So I polished my first AR trigger today.

[molonlabe]

I purchases a bushmaster AR with a trigger that had terrible creep and felt like dragging across sandpaper. First I looked on the Internet and found suggestions to use Flitz Polish. Available at Home Depot and Walmart. Well they had none so I figured I did countless handguns so I went at it with my fine Arkansas stone (designed for sears) I know not to change angles and when to stop. Finishing off with my dremel tool cloth wheel and jewelers rouge. The sear and trigger looked like glass. Final outcome the pull feels less and I can no longer anticipate the letoff. All the creep is gone zero zip. Safety works and disconnect works.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

If you took off any of the anodizing, you are going to have to change it out sooner rather than later. Increased wear and the odds of a FTF are more likely. Why didn't you go with an ALG trigger instead? It takes less than 5 minutes to swap a trigger pack out.

 

[DutchV]

I have heard that these parts are case hardened, which means the hardening doesn't go very deep. Is there a way to tell if you've polished too far? Other than watching for excess wear?

 

[Boom Boom]

OP, if you used a stone, the trigger is roached. Will wear excessively fast now. Order a basic ALG trigger and drop it in.

 

[outrider58]

Sounds to me he just did a little polishing.

 

[iH8DemLibz]

Good job, OP.

Slap some grease on the mating surfaces and enjoy it.

 

[Dodahdude]

 

[Pinecone]

Sounds to me he just did a little polishing.

It takes almost nothing to remove anodizing or case hardening. Leaving you with soft metal.

There is a reason you do not see smiths advertising tuning AR triggers. And in the AR world, the answer is to replace the trigger group.

 

[molonlabe]

The trigger itself was polished to a mirror surface and I had no need to touch that whereas the hammer that contained the sear needed honing and polishing it sucked. Time will tell but I doubt I damaged anything. Oh and there was no anodizing on those surfaces to begin with.

 

[kalister1]

It takes almost nothing to remove anodizing or case hardening. Leaving you with soft metal.

There is a reason you do not see smiths advertising tuning AR triggers. And in the AR world, the answer is to replace the trigger group.

ALG sells tuned Mil-Spec triggers. The mating surfaces are polished. I have 2 of them.

http://algdefense.com/quality-mil-spec-trigger-qms.html

 

[iH8DemLibz]

I've spoken with AR hammer and trigger manufacturers about hammer and trigger hardness and the hardening process.

Was told the parts are case hardened. Was told the case depth is roughly .020 to .040 deep. So to split the difference, 1/32 of an inch.

In ten years of Sundays will anyone cut through that much depth with a white stone and polishing compound.

I use VALVE GRINDING COMPOUND to mate my mil-spec hammer and trigger surfaces as a pair while installed in the lower with mil-spec springs attached.

With no ill effect on hammer or trigger surfaces. They are butter smooth (Wheel bearing grease). They still retain a negative engagement angle (The hammer cams slightly backwards prior to release). They are 100% reliable (No hammer follow when slowly easing off on the trigger).

Here are some pictures to go screaming into the night over. The gray areas are where the mating took place.

 

[iH8DemLibz]

PS:

The OP was excited about his new trigger job and came on here to share it with other gun mined folks.

And was immediately called an idiot for doing it. While simultaneously telling him his hammer and trigger are now junk.

This happens far too often.

.02

 

[molonlabe]

I just ignore BS but thanks. I honed what needed to be honed and polished what needed to be polished. I'm sure the next time I clean it and inspect it which will be next winter it will be just fine.

 

[PJDiesel]

PS:

The OP was excited about his new trigger job and came on here to share it with other gun mined folks.

And was immediately called an idiot for doing it. While simultaneously telling him his hammer and trigger are now junk.

This happens far too often.

.02

Used to be daily, seems to be a little better lately. People (for some reason) get joy out of shitting on others, says a lot about their personality I think.

 

[outrider58]

PS:

The OP was excited about his new trigger job and came on here to share it with other gun mined folks.

And was immediately called an idiot for doing it. While simultaneously telling him his hammer and trigger are now junk.

This happens far too often.

.02

 

[teratos]

I believe the Geissele triggers have polished mating surfaces.....

 

[outrider58]

I believe the Geissele triggers have polished mating surfaces.....

They do be mighty shiny.

 

[RoadDawg]

PS:

The OP was excited about his new trigger job and came on here to share it with other gun mined folks.

And was immediately called an idiot for doing it. While simultaneously telling him his hammer and trigger are now junk.

This happens far too often.

.02

 

[alucard0822]

Nothing wrong with a light stone and polish, provided you take off as little as possible, as posted, it's hardened well past the depth of any machining marks, you are just basically inducing controlled wear to flatten marks, polish the surface and break it in without going through a couple thousand rounds to accomplish the same thing, at worst you are out $20 for a replacement sooner than expected, and hopefully learned from the experience. Most aftermarket triggers use a different geometry with the sear surface much further away from the axis of the hammer, so they have a fraction of the pressure on the sear, and don't have the same issues with wearing soft steel. Either way, good job Molon Labe

 

[airsporter]

To my knowledge, AR15/M16 trigger parts are not anodized. Being steel they would be hardened. Proper "polishing" will not affect their function in a negative way. Even if the parts were case hardened and "honed" too far, they could be case hardened again. Simple process.