I recently purchased a COLT flat-top AR-15. In general I am happy with the purchase, and find it to be much more accurate than I am :-(
One of the most obvious problems is the standard trigger. Although I have felt worse, it is not particularly smooth, and I would estimate the pull at 8 to 10 lbs - fine for a military weapon, but not so wonderful for target shooting.
I looked around for replacements, and had more or less settled on the two stage Armalite replacement. However, when I called Brownells to order one, they had stopped stocking them, with no indication as to why.
I had also been looking at the Accuracy Speaks trigger in the same catalog, had been tempted, but had decided on the Armalite because of comments made by a user (he is happy), and the lower price (admittedly not that big a difference).
Anyway, rather than search around, I ordered the Accuracy Speaks kit.
It arrived today.
At fist sight, I was maybe a little dissapointed by what I received for my $163.70. The kit was in a ziplock plasic bag, with two pages of photocopied instructions, the photocopying was poor, and one of the pages was a warning not to try to fit the trigger yourself, but to take it to a professional gunsmith. Also, the trigger is advertized as having adjustable pull - I was sort of expecting some sort of screw adjustment - in fact, adjustment is done by bending the trigger spring ...
Never having taken an AR-15 trigger assembly apart before, and having heard/read stories about little spring loaded bits and how you should set aside at least half a day for the replacement of a trigger, I was a little nervous.
Well, looking at the trigger kit, the drawing on the instructions, and having peered down into the trigger assembly - it didn't look *that* complicated to me.
First I removed the upper - easy, just unscrew the pivot pin, and pull it out.
Next, I removed the hammer. The hammer spring looks vicious, so I was wary of what would happen as I pushed/pulled out the hammer pin (BTW the pin is easy to get in/out, you don't *need* punches, having one might make life a bit easier, but pushing is enough to remove the pin, no need for hammers!). The hammer didn't fly out, it was easy to retain.
I transfered the spring from the existing hammer to the new one. The A/S hammer is lighter, and made from stainless steel, it looks better made than the Colt hammer.
Next came removing the trigger itself. The instructions warn that on some models you may have to remove the safey before it will come out. I had no such troubles - you need to fiddle around to ease the trigger out, but it comes out without further disassembly on current flat top Colts.
The trigger spring is transfered to the new trigger.
The lower trigger assembly is in three parts, the trigger itself, with integtal sear, a small spring and the disconnect. The disconnect is a hook which catches the hammer as it flies back, while the trigger is still pulled, preventing it from flying forward until you release pressure on the trigger, at which point the disconnect lets go, and the sear catches and holds the trigger.
A/S provide new replacements for all three parts.
The instructions now warn that you may have to grind part of the trigger to get it to fit - they also say that any modified/ground parts cannot be returned.
The person I spoke to about the Armalite trigger had to grind his a little, and a review I had seen of the JP Enterprises trigger had mentioned having to grind his.
So I was expecting problems here. Not so ! with a little fiddling the trigger dropped in - I had to do some pushing and pulling of the trigger spring to get its "legs" so slide forward, poking from above, and beneath - but with gentle persuasion it dropped into place.
I had decided to fit the disconnect and spring after getting the trigger in place. I'm glad I made that decision. I pushed the pin partway in to keep the trigger from moving, used a small screwdriver to drop the the spring into place, and popped the disconnect in with my fingers - I have small fingers, someone with larger hands might find it easier to use pointed nosed pliers here.
With a little waggling around, the hole in the disconnect was persuaded to line up, and I pushed the pin into place, and all of the bottom half of the trigger was nicely in place.
Putting the hammer back was easy - put the spring legs over the trigger pin and push down until the holes line up, and push the pin through.
Now the moment of truth - the instructions describe some simple tests to ensure that the trigger and disconnect are working correctly - mine worked perfectly. The safety also worked with no problem.
Now I slapped the upper back on, and tried dry firing - wondeful!!! The pull is around 4 lbs, smooth and apparently creep-less.
BTW - the instructions say to apply lubrication to the sear - I used Tetra grease, that probably helps the smooth pull.
Overall, the initial dissapointment was dispelled by the ease of replacement, and the feel of the end result, and I think that I am going to be very happy with this new trigger once I get it onto the range.
In total, I spent no more than 45 minutes on this replacement, and really think that anyone with even minimal manual dexterity and a bit of common sense could replicate this. I could probably do the same thing in around 15 minutes on the second attempt (a lot of the time was checking instructions and looking at the way that springs fitted).
For reference, I purchased mine from Brownells (515) 623-5401 The manufacturer is:
Accuracy Speaks, Inc.