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Tag: ar15

Legacy Reviews from the Early Days

HIPERFIRE triggers are novel by design. The unique look follows the definition of functional design, “it looks that way for what it does.”

I have a confession, I don’t shoot, well at least rarely. I am an engineer by training and I think like one. I am rather analytical, but I’m also very creative and have a good imagination. When I designed that trigger for the .50 caliber semi-auto rifle, I knew what the mechanical requirements had to be to strike and dimple hard primers for 100 % reliable ignition as well as have a light, tactical touch for long range marksmanship. I designed the trigger in 2003. In 2011 I modified it for the AR-15 and started HIPERFIRE. The rest is history.

The HIPERTOUCH Genesis was originally sold in 2011 as the 24 SP: 2-4 lbs of adjustable trigger weight employing three different toggle springs; SP for small-pin installation, not for large-pin COLT version lowers. I packaged the first 100 “production” run of those triggers myself from individually machined parts. In 2012 they sold in larger volumes, made from machined, investment-cast parts and renamed the HIPERTOUCH 24.

At SHOT SHOW 2013 a few people felt the trigger and made some suggestions, like “reduce the creep!” Later in 2012 I was able to reduce the creep without affecting safety. And, a friend asked if I ever thought of adding a shoe. I asked, “What’s a shoe.” Hmm, never thought of that. Well, after some thought, design, and stress analysis I decided the the shoe would be red and made from plastic! Those thoughts resulted in two more triggers.

In 2013 at the Rock Castle Pro Am 3-Gun competition I introduced the HIPERTOUCH 24E (elite) and the 24C (competition). The latter had that red shoe thingy. Friday a.m. when competitors were scouting out the tents they unanimously commented privately to their friends something along these lines, “Another trigger company selling a gimmick [the red shoe].” A few purchased based on the feel experienced during trial pulls on some table demo lowers.

Well, after the morning stages, there was no more talk about the gimmicky red shoe, but, “Where’s that trigger.” The buzz had started all right. I sold out of the stock I brought with me. Since then, the story has not changed. In fact, I’ve had many people approach me to say that the gimmicky red shoe was genius. That red shoe changed 3-gun. Yes, red sells. But, for me the engineer, “It looks like what it does.” What does it do? If spreads the applied trigger force over a larger area on the finger than without it. Translation: same pull force, more area, means less felt pressure. The trigger is more responsive. Instead of pressing a dent in your trigger finger’s flesh, the trigger moves with seemingly much less effort.

I don’t know if any of this makes sense to you. We all have our own way of describing phenomena. I’ve linked below some early reviews of mostly triggers. Read how reviewers apply their analytics. Said in different ways, it boils down: WOW!

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2014 Genesis Elite Competition FOUR GUYS GUNS Article

2014 Competition SpartanTC81 Reviews Video

2014 Elite 8541 Tactical Article

2014 Competition WE LIKE SHOOTING Video Article

2014 Competition 3 GUN NATION Article

2014 Adams Arms COR Rifle DEFENSE REVIEW Video

2014 Ghost Gun Pistol Build SpartanTC Reviews Article

2014 Competition Genesis Elite BOOK OF THE AR-15 Article

2014 Competition TX Arms Article

2014 AR15 .22 LR Build MAJOR PANDEMIC Article

2014 HIPERSHOE Triggers MAJOR PANDEMIC Article

2015 Genesis JUNIOR SHOOTERS Article

2015 EDT LOADOUT ROOM Article

2015 Genesis GEAR REPORT Article

2015 Elite GEAR REPORT Article

2015 EDT PATROL TACTICAL Video

2015 Competition Lena Miculek Video

2015 Reflex GEAR REPORT Article

2015 Competition GEAR REPORT Article

2015 Custom 300 Blackout MAJOR PANDEMIC Article

2015 Boutique BLACK RIFLES SMALL ARMS REVIEW PART 1 Article

2015 Boutique BLACK RIFLES SMALL ARMS REVIEW PART 2 Article

2015 PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTOR Article

2015 HIPERTOUCH Triggers RANGE HOT Article

2015 ECLipse GUNS & AMMO Article

2015 ECLipse DEFENSE REVIEW Article

2015 Elite MAJOR PANDEMIC Article

2015 EDT HG DM MAJOR PANDEMIC Article

2015 ECLipse DM MAJOR PANDEMIC Article

2015 Best AR Triggers OUTDOOR HUB Article

2016 EDT DM Spotter Up Article

2016 Competition Lena Miculek’s Take Video

2016 EDT DM FIREARMS INSIDER Article

2017 Eclipse Spotter Up Article

2017 ECLipse Reflex PEW PEW TACTICAL Article

2018 Elite LOADOUT ROOM Article

2018 Best AR-15 Trigger GEAR-REPORT Article

2019 HIPERTOUCH Installation PEW PEW TACTICAL Article

2019 How-To AR-15 Lower Build PEW PEW TACTICAL Article

2023 Competition (update) GUN MAN Article

HIPERGRIP REALISTIC PREPAREDNESS Article

EDT HG REALISTIC PREPAREDNESS Article

Terry Bender

Creep is/does more than you think

Creep is Good. Blasphemy, you say!

Recently, we posted HIPERTECH #3, where we provided a lot of pull weight data scans for over 35 AR15/10 triggers that also highlighted the trigger creep.  We defined creep in that article but withheld our judgment as to whether creep is good or bad.

“Creep,” any creep is a dirty word among shooters.  No one wants to talk about it.  But, it’s essential to have creep, any creep, for the safe function of a semiautomatic firearm.  No creep (less than a hair-trigger) is very dangerous at any weight.  The question should not be how much creep, but what should it feel like.  No one has tackled answering that question.

So, manufacturers focus on weight alone, giving a single number.  We show in HIPERTECH Bulletin #3 that every trigger manufacturer’s trigger weight is different.  The maximum is different.  High at first, high in the middle of the pull, or high at the very end.  Clean break, rolling break, and so on.  The average is also different among them.  So how is trigger pull weight an adequate descriptor of what the shooter feels when he pulls the trigger?

HIPERFIRE, the manufacturer has come up with a metric that combines both pull weight and creep into a single parameter.  In engineering terms, it’s called work or energy.  For shooters, let’s call it effort, the effort the shooter must exert to drop the hammer.  This metric is a number calculated from the same pull weight data scans shown in HIPERTECH #3.  The calculation takes into account the entire weight, no matter how it changes during the pull, but also includes the whole creep, no matter its character.  See the figure below taken from the Bulletin.  This shows how the work, energy, effort number is calculated.  The units of measure are inch-pounds (in/lb).  We know numbers like that from engine torque, fastener lockdown torque, etc.  Well, now we can relate those units to AR triggers.

Figure showing the “area under the curve” or trigger pull energy/work.

You’ll have to read #4 is get all the details.  This new trigger parameter is very good at describing trigger control feel.   We can use it to rank how a trigger feels on the trigger finger as the shot is taken.

What Work, Energy, Effort Tells Us

  • A trigger with high weight and low creep will feel the same as a trigger with low weight and more creep.
  • Energy or work is the effort we exert when pulling a trigger. We don’t really feel the weight or creep independently.
  • Creep can be good or bad; it depends, so to speak.

So, how is creep good?

Ok, now you’re asking the right question.  We know lousy creep when we feel it, but who comments on “good” creep, except the case where the creep is “zero.”  We know zero creep is an impossibility.  Well, creep is good when it provides feedback telling us what’s happening when we pull the trigger.  This feedback tells us whether we like the trigger or not.

This has been HIPERFIRE’s take all along when designing good triggers, which is what our fans tell us, those fans who have tried a lot of different triggers and settled with us.  We created them based on their benefits to our shooting experience.

HIPERTECH #4 has a lot more info, and we rank over 35 triggers  based on pull energy and work.  It confirms what our fingers tells us in a parameter, more that weight or creep alone.  We’re getting closer to making a more complete assessment of what makes triggers good or not so good.  Stay tuned, we’re getting warmed up.

 

Terry Bender

Everything About Trigger Weight

How Much Does Your Trigger Weigh?

Or, what’s the weight of your trigger?  Is it the actual weight, or are we really talking about the force we must exert on the trigger to get it to release the hammer?  If so, that would be its pull weight or pull force, just to add some clarity to what we really mean by trigger weight.

The “trigger weight” terminology derives from hanging dead weights from the trigger’s bow with the firearm’s muzzle pointing up, to measure the amount of weight that must be added to get the trigger to break.  For example, that’s how an NRA deadweight tester works.

Most shooters focus on the pull weight of a trigger, thinking that is the most important metric when evaluating how good a trigger might be.  The idea is that the lower the weight, to some limit, the better the trigger.  A practical trigger safety limit for a bench-rest shooter might be 2 ounces.  But that trigger weight in a semi-auto rifle like an AR15 would be scarily unsafe not only during normal handling but most certainly rough handling like dropping it on the ground when pulling it out of your pickup’s cab.  So, when we say “good weight,” that will depend on what you’re going to do with the firearm.

Well, shooters have many opinions on what weight makes a good trigger or even an excellent trigger.  Manufacturers are also very opinionated on the topic, especially here at HIPERFIRE.

You see, different types of triggers will have different weights depending on what other factors mighty be emphasized.  Some triggers are MIL-spec safe, or operator safe, during stressful engagements.  A 3-Gun competitor might consider the “stress factor” differently and usually opts for pull weights and are at least half the MIL-spec standard.  These triggers are generally of single-stage design.

Long-range precision hunters or competitors may opt for a 2-stage design.  A first stage take-up of low pull weight, then the second stage of slightly higher weight called “the wall.”  Dividing the trigger’s travel into these two distinct segments helps the shooter to manage the semi-auto’s requisite creep.   When the wall is breached, the shot is made.

A third category would be the so-called “drop-in” trigger that could be of either single or 2-stage design.  This is the point: we have many different trigger types from many different manufacturers for many different kinds of shooters with many different opinions as to what is a perfect trigger weight.

How can we decipher this to make decisions about triggers that are so very different?

HIPERFIRE has scrutinized this issue because we are both shooters and a manufacturer.  We agree with the general consensus that lower trigger weight is better.  Take a look at the chart below that compares the pull weights of some HIPERFIRE triggers against some very popular after-market drop-ins.  The data looks very different among them, doesn’t it?  It’s also overwhelming and somewhat confusing, isn’t it?

Chart showing pull weight scans of HIPERFIRE and other’s triggers.

This Is What It Means

  • Go to HIPERTECH Bulletin #3 at hiperfire.com explaining how the data was collected.
  • The Bulletin has many more charts that begins our conversation on what makes a good trigger with the weight metric. Ultimately, we want to show you that the conversation doesn’t end with weight.
  • The charts compare the most popular and arguably the most excellent after-market AR triggers the shooter can buy.

Why Is This Beginning Important?

HIPERTECH Bulletins #1 and #2 began by introducing you to the exclusive Cam-Over Toggle Engine™ and Radical Sear Mechanics™ features in our triggers.  Now, we show you what that did to lowering trigger weight.

Bulletin #3 gets into the details, but it can be challenging for some to understand.  So, let’s boil it down.  Your trigger finger can tell no lie.  It knows what it likes without all the charts.  That’s why trigger manufacturers resort to the feel-good taglines.  They know that data doesn’t sell triggers, or that if purchasers relied on the data to make decisions, they would receive the short straw.  HIPERFIRE knows the data in and out, we designed our products with the data-driven insight into what our trigger finger knows to be the truth.  Now that we could quantify the pull weight and other vital metrics, we could reproduce an ideal feel across many different trigger products to give many different shooters what they only could have dreamed of before.

HIPERTECH is written for you.  Use it to expand your consciousness, then expand your shooting experience.  Message me here if you have any questions about HIPERTECH Bulletin #3.  Remember, this HIPERTECH series is long, we’re just getting started.

Terry Bender

What’s In A Trigger?

Everyone Wants a Good Aftermarket Trigger

If you believe the advertising, everyone sells the best aftermarket trigger.  Most of these ARE good, compared to the AR15 shooters’ bane, that MIL-spec one.  But what’s good or not so good, breaks down when making comparisons within the aftermarket group.  Well, here’s an introduction to some info that begins to clarify what makes a good AR trigger.

Seventeen years ago, I wanted to buy a 50 BMG semi-auto rifle because it was cool and ammo was cheap.  But what I saw available in the market place didn’t satisfy my desire for the ultimate in long-range accuracy.  The only rifle option open to me was the one being procured by US MIL units and used in the sandbox after 911.  It was sold and purchased as an anti-material weapon, not anti-personal, because of its accuracy limitations.  Since I have an engineering background, I decided to design my own, more accurate 50.

My first challenge was the trigger.  I knew I had to touch off a large caliber primer.  And I needed very deft control of the trigger to send that round out to distances of 1,000 yards or more and hit my aim. The maximum effective range of the 12.7×99 NATO cartridge is 1,800 yards or one mile.

Well, four patents later I had my 50, I was broke, and I needed startup money.  So, I presented what I had to some equity investors.  They were not interested in the 50 (bummer!), only the trigger in the 50.  They asked whether it could be adapted to work in the AR15.  Fortunately, I said yes, and HIPERFIRE, the company, was born making triggers.  It started with one, and now it’s 10. (Ahem! More are on the way.)

Figure of the 50 BMG trigger from one patent application.

That 50 trigger solved every shortcoming of any trigger I could get my finger on.  When installed in the AR, it was no less surprising.  Control, finesse, pleasure, speed, precision, are just a few of the adjectives that could describe the experience of shooting again.  Remember that first date with that special someone.  Shooting was that first date experienced over and over again.

OK, enough of the back story!  Why am I writing this?  My company, HIPERFIRE, has solved some problems, probably all of the issues with triggers in general, and some other particular ones.  Because of this, if you use our triggers, it will transform your experience, make you a better, faster, more accurate shooter (everything else being equal).  How can I say that?  For one, I’m a better shooter.  The 3-gunners who have adopted our triggers swear by them.  Before the trigger, ½ MOA. After the trigger, ¼ MOA, for example.

OK, great.  But here’s the problem.  Everyone’s different.  Everyone has an opinion.  Everyone has a preference.  How do you know, what applies when and where to you?

Third OK!  If you’re counting.  That’s a good question.  What we need are meaningful metrics, ways to measure and compare one trigger to another, and what those metrics mean when it comes to shot control, finesse, pleasure, speed, and precision.

HIPERTECH

To that end, HIPERFIRE will begin introducing its HIPERTECH articles on October 1, 2019.

  • HIPERTECH is a HIGH PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY series of white papers describing HIPERFIRE’s trigger technology compared to other state of the art offerings.
  • Later, HIPERTECH will include other products.
  • I’m the author for now.
  • I have the technical background (graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and 35+ years of experience in R&D).
  • I apply that know-how in novel ways to make HIPERFIRE’s triggers better.
  • A new tech bulletin will be issued every three weeks that goes down the rabbit hole a little deeper each time.

Why is this important?

HIPERFIRE has the knowledge and wants to share it.  This county has been good to me, to us.  American innovation is still possible, HIPERFIRE has proven that.  By raising the bar, we want to encourage others to do the same.  If there are better triggers or better anything, lets’ find it.

After you’ve dived into HIPERTECH, what questions burn within you?  Let me know in the comments section.  For me, there’s no beginning but with an excellent question or observation.

Terry Bender