I don’t consider Bushmaster to be a “top tier” AR maker (that’d be folks like LMT, Noveske, Colt), but hey… it works, it fits the bill, and it was all that was available at the time. Certainly the Bushmaster Super Light Carbine that I have will suffice as a hunting rifle, due in large part to that super-light profile. So in the end, I’m thankful for what I have. However, I’m not completely satisfied with what I have. The main sticking point? The trigger.

It’s long, it’s heavy, and it has a “gritty” feeling. I don’t like it. Sure I’ve done a lot of dry fire with it and that helped, but it’s still fundamentally the same trigger. Of course, I’m a bit spoiled because my other AR has a Rock River Arms National Match 2-stage trigger which is so very sweet. While the Bushy’s trigger would be fine for a “fighting rifle”, it’s not an ideal trigger for a hunting rifle. In fact, the main user of this rifle will be my kids and it’s most evident the trigger on this rifle is the toughest part for them.

Aside: Daughter got to handle and dry fire a Wilson Combat 6.8 on New Years Eve. She knows how that Bushy trigger is, so the moment she pressed the trigger on the Wilson all she could say was “Sweeeeeeeet!” 🙂  Yes, it has a very very nice single-stage trigger.

While buying an aftermarket trigger isn’t the most expensive thing in the world, I am trying to sink as little money into this rifle as possible. I don’t want to risk making the rifle unsafe, but if I can improve the trigger in some way I’d like to do that.

There’s the famous “15 minute trigger job“. I’ve heard mixed reports on doing this and any sort of “stoning/grinding” of the trigger parts because you are removing metal and that could cause dangerous failure down the line. Here’s a video of the trigger job, plus a bit more. I cannot comment on if this is a good thing to do or not… again lots of people come down on doing this.

his part 2:

Now, let’s look at some videos from Brownells.

An introduction to AR-15 triggers:

Installing a drop-in trigger (a Chip McCormick single stage):

Installing a Rock River Arms NM 2 Stage trigger:

M4Carbine.net has a write-up on various AR triggers.

So as I look around for trigger solutions, the same names come up over and over. One name that keeps coming up is Bill Springfield. Apparently he can do a trigger job on the factory trigger and make it quite good for little money and a fairly fast turnaround time. There’s much talk about his work, all positive reviews, and I’ve not read of any problems with what he does.

At this time, I’m thinking about trying one of Springfield’s triggers. I’m not sure if I’ll send my trigger for him to work on or buy one of his triggers… still to be determined. But triggers are on my mind and this posting is just me thinking aloud. 🙂