Triggers - Through Hardened?

[matthewdanger]

Gurus,

I have seen a few places that are offering "tuned" "mil-spec" trigger groups. My first thought was that these could be a good alternative to a fragile match type trigger. However, then I thought that the tuning likely gives the trigger smaller more fragile engagement surfaces and wears away the outer hardening which could in turn lead to long term durability issues.

So my questions are does this tuning/polishing/honing wear away the outer hardened metal on the engagement surfaces or are "mil-spec" trigger groups through hardened? Do tuned standard/mil-spec triggers suffer from the same durability concerns of your typical single or two-stage match trigger?

Thanks,
Matt

[thopkins22]

Not a guru, but to the best of my knowledge, most triggers(at least stock ones) are surface hardened, and too much polishing can wear through to the soft metal underneath and cause ATF style problems.

Are there triggers that are hardened all the way through? I don't know, why wouldn't there be?

By and large it's been my experience both using them and by listening to smart people with legitimate bonafides, with ARs if you want a match grade trigger, buy a match grade trigger.

[matthewdanger]

Not a guru, but to the best of my knowledge, most triggers(at least stock ones) are surface hardened, and too much polishing can wear through to the soft metal underneath and cause ATF style problems.


That is part of my concern. I also just want the most durable/reliable trigger I can get. Looks like that Geiselle I have on backorder will be money well spent.

Thanks for your reply.

[Karl in NY]

Bill Springfield is perhaps the best-known tuner of stock fire-control parts, and he he reports good durability of his trigger jobs (I'm sure he may have just a little bias, though). Frankly, I have never heard of anything but praise for his work.

Who knows, maybe he re-heat-treats after polishing?