A long time ago, I called the MBT late to the party. The tortoise and the hair. At the MBT’s intro, it was pushing $240 bones while the SSA and SSA-E were at $179. I thought, gee… that’s not even reasonable. Established G brand vs the new, and more expensive, MBT. My how the tables have turned. Larue is selling that same MBT at $87 dollars (until Xmas) and boy does it kick butt at that price. How does it stack up to big G now? Simply put: Crisply. Let’s get down to it!
Some very faint tooling marks are present along the edge of the trigger and hammer. Meh. Does not bother.
Fit Finish
The MBT is a two stage, S7 tool steel trigger. It has a pinned disconector and fits in a standard lower receiver without the need for KNS pins or otherwise. Not much more to say, as it’s a familiar design. One thing to note immediately is that the trigger shoe is wide. Some may find the edge to be disconcerting as the rounded corners of GI and other aftermarket triggers are the norm. I got used to the flatter (flattish?) face quickly. The trigger installed without issue, though because of the wide face of the trigger pad, it required me to remove the safety. No biggie.
On my test lower, I had to remove the safety to install the trigger.
How’s it pull? Compared to my SSA the Larue is crisper at the wall. No question about it. From what I have read, the SSA was designed with a bit more creep to deliver a “carrot” like break. From my research it appears that from owners who own both the MBT and SSA-E that the E may be in fact slightly crisper than the MBT. That’s ok! If the SSA-E is indeed “crisper” at the wall, its going to be a slight edge as the MBT is so crisp it would be hard to tell. So we have a MBT comparing favorably with the G two stage series triggers, and possibly landing right in the middle of the pack. This is subjective of course, but compared to my SSA (not E) the MBT feels to be a crisper trigger in my hands. Is stepping up to the SSA-E worth the extra money?
Yes it is $87.
That’s a bit disconcerting. The MBT is substantially cheaper than anything comparable by big G. My thoughts are this: the value present in the MBT make it hard to recommend the base model 2 stage G triggers. If you pony up for the SSA-E it may indeed feel slightly more crisp, but judging by how well the MBT feels I don’t see any way that the extra 10% (hypothetical mind you) improvement of the SSA-E will improve your shooting unless your going to nationals… which then you would need an adjustable High Speed NM or Wisc Trigger Co. product anyway! It’s definitely one of those things you have to feel and decide in person, but it’s hard for me to justify the price of competitors when the MBT compares so favorably.
Is it the best trigger ever? I do have a “better” trigger: The Wisconsin Trigger MkII A3 breaks like a glass rod, and the MkII A3 still remains my most crisp two stage trigger. It’s adjustable for every parameter so I would expect it to best damn near everything on the market. This trigger has been sitting in my Straight Jacket system and that precision role suits it well. As far as my other rifles, I will buy more MBT’s for general use as you just can’t get a better “standard” 2 stage for this money.
In Use:
Greasy. Just how she likes it.
The MBT went in my practical A2 build. It’s crisp. It’s Fast. Damn fast. Turbo boost fast. I can run it slow and wait for the break, or I can pull through and hammer rounds out quick like. The MBT had no functional issues and did not and has not hiccupped. The included heavier spring was left in the box and I found the stock setup to be just what I was looking for. A slow pull reveals the 2nd stage wall while a fast pull makes it feel like a single stage. Behaves very similarly to my SSA when shot fast in that you can’t tell it’s a two stage.
Wrapping Up:
So far the trigger has made me and my wallet happy. It’s going to be hard to outperform the MBT at any price. It makes the enhanced mil-spec triggers feel a bit wasteful as another $20 will obtain a far superior trigger, and it makes other triggers seem wasteful in that the overall performance doesn’t out-maneuver the MBT in any significant capacity. I recommend the MBT for shooters looking for a fantastic 2 stage trigger that just flat out performs. We are in good times!
Notice: I have no connection to Larue Tactical and my MBT was purchased with my money and mine alone.
Agreed. I picked up an MBT during one of the holiday sales for $99. I love my G triggers, but even at the $99 price, I questioned if it was really worth the squeeze to step up to to $300.
The MBT just does so many things right that it’s unbelievable that they are available for $89.
To install it you were required to remove the safety? Permanently?
No, the trigger required the temporary removal of the safety. Some triggers can be pushed foreward a bit to clear and drop in, but this was not the case of the larue. One extra step.