The Trouble With AR-15 Triggers

Rarely a week goes by that one of my students, friends, or acquaintances from social media doesn't ask about some newfangledy AR trigger. "Hey, what do you think about the "Master Speed Blaster Ammo Spender" trigger? And it is typically one that I may or may not heard of. Right now the AR trigger market is full of contenders. If I go to Brownell's website right now and search for "AR-15 trigger," I am beset with 233 entries all vying for my attention. Now many of those entries are just parts or related items, but fully 50% of them are full on triggers of varying types and features.

Now I do understand wanting to swap out a stock trigger on your AR. The stock trigger on most ARs is definitely nothing to write home about, much less brag about to your colleagues. Most are pretty creepy, somewhat gritty feeling, and break somewhere between 6-9 lbs. None of these features will help you in the speed and accuracy department, much less the "I want to shoot rounds downrange as fast as humanly possible, pls send help?" department.

Side note, if you want a binary trigger, a forced reset trigger, or any sort of trigger, you should definitely have that trigger. Hell, the whole NFA got me down and I don't agree with any of it, so don't mistake what I'm writing as a "you shouldn't have this thing" post. My idea of gun control is if you want a belt fed machinegun and a tank to drive it around with, you should be able to have those things. But I digress....

The main reason I don't have much of an opinion on any of these new triggers is simply that I don't want to bother with them. I've played with a handful of aftermarket triggers, and with two exceptions, they were just too quirky. Some required all sorts of adjustments, which could walk, and would walk at the worst possible times. Some had so many moving parts that it scared me. Some were either way too light or way too short for me. (Not for you, just for me.)

Honestly, I've basically settled on Geissele (and also ALG, which is obviously Geissele under a different outfit) and LaRue triggers. Between those two, I've got at least 100,000 rounds downrange with absolutely no issues. They don't wear out, they don't lose adjustments, they just keep working. Occasional swap of the hammer spring seems to be about the only thing they need, and they rarely need that. Also, between those two brands, they offer a wide variety of trigger profiles, pull weights, and stages. There's likely something for most everybody in their offerings.

Did I mention that every single one of their triggers I have tried has been bulletproof and just keeps working?

So, if you're contacting me for trigger advice about the new hotness in the AR world, I'm likely not going to be of much help. For that I sincerely apologize, because I'd love to help you if I could. If you want to be boring like me and have a trigger that just keeps working, well, in that case, I have two recommendations...

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Hey, check out my youtube channel, there's a lot more there. I realized a while back that most people don't read (well, except for you guys, and I thank you for that), and so I started spending most of my social media firepower over there.

Police Firearms Training

 One of the hardest aspects of police firearms training is the lack of time. Even for agencies that hit the range more than required minimums, it often means that a police officer will only get 8-16 hours/year on the range. There are obvious exceptions such as officers on specialized units or those that train and practice on their own time. That last group is pretty rare though.

When you have a trainee on the line, that time is critical. If that trainee is having any issues it is important that they are corrected immediately. I've seen some instructors simply let things slide or assume that the trainee will just "figure it out." The problem is that often that trainee is just building bad form and imprinting it more heavily by virtue of repetition. As has been said before, practice makes permanent, not perfect.

If I could offer any piece of advice to my fellow police firearms instructors, it would be to be proactive in terms of form correction. Even if it doesn't all stick, try and get your trainee to improve. Each repetition under instruction is worth so much, as that may be the only practice and help they get before a critical incident that would require those skills in the future.

Another piece of advice, if as an instructor you have a trainee with issues that you're having difficulty sorting out, don't let your ego get in the way, ask another instructor to help. Even the best instructors don't see everything, and sometimes a team approach yields better results. Often the way that one instructor states things doesn't get understood, and the simple approach of another voice with slightly different verbiage does the trick.

I don't say these things from any position of superiority, I too am still learning. If I ever come to you and tell you that I have all the answers, you'll know it is an imposter.

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Check out my youtube channel for more regular content. I've been slacking on writing, but I have taken up a new life when it comes to running my mouth and showing things in front of a camera. I'm sure my mother wouldn't be shocked at that.

Take care and stay safe guys!

Information, Eyes, Sights, and You

It has been said before, and by people smarter than me, that your eyes give you information. When it comes to shooting a firearm quickly and accurately, that information is critical in that it tells you when the gun is on target and there is reason to fire the gun. That reason may be that you're shooting a bullseye, getting ready to ethically harvest game, or attempting to save your life. Without the proper information, you won't do well at any of those tasks. 

If you do much reading of opinion by high level shooters, you'll note that many don't care if you shut one eye or not when you shoot. Such notables as Gabe White and Tim Herron have both stated that closing one eye is not problematic if it allows the shooter to get hits. I personally have seen some very high level shooters use such techniques as squinting or shutting one eye to accomplish some or all of their shooting.

Note that the eye closing or not is a very personal thing and depends on a lot of factors. The old adage, "see what you need to see to get your hits," which I attribute to Brian Enos, encapsulates a lot. One of the things inherent in that statement is YOU. He doesn't say "see like I see in order to get your hits." Everybody's brain and eyes work a little differently, and so what works for him, Tim, Gabe, or me, may or may not work for you. 

What I've come to realize is that the best thing to accomplish is finding the right amount of information in order to work most efficiently. For a lot of newer shooters, both eyes open gives them too much information, and they can't process it all in a timely fashion. They can certainly learn how to shoot with both eyes open, but unless they're going to practice more than once or twice a year, the odds of them changing that substantively are low. Any time you are trying to modify such visual cues for your shooting, you are really re-training your brain to work with a different amount of information, and that can take time and repetition to accomplish.

A related topic is sighting systems. Iron sights, especially on handguns, are low information/low communication devices. What I mean by that is that slight movement by the shooter is often not perceived through that sighting system. Shooters using that sort of system have to work harder to glean more subtle cues from that sighting system. Red dots, most especially on handguns, are high information/high communication devices. They show you quite clearly your smallest movements, from your respiration to your pulse to your grip doing weird things during your trigger press. With rifles a red dot may fall back to somewhere in the middle, whereas a magnified optic is most definitely a high information/high communication device. Making standing hits on longer range targets often benefits from dialing that magnification down, because magnification magnifies EVERYTHING, both the good and the bad.

The challenge with any of those sighting systems is getting the right amount of information from it to make your hits, without getting either too much or too little information. What I call "right sizing" the information in order to get your hits. With irons it often requires concerted effort to work on follow through and shot calling. With a red dot it often requires concerted effort to shoot through the wobble of the dot. With a magnified rifle optic it requires picking the right amount of magnification and finding the best stability you can given your current position.

And lastly, back to the eyes. I've been asked repeatedly by students about it, and related topics. Just yesterday one of them said that they had been told they need to have both eyes open when they shoot because "tactical." (I'm paraphrasing, they were much more cogent and articulate than that.) I asked them if they could get good hits in a reasonable amount of time with both eyes open, or if that was a struggle for them, and they indicated that at this point in their shooting journey, they weren't getting good hits in the required amount of time. So I told them that if they were going to end up in a gunfight, only hits count, so maybe from that perspective, for them, closing one eye and landing bullets where they needed to go would be the most tactical of all.

I realized at some point that while I tend to shoot both eyes open a lot, when I'm shooting much smaller or distant targets, I still tend to close one eye. That applies to both iron sights and red dots, and you would think that it wouldn't matter. I suppose it probably doesn't, but what I'm doing by closing that eye is removing unneeded information from my process. That said, maybe you don't need to, but if you find yourself needing to adjust what you're doing with your eyes to get hits, don't concern yourself with it, just do it.

Don't talk faster than you can think

"Don't talk faster than you can think."

I got that from a fellow instructor when he was teaching. He is one of the smart ones that gets his concepts across well. When he said it, it caused me to pause and think. It was with respect to giving instructions to others, but I thought that there was probably more in that statement. I was thinking of situations where things rapidly evolve and you don't have a lot of time to make decisions in the cold.

For situations like that it helps a lot to have a plan. It doesn't have to be a 200 step plan with branches, and if anything doing that may be counter productive. A simple plan is always better, and it doesn't even have to be fully fleshed out. Veteran field training officers will teach their new officers to pre-game in their head potential problems that could happen while they are driving to a call. This helps them to reduce reaction and decision time when things go sideways.

Likewise for the private citizen, having a game plan for certain situations is very helpful. One of the tricks a criminal will use to get close to a potential victim is to ask a question to get someone to approach or to hesitate. The usuals that I have heard:

1. Directions
2. Time
3. Asking for money/cigarette/light

The first two are quite clear indicators of issues, because everybody on the planet now has a smartphone, thanks to the second most popular US president in history. So everybody knows what time it is and how to get where they are going. If somebody asks you for either of the first two, there is an issue. If a stranger asks you for the time or directions, you already know what time it is, and it is time to go someplace else. Have a pre-planned response to those questions in your mind, say it, and keep walking with a purpose. Don't slow down, don't stop. Keep moving. If they won't leave you alone after that, you're already in the pre-positioning phase of a fight. It may or may not escalate into more depending on how you manage the position, but make no mistake, you're in some level of conflict already. There are some excellent responses to these questions. If somebody asks you what time it is, just say "12:15." Tim Chandler recommends this one, and it is solid. Who cares what time it is? Give them an answer and keep walking. My favorites are nonsensical: "Sorry I don't speak English," or "Ducks are really aliens." Something that absolutely makes no sense at all may cause a disruption in your interviewer/attacker's thought process and give you that much more time to exit the scene.

For that last one I like the always useful, "I'm sorry, I can't help you." It isn't confrontational, it doesn't involve name calling or shedding doubt on anyone's parentage. Much like the former set of questions, if this one doesn't satisfy that individual and they try to chase after you or re-position, well, you're in a fight. Don't pretend that you aren't, manage it properly. Perhaps the positioning portion of it is enough to convince that person that you aren't worth it. 

Things that make life easier

 So in three weeks I'll be on the range mostly full time teaching the new class. There are things I have recommended to them to make their lives easier, and it is amazing to me how many don't bother doing anything I recommend.

Maybe you guys are smarter. Maybe you guys already have all of these things. I don't know. But here's a partial list of things I recommend.

Firstly, for those who have weapon lights on their pistols, Thyrm makes an adhesive clear lens protector that keeps carbon and other fouling from adhering to the lens. I've been using one on two different weapon lights for years now, and I'm still on the original ones. I suspect that they could quite readily wear out, but if the ones I'm using are any indication, you can use one of them for years before replacing them. Good news for you, they come in sheets, so one sheet of them for $14 could last you for the rest of your career.

Thyrm Clens

For those of you with sweaty hands, this stuff will dry you up. I didn't believe how good it worked, but it is solid. Try it if you're a competition shooter, or if you do any sport that would benefit from having a sweat free grip.

Tourna Grip Rx Instant Grip Enhancer

Electronic ear protection is important. It protects your hearing but also allows you to hear things going on around you, such as range commands. You could spend hundreds of dollars, but $50 is easier on the wallet.

Howard Leight Electronic Ear Protection

Grip strength isn't everything, but it is important. You could buy some really high end grip exercisers, but here is a set for $22 that has a 100, 150, and 200 lb exerciser.

Xzyppci Hand Gripper Set

Loading magazines is infinitely less fun than unloading them at speed, but for every cartridge you shoot, you also have to load it. It gets worse when it is really cold outside or you've loaded your 50th magazine in a row. The Maglula helps out a lot.

Maglula 9mm to 45acp

Occasionally you have to write things down. Buy some pens that don't suck.

Sharpie Ballpoint Pens

Lastly, flashlights are much more important than you think. If you can stomach a full size flashlight clipped to your pocket or your gear, this is my current favorite:

Fenix PD36 TAC

And if that is too big, this one is excellent and small:

Streamlight 66134 Stylus Pro

None of these items will make you lose weight, look younger, or more beautiful. All of them will help you out in other ways, and that I can state with authority. If I ever get off my ass and make a video about go bags, some of these things will feature prominently.

Please note that my Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase any of these items through these links it will get me a small percentage of the cost of the item, but at no cost to you. This helps me offset my expenses for running a business, such as hosting fees and buying items to review. Thank you for reading this review!

Shooting on the Bullseye

One of my colleagues tried out the Advanced Super Test after I posted my run of it. He said that it was difficult. (I'm paraphrasing, he used stronger language.) And so it occurred to me that for a shooter that has spent a lot of time shooting very big targets, a bullseye can certainly be daunting, and it can be even more so when you start adding time pressure.

To that end I'm doing a series of videos on the B8, and how to gently ease into shooting them. I am hopeful that they'll be of some use to any of my former or current students, as well as many of my colleagues.

The issue that I've seen with police firearms training is that it often focuses on qualification style and size targets. And on those targets a hit anywhere in the scoring area is graded as the same. The issue, of course, is that it doesn't really encourage actual shot placement, it just rewards shooters with a "good enough" mentality. When actual defensive shooting is a possibility, "good enough" is not always. A determined attacker won't be impressed by hits that aren't anatomically significant. That means high upper thoracic cavity or brain box. Other hits may cause issues long after the altercation is over, but they won't be enough to change the course of what is happening.

The same is true of some types of competition shooting. When you're shooting at a USPSA or IDPA target, hits that don't get into the central scoring zone start causing you real issues with your overall score and placement. Add in a few rounds that completely miss the target and you have a recipe for not coming in near the top in any match you shoot.

And so, at least in my mind, that is the relevancy of a B8 target. It isn't exactly sexy but it can build skill and definitely show you where you are in terms of your personal shooting voyage. It is also a consistent measure of your skill at any point in time, so if you're worried that you've gotten rusty, shooting a B8 in the same time and at the same distance you did it before will give you a very objective measure.

If you want to order some B8 targets, here they are on Amazon.

Please note that my Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase any of these items through these links it will get me a small percentage of the cost of the item, but at no cost to you. This helps me offset my expenses for running a business, such as hosting fees and buying items to review.

Quickjack Car Lift

I bought one late last year, but didn't have a chance to get it assembled until today. It comes with detailed instructions, and there are videos online telling you how to assemble the system. I didn't find it to be too difficult, but I will tell you that you should read the entire instruction manual and then watch the video. That will put you in the best position to get everything together with a minimum of oopsies.

I got everything screwed together and the reservoir filled with no issues. Once I started the bleed process, however, I ran into a leak.

Where one of the long hoses screwed into one of the quick disconnectors, there was a leak at the threads. I had put sealant on it before assembling it before, but it didn't help. I tightened that fitting further, but the leak didn't go away. I ended up de-pressurizing the whole system, and then taking that fitting off of the hose. I cleaned the ends, re-sealed them, and screwed them back together, thinking that would fix the problem.

I fired up the system again and once again, that one junction leaks. So I depressurized the system again, took it all apart, and stored it. I've entered a trouble ticket with Quickjack, and that seems to be where we've left it for now. Given the fact that I entered that trouble ticket at something close of business hours wise, I doubt I will hear anything until next week. 

That also left me with the need to change my oil and rotate my tires the old fashioned way, which I did. So I was half successful with what I tried to do today.

I'll post another update when I hear anything back and let you know the path to resolution. I am hopeful that everything will come together quickly and with no more leaks. I guess we'll see!