There are a lot of triggers out there. Most of them are at least reasonably serviceable, however, when you put a lot of time on a lot of different triggers, then you might start to become a trigger snob. It is absolutely inevitable. Being a trigger snob isn’t a bad thing though, right? Its not. It just means that you know what you like.
I’ve got rifles with triggers from Geissele, HiperFire, CMC, TriggerTech, LaRue, Zev, ALG, and more as well as many milspec triggers. On top of that, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot a lot of other triggers. Spending a lot of time on different triggers gives a bit of perspective and helps develop a taste for what one actually likes.
One of my first aftermarket triggers, and still my favorite, was the Hiperfire 3G. The name of the 3G has since been changed to the Reflex. That trigger went into my original DIssipator. Its still in there and running great. Since then I’ve got handful of Reflex’s and an Eclipse. With all that said, I’ll give you a quick rundown and review of the Hiperfire Reflex.
The Reflex
The Reflex is a trigger that stands out from many other triggers on the market. This is due to the fact that physically it is very different. When put side by side with other triggers, its differences become evident quickly. Different isn’t always good, but in this case it is definitely a good thing. We’ll get to its physical differences shortly. First let’s talk about its characteristics.
Hiperfire calls the Reflex an everyman’s trigger and claims that it has virtually no take up, it has a crisp clean break, very little over travel, with a positive reset that you can hear and feel. These are things that almost all aftermarket trigger manufacturers strive for, but does it live up to the claims? I can answer this in one word. Yes. It definitely lives up to their claims and then some.
The trigger is crisp. It has no real perceptible creep under normal use. After the break it has very little travel to the rear. The trigger has very little travel as a whole. The reset is audible and tactile as stated as well. The pull weight is also adjustable from 2.5lbs to 3.5lbs. The adjustment is done by changing out a pair of springs that sit in the top of the trigger. This is one of the physical differences.
Different But Good…
The Reflex is physically very different from a standard milspec trigger. Typically the trigger consists of the trigger, hammer, disconnector, disconnector spring, trigger spring, hammer spring, and a pair of trigger pins. The reflex has all these things and then some. It has what Hiperfire calls a “Cam-Over Toggle Engine” and “radical sear geometry.”
This Cam-Over Toggle engine is referring to a pair of springs riding on guide rods between the trigger and hammer. I’ll do my best to describe this, but I think a picture is worth a thousand words here. The hammer has a kind of notch where a guide rod assembly is attached. The springs ride on the guide rods and the guide rods and springs are captured by a piece that attaches to the trigger.
What does this do? This allows this trigger to be one of the most reliable and resilient triggers out there. The system gives the hammer extra force to hit the firing pin. This means no light primer strikes ever in my experience, despite how dirty and gummed up the gun is due to a negligent cleaning schedule and suppressed fire. It is hands down the most reliable trigger I have seen. It is also one of the best feeling triggers to boot.
The other benefit is this. Typically the lighter the trigger, the less energy the hammer has and the greater chance for a light primer strike. The Reflex is the opposite. The lighter the trigger pull, the more energy the hammer actually has. In my opinion this makes for a great everyman’s trigger. The competition guy can run a light pull weight and stay reliable, while the guy needing reliability can get a safe pull weight and added reliability.
How Does It Stack Up?
Does the Reflex out perform the rest of the triggers on the market? There are a lot of decent triggers out there that most people will be completely happy with. Rise and CMC for instance make triggers that feel good, but don’t totally break the bank. Most people I’ve met running those triggers are totally happy with them and in my experience they work. I think that the Reflex feels better than most of these once you’re really dialed into your trigger and have reached the level of trigger snob. So how does the Reflex stack up and why do I prefer it.
I’m very fond of my Geissele and LaRue triggers, but I still use the Reflex trigger on most of my goto guns. Lets compare the Reflex to the Geissele SSP. I think this is a good comparison as both are absolutely phenomenal single stage triggers. I’ll touch on some things that I don’t think many people consider, especially if they’re stuck on chasing the “most ideal perfect feeling trigger.”
The SSP is great and has a super crisp glass like break. The Reflex is much the same. The SSP has a short over travel after the break. The Reflex has what looks to be almost half the over travel. Granted, data was gathered with my calibrated eyeballs, which we all know is highly scientific. It does have less over travel though. The SSP has an almost forceful tactile reset that is loud. The Reflex has a tactile reset, but not almost forceful like the SSP. The reset is still quick. It is also audible, but not nearly as loud as the SSP.
Where I think the Reflex wins out is its reliability and hammer energy. Both feel great and under normal shooting or when shooting under simulated stress. I think either trigger would make most people happy.
A Few Rambling Thoughts.
I think there are a few things that people don’t really consider while chasing trigger performance. Lots of triggers can feel good. The formula is simple. Crisp break, small over travel, short fast audible reset. Those things are the factors that a lot of people use to judge a trigger. Pull weight can also factor in, but I don’t view it as a big deal. Run a pull weight that you are comfortable with and can be safe with.
A lot of triggers fall into the good category for me, but why? When shooting from a bench with no stress you have the opportunity to really feel the trigger out. What seems like no creep when running drills under stress might feel slightly less glass rod like from a bench when you’re trying to really feel the trigger out. So does it matter and when does it matter?
My personal philosophy is that the type of shooting you’re doing really matters. Yes, you do want really good performance either way. When doing fast paced stuff like 3 gun or running drills, I personally feel like perfection matters a little bit less. As long as the trigger falls into the really good category, then it’s totally serviceable. When shooting from a bench and doing precision oriented stuff, that is when I find I gravitate toward as perfect as possible.
All that being said, every trigger has slightly different characteristics even though they do feel good. Some people might place more value in certain characteristics. I think in the future it might be interesting to do a comparison of a handful of really good triggers that I own. It might give people some insights on certain triggers and whether they may or may not want to run them.
Observations on the Reflex
So what are my observations on this trigger? I’ve already told you that its crisp, has very little over travel, and the reset its tactile and audible. If I were to rate break, over travel, and reset on a scale of 1-5, then I would look something like this. Break: 4.75, Over Travel: 5, and Reset 3.75. Lets quantify all these numbers.
The break is awesome. Especially for being as light as it is. I have the 2.5lb springs in all my guns with the Reflex. They all actually break between 2lbs-2.25lbs in reality. 1 being creepy and 5 being glass rod breaking, I gave the trigger a 4.75 because its nearly perfect, but I have felt some triggers that are ever so slightly more glass rod like. This is being super nit picky though. Its really hard to tell the difference.
The over travel is incredibly short. 1 being pulls for miles and 5 being shockingly short, I give it a 5. The over travel is just really short and that’s all there is to it.
The reset is good. I gave it a 3.75. 1 being super long, imperceptible, and cant hear it to 5 being super short, fast, and loud. The Reflex is tactile and audible. I’d say a 3 would be average. Perhaps a milspec trigger. The Reflex is definitely better than that, but it’s not as loud or tactile as other triggers. That said, its louder and more tactile than other vastly more expensive triggers. So all in all, it’s not bad or average by any means.
Overall, it’s a great trigger. Its not without its flaws, but it’s good. The reset being good, but weakest point. The only other con that I can really think of is the complexity of the install. It’s not hard to install, but it’s definitely more difficult than a milspec or cartridge style drop in trigger. It’s not so overly hard to install that it’s frustrating though.
The reliability is second to none. I have not had a single light primer strike or issue with the trigger in general. I’ve run my guns neglectfully dirty with a suppressor trying to get my guns to fail. The gun might grind to a halt, but the trigger will keep going. I’ve also never had any safety issues or concerns about the safety of this trigger. This trigger has been rock solid where other triggers have failed. So if I were going to rate its reliability… 5 out of 5.
Conclusions
I have thousands upon thousands of rounds on these triggers. More than any other trigger. The Geissele SSA-E being a distant second. When Hiperfire called this the “Everyman’s trigger”, they weren’t wrong. I feel like this trigger offers enough performance to make even a discerning trigger snob happy, all while not compromising reliability or safety. The price of the trigger is on the lower end of the high range, but I always manage to find them on sale or for substantially cheaper than the listed price of $225. In fact, the last time I bought one it was for $165. That price was brand new, not used, for those of you who were thinking that.
The reason why I run so many Reflex’s and an Eclipse in one of my semi auto precision guns is due to the superb real world (off the bench) performance while maintaining exceptional reliability. I can grab any of my guns equipped with one and know that the trigger won’t give me any issues. When I build a gun that might I would consider using for home defense, self defense, ect, then I use a Reflex because I know I’m enhancing the reliability of the gun.
Hiperfire hit it out of the park with these triggers. 10 out of 10 would recommend, would buy again and again. If I had to sum up the Reflex in one sentence it would be like this, “Jack of all trades, almost master of most…. or something like that.”
If you’re interested in check one out, then you can see them here: https://www.hiperfire.com/product/hipertouch-reflex/
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