Gen 4 Trigger pull, accuracy

[Curare]

While the 4th gen G17 grip is absolutely fantastic, the trigger pull is rather stout--why is that?

Also, how does the 4th gen G17 accuracy compare to previous G17s? Does the tighter lock up lead to tighter groups? My best 5 round group with my 3rd gen G17 at 25 yds. was 2.5," IIRC.

[Littlelebowski]

Most folk are reporting greater accuracy.

The trigger bar is reinforced, resulting in greater strength and pull. Swapping to a Gen3 trigger bar will lighten your pull.

[glockshooter]

The reason for the increase in pull weight is the size of the new grip. In order to get the smaller overall grip size Glock had to use a shorter trigger bar. This change has made the angle that the trigger spring different. Hence the slightly heavier trigger pull. My G4-17 has been great, and the accuracy has been great as well.

Matt

[John_Wayne777]

A popular modification seems to be the installation of a - connector to reduce pull weight somewhat. A fellow M4C'er was kind enough to let me put some rounds through his G4G17 over the weekend. He had installed the - connector and the resulting trigger was pretty close to what one would expect a Glock trigger to be.

[Robb Jensen]

I own a Glock 17 Gen 4 and a Glock 22 Gen 4. Both had much heavier trigger pulls vs. just about any new Glock 17/22 Gen 3. This is mostly due to the newer trigger bar. The new trigger bar is different at the firing pin safety cam and where the trigger spring connected to it.

On both I've changed to Ghost 3.5lb connectors and Glock 17/22 Gen 3 trigger bars. I have a bunch of trigger bars and tried 5-6 different ones in my 17 until I found one that was really light. Then did a really nice polish on the contact points of the connector, connector, trigger bar, firing pin safety and striker. It makes a world of different. My 22 Gen 4 didn't come out quite as nice as the 17 but I'm going to go through all of my Gen 3 trigger bars and see if I can find a better one that makes the trigger pull better.

My Glock 22 Gen 4 is as easily as accurate as my former Limited gun (custom STI which had a Schuemann AET gain twist MATCH great .40 barrel). I've mostly shot 180gr bullets through Glock 22 Gen 4 so I can't say what it'll do with 135, 155, 165gr bullets but I'm extremely happy with the accuracy with 180gr ammo. I want to get some 200gr loads to try soon.

My Glock 17 Gen 4 is very accurate with 147gr and 158gr ammo. It's less accurate than my Glock 17 Gen 2 when shooting 115gr and 124gr ammo. At 15yrs my Glock 17 Gen 2 is easily twice as accurate than my Gen 4 with Winchester 124gr 9mm NATO.

I'm uncertain why both of my Gen 4s seem to like slower heavier bullets, it might have something to do with how long the action is staying locked but I'm not sure.

[ck1]

Out-of-the-box my Gen4 G17's trigger was indeed heavier than you'd usually get with a bone-stock Glock for sure, but I never shot it that way.
I took all the trigger guts out of my main 3rd Gen G17, minus the trigger bar and ejector housing, and installed them right into the new Gen4 and haven't looked back (this included the striker assembly, polished and radiused FPB plunger and spring and my own preferred connector/spring recipe of a Ghost "Ranger" 4.5lb connector and Wolff 6lb trigger-spring).
My old trigger was pretty darn good when it lived in the 3rd Gen, but in the Gen4 it's freakin' excellent... far and away the best break I've experienced on a Glock and honestly it's now somehow in 1911-terratory, whatever geometry that was tweaked in the new trigger bar is playing real nice-nice with my other stuff, may have just lucked out with my gun, but I'll take it. It's worth mentioning that even with all the components lifted out of my 3rd Gen gun the weight did go up slightly, but because the break is SO MUCH NICER I could care less.

As for accuracy, the Gen4 does seem to be the most accurate Glock I've owned thus far, and I'm not sure if it's coming from the better lock-up, the better grip ergos, or both in tandem. All the shooting I've done has been off-hand and with this gun it's just a piece of cake to make just one ragged one-hole group at 10 yards on in with it, and when testing a 20rd box of my carry stuff (124gr +P Gold Dots) it was freakishly accurate, 20rds produced a clover-leaf grouping about the size of a nickel at 10 yards (no BS). I haven't bench-rested it but from what I've seen off-hand from it so far I think a 2" group at 25 yards would be attainable, who knows maybe even better.

[HK45]

Glock says the Gen 4's are more accurate due to tighter lockup. Mine are very accurate.

[Assy Mcgee]

put in a 3rd gen trigger bar, & a 4.5lb connector (formerly known as the "3.5lb" connector)

[DaveC]

In my Gen4 guns I tried the Gen3 trigger bars and found that it was similar to the trigger pull in my Gen3 guns. However I ended up switching the original trigger bars around in my 17 & 22 and found that helped some. Not sure what the difference was but it resulted in a better pull for both pistols. I have now installed a Glock "-" connector in the 17 with the Gen 4 trigger bar and really like that combo.

I have tried the "-" connector and the New York 1 trigger spring with the Gen4 trigger bars and did not really care for it. But I do like the setup in the Gen3 guns.

[Littlelebowski]

Installed a polished (at the contact points) Gen3 trigger bar last night. Feels great, can't wait to hit the range with it. No cheap plating flaking off either.

[Ian111]

Would you guys prefer a stock Gen3 trigger over a stock Gen4 trigger?

[JHC]

Would you guys prefer a stock Gen3 trigger over a stock Gen4 trigger?

Not me. With over 10 years of near dedicated Glock shooting I prefer the qualities of the Gen 4 trigger over the Gen 3 even though the Gen 4 feels heavier. Mine and my son's are smoother and more consistent and seem to break cleaner. When I try the - with a NY1 combo I may change my mind. Now lighter is definitely easier for fancy shooting i.e. my Pro 9 and the Tiger Swan signature G17 model. ;)

[Assy Mcgee]

Would you guys prefer a stock Gen3 trigger over a stock Gen4 trigger?



gen 3 standard frame triggers are generally lighter than SF frame triggers (which include gen 4's).

[ck1]

Would you guys prefer a stock Gen3 trigger over a stock Gen4 trigger?

Depends, some 3rdGen triggers are born better than others... I've had a couple that were great after only a 10 minute polish session (nothing 1000rds wouldn't take care of, just quicker), and a few that weren't so great even after getting much more attention...

With the Gen4's the trigger break is different, it's cleaner, guess it would depend on what you'd rather have: a bit less pull-weight or a better/crisper break.

That said, lighter connectors and/or 6lb trigger spring combos installed in the Gen4 feel far better to me than they ever did in the 3rd Gen guns, whatever geometry that's changed with the Gen4 trigger-bar seems to respond better to the alternate connectors (no mushiness), I'm one of those that hates the feel of the NY trigger-spring combos so I can't comment there...

FWIW, I did find that leaving the stock connector installed and running a 6lb trigger spring had the Gen4's trigger feeling about the same weight or a slightest bit lighter than a good stock 3rdGen's.

[HK45]

I have experimented quite a bit at this point with triggers in my Gen 4 17's, (three of them). I've gone back to stock. I have never cared for the NY1/3.5 combo and have tried it several times. It is said to be revolver like and I don't like revolver triggers. The stock Gen 4 trigger is a little heavier but the "stiffness" for lack of a better term is highly preferable to me over any previous Glock triggers. One of the things I like so much about these Gen 4 Glocks is I just slap some Warrens on them and go. No need to add or modify anything else. These are easily the best Glocks I have ever owned.