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Powder River Precision Drop In Trigger Kits

RickAnderson

RickAnderson

Custom
I just purchased and installed a Power River Precision Drop-In Trigger Kit, Flat Faced Aluminum Original XDM.
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powderriverprecision.com

PRP® Drop-In Trigger Kit Flat Faced Aluminum Original XDM

PRP Drop-In Trigger Kit Flat Faced Aluminum Original XDM
powderriverprecision.com powderriverprecision.com

For my Springfield Armory XD-M .45 ACP 4.5" Pistol. I love it, it has shorten the take-up, trigger pull and reset as well as reduce the Trigger Pull weight. I opted to use the higher spring rates and the OEM striker spring, which produced a 4.5 lb trigger pull which is perfect for me. If you use the blue marked "Competition springs, it is suppose to drop the trigger pull to 2.5-3 lbs. It is also a much more consistent and crisper trigger feel.

As well, it replaces the plastic curved trigger with an Aluminum Flat Faced Trigger....

I compared it to my XD-M Elite OSP's in 10mm and the tactical in 9mm... My 10mm is a 6lb pull and much lengthier, the 9mm tactical is 5lbs but also lengthier. I'm so convinced, I've already ordered an XD-M Elite Kit for my 10mm and will probably getting one for the 9mm as well later.

The XD-M Elite Kit
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powderriverprecision.com

PRP® Trigger Kit for XDM Elite Flat Aluminum Trigger

PRP Trigger Kit for XDM Elite Flat Aluminum Trigger
powderriverprecision.com powderriverprecision.com

And one last note, one of the replacement springs, the smallest coil spring is for the Striker Safety Block. Just this made a huge difference in weight and feel, before replacement I was shocked how much force it takes to raise the Striker Safety Block (which is being done by the Trigger Pull), the new softer spring reduces that force closer to other pistols and really shows in the trigger pull.

To install this will require disassembly of the fire control group in the Frame, parts most owners never take apart. So if you're not mechanically inclined or have much experience with tinkering with firearms, you may want to get a gunsmith install it for you. There is no fitting or modifying of parts, the stuff that DIY gunsmithing gets you in trouble, its straight replacement of parts with those in the kits, so you just have to put it back together the same as you took it apart. I did it myself, while the small springs were challenging with my big hands and required several attempts with a few springs popping out and having to find them on the floor, I was able to complete in a couple of hours.

I highly recommend the kits for the XD-M, they also have kits and other parts for other SA pistols, like the Hellcat XDS XD Mod.2 and some Ruger
 
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TEXASforLIFE said:
Do you know if the reduced pull will affect striker power or is there a second spring that manages the striker power? In rifles (mainly AR's) that the hammer weight and less power hammer spring can cause primer strike failures. In this case mil primers can't be used (unless you're lucky).
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The XD-M / XD-M Elite Striker has its own spring.
The Kit includes two Striker Springs, a Reduced Power Spring and a Competition Spring that is even more reduced tension.
Since I was worried about light primer strikes, and wanted a trigger pull of 4.5 lbs, higher than most people want with a trigger improvement.
I elected to use the reduced power springs provided, not the Competition Springs, but keep the OEM Striker Spring.
This created the 4.5lb trigger I wanted, and kept the original Striker Power.

Logically, by keeping the Striker all original (the kit just has reduced power springs for it) and only using the kit parts for the trigger, trigger spring, sear spring, firing pin block lever (different lever ratio), firing pin block spring, (the Elite Kit has a different sear) totally changes the Trigger travel, feel and weight, but once the sear lets go of the striker, the striker is all on its own. And in my case I made no changes to the striker.

And one more note. My SA XD-M's seem to have a very strong striker, doing the pencil test is propels the pencil as far as my Hammer Fired FNX-45 and 1911's. I also have a Sig P320 M18, and it does not propel the pencil nearly as far as the other pistols. When I picked up 200 rnds of cheap Magtech 9mm, I had a few duds, and it was the Sig P320 M18 that failed to fire them. After doing the clearing procedures, we loaded the duds into the XD-M Elite OSP Tactical and it fired nearly everyone of the duds, and likely because the striker was much stronger.
 
A follow up, I installed the Powder River Precision Trigger Kit for the XD-M Elite in my XD-M Elite OSP 10mm.
Did the same as the XD-M .45, kept the OEM striker spring. Replaced all the rest of the parts opting for the reduced power spring and not the competition springs....

The replacement sear and striker safety lever were a very tight fit and hung up a bit with friction from the tight fit...
Working it back and forth a bit it broke in and moved more freely, not as much as I would like...
I had to file a few thousands off the overtravel stop on the trigger, I used a sharpie (my casey burchwood aluma black leaked and I had to throw it out) to blacken the small amount of silver aluminum showing. Not that it was needed, the back of the over travel stop is just impossible to see....
Trigger pull was still close to 6 lbs...
I shot it today, hoping that would break it in somewhat, and loosen up the tight fit of the sear, which I was worried the friction of the tight fiting sear was keeping that trigger pull higher than I expected...
Putting 60 rounds through the pistol lighten up the trigger pull a bit, but still heavier than I wanted...

Tonight I went back and swapped out the trigger spring, I had used the reduced power, I put the lighter competition spring in the trigger...

I'm at my goal of 4.5lb to 4lb trigger pull now... ....I really like the trigger pull now on the XD-M Elite...

I'm going to try something different on my XD-M Elite OPS Tactical 9mm that comes with the "Meta Trigger" from SA...
The trigger already has a shorter pull and reset than my other XD-M/XD-M Elites, but still the long take-up....
So, for this pistol, I ordered just the springs for only $10... ....I'm going to see what the trigger is like with just the springs...
 
RickAnderson said:
A follow up, I installed the Powder River Precision Trigger Kit for the XD-M Elite in my XD-M Elite OSP 10mm.
Did the same as the XD-M .45, kept the OEM striker spring. Replaced all the rest of the parts opting for the reduced power spring and not the competition springs....

The replacement sear and striker safety lever were a very tight fit and hung up a bit with friction from the tight fit...
Working it back and forth a bit it broke in and moved more freely, not as much as I would like...
I had to file a few thousands off the overtravel stop on the trigger, I used a sharpie (my casey burchwood aluma black leaked and I had to throw it out) to blacken the small amount of silver aluminum showing. Not that it was needed, the back of the over travel stop is just impossible to see....
Trigger pull was still close to 6 lbs...
I shot it today, hoping that would break it in somewhat, and loosen up the tight fit of the sear, which I was worried the friction of the tight fiting sear was keeping that trigger pull higher than I expected...
Putting 60 rounds through the pistol lighten up the trigger pull a bit, but still heavier than I wanted...

Tonight I went back and swapped out the trigger spring, I had used the reduced power, I put the lighter competition spring in the trigger...

I'm at my goal of 4.5lb to 4lb trigger pull now... ....I really like the trigger pull now on the XD-M Elite...

I'm going to try something different on my XD-M Elite OPS Tactical 9mm that comes with the "Meta Trigger" from SA...
The trigger already has a shorter pull and reset than my other XD-M/XD-M Elites, but still the long take-up....
So, for this pistol, I ordered just the springs for only $10... ....I'm going to see what the trigger is like with just the springs...
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it working out, getting smoother and trigger pull getting lighter! Timney with their near frictionless semiauto triggers has got me on the "heck ya I wanna buy 1" rampage. In the 150 bucks mark for most pistol triggers will be doable. I'm usually a cmc buyer, but do have a trigger for the post'64 and 1 AR trigger that's real nice for a single stage. I've thought about a 2 stage trigger, but these singles are so darn good there's no need for anything else. Some of their semi triggers get near 3# pulls.
 
One more follow up....
I checked the clearance of over travel stop, with a piece of cardstock, it was too little, I had little to no overtravel...
I filed down the over travel stop some more, enough to clear a piece of card stock...
The break is much cleaner now, it makes sense, if don't travel past the break with much less resistance, you don't feel the break as much... ..so just enough overtravel is a good thing...

One other item I realized I messed up... The XD/M has a forward pin that locates the ejector, and extends past the ejector to act as an anchor for the torsional springs in the sear... ...I had driven this pin to far in, and it was pressed up against the striker safety lever, and that was dragging on the striker safety lever... shooting it, did rattle that pin back enough to take off the drag, but I used some needle nose pliers to pull it back and produce some clearance to ensure no rubbing in the future...
 
And one more note on the Powder River Products....
I ordered the springs I used in the kits for my XD-M .45ACP and XD-M Elite OSP 10mm for my XD-M Elite OSP 9mm...
That is
  • Sear Spring
  • Trigger Spring
  • Striker Safety Block Spring
Less than $10....

They arrived yesterday, I installed them and sure enough, it did drop the trigger pull to the 4.5-4 lbs like the others...

But the trigger travel is still the greater OEM setup....
And perhaps the biggest thing, the trigger that comes in the trigger kit, is flatter and broader and spoils you, it is just such a better feel pressing on this stiff, solid, broad and totally flat trigger....

PRP does sell just the trigger, the flat trigger, but they warn its an upgrade for those that bought their earlier kits with a curved trigger.... ....that the trigger levers and locations are designed to work with the striker safety lever that comes in the kit and will NOT work with the OEM action.... ....and they do not sell the Striker Safety Lever and Sear on their own, you have to buy the kit....

So, you just want to reduce the trigger pull on your XD/M, you have options at PRP to get the springs by themselves at the website, and for $10, its worth it...

But you want the shorter trigger throw, cleaner break, reset and the stiff, broad, flat metal trigger, you need to purchase the whole kit, that is quit a bit more than just the springs...
 
TEXASforLIFE said:
Their oversized grip safety has me wanting to buy.
Click to expand...
LOL, I bought that too....
For my XD-M .45, since my others were XD-M Elites, the XD-M just has a standard curve grip safety that fits totally flush in the grip. The XD-M Elite has the bulb on the bottom that still extends after the grip safety has been fully depressed.

I guess the idea is for those practicing the high grip, a little extension assures you get the grip safety cleared....
So, the PRP offering was perfect, although it has a couple serrations that looks different...

I wonder if the XD-M Elite grip safety will fit the XD-M? While I didn't try it (I never had more than one XD-M apart at the same time) they certainly appeared to be the same dimensions...

A quick check of Midwestgunworks.com, they only have the PRP aftermarket grip safety's at the same price as PRP. So the grip safety must be one of the parts that Springfield doesn't make readily available. Perhaps if you call customer service....

I got the optic height sights for my XD-M Elite OSP 10mm for $25 by calling Customer Service. BUT, when I asked about the short magwell for the 10mm/.45acp they said they were not making that available now....
 
RickAnderson said:
LOL, I bought that too....
For my XD-M .45, since my others were XD-M Elites, the XD-M just has a standard curve grip safety that fits totally flush in the grip. The XD-M Elite has the bulb on the bottom that still extends after the grip safety has been fully depressed.

I guess the idea is for those practicing the high grip, a little extension assures you get the grip safety cleared....
So, the PRP offering was perfect, although it has a couple serrations that looks different...

I wonder if the XD-M Elite grip safety will fit the XD-M? While I didn't try it (I never had more than one XD-M apart at the same time) they certainly appeared to be the same dimensions...

A quick check of Midwestgunworks.com, they only have the PRP aftermarket grip safety's at the same price as PRP. So the grip safety must be one of the parts that Springfield doesn't make readily available. Perhaps if you call customer service....

I got the optic height sights for my XD-M Elite OSP 10mm for $25 by calling Customer Service. BUT, when I asked about the short magwell for the 10mm/.45acp they said they were not making that available now....
Click to expand...
I just wanted it to extend out more like the 1's for 1911's that you can get. I have yet to delete a grip safety, but I'm close! I hate having too grip it so tight or it hits my hand wrong as so it doesn't engage it enough? As you can tell I'm not a grip safety lover!
 
TEXASforLIFE said:
I just wanted it to extend out more like the 1's for 1911's that you can get. I have yet to delete a grip safety, but I'm close! I hate having too grip it so tight or it hits my hand wrong as so it doesn't engage it enough? As you can tell I'm not a grip safety lover!
Click to expand...
Yep the extended grip safety should help. Personally, I never have had a problem.

I don't like firearms with less safety features....
I was always suspicious of glocks with what I assumed was just a trigger blade safety, after I understood the DA/Safe Action, I realized that is enough to make it safe IMO.... despite not having a manual safety...

If you're using your XD/M's for carry, I warn against it, the striker is fully cocked on these pistols and the grip safety (unlike the 1911) is actually there to lock the sear in place and prevent the striker from slipping off the sear and it firing uncommanded.

As I understand it, you can remove the grip safety on an XD/M, of course it will leave a hole in the back of the grip, by just driving out the pin and removing it. I suppose you could remove the spring and glue it into the frame? Or somehow reverse spring to hold it in instead of out. If you remove it, you will have to improvise something for the take-down lock (to take up the space of the grip safety, so the cam and spring don't slide down the pin) or remove the take lock bar, cam and spring as well. I "think" without that feature, you just have to pull the trigger as you remove the slide, to get the sear to clear the striker... ....like a glock...
 
RickAnderson said:
Yep the extended grip safety should help. Personally, I never have had a problem.

I don't like firearms with less safety features....
I was always suspicious of glocks with what I assumed was just a trigger blade safety, after I understood the DA/Safe Action, I realized that is enough to make it safe IMO.... despite not having a manual safety...

If you're using your XD/M's for carry, I warn against it, the striker is fully cocked on these pistols and the grip safety (unlike the 1911) is actually there to lock the sear in place and prevent the striker from slipping off the sear and it firing uncommanded.

As I understand it, you can remove the grip safety on an XD/M, of course it will leave a hole in the back of the grip, by just driving out the pin and removing it. I suppose you could remove the spring and glue it into the frame? Or somehow reverse spring to hold it in instead of out. If you remove it, you will have to improvise something for the take-down lock (to take up the space of the grip safety, so the cam and spring don't slide down the pin) or remove the take lock bar, cam and spring as well. I "think" without that feature, you just have to pull the trigger as you remove the slide, to get the sear to clear the striker... ....like a glock...
Click to expand...
It's not a carry gun as I don't carry much at all. If I was the only user of the gun it would be a different story on what I'd do to the safety. I have 2 smiths and 1 has a manual safety. Kinda cheap safety, but does work as needed. Just put a timney on it early this morning and it went from 4.75-5#ish down to 3-3.25ish. Reset is very short. Pretravel is less than factory. Next is to put a srt on the 226.
 
Yea, 4-4.5lb is all I go, mostly because the level I'm shooting at, lower than that is just not going to provide any benefit... (I mean I'm not a good enough shooter that a hair trigger is going to make a difference), so I gladly keep a safer (IMO) heavier trigger at that magic (for me) 4.5lb...
 
At the weight it is on the smith it's not easy/floppy with good retention on safety. It's still has a real good firing pin block unlike the timney glock version.
 
My son has G19 that he put a Timney Trigger kit, it changes the action from DA/Safe Action to Single Action, basically defeating a safety feature of the pistol.... ....of course he doesn't carry it, but yea, not sure I would want to do that to a pistol....
 
Hello, just got the power river precision extreme trigger kit. Put all together and gun wont reset, grip safety not engaged at all.
Looking to see what I did wrong. I have redone a lot of guns follow directions and banging my head. Any help???
 
soccernut said:
Hello, just got the power river precision extreme trigger kit. Put all together and gun wont reset, grip safety not engaged at all.
Looking to see what I did wrong. I have redone a lot of guns follow directions and banging my head. Any help???
Click to expand...
I have yet to take apart or replace any trigger on a SA model. A timney on a s&w was a pita, but did get'r done. When you 1st reinstalled the slide did it set the trigger or just locked everything in place?
 
soccernut said:
Hello, just got the power river precision extreme trigger kit. Put all together and gun wont reset, grip safety not engaged at all.
Looking to see what I did wrong. I have redone a lot of guns follow directions and banging my head. Any help???
Click to expand...
Its been just short of a year ago that I installed this myself, so its going to be rather vague in my memory.
As well, without seeing your actual pistol I really am not going to be much help diagnosing what could be wrong, especially with such a brief description.

A couple of things, have you fully re-assembled the pistol? Slide back on and cycled the slide? Or you experiencing this problem trying to test everything with just the frame re-assembled?

The XD-M has a sear/trigger disable with the take-down lever thrown, so with the take-down lever thrown with the slide off, your trigger/sear/grip safety is not going to work right anyway. This is why when you take-down your XD-M you don't have pull the trigger like most striker pistols. It this is what your doing, put the pistol fully back together, the slide on it and cycle the slide and do your function checks.

I would review the videos I posted above and see if you can spot anything you did wrong during re-assembly. The second video shows how to function check the action with the slide off, it could help you deduce what could be wrong, by doing the checks with the slide off with the video showing you how to do it.

A couple of things I remember being gotcha's while re-assembling the pistol.
  • The spring for the grip safety, its a bear to get indexed and stay in place to install the pin. But, IIRC you shouldn't have had to remove the grip safety to install the kit, I cerakoted my XD-M frames and had to remove the grip safety.
  • The trigger rod and the take-down rod are actually placed into the mechanism to sit in slots, it is easy to miss the proper slot for the end of the rod and thus they wouldn't work right. The reset is controlled
  • The Sear Spring, you need to index this properly, double check you have tension on it.
  • The forward pin that goes through the front of the ejector to hold it in place and also serves as the pin to hold the spring ends down and hold tension on the springs. If you overdrive that pin in the slightest it will press up against the striker block lever and jam up the whole action, adding a lot of friction. I actually did this, once I drove the pin back to flush with the frame, the action freed up and worked perfectly.
 
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