Glock trigger - Perfection or So-So?

You could actually see the frame flex outward on my 21sf when the trigger was staged. Yuck.

I bought a gen4 21 35 days ago. Went to LGS clerk brought out 10 Glock21's out I tryed the trigger on all 10. I picked out 2 that i felt had the best triggers. As the clerk to check the triggers on the 2 i liked. He liked the same pistol trigger that was my pick. I have no complaints on my Glock trigger. I am also a DA/SA man. I couldn't pass up the 21 due to the blue label LEO price i got. $464.

There are certainly better triggers out there. The trigger on my PPQ, for example, is fantastic. Even the supposedly inferior Ruger SR series has a better trigger. The Glock trigger isn't going to make you say, "Ooooooohhhhh!" It's not going to make you run home to post about it on the Internet. It's also not going to get in the way of a good shooter, or hold you back.

While I'm by no means a fan of Glocks in general, I do have to admit that they are at least consistent. They aren't great, but they at least don't go from heavy to light like a traditional DA/SA does.

Pretty much, every trigger has it's compromises. If you like the pistol otherwise, I'd just learn to live with it. There are improvements that can be made with aftermarket parts. If, however, it's just another in a list of complaints, you may want to look into another type of pistol.

There are many people who for one reason or another have decided to dedicate themselves to the Glock platform. With a little effort, it can be used very well.

It is truly amazing what people are able to get used to and accept as far as "triggers" go. I still remember the first time someone brought a Glock onto our range, of course everyone had to shoot it. That was the first and last time I ever fired a Glock. I have several staple guns with better triggers. I would never have believed that the Glock would become the "standard" it has. Perfection? Not even close.

From the factory, absolute crap.
With a good trigger job, not bad.

Yeah, thats why GLOCKS are by far the top pistol choice for pro shooters shooting IDPA matches....

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I didn't know there are more "pro" Glock shooters across the board than there are "pro" 1911 shooters in CDP and ESP. Then again, is your definition of "pro" a sponsored shooter? Why is it the classifier allows almost 10 seconds more time to make Master shooting a Glock in SSP than to make Master in ESP shooting a 1911? Just wondering.

I actually rather like the Glock trigger. I just treat it like a two-stage trigger. If you are trying to pull it from its rest and fire each time in one fell swoop, yeah that probably would seem horrible, but if you are following through and keeping the trigger back after the shot, you just let it out until it resets and pull again, similar to a normal single action. It isn't the crispest break in the world, but I think it is definitely adequate. Regarding the actual break, it isn't any creepier than my Ruger Bisley, CZ-75, or XD 45. I'd put the crispness smack in the middle of my pistol collection.

I've got no problem with them, they're consistent. I like my 26 a lot. I shoot it well enough to feel confident carrying it every day.

Does it have the same break as a SA? Nope. Is it horrible like a pocket .380? Not even close. Just about 5-6lbs of pull with some mush at the front. I never found it to be that bad at all. Then again, I don't have any race guns or anything overly "nice". All of my handguns shoot differently. During a trip to the range I'm going to work out my 26, my 1911, my Mk III, and my cap and ball Remington. NONE of those guns feel the same in the trigger department, but I still have a good time shooting them

I have personally always liked the Glock trigger. I think it is the best trigger out of all the polymer guns (stock). But many people do not like it. You won't find a Glock with a 1911 trigger, but you won't find a 1911 with Glock reliability either. You can get used to a trigger, you can't make a 1911 run like a Glock. I personally can shoot a Glock better than 99% of the people I see at my local range that use a 1911. Not trying to say I am a crack-shot, just saying that it's more the indian than the arrow.

"but you won't find a 1911 with Glock reliability either" and "you can't make a 1911 run like a Glock" Wanna bet? Bill Wilson and Ed Brown and Les Baer are rolling on the floor right now. You really need to get out more. Those are just about the most absurd statements I have ever heard regarding the 1911 platform.

I personally can shoot a Glock better than 99% of the people I see at my local range that use a 1911.

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You need to get out some more. Maybe go shoot some USPSA, Steel Challenge, etc.

Yes actually, I DO wanna bet. If you are in the Columbus area I would be more than happy to meet you at a local range for a little glock vs 1911 action? I'll bring a bucket of sand and you can bring your Wilson Combat, we will burry each in the bucket and then have a shoot-off.....I bet you I win.
You'll be left holding a $2500 club.

No thanks. Keep dunking your Glock in that bucket of sand, it will only get more "perfect" (or at least it will hold more sand). For the record, I don't own any Wilson Combat pistols either. I build mine from naked Baer frames and slides. And they have gone over a thousand rounds a day many times and never failed in twenty years of matches. I was doing this when Gaston Glock was still making curtain rods and cabinet hinges. But they were "perfect".

Neither. It is not a 1911 trigger. It is like a very light revolver trigger with a very short reset. I do not understand how people can complain about a Glock trigger and in the same breath talk about great double action revolver triggers. It is certainly better than my stock Hi-Power, which had a 14 pound trigger. The best revolver trigger I have was tuned by an excellent revolver gunsmith and weighs in at 9 1/4 pounds. It is exceptionally smooth and retains weight throughout the pull. My Glock trigger does the same, but cost $15 to work on (Ghost connector) with an overall pull around five pounds.

While it certainly can't rival a nice 1911 trigger, I have found that a Glock trigger works well when riding the sear. I can shoot it fast and quite accurately even though the trigger is heavy.

IMHO I wouldn't want a light trigger on a Glock.

Buckeye guy, we gonna "shoot for pinks"? When I win, I get to take and sell your pistol for a better one, right? When someone who knows how to properly maintain the pistol, a 1911 is just as reliable as any other out there. They were in hard use for decades by people who were familiar with maintaining equipment. It was only with the advent of the "casual shooter" and shooters who were unfamiliar with getting their fingernails dirty that the 1911 began to garner a reputation for unreliability. Of course bastardized copies that didn't hold tolerances fed into that rumor, too.

Glocks aren't a terrible pistol. But neither are they the paragon of perfection they are portrayed as. They are a handgun developed for the lowest common demominator. While they will run longer with somewhat less maintenance than other designs, they do so at the cost of poor triggers, cheezy frames and marginal accuracy.

Those guns the pro shooters use are no more "stock" than a Monte Carlo on a NASCAR track is. That's true of all shooters using anybodies guns.

IMO all striker-fired plastic guns have crappy triggers.

1911 guy said:

Glocks aren't a terrible pistol. But neither are they the paragon of perfection they are portrayed as. They are a handgun developed for the lowest common demominator. While they will run longer with somewhat less maintenance than other designs, they do so at the cost of poor triggers, cheezy frames and marginal accuracy.

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I agree on everything else but marginal accuracy. I posted my personal experience with this in thread titled 'Beginning to understand Glock...' and believe me, as a die-hard 1911 fan that was really hard for me to swallow.

Then again, knowing exactly how much Glocks cost to manufacture, the product is nothing short of amazing. The trigger is abysmal but it works amazingly well in practice, ergonomics are dictated more by manufacturing process than the shape of an average human hand, virtually all design features are copied or adapted from other guns and just the thought of being mistaken for one of the fanboys who rave about Glocks online makes my stomach turn, but... objectively, they're better than many (including myself) give them credit for.

Glocks are a bit like dating an ugly girl. You don't want to be seen in public with one, but when you look past the public image they can be a lot of fun and do some things just as well or even better than bikini models when you least expect it.

Glock's trigger should have no hindrance on how you shoot. If they do, that's you... not the gun.

No thanks. Keep dunking your Glock in that bucket of sand, it will only get more "perfect" (or at least it will hold more sand). For the record, I don't own any Wilson Combat pistols either. I build mine from naked Baer frames and slides. And they have gone over a thousand rounds a day many times and never failed in twenty years of matches. I was doing this when Gaston Glock was still making curtain rods and cabinet hinges. But they were "perfect".


I guess this is where my opinion varies from most. If you want a pistol to play games with or just go to the range, the 1911 is a great platform. However I don't consider a gun to be combat-reliable if I have to make sure it's clean and lubed at all times to go bang. All my firearms are defensive weapons, and defesenive situations do not always take place in clean environments. If you draw your 1911 and a bad guy knocks it down in the sand/dirt theres a much better chance of it not functioning than say a Glock. It's just the nature of the design. But I guess we will agree to disagree on it. Both Glocks and 1911's are very polarizing....and the fans of each are a-holes about it (myself being one). Most old timers get caught up in the history and nostalgia of the firearm, but I take it for what it is: an outdated design that is in no way superior to modern firearms, with the exception of a fantastic tigger.

Of course bastardized copies that didn't hold tolerances fed into that rumor, too

You are a man who knows what he is talking about. A 1911 has to be finely tuned in order to properly run, but even then I wouldn't say its as reliable as a glock. As for the pink slips, hell no! I wouldn't bet my favorite firearm that is set up the way I like it on anything! Especially considering how difficult it is to buy them right now. I would however be more than willing to make a monetary wager...?

They were in hard use for decades by people who were familiar with maintaining equipment. It was only with the advent of the "casual shooter" and shooters who were unfamiliar with getting their fingernails dirty that the 1911 began to garner a reputation for unreliability.

It was in hard use before the modern firearms came to be. Let me ask you this, WHY choose to use a firearm for defense/combat that requires so much maintenance in order to work when you can use a Glock/XD/Sig etc that doesn't and is more reliable? Just because it has a nice trigger? The thought process is beyond me on that one.

I give up. You win. I only wish I had not wasted so many years of my life working on inferior unreliable guns. I was a fool.