Triggers for AR556

Looking to change my trigger out on my AR556, any suggestions. Has anyone polished or filed the rough edges on the trigger to make it better? or Could you just change out the trigger springs for after market springs?

You can do all those things if you want. The hammer/trigger in an AR are pretty easy to work on and with a little work you can make them pretty nice. Add a set of aftermarket springs and you can have a real nice fire control group. Just don't go overboard on the polishing/deburring, a little at a time is much better than doing too much, too quick. Also, don't change any angles unless you are WELL versed in the operation of the hammer/trigger group.

I did two things that improved my AR556 trigger immensely.

I swapped out the springs with a JP Enterprises yellow reduced power spring kit. Then, I replaced the grip screw with a trigger adjustment screw (a link below to one on ebay) and adjusted it as directed.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F254456615740

Never before had I experienced a trigger that "broke like glass" until I got it set. It drops at about 4.5lbs with nearly no slack.

Easy fix for less than $35.00.

Aqualung

I added a Timney trigger to mine. 3 lbs of joy!

My first Ruger AR556 is the MPR and its trigger is good to go. But I purchased another Ruger AR556 with a stock trigger and realized how spoiled I was by the MPR. Well along came Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals just in time to snag an ALG ACT trigger at a reduced price. It was easy to install and is a significant upgrade to the AR556.

The ACT ALG trigger is a significant upgrade but still safe to use with gloves in the field. I like them but truthfully, more of my aftermarket triggers are the QMS model with JP or KAK spring kits. Gives me similar results while saving $20 each.

Aqualung said:

I did two things that improved my AR556 trigger immensely.

I swapped out the springs with a JP Enterprises yellow reduced power spring kit. Then, I replaced the grip screw with a trigger adjustment screw (a link below to one on ebay) and adjusted it as directed.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F254456615740

Never before had I experienced a trigger that "broke like glass" until I got it set. It drops at about 4.5lbs with nearly no slack.

Easy fix for less than $35.00.

Aqualung

Click to expand...

I did the same, with great results. My first AR and it was easy! Overloadded

A few words of caution relating to AR triggers:
I don't/won't file, polish, sand, or any other physical metal removal operation to the sear/hammer interface of an AR FCG. If others choose to do so, that's on them.
Here's my personal observations which are very likely different from most users:
A bolt action with a super light pull can be handled safely with a round chambered by simply lifting the bolt handle. It's a simple movement to "reset" the sear by lifting and lowering the bolt handle. The cycling of the bolt is a manual operation w/o excessive jolting.
When the bolt slams home on an AR, it's loaded and that's that. The safety is on or off but the safety/trigger interface can be sketchy even when engaged. The choices are carry it with safety on or go through the unload sequence. When the action cycles, there's all sorts of slam and clank movement in the various parts. All this can lead to the possibility of inconsistent trigger/hammer engagement and/or that tiny hair of interface letting the hammer fall unintentionally.
I carry/handle my AR's daily on the UTV, in the pickup, hanging from a sling. It seems the AR gets banged around more than the bolt actions I used to carry. Maybe it's just the way parts jut out of the rifle or maybe I just get careless but either way, the AR's get banged into stuff. Often, I carry the rifle with a round chambered just laying across my lap on the UTV . While it's not pointed at my person, I sure as heck don't want to have it fire in that position. What all this boils down to is, I don't want to induce more chance of an AD and will tolerate a compromise in trigger pull to ensure an AD doesn't occur.

From what I understand also, the trigger/sear surfaces are hardened and filing on these surfaces can remove the hardened layer exposing the softer metal underneath for accelerated wear.
I got a deal on a Rise Armament trigger group for around $85 and it works great with a nice smooth trigger pull. I didn't measure it but it seems to be around half of the 6-8lb original pull.

Generally speaking, the engagement surfaces of the hammer & trigger are machined in the easiest (and cheapest) way. This is 90* to the engagement and often results in microscopic "ridges" on the milled surfaces. These corrugations create a gritty and/or hitchy trigger release. Using stones to smooth these surfaces reduces the roughness but may also change the engagement angles or get "out of square". Either of these can result in questionable engagement and increase the risk of having an AD. Those little screw thingies that extend through a hollow grip screw and are claimed to improve trigger pull can also reduce the engagement to the point that a hard bump or dropped rifle can dislodge the sear also causing an AD.
The use of "longitudinal grinding" advertised by some FCG makers changes the direction of the "corrugations" and can be potentially worthwhile for reducing "felt trigger pull" while maintaining a safe engagement. The "drop in" self contained FCG has the advantage of guaranteeing alignment and engagement geometry vs separate parts held only by the receiver pins.
I have AR FCG's of nearly every brand and type as I keep looking for that magic solution. Some are mil-spec and a couple have such a light pull that they're restricted to range use only or the 22lr conversion. Nothing like an unintentional bump fire to wake oneself up to the fact that the "oh so sweet" trigger is dangerous.

+1 for the ALG ACT trigger/springs...