Differences in PSA LPK Triggers- markings and feel

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Moment of weakness I got the Glock 17 and 3 lowers deal from PSA. Never know when Denver and CO will go full retard. Had some older PSA LPK MOE kits that I had bought a few years ago just to have around- and it seemed perfect for the three lowers. Since they were a Father's Day deal, I used them to teach my son how to assembly a lower. We got pretty good at triggers. Two LPK kits triggers weren't a problem and came in at 6-7 pounds, but pretty crisp. The third trigger acts almost like a two stage. About 6ish pounds with a few mm of travel and then a few ounces to fire. Seems almost like the disconnector is pushing the hammer more than anything else.

That trigger was in build two, and since it didn't seem right, we pulled the trigger from kit three- and it seemed fine. Put the trigger from kit two that was acting odd and put in lower three- same thing; lots of travel and a two stage feel.

We noticed the hammers looked a bit different, but the biggest thing was the good triggers had a letter (S?) stamped on the main body. You can't see it when the trigger is installed. The outlier trigger didn't have a stamped letter on it. I've installed, checked versus the other triggers and re-installed the trigger three- four times now.

The parts numbers are same on all three boxes of LPKs which were bought at the same time.

Does PSA have different LPKs?

Most of the LPKs I have don't have triggers in them, I usually go aftermarket- but with these lowers, I just wanted plain-jane standard builds. I know the mil-spec triggers will be variable and sub-optimal, but I didn't expect that big of a variance in feel and operation.

[26 Inf]

They have an EPT - polished fire control group in nickel.

[vicious_cb]

https://i.imgflip.com/2ct8vg.jpg (https://imgflip.com/i/2ct8vg)via Imgflip Meme Generator (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator)

[GH41]

https://i.imgflip.com/2ct8vg.jpg (https://imgflip.com/i/2ct8vg)via Imgflip Meme Generator (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator)

Or WHEN you will get it!! Our mods should waive the requirement to contact the vender before posting complaints/issues. PSA complaints never would be heard!

[phixion]

And just like that, another PSA bash thread.

OP, with the voulme they put out, they almost certainly source triggers (and LPK's) from multiple vendors. If you are not happy with the trigger, contact them.

If you're a member on TOS, post this thread in their industry forum. Since there is nothing inherently wrong with the trigger, I'm not sure how they'll respond, but see what they say; they're usually pretty good about taking care of any issues.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

It really wasn't meant as a PSA bash. It is a trigger operation question. For the life of me, I seem to remember some kind of discussion about triggers that operated like this- long take up and it seems like the disconnector is pushing the trigger off. The hammer really needs to be pushed down hard to reset the trigger with the trigger pulled to the rear. It's a MIL-SPEC trigger set-up. When proprietary stuff doesn't work, or something breaks or there is an obvious issue, I understand going to manufacturer.

Like I said, I don't run a lot of mil-spec triggers and if I didn't have two other ones to directly compare it to (and three lowers to test it in), I might have assumed that was how it was supposed to work. I also haven't ruled out something that I did. Spent at least 90 minutes just on this trigger versus another- swapping lowers. Haven't mixed parts because I didn't want to mix things up.

I really didn't think that it would be a PSA discussion, outside of the trigger markings being indicative of something. Like I said, I thought I had read about triggers acting like this, but with 20 years of the interwebs discussions in google, and all the links to upgrading triggers, I couldn't find it.

[phixion]

It really wasn't meant as a PSA bash. It is a trigger operation question. For the life of me, I seem to remember some kind of discussion about triggers that operated like this- long take up and it seems like the disconnector is pushing the trigger off. The hammer really needs to be pushed down hard to reset the trigger with the trigger pulled to the rear. It's a MIL-SPEC trigger set-up. When proprietary stuff doesn't work, or something breaks or there is an obvious issue, I understand going to manufacturer.

Like I said, I don't run a lot of mil-spec triggers and if I didn't have two other ones to directly compare it to (and three lowers to test it in), I might have assumed that was how it was supposed to work. I also haven't ruled out something that I did. Spent at least 90 minutes just on this trigger versus another- swapping lowers. Haven't mixed parts because I didn't want to mix things up.

I really didn't think that it would be a PSA discussion, outside of the trigger markings being indicative of something. Like I said, I thought I had read about triggers acting like this, but with 20 years of the interwebs discussions in google, and all the links to upgrading triggers, I couldn't find it.

OP, you're good; my comments weren't directed at you.

Outside of 26 Inf, the other posters provided nothing of value to your question other than to bash PSA.

I hope someone more knowledgeable than I comes along and provides you with a substantive answer.

With that said, if you aren't happy with it, follow my suggestion and reach out to them on their industry forum on TOS. Josiah, the rep, is very helpful.

[vicious_cb]

Apparent speaking the truth = bashing :rolleyes:

PSA is like a box of chocolates because you never know what you're going to get is pretty much saying:


OP, with the voulme they put out, they almost certainly source triggers (and LPK's) from multiple vendors.

[Straight Shooter]

They have an EPT - polished fire control group in nickel.

And MY sample of one is excellent with right at 900 rounds thus far, fwiw.

[ST911]

Okay, back to triggers please.

[longshot2000]

And just like that, another PSA bash thread.

OP, with the voulme they put out, they almost certainly source triggers (and LPK's) from multiple vendors. If you are not happy with the trigger, contact them.



Totally agree with your assessment. And, their polished nickel fire control set is not bad. My experience has been that their actual raw parts are quite good. Now, when you try to mix and match different batches of LPKs, you are going to open yourself up to potential issues, just as @phixion mentioned. The quality of parts, like lower parts, upper receiver parts, roll pins, taper pins, grips, etc. has been better than some other name brand parts companies. Major parts, like receivers and barrels, not the same level of compfort.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Tore it apart and put it back together, same thing.

I did notice that when pulling the trigger, the hammer is pulled back/down a bit further. Then the disconnector hits the hammer and then it drops.

It actually feels like a two-stage trigger. 5-6 pound take up and a few ounces to break- but with no explanation as to why it would do this, it makes me nervous.

I really only included the PSA part because I was putting multiple lowers and kits together- so it isn't this or that, but more this or this

[26 Inf]

In your first post, you said the hammer looked a little different. Does it look more like these?

https://www.larue.com/products/larue-tactical-mbt-2s-trigger/

https://geissele.com/geissele-2-stage-trigger.html

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Naw, it is the same MIL-SPEC trigger. The real difference was the letter stamped on it. Maybe the angles and shape were a bit different, my son thought he saw more than I thought I saw. The design is just standard MIL-SPEC.

[AKDoug]

My daughter's older BCM has a trigger like that. Pulls about 6 pounds and you can actually stop.. then finish with a few ounces more pull. I just chalked it up to a crappy mil-spec trigger. We have 6 rifles in our house with mil-spec triggers. None of them are remotely similar in trigger pull if you pay attention to it. I doubt there is really anything wrong with that one you have.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Is movement of the hammer during trigger pull normal? That the MIL trigger would be crappy isn't something that I am surprised at. The seeming difference in function got me. Especially, and not calling out PSA specifically, from LPKs with the same part and SKU codes, and bought at the same time.

[26 Inf]

Shotgun the rifle and dryfire holding the trigger to the rear. When you push the hammer back down to cock it, the hammer should be retained by the disconnector. When you let the trigger come forward you should see/feel/hear the disconnector release the hammer and the hammer engage the sear.

When you squeeze the trigger on a single stage trigger you should be able to see the hammer move slightly downward as the sear surface on the front of the trigger bar cams against the sear notch on the hammer until the hammer releases. In some of my single stage triggers this movement is more pronounced than in the others.

Thats all I got.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Must just be different sources. The hammer in the odd one has a round indent near the top with 5 dots in it. The other two triggers have the same indent, but with one dot.

I have a DD and what I think is a WOA parts kit with triggers. I'll compare them and see what is the difference. I'm a bit trigger rich right now. That happens when you start cleaning up your gun closet...

[HelloLarry]

I always have to pay extra for a 2 stage. :)

[wanderson]

I’ve got a few PSA triggers, some entry level and a few are the EPTs.
Recently swapped a few around and couldn’t remember which was which but the ones with an ‘S’ on the hammer seemed to be the good ones.
Seems like a year or two after they rolled out their EPTs their basic trigger got worse. Not bad, but the first EPT I got was as nice as my ALG QMS. The last ‘basic’ trigger I got had some rough castings, I stuck it in an ARI traded off.
But PSA recently had their EPT on sale for $30, hands down the best trigger for a budget build.

In general I like PSA parts although I did get a spare buffer spring that looked like it came off a screen door. It was physically shorter and the wire looked like a smaller gauge. It was also a tad smaller in diameter, worked fine with an AR buffer but wouldn’t fit over my RRA 9mm buffer. Went in the trash.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

So I pulled the off trigger and started to swap out parts. I had found a disconnector in my parts drawer, so I started there before i parted out my DD LPK for it's trigger. Low and behold that was it. It acts like the other triggers. I thought that that that can't be it, so I swapped the old part back in and the old behavior came back. Swapped the found piece in and back to normal. I wouldn't think that the disconnector would affect the trigger that way.

Here are the disconnectors. The one on the bottom with the longer nose towards the top is the bad actor. The one on top was from my disconnector fairy that fixed it.

52606

Nice "crisp" 5lb pull, some overtravel and solid reset.

[26 Inf]

Looking at the disconnector and googling 'ar 15 trigger disconnector' I found this suspect:

https://www.amazon.com/AR-15-Disconnector-LP1033/dp/B00AKI782K/?tag=leosm1-20#customerReviews

Which in turn led me to this:

https://shop.tacticalshit.com/diconnector

Which causes me to rethink things. I'm one that doesn't get as concerned about the label, but I do draw the line at sourcing parts off Amazon. Really Bro? :jester:

Also a WMD NiB disconnector looked similar.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Nice Google-fu. It does seem that the rounded ‘hole’ radius near the top is a distinctive feature. I just never thought that the disconnect or would have that impact- by itself. I assumed the hammer/trigger sear surfaces were the main culprit. Shows what I know. Glad I had three kits to work with. If that odd one had been the only one from PSA, I would have not thought well of their LPKs. Having to swap a part isn’t good, but all three lowers look and operate well now. I’ve got 4-5 lowers that don’t have uppers now..... 224V, a dedicated 22 upper... A2 uppers are old school now....maybe time for an SBR...