In this Black Talon Tactical trigger review, Andy Grossman evaluates the adjustable drop-in trigger designed for any mil-spec AR-15-style rifle. A single-stage trigger, the author installs and tests the unit in his Springfield Armory SAINT. The trigger was provided to the author for review by Black Talon Tactical.
I am not ashamed to admit my faults to anyone. Although I have many of them, the one that really stands out in the world of firearms is how much I like to tinker with triggers in my guns. One of the easiest trigger systems to swap out is for the AR platform. I don’t think I have a single 5.56mm or 7.62mm AR-style rifle that hasn’t had a new trigger thrown in it at one point or another. Because of this trigger obsession, I am always looking for new triggers to play with, especially when it comes to drop-ins for the AR-style rifle.
While browsing Instagram one night, I came across a build a good friend of mine did. The build looked great, but one thing that stood out was the trigger shoe in the photos. It wasn’t like any other shoe I had ever seen, so naturally, I had to investigate. I found out it was from a newer semi-automatic rifle trigger manufacturer that goes by the name of Black Talon Tactical.
Adjusting to the Trigger
While the name itself is undeniably awesome, is the trigger anything special? Well, let me just answer that right now. Yes. The Black Talon Tactical “Calibrated Adjustable Drop in Single Stage Trigger” is quite impressive.
This is an American-made true drop-in-style trigger that really doesn’t require a whole lot of gun-building knowledge to be able to install. It installs like any other AR trigger: remove your pistol grip and safety selector from an empty and cleared gun, push your old trigger pins out of the receiver, drop your new trigger into the receiver, and reinstall everything. Very simple.
However, before you install a Black Talon adjustable trigger, you need to use the provided Allen key and set your trigger pull weight. On the housing, you will find an adjustment screw that allows you to set your pull weight from 2 lbs. up to 5 lbs. Adjustments are guaranteed to be within 1 oz. pull force of whichever weight you choose. You can easily pick your perfect weight using the calibrated scale clearly laser-etched on the trigger housing. It is that easy to customize your trigger.
Now, I know what you are probably thinking — why wouldn’t you just set it to 2 lbs. and have the lightest pull possible? Trust me, at 2 lbs. it is extremely light. This setting is not for the faint of heart. This would be for a benched rifle and precision shooting. I personally set my trigger at 2.75 lbs. and absolutely love it, but I have a lot of time behind an AR trigger. For others, I would recommend something over 3 lbs. at the lightest.
Once your trigger weight is set, you really can’t access the adjuster again unless you remove the trigger from the gun — unless you have a gunsmith drill an access hole in your receiver. Black Talon sells a triggerguard for people that make this modification and offers the milling service through their website as well.
Details on this Single-Stage Drop-In Trigger
The trigger comes with some anti-walk trigger pins and a set of 2mm Allen wrenches needed to tighten them down. Unfortunately, the pins I got have a nice set of black screws on one side but some silver-colored screws on the other side. I would like to see a nice set of all-black hardware. Although, this is not a deal breaker since you could just use your own pins.
The trigger also features a set of snug-down screws on the back of the housing by the safety selector. These must be snugged down before using the new trigger because of the super high tolerances on this trigger. A wrench is provided for those screws as well.
Black Talon features three different trigger shoe options on its website for this trigger system. A curved bow, a straight bow, and the one we are talking about here — a new design they call IFP, or improved finger position bow.
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This is the trigger I chose to test because it is a bit unique in design. The shoe almost forces your finger to fall into an optimized shooting position every single time, which creates a more consistent trigger pull in my opinion. I personally really like the feel of it. The company took the stance of Henry Ford when they designed all the components and coated them. You can choose any color trigger you want as long as it’s black.
Hands-On with the Black Talon Tactical Trigger
Obviously, having the adjustment and customization is great, but none of it means a darn thing if the trigger doesn’t perform. I will tell you right now, this trigger performs well. We are talking about absolutely zero take up with only .5mm of travel for it to break, and 1.25mm of maximum over-travel.
The reset is astounding. The slightest break in pressure on your trigger finger, and the Black Talon trigger audibly resets. You wouldn’t know it reset if you couldn’t hear it, that’s how little movement there is. Black Talon is able to create this kind of mind-blowing performance by building every single component in-house using A2 tool steel core-hardened to nearly 60 Rockwell C, and 6061 aircraft aluminum hardened to the T6 temper. In other words, they use some good materials and build all of it in house to ensure perfection every single time.
The triggers are also backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you don’t like the trigger within 30 days, they will buy it back from you, no questions asked. It is also covered under their lifetime warranty.
The best part of these triggers is they are only $179.99 MSRP for the adjustable models, and the fixed models are only $149.99. The fixed model is pre-set at your choice of 2, 3, 4 or 5 lbs. and can’t be adjusted after they are set.
This trigger is truly a game changer.
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