I like the feel of a flat trigger, running one on my go-to AR-15, my competition pistol, my home defense SBR and, now, my GLOCK 19 MOS. This adjustable affair from Caliber Dynamics is called the Tomahawk Trigger, and it’s designed to improve the look, feel, and trigger pull quality.
The hard coat anodized, aluminum Tomahawk Trigger arrives attached to a polished factory GLOCK trigger bar. This smooths out the trigger pull while retaining factory safety and durability.
Also included is a highly polished GLOCK Minus Connector to provide a smoother pull and shorter reset.
Say what you will about GLOCK “Perfection,” but if you have two hands and a toothpick you can install this trigger.
If you’re so inclined, both pre-travel and over-travel are adjustable via two little set screws. I didn’t bother. Not because I wasn’t willing to go there, but because it just wasn’t necessary. The trigger moves forwards enough to re-engage the trigger safety dingus but no more, and it moves rearwards enough to release the sear reliably but barely more. Well-tuned from the factory, I left it as-is.
The Tomahawk’s shape feels good on the finger. It’s nice and wide like a target trigger, with rounded edges to avoid pressure points. The safety widget moves flush to the face of the trigger so it doesn’t irritate like the factory doohickey does.
Trigger pull is nicely improved. It maintains approximately the same pull weight as the factory trigger, which was my preference for this self-defense gun, but travel is markedly reduced. Less creep, less overtravel, and shorter reset while maintaining the very nice break of the factory trigger and the excellent reset click.
In case that animation isn’t working for you, above is a photo with the trigger at its most forwards point.
And this is as far rearwards as it will travel.
Viewed another way, that’s a Dvorak TriggerScan graph of the factory G19 trigger pull. It’s about a quarter inch of actual trigger travel — creep — before a break at 6.34 lbs of force.
A scan of the Tomahawk shows just over half the travel distance of the factory unit. Break weight is about 6.1 lbs. Though the graph is showing some obvious chatter — normally signifying grittiness — I think that was my fault as I can’t feel it in the trigger pull, which feels slightly smoother than the factory pull.
Due to the small size of the Tomahawk’s safety flapper, the arm of the TriggerScan wouldn’t depress it and I had to sneak in there with a dental pick to keep it disengaged until the trigger had moved rearwards slightly. Once the rear of the safety cleared the frame, I released the pick so I wouldn’t affect trigger pull weight at all. Anyway, that tiny bit of wiggle is what you see on the graph. Sorry. I suppose I should have used a punch to drive out the roll pin and removed the safety blade entirely, but it was all clamped down in the Dvorak and…well…you get the point.
Caliber Dynamics Tomahawk in blue and factory GLOCK in red.
With an OEM trigger bar and the known quantity that is the Minus Connector, I didn’t go nuts on round count to ensure this thing functions for life. Two hundred rounds later, though, and it has given me zero cause for concern. It runs like a GLOCK should, but with a more comfortable trigger shape and half the travel distance. Basically, it’s great.
Specifications: Caliber Dynamics Tomahawk Trigger
Fit: Every GLOCK
Material: T6 aluminum, hard coat anodized
Included Parts: Trigger, polished OEM trigger bar, Minus Connector (Edge Connector for G42/43)
Adjustability: Adjustable for pre-travel and over-travel
MSRP: $149.95
Ratings (out of five stars):
Fit & Finish * * * *
This may be stupid, but I wish the roll pins were black. Other than that silly gripe, everything was 100%.
Performance * * * * *
It isn’t a race gun trigger but it wasn’t designed to be. In fact, it’s exactly what I was looking for: smoother, crisper, and shorter while maintaining factory pull weight.
Ergonomics * * * *
Huge improvement over the factory GLOCK trigger. I like the wide, flat face a lot. And the safety blade is done right. I wouldn’t mind the option of some texture for the face of the trigger.
Overall * * * *
Caliber Dynamics’ Tomahawk Trigger makes a massive improvement in ergonomics and trigger pull quality. I’d give it five stars if it were offered at a lower price, and in my case would have gladly traded the pre- and over-travel adjustment for a smaller price tag.
I was intrigued until I saw the price.
Well, we all want an awesome trigger for $20, but . . .
If I have to spend a third of the cost of an item to modify it slightly (especially if I see that the modification is a perceived necessary one) that item is not right for me.
Well, I’m not sure anyone would say you “have to”…
Jeremy that’s really funny, I see you’re being pedantic now. If I have a firearm that causes me physical injury on a frequently utilized part of my body (my trigger finger) every time that I shoot it, I’m going to want to replace that one part.
Now it’s my turn. You cannot make the assumption in a logical manner that “anyone” would not tell me that I would have to replace that part. There’s probably someone out there that would tell me I had to replace the part, even if it were a buddy noticing that I had an injury to my hand every time I fired a Glock pistol. On the other hand, if they were a real friend they might tell me I had to buy another pistol instead and sell the POS that I had. It’s funny to see all the Glock blockers come out on this website to any negative comments about “perfection”.
On an entirely separate note Jeremy, I sent an email requesting that you contact me to the cited email address. This is in reference to the Sig Sauer botched job on your website about a month ago. I never received a response back about this. Have a fantastic and wonderful day!
Looks like a nice upgrade, but pricey.
Why would I pay these folks $149.95 for their trigger & Glock trigger bar when I can buy the proven Apex trigger with a polished Glock trigger bar for $99.95? For $129.95 I can buy the Apex trigger kit that includes the Apex connector and safety plunger that slicks up the action even more. Doesn’t seem like the folks at Caliber Dynamics understand that to compete with Apex they have to either have offer a better product for the same price or a comparable product at a lower price. Given the fact that Jeremy’s review describes a trigger that’s shorter and “slightly smoother” than a Glock factory trigger, seems to me that 150 bucks buys a Caliber Dynamics trigger assembly that’s inferior to anything Apex offers for less money.
I Apexed the trigger of an S&W pistol because the 10 lb. MA-required boat anchor trigger was ridiculous.
Glock triggers, while spongy, are not too heavy out of the box and provide reasonable tactile feedback. While I understand that we like to buy presents for our little pets, this one doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Glock owners can do what they wish with their own money, which is fine with me. For myself, it’s a Glock, a working gun. I’d leave it alone.
I agree, when the M&P C.O.R.E. price finally settled just north of $500 I convinced myself I needed one but felt like S&W got to me when I realized that even though the optics ready pistol allegedly came from their “Performance Center” it still had the same old $#itty M&P trigger, so 160 bucks later I solved the problem with an Apex Forward Set Sear & Trigger Kit. The triggers on the the dozen or so Glocks I’ve owned since 1987 were and still are more than adequate and there’s no way I’d spend $100-150 to replace the decent Glock factory trigger, 30 or 40 bucks, maybe. Most folks complain about the way a factory Glock trigger feels and sounds when they dry fire the pistol as opposed to the way the trigger feels when you actually fire the pistol. Now I own a M&P C.O.R.E. that I’ve got just south of $700 in and would be lucky to get $400 out of it which is why I haven’t bought a Glock MOS and thankfully why I didn’t buy that Sig P320 RX I wanted so bad.
To much cost, my night sights were cheaper!
Looks like a nice little upgrade. I’d like one for mine.
One small note, though. I know it won’t make a difference to most, but there is no such thing as “T6 aluminum”. T6 is the classification of anodizing applied to an aluminum alloy such as 6061, which I assume this is. Thus, the aluminum is labeled “6061-T6”.
The trigger is still too heavy for my tastes. And it’s still a Glock, with the weird grip angle and such. Nope.
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