MR 556 Trigger
How is the trigger on the MR556? Good, bad or tolerable? Is the MR trigger something I'd need to upgrade to an SSA or is it good right out of the box? Good being an obvious relative term.
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It's a relatively light trigger as far as stock AR's go, but I would call it "spongy" with an unnecessary amount of trigger creep.
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It's tolerable to good for a factory trigger. It's a 2 stage. Honestly, the funny thing is it feels a lot more like the trigger on my USP then it does my other AR's. If you're used to match triggers or SSA stuff then you won't like it. If your usual is a Colt or M&P you'll do fine with it.
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The trigger was a little rough when I first got my rifle. The first stage was fine, but the second stage definitely did not "break like glass". It felt rough like there were small metal bits rubbing against each other ever so slightly.
However, now that I've put several thousands of rounds through the rifle, the second stage has gotten slightly lighter and smoother. It is still a little spongy.
Like another poster said though, it's pretty good for a factory trigger built for reliability as opposed to a super matchy trigger like a Jewell. The hammer is a little on the heavy side which again is designed for reliability in primer strike.
However, now that I've put several thousands of rounds through the rifle, the second stage has gotten slightly lighter and smoother. It is still a little spongy.
Like another poster said though, it's pretty good for a factory trigger built for reliability as opposed to a super matchy trigger like a Jewell. The hammer is a little on the heavy side which again is designed for reliability in primer strike.
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Geissele Automatics is releasing two new triggers in the price points of $45 and $65 roughly. From feedback at SHOT Show, a lot of people say that they are a major improvement over mil-spec triggers with a 6lb pull weights. They will be sold and distributed under his wife, Amy's new company called ALG Defense. These seem to be a good alternative to shooters of all sorts. Especially good for those budget minded who have a lot of rifles they want to upgrade.
QMS (Quality Mil-Spec)
The QMS is a good mil-spec trigger that breaks about 6lb without the associated grittiness found on most stock triggers. It will have quality springs and the hardened, centerless ground, slightly oversize, chrome-moly pins from our SSA. Price is $45
ACT (Alg Combat Trigger)
The ACT is made by polishing the parts of the QMS and then Hard-Lubing them. Hard-Lubing is either Nickel Boron or Nickel Teflon coating the trigger, hammer, disconnector and trigger/hammer pins.. The pull weight of the ACT is still at 6lbs but the pull is much sharper and smoother. An excellent combat trigger. Price is $65.
Once I get the ACT trigger, I'll give you all a full report with comparisons to a standard mil-spec trigger, the MR trigger, and one of his high-speed triggers.
QMS (Quality Mil-Spec)
The QMS is a good mil-spec trigger that breaks about 6lb without the associated grittiness found on most stock triggers. It will have quality springs and the hardened, centerless ground, slightly oversize, chrome-moly pins from our SSA. Price is $45
ACT (Alg Combat Trigger)
The ACT is made by polishing the parts of the QMS and then Hard-Lubing them. Hard-Lubing is either Nickel Boron or Nickel Teflon coating the trigger, hammer, disconnector and trigger/hammer pins.. The pull weight of the ACT is still at 6lbs but the pull is much sharper and smoother. An excellent combat trigger. Price is $65.
Once I get the ACT trigger, I'll give you all a full report with comparisons to a standard mil-spec trigger, the MR trigger, and one of his high-speed triggers.
I just purchased a MR 556 A1 and received it yesterday. It has the worst trigger of any AR and newer semi autos in my inventory. The second stage trigger creep is terrible -- gritty and uneven. What really burns me up is that even a $700 Arsenal SLR 106 has a better trigger pull than this MR 556. It is headed back to HK tomorrow for repair. I am deeply disappointed in HK -- at least in the old days we had to put up with their attitude because they sold good products. Now, I'm not sure if I will be buying any HK products considering the lack of quality for the price.
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For those who care, a great way to clean up any stock trigger is to remove the pins and then chuck them up lightly in an electric drill and run it while applying a fine seel wool to the pin to polish it. Then take a .17 bore brush, wrap with same said fine steel wool, chuck up in the electric drill and run through the pin holes of the hammer, trigger, and disconnect for about 30 seconds. Then run same said steel wool wrapped bit in drill over the sear engagements just enough to shine them nicely. Make sure the spin direction of the steel wool wrapped bore brush is away from the edge of the sear, not towards it. No need to break down the edge, even just a little.
Re-assemble with a good quality grease (I prefer Brownells moly grease), and it will run a heck of a lot smoother.
Of course this only takes out the "grit" and does nothing for slack, over-travel, etc. It will "feel" like it's a little bit lighter in the trigger though simply because it's so much more smooth.
Of course you can always simply just use the LPK until it wears itself in, but that might take awhile. Others have gone so far as to completely dissassmble their LPK, degrease, then re-assemble using flitz (a polishing compound) as the lube and then work the trigger and hammer by hand for an hour or so while watching a movie, then dissassemble again, clean up the parts and lower, then re-assemble using grease. I've even heard of others using toothpaste for this and working the trigger around 3K times by hand to polish in the pieces (they say it does the same thing with less wear then the polishing compound, just takes longer is all).
In essence, all that's really being done is the outer layer of parkerizing is being removed and polished to make the trigger run smoother. No more, no less.
This
Re-assemble with a good quality grease (I prefer Brownells moly grease), and it will run a heck of a lot smoother.
Of course this only takes out the "grit" and does nothing for slack, over-travel, etc. It will "feel" like it's a little bit lighter in the trigger though simply because it's so much more smooth.
Of course you can always simply just use the LPK until it wears itself in, but that might take awhile. Others have gone so far as to completely dissassmble their LPK, degrease, then re-assemble using flitz (a polishing compound) as the lube and then work the trigger and hammer by hand for an hour or so while watching a movie, then dissassemble again, clean up the parts and lower, then re-assemble using grease. I've even heard of others using toothpaste for this and working the trigger around 3K times by hand to polish in the pieces (they say it does the same thing with less wear then the polishing compound, just takes longer is all).
In essence, all that's really being done is the outer layer of parkerizing is being removed and polished to make the trigger run smoother. No more, no less.
This
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I think the second thing Grumpy describes is basically what is being offered by ALG (tuned by Geissele) described by ForFreedom above with one standard and one with NP3 like coating. IMHO, its not a bad deal, and the work is done by the best in the business.
With all this talk of tweaking AR triggers, I would caution anyone to not alter or remove material from AR lower internals unless they are very familiar with procedure and possible consequences.
With all this talk of tweaking AR triggers, I would caution anyone to not alter or remove material from AR lower internals unless they are very familiar with procedure and possible consequences.
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Exactly.
Which is why I didn't suggest taking a stone to the sear surface.
Too easy for a layman to screw up whereas a few seconds with steel wool would be hard pressed to screw up anything.
Good post on trigger smoothing procedures. I would use your technique on a $800 AR, but I expect this work to already have been done by the factory on a $2500+ rifle. The one thing I would be careful is when you polish the receiver pin holes because the receiver is aluminum and the hardness comes from a surface finish treatment (anodizing?). If you remove the hardened layer by polishing, you have a chance of the holes wearing in an oblong pattern over time which would ruin the receiver.
The trigger on a Knight's SR15-E3 is a good example of what the MR 556 A1 trigger should be coming from the factory.
The trigger on a Knight's SR15-E3 is a good example of what the MR 556 A1 trigger should be coming from the factory.
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IIRC, Kevin Boland has commented that the KAC triggers aren't meant to go beyond 3k rounds of usage. Neither of the ones I had made it that far. That's pretty poor for a trigger that retails at $330
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Not the first time i've heard this and I agree with your assessment.
I've considered getting a high end trigger, removing all springs and sending it off with the rest of my MR556 to be nitrided so that it'll last virtually forever.
Still in the "Just a thought" stage.
An Update: Sent the rifle back to HK for repair and had it returned within a week. They replaced the hammer on the gun, and now the trigger pull is pretty good. If you get one with a gritty trigger pull, I recommend sending it back to HK for repair. The only down side is that I'm out for my shipping costs to get the rifle to HK. Ruger will pay for shipping both ways. :biggrin:
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