briefly before heading back up to the trigger break weight on its way to the overtravel stop.
The reset is smooth for its short ~0.047″ life, before the strongest, most pronounced — in both sound and feel — CLACK in the match-grade trigger reset game.
Housing Material & Finish: aluminum, anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: hardened A2 tool steel, finish not specified
Receiver Tensioning System: set screws with lock screws
Trigger Pull Weight: ~2.9 lbs as tested
Adjustable: Yes, from about 2.5 lbs to about 4 lbs
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.0185″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.041″
Travel to Reset: 0.047″
MSRP: $259 Match, $279 3-Gun
KE Arms DMR Trigger
Like the ELF, all the critical bits in KE’s DMR trigger are wire EDM-machined from A2 tool steel. They’re then either TiN treated for a gold finish or melonite treated for a black finish. The housing is machined from aluminum and anodized. MSRP on the DMR is extremely competitive, as is the quality. Full TTAG review here.
Hammer, sear/trigger, and disconnector are all full 1/4″ width. Hammer springs stop short of the set screws. The silver set screw seen above is intended primarily to adjust trigger reset weight and tension, but does affect trigger pull weight a bit as well.
In keeping with the norm here, a pair of set screws presses the unit up against the trigger pins and holds it securely in place.
It isn’t subtle, but it definitely is good looking. The gentle curvature plus the radius across the front of the trigger shoe make it comfortable on the ol’ trigger finger, too.
That’s what I like to see in a great trigger break; a cliff dive right down to zero lbs. Sure, it creeps a little bit before that but it’s only noticeable when pulling the trigger very slowly. You’ll be able to feel that bit of grit to it, too, which I think is the TiN coating. I only shot a couple hundred rounds through the DMR before running the TriggerScan, and I bet it would smooth out after a few hundred more shots. Or, of course, with a light polishing job.
The reset is a tad gentler than ideal, and is respectably short but not worth writing home about in this crowd of very tough competition.
Housing Material & Finish: aluminum, anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: A2 tool steel, TiN or melonite treated
Receiver Tensioning System: set screws
Trigger Pull Weight: ~3.32 lbs as tested
Adjustable: Yes. From the factory it should be at about 4.5 lbs, but I’ve had success adjusting it from about 3 lbs up to nearly 5 lbs
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.035″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.050″
Travel to Reset: 0.075″
MSRP: $189.95 (TiN treated), $179.95 (melonite treated)
Nord-Arms AR15 Match Trigger
Nord-Arms is located in Estonia and will be selling a handful of AR-platform products — muzzle brakes, triggers, etc. — in the U.S. beginning late spring or summer of this year (through Brownell’s first, I believe). The AR15 Match Trigger tested here is a production-level trigger, although Nord intends to sculpt the aluminum housing design to make it sleeker and capable of fitting in more receivers (some receivers are actually more restrictive than Mil-Spec near the rear of the fire control pocket) before final versions hit our shores.
The hammer, trigger/sear, and disconnector are machined from hardened tool steel (S7 for the hammer, A2 for the rest) and are full width. The housing is anodized aluminum. The hammer spring feels full-powered and solidly dents NATO-spec primers. Set screws adjust for trigger pull weight and for disconnector overlap.
Two set screws at the rear of the unit tension it inside of the receiver.
The trigger shoe’s shape and profile is pleasing to the touch. Aesthetically, it’s basically keeping the match-grade trigger pull a secret.
Nord’s trigger has what I would describe as a rolling break, rather than a crisp break. Frankly, in this one case the graph here doesn’t do a great job of visualizing what it feels like. Instead of feeling like pulling against a solid wall until it suddenly snaps, the Nord trigger shoe feels disconnected from the hammer. The sensation is that of light, smooth trigger shoe travel and then you realize the hammer has fired, but the trigger shoe just kept on moving like nothing happened. Despite that upwards blip in weight on the graph right before the break and the obvious, sharp valley right after the break, in practice that break just doesn’t translate much to my finger. That plus the light pull weight define “surprise break,” which can be quite desirable for certain styles of shooting.
Likewise, while holding the trigger shoe pinned back against the overtravel stop, manually cocking the hammer isn’t felt as a bump (disconnector popping over hammer hook) through the trigger shoe as it usually is. And again, on the reset, it’s gentle in feel and fairly quiet. Overall, the trigger is very smooth and the trigger shoe feels isolated from the mechanics going on above. If you’re looking for a rolling, surprise break — as some definitely are — Nord-Arms’ AR15 Match Trigger is a solid contender.
Housing Material & Finish: 6061-T6 aluminum, hard coat anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: Hammer is S7 tool steel, trigger/sear and disconnector are A2 tool steel
Receiver Tensioning System: set screws
Trigger Pull Weight: ~1.97 lbs as tested
Adjustable: Yes. Adjustable from ~1.3 lbs to ~3.3 lbs. From the factory it’s set to 1.8 to 2.0 lbs
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.032″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.057″
Travel to Reset: 0.0755″
MSRP: $145
Patriot Ordnance Factory Trigger System, Drop-In
POF makes their single-stage, non-adjustable trigger in a few pull weights and trigger shoe variants. In this case we have the standard, curved trigger shoe and the 4.5 lb pull. Like many or most of the units in this roundup, POF uses A2 tool steel for the trigger/sear, disco, and hammer, all of which are nitrided. The housing is anodized aluminum.
Hammer and trigger/sear are 1/4″ width, disconnector is skinny. Looks like a normal AR-15 hammer spring. No internal adjustments at all, including no set screws to tinker with.
That doesn’t mean the POF trigger is wiggling around inside of the receiver like the CMC unit, though. Instead of set screws like nearly all of the drop-ins here, POF’s trigger housing has two urethane rubber feet. The rubber has to be squished just a bit during installation, and that results in consistent tensioning pressure up against the trigger pins. Simple, functional, and can’t be forgotten by the end user.
Standard looking trigger shoe. For those wanting to jazz it up a bit, POF offers their EPF (enhanced finger placement) trigger as well as a skeletonized flat trigger.
This amount of creep can only be felt if you’re pulling the trigger very slowly while looking for a surprise break. While hitting steel out to 880 yards with this POF installed, I’d find my trigger pull briefly stopping at that little dip about 0.028″ or so into the travel, and then feeling like the break after that was very nice indeed. I like these breaks where the weight on the trigger drops nearly to nothing and then the hammer hitting home can be felt slightly through the shoe.
The graph shows a reset click that looks a bit slow and gentle, but it feels and sounds about average for me. POF’s drop-in actually spent quite a while in one of my guns and it’s a truly great trigger. The graph above may look a bit rough against this group of stellar triggers, but that belies the fact that the POF is super crisp for normal or competition shooting purposes and is a reliable, solid performer at a very good price point. It’s also dummy-proof since there is no end-user adjustment capability or special installation steps required.
Housing Material & Finish: machined aluminum, hard coat anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: A2 tool steel, nitrided
Receiver Tensioning System: rubber feet
Trigger Pull Weight: ~4.48 lbs as tested
Adjustable: No. From the factory it’s set to 4.5 lbs (POF also sells 4-lb and 5.5-lb triggers)
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.041″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.045″
Travel to Reset: 0.068″
MSRP: $199.99
RISE Armament RA-140 Super Sporting Trigger
RISE Armament’s “Black Fallout” trigger went all regicide(y) on the Velocity Trigger, taking its place as low price king of the hill. At an MSRP of just $129, it’s a heck of a good trigger and it comes with the simplicity and convenience of a drop-in. Build appears pretty typical, and I can’t say RISE skimped on much to achieve this low price point.
Hammer and trigger/sear are full width, disconnector is slightly skinnier but not as skinny as some. I believe it uses a standard-format AR-15 hammer spring, which does mean the spring’s “legs” interfere with the receiver set screws (as is the case with many of these other drop-ins).
Set screws? Check. I kind of like how they’re positioned right between the receiver pins, horizontally. They’re serrated on their faces to inhibit loosening.
I’m not a huge fan of the aesthetics or feel of a trigger shoe with a tight curve like this one (or the BRO), but functionally it’s obviously just fine. On the plus side, it’s understated so the quality of the trigger pull hiding in there is a bit of a surprise.
No slack to it at all, smooth travel with only about 1/3 as much creep as the parts kit trigger, awesome break, short and smooth overtravel, smooth and solid reset. It’s a good, single-stage trigger. Actually a very good trigger. For $129 it’s an amazing trigger.
Housing Material & Finish: machined aluminum, hard coat anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: tool steel, finish not specified
Receiver Tensioning System: set screws
Trigger Pull Weight: ~3.97 lbs as tested
Adjustable: No. From the factory it’s set to 3.5 lbs
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.042″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.047″
Travel to Reset: 0.0655″
MSRP: $129
RISE Armament RA-535 Advanced-Performance Trigger
RISE’s APT, or Advanced Performance Trigger, was released before RISE’s black trigger and offers even better performance plus aggressive looks. Of course, it almost doubles the price of the black trigger.
The sculpted, skeletonized aluminum housing looks pretty sweet, and one nice benefit to the angle at the rear is that it just barely exposes the tips of the hammer spring legs. This makes it easier to push them inwards for access to the set screws. Trigger/sear and hammer are full 1/4″ width and the disco is a bit skinnier. The set screw for pull weight adjustment is locked in place at the factory and is not intended to be end-user adjustable.
Just like RISE’s black trigger, two set screws in the same general location snug up the red trigger in the receiver.
Don’t worry, it only looks like a razor blade. The trigger shoe has a fairly straight profile but isn’t flat, and it has a tight radius on the leading edge. I actually think it would be a bit more comfortable on the trigger finger if that radius were slightly flatter, but it still feels fine.
It isn’t totally perfect, as the break would feel better if that pre-break curve looked more like an inverted bucket or more like a sharp mountain (e.g. ELF), but in most shooting it feels as crisp as anything. If you’re going crazy slow, that decreasing-weight creep makes all of that travel feel like break, so the break can feel ever so slightly squidgy. But, realistically, in 98% of shooting use this amount of on-paper creep is not detectable at all and you’re working with that desirable glass rod feel.
The overtravel here is insanely short — the shortest in this test by a decent margin, in fact — and the reset is audible and tactile.
Housing Material & Finish: machined aluminum, hard coat anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: tool steel, finish not specified
Receiver Tensioning System: set screws
Trigger Pull Weight: ~3.75 lbs as tested
Adjustable: No. From the factory it’s set to 3.5 lbs
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.034″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.026″
Travel to Reset: 0.054″
MSRP: $259
Timney AR-15 Skeletonized
Timney is a gold standard for aftermarket triggers, and not just because many of their models are actually gold in color. The company can generally be trusted to provide an absolutely top-notch trigger for all sorts of bolt-action and semi-auto rifles, and their AR trigger is not an exception.
The Timney does have a set screw for adjusting trigger return/pull weight and one for disconnector overlap, but they’re tuned by the factory then locked down. End users are not supposed to mess with it, only having to move the hammer spring tails aside to access the receiver tension screws. The disconnector is wider than many, but not the full width of the hammer and trigger/sear.
Said receiver tension screws. In most cases these do actually provide enough upwards pressure to lock standard trigger pins in place. Many drop-in trigger users will opt for locking pins (e.g. KNS), and some of the units in this test come with a set of pins, but it’s rarely necessary.
The skeletonized shoe comes at a premium, but it does look cool. Of course, now that Timney is offering a straight shoe I’d have to go that route instead. I admit I’m a sucker for the look and feel of a straight trigger shoe.
Another superb trigger and yet another case where I can move the trigger shoe without firing the gun — it has just enough creep to accomplish that — but it takes a careful effort. In normal shooting use, it’s super crisp with a clean, full break. The reset is quite tactile and audible.
Housing Material & Finish: machined aluminum, anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: steel, but type and finish isn’t specified
Receiver Tensioning System: set screws
Trigger Pull Weight: ~3.42 lbs as tested
Adjustable: No. From the factory there is a 3-, 4-, and 4.5-lb option
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.034″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.042″
Travel to Reset: 0.060″
MSRP: $291.15 ($228.75 for standard trigger shoe)
TriggerTech TT-AR-15
TriggerTech’s design is a departure from the standard layout with an internal linkage(s) controlling the sear and disconnector. Additionally, their “Frictionless Release Technology” involves a free-floating roller between sear and hammer instead of making the two surfaces slide on each other.
Also unique are all stainless steel internals and a set screw pull weight adjustment with click detents. 
Two set screws at the rear of the housing press the unit upwards against the pins, securing it in place inside the receiver.
The long, curved trigger shoe will go top-to-bottom when running a standard, flat trigger guard, which I think looks very nice. TriggerTech also offers a great looking flat shoe. The raw stainless finish stands out, but isn’t quite as loud as the gold shoes of the AR-GOLD and KE.
Like all of the charts in this article, there are actually two trigger pulls overlaid on top of each other. Some triggers are obviously a bit more consistent than others, and the TriggerTech is one of the most consistent. This is one stated goal of the roller release system, and it seems to hit the mark. Now, the linkage system does create some take-up slack, but with that out of the way we’re left with about 0.020″ of on-the-sear travel before the break (creep), which is among the lowest in the test. Indeed, the break feels super crisp.
The TriggerTech’s reset is clearly shorter than the total travel, which translates into the ability to ride that reset so you don’t have to repeat the take-up on subsequent shots. It’s about average for having a tactile, audible reset. Overall it’s an excellent trigger and for those shooters who prefer a bit of a “first stage,” which is many, it’s a top contender at a competitive price.
Yes, what I said about the AR-GOLD’s take-up applies here as well, but I find it more “acceptable” on the TriggerTech for two reasons. First, the take-up is over in less than half of the distance (TriggerTech also designed it to feel like a high-end 1911, and in this case the take-up distance is more in-line with that). Second, at ~0.70 lbs of pull weight it’s twice as heavy as the AR-GOLD’s slack and therefore feels significantly more like an actual first stage. Additionally, the reset is stronger so it’s easier to avoid repeating that take-up on subsequent shots.
Housing Material & Finish: machined aluminum, anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: 440C stainless steel, raw
Receiver Tensioning System: set screws
Trigger Pull Weight: ~2.39 lbs as tested
Adjustable: Yes. Click adjustable from 2 lbs to 5 lbs
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.045″ (~0.020″ after slack is taken up)
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.024″
Overtravel Distance: 0.035″
Travel to Reset: 0.053″
MSRP: $199.99
Velocity Triggers Velocity AR Trigger
This was the budget champion until the RISE black trigger came along, although I’ve seen the Velocity on sale from a few retailers at prices as low as $115. TTAG’s 4.5-star review is here. Tom Vehr, owner of Velocity Triggers, designed and managed production at Timney and Knight Rifles for a combined 27 years before starting Velocity, so it’s fair to say he probably knows a thing or two about a thing or two. That said, there has been some recent controversy regarding the safety of the Velocity AR Trigger, and I’ve addressed that in the “Safety” section later in this article.
Hammer, disco, and trigger/sear are EDM-cut from hardened tool steel. The hammer and disco are Robar NP3 coated, while the trigger is black oxided then hand polished. The hammer spring has shortened legs to provide clearance to the receiver tension set screws. A set screw can adjust trigger pull weight/pre-tension, but is not supposed to be messed with by the end user.
As we’ve come to expect, two set screws snug up the Velocity Trigger unit in the receiver.
Another aesthetically-understated trigger shoe. The gentle curvature radius and rounded front feel good.
There’s an obvious blip in pull weight during the creep section of travel, but overall the creep is so short that once again it isn’t detectable at all unless you’re pulling the trigger as slowly as physically possible. When you do, the trigger can be “staged” at what I assume is that little blip. Most likely this would polish itself out over time like any other friction surface. That square (upside down bucket) look to the pull and break feels great, and the break itself is a clean, crisp, sudden drop to zero lbs of tension.
In this case the reset appears long because the overtravel stop is a bit squidgy, and the TriggerScan unit continued pulling until 12 lbs of pressure was met. Were the vertical scale of the graph extended up to 12 lbs, we’d see that overtravel line continuing towards the right out to about 0.077″ of total travel, which means the reset has to move forwards that entire distance as well. In actual shooting practice, there’s no way you’re going to pull on the trigger with 12 lbs of pressure after it breaks at only 3.14 lbs. Since, like most of the triggers here, the Velocity has no take-up slack at all, the reset distance will always be an extremely close match to however far the trigger shoe travels rearwards. In real use, I believe that will be more like 0.066″. The reset itself is a little gentler than average in this group, but can still be felt through the trigger finger easily.
Housing Material & Finish: 6061 aluminum, anodized
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: all are tool steel, trigger shoe is black oxide treated then hand polished, disco and hammer are Robar NP3 coated
Receiver Tensioning System: set screws
Trigger Pull Weight: ~3.14 lbs as tested
Adjustable: No. Available pre-set to 3, 4, or 4.5 lbs
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.034″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.042″
Travel to Reset: 0.080″
MSRP: $150
Wilson Combat Tactical Trigger Unit, Single Stage
Wilson Combat offers five drop-in AR-15 triggers, three of which are 2-stage and two of which are single stage. They stand apart from the rest of the pack here in quite a few ways, including the milled steel bar stock cassette, unique internal design, internals made from a different grade of steel than the others, stiff springs instead of set screws to provide receiver tension, a pin retaining spring in each bushing, and a half-cock notch for drop safety.
Wilson’s units are set from the factory for a specific pull weight; in this case 4 lbs. Eliminating set screws of any sort means there’s nothing at all for the end user to screw up or forget. Like the POF, this unit is dropped in and immediately good-to-go.
Those two receiver tension springs are very stiff, and must be compressed in order to get the trigger pins through the bushings. I’d actually say this is the hardest unit to install because of the jockeying between pressing it down forcibly until each bushing aligns with the receiver holes and the fact that the pins also need a firm tap to pop them through the retaining spring in each bushing. Of course, everything is relative and this is still a significantly easier, way more fool-proof installation than a typical, multi-piece trigger setup.
It looks a lot like a standard, Mil-Spec trigger, but it doesn’t feel like one. The edges are more rounded and the finish is nicer. Oh, and the break is outstanding.
Longer than some in overtravel and, therefore, in reset, but this break feels incredible. Easily one of my favorites, and perhaps it takes my second place spot behind the ELF for best break. Actually, it likely occupies my personal second place spot overall as well.
While the overtravel is on the long side, because most of it is so low in weight it disappears instantly with the break, and the overtravel stop then feels sudden and solid. Basically, with some triggers I can trip the break and stop my finger before touching the overtravel stop. With the Wilson, the break is so complete (to near zero lbs) and the overtravel travel so light, it instantaneously goes from break to up against the travel stop and the transition in the middle isn’t something I can feel. Still, I’d like to see it shorter just so the reset is shorter. If that were the case, it would nearly tie the ELF if not for the ELF’s ace-in-the-hole, ridiculously strong reset. The Wilson’s no slouch, though, resetting with more intensity than average.
Housing Material & Finish: machined steel bar stock
Trigger Shoe/Disconnector/Hammer Material & Finish: H13 steel
Receiver Tensioning System: stiff springs
Trigger Pull Weight: ~3.35 lbs as tested
Adjustable: No. Factory set to 4 lbs
Trigger Shoe Travel To Break: 0.025″
Initial Take-Up Distance: 0.00″
Overtravel Distance: 0.060″
Travel to Reset: 0.072″
MSRP: $269.95
Data Roundup
Triggers are ordered alphabetically in the chart above. An Excel doc with all of this data can be downloaded by clicking HERE, which will allow you to sort and rank them however you please. Ranked by “Travel to Break,” which is the total amount of trigger shoe travel from first touch to the point where the hammer fires, and put into graph form, we get:
Elftmann Tactical’s triggers win here, and also place first for shortest reset distance. They’re middle-of-the-pack for overtravel distance. While they’re my favorite triggers in this roundup, followed likely by Wilson Combat’s then a toss-up between Timney, Velocity, and KE Arms, a lot of this is highly subjective. I’d absolutely understand if a shooter preferred the rolling, surprise break of the Nord-Arms or the “2-stage” sort of feel combined with the extremely crisp breaks of the TriggerTech or maybe AR-GOLD. Or decided that the RISE black trigger is a totally stellar trigger in every way, which it is, and is the best choice for them due to its low price. Well, to be completely candid I’m not sure I’d understand, for instance, choosing the CMC when less expensive options are demonstrably superior in multiple ways, but maybe that flat trigger shoe with the hook is what does it.
Safety
All of these triggers are tuned very precisely, and have minimal sear/hammer overlap. In most cases, if the end user neglects to tighten down the receiver set screws and/or adjusts the trigger pull weight too light, the hammer will fire when the trigger shoe is let forwards towards reset. This scared some Velocity Trigger users and one retailer stopped selling them due to safety concerns. I absolutely do agree that it’s a safety concern, as nobody would expect their gun to fire upon releasing the trigger, but this behavior isn’t unique to Velocity. Again, nearly all of them will do this very thing under the right (wrong) conditions, the primary one being that the receiver tensioning set screws were not tightened.
While I personally do very much like the ability to tune my trigger myself, if I were a manufacturer I think I’d go the route of POF and Wilson Combat and produce a unit that not only has no end user adjustment but doesn’t even require the end user to remember to snug the thing up in the receiver. If you do use an adjustable trigger, just make sure it’s within the correct trigger pull specification range and that the receiver set screws are tight. A dab of non-permament thread locker wouldn’t hurt. After installation, dry fire (including holding the trigger back, cycling the action, then releasing the trigger to simulate a firing and reset cycle) to ensure proper function.
One other safety note is that the travel is so dang short on most of these triggers that it’s really easy to bump-fire them, even accidently. If you aren’t pinning the trigger rearwards after each shot but instead are trying to fire it rapidly without any extra pressure or travel in either direction, most of these will start bump-firing on their own (especially ones that slightly kick the trigger forwards upon reset — typically caused by a stiff disconnector — which is actually how the Tac-Con 3MR works).
As an aside, three triggers in this test have an additional, back-up safety mechanism. Both the ELF and the Wilson Combat have a half-cock notch, which is supposed to catch the hammer should it slip off the sear for some reason other than a pulled trigger (e.g. a hard drop). The AR-GOLD has a hammer block plunger type deal in it that’s cleared out of the way by the trigger pull, but otherwise prevents the hammer from firing.
Other Comparisons
The graph above is of the Geissele Super Dynamic 3 Gun (SD-3G) trigger, which comes installed in Lancer Systems’ L30 Heavy Metal rifle. The scale on this graph is different from the other ones in the article here, so take note of that plus the stats. On both the Travel to Actuate and Overtravel distance categories, were the SD-3G in this roundup it would place 12th out of 14. And this is a great trigger. That’s how amazing the drop-in trigger competition actually is.
For an even easier-to-visualize comparison, that’s the Geissele in bold sharing the same chart as the ELF, at the same scale as the graphs in this article. It travels more than twice as far and is a total creep monster in comparison. Heck, the $129 RISE black trigger is crisper and shorter than this $260 Geissele. Again though, nobody in their right mind would say that the SD-3G isn’t an excellent trigger.
This is the trigger in the CZ 455, a nice bolt-action rimfire. It’s a great trigger. For those who think a semi-auto trigger can’t be as good as a decent bolt-action trigger, think again, as most of these AR-15 drop-ins have it licked.
Rimfire trainer a little lowbrow? Here’s the Ruger Precision Rifle graph starting [mostly] after the trigger safety blade is taken up. We’re talking like 0.0265″ from on-the-sear to the super clean break. That’s incredible, but it’s still beaten out by two of the drop-ins in this test (ELF and Wilson), and by two more if you discount take-up (AR-GOLD and TriggerTech).
Conclusions
The trigger pull quality of these drop-in units is insane, and it’s all due to the manufacturers being able to set the relative locations of hammer and sear themselves. Thanks to the housing keeping those parts fixed in space, no compromise has to be made to accommodate the varying tolerances found in lower receivers. Each unit can also be tuned by the manufacturer prior to shipping to the end user, ready to drop right in and function in the most ideal way possible no matter what lower you’re dropping it into. There is simply no way for a standard, 3-separate-piece trigger to accomplish this.
Of course, there are still ways to screw it up at the end user level. If your trigger has set screws for snugging it up inside of the receiver, don’t forget to tighten them down after the trigger pins are in place. As seen above, this may require sticking a knife or pick down inside of the cassette to pull the hammer spring legs out of the way in order to access the set screw with a hex wrench, but it still needs to be done. If your pull weight or other feature (e.g. disconnector overlap) is adjustable, stay within the manufacturer’s stated specs and dry fire it to ensure proper function.
After playing with and shooting with all of these triggers, I do have a favorite, but that doesn’t mean it’s the “best.” All of them are great, and whether aesthetics or price or total travel or pull weight or reset distance or something else is the most important factor in a purchasing decision, you’re going to get a really good trigger that will be a night-and-day improvement from Mil-Spec/parts kit.
Did I miss one? Is there a drop-in trigger that wasn’t included here? Let me know by e-mailing TheTruthAboutGuns@gmail.com. Happy shooting.