I received another piece of the AR15A2 project: The ALG Defense ACT Trigger.
The ACT trigger is a basic semi-automatic trigger with a touch of class. If you don’t know already, ALG Defense is a sister company to Gieselle Automatics. What a good pedigree to have. I must admit, I have a hard time justifying spending over $200+ dollars on a Gieselle trigger… so the price range of the ACT trigger was a no-brainer since I know I would get a quality product.
What I got for my $65 bucks is the best “basic” trigger I have ever used.
My best trigger was a surprisingly good trigger that came with a Rock River Arms parts kit. I say surprisingly because we all know that parts kits come with triggers that are very hit or miss. Mostly they miss. Grittiness,a long take up, heavy and inconsistent pull weight. The fact that my RRA trigger didn’t absolutely suck was a nice surprise at the time.
Before I installed the ACT trigger, my AR15 A2 Project rifle had a very similar product installed; the Spikes Tactical Battle Trigger. When I got the Spike’s trigger I had high hopes for it but those hopes were dashed when I threw it in my rifle. It had perceptible creep and a small wall that you could feel right in the middle of the trigger stroke. Bummer.
Yes, the trigger is a beautiful flat silver color.
However the Spikes Battle Trigger and the ALG ACT share very similar features in that they are both nickel boron coated and are advertised as a basic, but quality, fighting trigger.
While they may share features, the ultimate proof is in the trigger pull. The ALG ACT wins. Pulling the trigger on the ACT feels like pulling the trigger on a ball bearing. No grit, much less creep, and smooth take up all the way to the hammer drop. Reading measurements others have taken online, it seems to hover around 5-6lbs on average in pull weight.
Wrapping Up
When I thought about what trigger to use for my fighting rifle / CMP rifle, I toyed with the idea of going for a high-end Gieselle SDM or similar trigger, but then I changed my mind and went with something everyone can afford. The goal for my AR15A2 project is push my shooting skills to the limit and to do so with a “fighting” rifle. The ACT trigger is a great buy for this project as it has given me a great trigger pull for a good price and it is certainly a dead simple “nothing to break” fighting trigger.
Great job on this product ALG Defense!
I keep an ACT around as a backup trigger. But all of my ARs use Geissele triggers (SSA, SSA-E, and SD-E). The ACT is certainly nice for a standard trigger, but it is still worlds different from the other G triggers.
In any case, great pick on the ACT. The only standard trigger that I’ve felt that come close are a mere handful of standard mil-spec triggers that have gone through tens of thousands of cycles.
I would love a higher end product, but shooting a rough around the edges rifle with basic gear is fun too. I hope I can best some competitors in practical rifle shoots and I hope I can hold my ground against the high-power shooters… But I’m going to need lots of range time to get my stuff together for that goal.
There’s nothing wrong with a “rough around the edges” rifle made with quality components, which includes the ACT. I’m certainly nothing special with my shooting, and I’ve often seen some more experienced shooters call high-end triggers “crutches.” There is truth, though, to practicing with what you have until you are an expert with it. If, at that point, you installed a higher performing component, it stands to reason that you would only be that much butter (as opposed to “downgrading” and finding that you didn’t really have a good understanding of trigger control).
I know this is an old thread but here goes. Before I found the ALG ACT trigger, I was seriously contemplating a Geissele service rifle trigger for my rifle. I decided to try the ALG since it was only 65.00 delivered to my door. THIS IS WAS A STOCK AR15 TRIGGER SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!
Its consistant, smooth as buttermilk and breaks like glass.
I picked up 2 Geissele G2S from Botach on ebay for ~$126 by watching for a Botach sale and buying 2 items for a add’l 15% off… It’s an in between option from the ALG and the SSA.
“The Geissele 2 Stage (G2S) was designed to be a high quality, cost effective option of the SSA. The G2S is a 4.5lb. non-adjustable combat trigger that is a precision two-stage trigger and allows precise and accurate trigger control. The G2S is manufactured from the same tool steel as the SSA. Visually, from the outside of the weapon there is no difference from the SSA and the feel and reliability is the same. The G2S however has a different way of holding the hammer pin in place, there is no laser markings, and the parts are only spot checked for MP.”
*That’s $126 per trigger, not for both — to be clear.
I built my 1st ar as a result of watching libertards on nbc and a sale of Upper and lower combo package from a quality builder announced on my email after a couple of brewski’s.
Took me 2 months after the deal of the day arrived to figure out what I needed to put the ar together to go boom. I was a little pushed for cash when I ordered my LPK and I elected to settle for the standard alg trigger as part of the package. My son-in-law who was trained as an MP with the Issue Mi6 was amazed by the trigger pull. I am starting an a2 package (which I plan to give to him in a few months) and I am going to move the std ALG to this build and put an “ACT” in my 1st build as an upgrade.
now all I have to do is figure out how to put the ole a2 together. That is what cold spring nights are for…. right?