Review: Glock Triggers from OC Custom

“Feels like a staple gun.”
”I put up with the trigger because it’s so reliable.”
”Almost as bad as Arby's.”

These are some of the comments that I hear regularly about factory Glock triggers. While most of them come from traditional (i.e., 1911) shooters and many of the others of so much hyperbole, there is a bit of a point in the rabble. The factory Glock trigger is spongy and not the smoothest in the world.

The aftermarket support increased linearly with Glock’s popularity, and triggers were one of the first things to be addressed. There was a problem, however. By far the easiest way to make the dependable pistol anything but, was to add aftermarket parts. There have been numerous triggers released, some with superior track records and others spotty and marred.

Glock took note of the aftermarket, like considerate companies are wont to do, and released smoother triggers setups for their competition models. Were they comparable to 1911 triggers? Well, no but they are decent, especially after several thousand rounds have been put through them. Dan Carlin, a former radio host and current history nerd and podcaster, once said (referring to President Teddy Roosevelt), “You have to judge racism by the racism of the day.” I agree, at least concerning pistols.

A Glock is not a 1911, nor a Steyr GB, or an AR-15. While a good 1911 trigger is considered among the best in the world, not everything has to be a 1911 trigger. I compare Glock triggers to Glock triggers, and my skepticism meter flares whenever I hear, “…just as good.” about anything.

A newcomer to this game is Orange County Custom Triggers (don’t worry, no reality TV show and flame paint jobs with this Orange County company) and they decided to take a slightly different approach. While they offer many aftermarket parts from other companies in their store, they also have their own line. They modify OEM Glock parts by polishing and recontouring, and add in their own adjustability.

Their newest model is called the ‘Enhanced’. The concept is to maintain the same boring Glock reliability while giving the shooter a crisper, less Sponge Bob like trigger via reduction of pre-travel. This also can gift your trigger a flatter feel on demand without the need for restructuring or replacement. It’s available in both a serrated (Good Crom–why?) and smooth option, with a trigger safety in an ample assortment of colors (black, ever-popular red, OD, FDE, gold, pink, silver, and LEO blue.)

Though the Enhanced is designed to work with OEM Glock connectors and springs, you can experiment. To that end, OC Custom Triggers sent along one of the Wolff spring tuning packs (they sell them for $12) with the trigger so I could do just that. The spring pack comes with 3 different striker springs (4, 4.5, and 5lbs), an extra power trigger spring, and a reduced power safety plunger spring. Add in your OEM parts and you have more than a dozen possible spring combinations—assuming you want to do so.

So of course I experimented.

Current knowledge is that for best reliability with the widest array of ammunition, stick with your factory springs and connectors but I was at least going to try it out.

Installation of the Enhanced is a snap; it installs just like any other trigger bar. There are any number of good tutorials on the internet you can follow if you’re unfamiliar. Pre-travel adjustment is accomplished via an included [very small] hex key.

You’re really going to want to do this with the trigger installed on the handgun first so you can fine tune it. The location of the adjustment screw is kind of a pain to get to and I found it best accessed with the trigger released. A clockwise turn reduces pre-travel and counterclockwise increases pre-travel. You absolutely can take off too much pre-travel. If you crank it down too far, your trigger safety can be negated so be sure to triple check everything before heading to the range.

For my first range outing with the OC Custom setup I brought several Glock 19 slides with different striker springs installed. I knew I was pretty much set on sticking with the factory springs but I thought I’d give it a go. The extra slides (actually, extra Glocks) reduced ‘bench time’ between evaluations.

Yes, I was able to reduce the reliability of the Glock with the correct (incorrect?) spring configuration. Lightest striker spring + heavy trigger spring + lighter safety plunger spring gave me a couple failure-to-resets. The whole point of the exercise is to ensure reliability before possible carriage, so be sure to hit up the range prior.

The Enhanced worked exactly as promised.

Pre-travel was reduced and the hand polished trigger bar was butter smooth. With just the trigger bar, pull weight and reset are exactly the same as your parent setup. All-in-all the Enhanced feels like a G34 trigger—just one that’s seen about 10k rounds. If you have the time and inclination, that’s not the worst way to get something this smooth—but with the Enhanced you get it, with the pre-travel adjustment, for about the price of one box of carry ammo.

I’ve only put a few hundred rounds through the OC Custom Triggers' Enhanced at this point. A longer term review (watch for an update in the future) will be the best determination to see if any failings rear their ugly heads (such as the pre-travel adjustment screw falling out of whack). My experience thus far, when utilizing OEM springs and connectors, is very positive. Call it a tentative ‘go’.

The base model of the Enhanced is $35 ($40 if you go with a custom safety color) but desired additions are simple. You have a ton of options: safety color, pre-travel, contoured safety, OC Custom’s over-travel Eliminator, handful of trigger connectors and springs and options for takedown tools. The most expensive combination I could come up with (including tools) was $139, which is still incredibly competitive. There are some manufacturers selling just the trigger bar for around that price.

You may find all of this talk about pre-travel confusing or complicated; I assure you it is not. However, you can purchase the Enhanced without the pre-travel option if you want. That silky trigger bar alone is worth the price of entry. In the meantime I’m looking forward to seeing more from this company.

If you pick one of these up, please give your feedback and experiences with it.
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For ordering or more information, visit OC Custom Trigger's homepage here, checkout their Facebook page here, or follow them on Instagram here

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