Has anyone herd of the geissele trigger. I've herd they are pretty good. Bryan
I have a 6.5 Grendel AR-15 with a Geissele Match trigger I just installed. I bought four of the Geisseles but they've been on backorder for some time. I also have several AR-15s and AR-10s with Jewell triggers and two Rock river 458 Socoms with with Rock River National Match triggers.
I'll compare them feature by feature, G=Geissele, J=Jewell, R=rRock River
PRICE
G $279. from Midway or the factory.
J $211 from Midway ($190 if you wait for sales or try ebay
R $120 from Rock River (save a bit if you buy it with RRAs lower complete parts kit)
INSTALLATION
G - Close to drop in. Fitting the pins to the lower receiver is recommended. It comes with 3 pins (1 for trigger, and two sizes for the hammer for best fit. Also comes with oil and grease and three required hex wrenches for adjusting it. I installed the first one and adjsuted it in under 1/2 hour without special tools. The next will probalby be 10 minutes. Instructions were fairly clear.
J -close to drop in. fitting the pins may require a little polishing of the trigger and/or hammer pin. The kit does not include pins which are mil-spec size. Installiation needs two standard size hex wrenches to adjust. The first I installd took about 1/2 hour. After that about 15 minutes. Instructions could be better.
R - true drop in. Doesn't come with pins but factory pins fit. No tools requried. Nothing to adjust. As quick to install as a mil-spce trigger.
ADJUSTMENTS
G - First stage pull is only "adjustable" by bending the trigger spring. That's the feature I was least pleased with. I don't consider it "adjustable in the normal sense. I probably won't adjust it down. I don't believe first stage pull weight hurts accuracy if it's constant and not excessively heavy. It's 2.2 pounds from the factory.
Sear engagement is a set screw.
Second stage pull weight is a set screw, zero to excessive.
Overtravel is a set screw.
J - First stage pull is a selectable notch on a disk which resembles a circular saw blade.
It looks odd but works well. It can be ajusted in seconds from ounces to pounds. It's this
trigger's best feature.
Sear engagement is a set screw
Second stage pull weight is a set screw, zero to excessive.
Overtravel is a set screw.
R - There are no adjsutments other than bending the trigger srpring to adjust the first stage pull weight, but it's well adjusted from the factory to National Match specs.
FEEL
This is purely subjective. I haven't made scientific measurements.
First stage takeup
G - Not as smooth as I expected but not a problem.
J - smooth
R - smooth
Sear release "creep"
G - none detectable
J - none detectablel
R - none detectable
Second stage release
G - clean, whatever force you want.
J - clean, whatever force you want
R- clean haven't measured the force, but reasonable
Overtravel
G - none noticable
J - none noticable
R - detectable but much better than a mil-spec single stage
LOCK TIME
G - fast This is the only reason I'd pay $280 for this trigger. The fast lock time is achieved using a low inertia hammer design and a strong hammer spring. It feels like it's less than half the time of the Jewell or mil spec trigger but that's purely subjective. I'm working on a transducer for a digital oscilloscope so I can measure lock time precisely.
J - no better than a mil spec trigger. After shooting the Geissele it seems very slow.
R- comparable to mil-spec trigger. Might be a bit faster.
Note that the AR-15 design doesn't favor a fast lock time design. Even the Geissele isn't close to the speed of a Rem 700 bolt action.
OVERALL
G - best trigger I've used on an AR-15 for shooting offhand where lock time matters.
J - I'm not replacing any. For bench or bipod I think I like it better than the Geissele.
R - A "best buy" if youi want a good two stage trigger and don't have a fortune to spend.
For more info:
http://www.geissele.com
