Schmid Tool Flat Two-Stage AR Trigger
A Fantastic Trigger You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
In the world of AR triggers, there are a metric crap ton of available options. They range in price starting at about $30 for a generic mil-spec single stage and they go all the way up to $600+ for some of the newest, nicest forced reset triggers. Somewhere near the middle of that range, coming in right around $250+/-, is the king of the AR trigger - Geissele.
Geissele truly does make some of the finest AR triggers on the market, but not everyone wants to cough up that kind of money for a trigger. I used to be one of those guys, and I have tried a lot of less expensive triggers over the years.
Some were decent, some were not, but none of them came close to feeling or functioning remotely like a Geissele. Knowing that, most of my SHTF rifles are all equipped with a Geissele trigger, and my favorite of those is triggers is the SD-C. I chose that trigger because it is a two-stage trigger with a pull weight suited for combat (as opposed to competition), and because I like flat triggers which the SD-C has.
However, just because I have a bunch of Geissele triggers in my guns does not mean I have stopped looking at alternatives. I recently tried a couple of two-stage triggers from Schmid Tool and I have been duly impressed.
Many of you probably have a perplexed look on your face and are saying to yourself “from who?” Schmid Tool is a company whose parts you have likely used, but had idea you were. Schmid Tool makes OEM parts for a number of other companies, companies whose name you do know, companies like Aero Precision (2-stage), Bravo Company Manufacturing, Palmetto State Armory, Sons of Liberty Gun Works and others.
In fact, a great number of the mil-spec triggers out there are produced by Schmid Tool. If you look at the trigger or hammer in your AR and it has an “S” in a square box on the side of it, that is a Schmid Tool part. (see photo)
Not long ago, Schmid started selling their parts under their own brand name. While you cannot buy directly from them, there are several retailers, both online and brick and mortar who sell their parts, including the store I work at 3 days a week “to keep me out of trouble.”
While Schmid was already selling their two-stage trigger under other manufacturers names, all of those triggers had traditional curved triggers, and were set up with specifications from those particular brands. Now that Schmid is coming out of the shadows, they introduced a new flat face two-stage trigger of their own specs. It is available in three finishes: nickel boron, phosphate and DLC. I chose DLC for the color and the slickness of the finish.
Cosmetically speaking, I like the looks of the Schmid Tool straight trigger quite a bit, perhaps even more so than I do my favorite Geissele. But looks are of minimal consequence when it comes to an AR trigger. The more important part is how does it perform?
Well, I am happy to report the flat Schmid Tool two-stage trigger performs phenomenally. With my finger on the middle of the trigger shoe, the first stage take up is probably a hair under 2mm and the first stage pull weight averaged 2lbs 6.4ozs on my Lyman digital trigger pull gauge. At the end of that 1st stage, you hit a distinct wall. Pressing through that wall averaged another 1lb 5.9ozs, which let off with a pretty clean break and maybe another 1mm or less of trigger travel.
The let off of the Schmid is not quite as crisp as a Geissele, which in my experience have very little travel once you hit the wall at the second stage, but the Schmid is definitely a step above many other AR triggers on the market, including some that cost significantly more.
Speaking of cost, the DLC Schmid two-stage can be found selling for $129-175, depending on where you find it. The nickle boron version sells for about the same price, while the phosphate version can be had for around $30 less.
While I don’t expect anyone to replace their Geissele triggers with one from Schmid Tool, people looking to upgrade from a mil-spec, especially those having trouble coughing up $250 for a Geissele, should definitely give the Schmid Tool two-stage triggers some consideration. They are a fantastic trigger for the price.