My first home gunsmithing project was dumping a so-so trigger on a newly purchased Remington Model 700 and replacing it with a Timney aftermarket unit. I spent a whole day of digging ditches to pay for the thing, and boy was it worth the trouble. Not only did the new trigger cut the pull weight in half and completely eliminate creep, but I could also brag to the boys I had installed it myself without mentioning it only took a punch, a tack hammer, and about 5 minutes.

In the interim, I have continued down the home gunsmithing road and broken a gun or two. But my last project centered around an AR-15 lower with a poor trigger, two pins, a punch, and Timney's new Competition Model replacement trigger. I had the drop-in unit installed in 10 minutes. The new AR-15 replacement trigger is as perfect as was the Model 700 trigger I first installed 20 years ago.

Timney started building triggers in 1946 to replace the wretched, two-stage jobs found on the surplus Mausers, Springfields, and Enfields that made their way home from the battlefield into the hunting fields. The company's products required no filing or fitting and could be installed by a regular Joe who could field-strip a rifle and read instructions. The Timney folks also worked hard to make their products affordable, and the product line has since grown to more than 70 different triggers.

An Engineering Challenge
Three years ago Timney engineer Calvin Motley was on a prairie dog shoot testing some new bolt-action rifles. His guide asked about replacing the trigger in his favorite predator rifle, which happened to be an AR-15. But Timney had yet to dip its toes in the black-rifle market. After returning to his Phoenix, Arizona, shop, Motley set about designing a unit to fix his guide's problem.

"Because it was a semiauto, the trigger was harder to design--bolt guns are easier," Motley said. "It was a challenge to get it all in there and make it modular, like our other triggers."

A year later and after several revisions, Motley had a trigger that worked. The finished product has 11 parts set in a 6061-T6 anodized aluminum housing. Critical parts are machined using a wire electrical discharge machine that produces very precise, exact edges. The hammer, machined from a billet of S7 tool steel, is finished with a Teflon-nickel coating that prevents corrosion and increases lubricity. The trigger and disconnect are machined from A2 tool steel.

"Wire EDM equipment is very expensive but gives us a lot more precision," Motley said. "We end up with an accurate part that has sharp corners where we need sharp corners."

Drops Right In
Installing the unit is accomplished in a few steps. First, make sure your AR is unloaded. Then remove the pistol grip by unscrewing the hex-head bolt inside and put the safety detent and safety-detent spring captured by the pistol grip to the side. The safety should fall right out. Remove the stock trigger group by tapping out the hammer and trigger pins. The hammer, trigger, their captured springs, and disconnect should drop right out. Remember, they are spring loaded.