Gear Review: Overwatch Precision TAC Glock Trigger

I’ve got aftermarket triggers in pretty much all my Glocks, except the full sized “duty guns” I own. And that’s for a couple reasons.

First off, full size Glocks (17/21, etc) have smooth trigger faces unlike the G19 or G26 which has ridges. Also, I carry and shoot compact and subcompacts far more, so I prefer a flat face trigger that upgrades the Glock trigger.

If I carried or competed with say a G21, I’d probably flip the trigger on that too.

You’ve read our reviews on Kinetitech and even the flat face Shadow Systems Trigger — both are great options, and I prefer them much more to the stock triggers in G19s, for instance. Don’t get me wrong, Glock doesn’t have the worst factory trigger, but it’s nowhere near “perfection.”

Enter Overwatch Precision.

Their TAC trigger is nothing short of awesome.

All the safeties in your Glock will still work with this drop in trigger, don’t worry. You can still drop it, throw it, hammer nails, and it won’t go off — although we don’t recommend doing that.

The trigger bar itself is polished (if you opt for that), and far smoother than the trigger bar it comes with stock. It has an indexing edge on the bottom of the flat face (see image to the left).

This allows a much smoother operation, with minimal stacking. Also, the angles at which everything is cut make the trigger much more shooter friendly, especially when shooting fast, or with an optic — as I often do in competition. In fact, with the pistol pictured, I often place top 5 in my weekly match.

Could it be the optic? Maybe. But I think it’s more the trigger.

In dry fire exercises with a pistol that has a red dot, you see where your weaknesses are. Do you pull or push the trigger, or bring it directly to the rear? The dot will tell you in no unclear fashion.

Now aside from anecdotal evidence, I swapped out the triggers and tested the length from resting to hitting the wall. Then from the wall, to the full rearward position where the pistol will fire. Without using micrometers and calipers, the Overwatch travels far less than the stock Glock trigger.

Less motion means less movement of the muzzle which means more accuracy. It also means faster shots as your finger has less distance to move to break shots downrange.

For instance, the distance in Glock trigger from resting to hitting the wall is a hair over 1/8th of an inch. Then from the time you hit the wall, to the time the trigger is fully rearward, is 7/32nds of an inch.

For those of you that clocked out in math class, that means the total trigger travel is roughly 11/32 of an inch, or 8.7mm give or take. It doesn’t sound like much, but if you’re looking into after market parts, you’re either a serious shooter, or you want to be – otherwise, why are you reading this?

Now the Overwatch Precision trigger has almost exactly 1/4 inch total travel, from resting, to fully rearward. The takeup is roughly an eighth of an inch, and the shot breaks in the next quarter inch.

As opposed to a stock trigger, there is far less stacking. Again, Glock triggers are decent for factory, but can be better, and Overwatch proves that. There’s a bit of stacking, but overall it’s a much more crisp break – glass like. Or at least as close as you can get in a polymer pistol and not a decked out 1911.

For illustrative purposes, see the picture above. As you can see, I’ve marked the point where the trigger is at rest, then where a noticeable wall is felt, then where the shot breaks. Roughly 1/4″ of movement for each (which is even and consistent, and consistency is key with shooting) and a total travel of 1/8″. That’s a hair over 3.1mm of total trigger movement, start to shot breaking.

To put that in perspective, that’s about 35% of the travel of a Glock trigger. And yeah I know, Glock claims their triggers have 5.5mm of travel stock. That’s true, if we’re talking about from where there is a wall (or the trigger resets) to a shot breaking. But if your’re not staging the trigger its over 8mm.

And that, my friends, is where accuracy happens. Less movement, more well placed shots. As you can see in the picture to the left, on my Glock 19 MOS, with a Burris Fast Fire 3 (which we reviewed here), at 7 yards with a 7 shot group. Yes, you read that, 7 rounds, one jagged hole. While I fancy myself a pretty good shot, solid optics and an even more solid trigger did most of the work, I just held them there. Admittedly, this pistol has a Ghost connector and 6lb Wolff Spring, so the trigger is breaking at a hair over 3lbs last I checked.

Can you customize the trigger? Yep, you bet. They are available in a variety of trigger shoe and safety colors, with extras like trigger bar polish or coating, and available for a variety of different Glocks. They even make it easy to get your pistol down to 3.5lbs or so by selling the connectors to do so!

Installation is pretty straightforward, even for a novice, and all you need is a punch, or the Glock Operators Tool (I highly recommend). You just need to pop out the 3 pins in your Glock, including the pesky trigger pin, remove the locking block, and take out your old trigger and trigger bar. Then just drop it right in. There are plenty of YouTube videos on it, and it takes, less than a minute once you get the hang of it.

Pros, what we like:
Ease of installation, a nice flat face trigger with 35% the travel of a stock Glock. It comes in a variety of colors, and not only looks good, but feels good. A nice indexing point and super crisp break with minimal stacking, lending itself to superior accuracy.

Cons, what we don’t like:
Can’t find anything. Trust me, the cynic in me tried. Awesome upgrade for your pistol. Get one.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alex Castiglione lives in Atlanta, and is an avid outdoorsman and competitive shooter.

His where-abouts include getting after it in his garage gym, practicing martial arts, hitting the trails, or running CrossFit and Strongman competitions for his non-profit, Barbells for Bullies, which holds fundraiser fitness competitions dedicated to aiding Bully breed rescues, dog rescues, or other non-profits with similar missions.

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