I’ve long been a traditionalist and believe strongly in mastering your firearm as it’s packaged from the manufacturer. There are some limitations to the reasoning though. By no means do I seek to master an unreliable firearm with a 15-pound trigger pull (although I do like working the double action on revolvers from time to time). But within reason, I find tremendous value in being proficient with a factory-built firearm.
I acquired my first Glock 15 years ago, an old Gen3 Model 22 in .40 S&W, and ran thousands of rounds through it before I finally transitioned to a Glock 17 Gen4 9mm shortly before I entered into law enforcement. Since then, I’ve transitioned to running an optic on my pistol but never felt the need to install aftermarket internals on the gun – until recently.
A few weeks ago, I finally bit the metaphorical bullet and acquired a Zev Pro Flat-Face trigger along with their Optimized barrel. The factory Glock trigger is nothing spectacular. It’s a proven, reliable system that consistently does what it’s designed to do. Obviously, with the prevalence of Glock firearms, their product works and that is undeniable. However, just because it works doesn’t mean it can’t be made more accurate, reliable, or comfortable for the shooter. Zev has a reputation for doing just that for Glock firearms.
Zev Pro Flat Face Trigger
The Zev Pro Flat-Face Trigger ($241.99) is the full package for a complete internal swap of a factory Glock trigger. This kit includes a complete replacement of the entire trigger – trigger, trigger bar, sear, and trigger mechanism housing with ejector. It also replaces the striker with a skeletonized striker and reduced-weight striker spring. The firing pin safety and spring are also included. The kit is a full package and offers significant benefits for a smoother, cleaner trigger experience while offering a shorter reset.
The Zev trigger group was easily installed by an armorer in a few minutes with relative ease. The first thing we noted was the trigger mechanism housing had tight tolerances. To replace the rear housing pin, we had to press the mechanism into the gun slightly. These tight tolerances were impressive when comparing a polymer-to-polymer engagement between the housing and frame.
The trigger features a larger surface area for the trigger safety and has less curvature than a standard Glock trigger. The larger surface area of the trigger safety does nothing to affect the safety features integral to the Glock’s factory design but does make the trigger feel less “pointy” on the trigger finger. I had torn feelings going to a flat-face trigger that were later assuaged by getting on the range and running drills with the handgun. It was spectacular.
When seeking input from peers, several stated the flat-face trigger was quite comfortable despite many of them admittedly stating they normally didn’t like the flat-face design. What I learned, though, was that the flat-face design made for a positive trigger press and seemed more purposeful and engaged when firing precision shots.
The construction and quality of the trigger are impressive. The parts are all highly polished to reduce friction between contact points. There was noticeably less grit during the trigger press which made for a smooth trigger experience while giving the shooter clear and decisive feedback on when they’ve approached the trigger wall and will break through to fire the shot. The mushy feeling some complain about Glock triggers was non-existent. It was positive, clean, and purposeful.
The striker was skeletonized compared to the factory-equipped striker. This skeletonized striker reduces drag through reduced friction points and makes for reduced felt “grit” during the trigger press. Furthermore, while slightly lighter than a factory trigger (5.98 grams to 7.39 grams for the factory striker), I experienced no light primer strikes or failure to fire through the course of 600 rounds of 9mm.
While it may not seem important to most shooters, the firing pin safety’s design helped enhance the smooth feeling of the trigger. For many Glocks, including the well-used Gen4 17 this was installed in, the firing pin safety is part of the grit felt during the trigger pull. Glock’s firing pin safety has a slight angle to the safety plunger to help smooth out the trigger bar de-activating the safety during a trigger press. For the Zev replacement, the angle is slightly shallower and helps take out some of the grit. The part is also coated for a smoother experience during the trigger press. In my experience, these slight changes do nothing to alter the safety of the firearm as provided by Glock but do enhance the quality of the internal trigger.
Zev Optimized Barrel
The Zev Optimized Barrel ($255.99) needs little to no explanation on ease of installation. If you can field strip a Glock, you can replace the barrel. The barrel is coated with a corrosion-resistant DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) finish. Over the course of several hundred rounds, I observed some wear at normal contact points like the locking block with some slight wear along the golf ball dimpling along the barrel. Otherwise, the barrel finish lived up to its reputation. I reasonably anticipate wear at the highest friction points over time. It’s an unavoidable consequence of exposing a steel and polymer instrument repeatedly to 35,000 PSI explosions.
The barrel features a recessed target muzzle crown offered on more high-end pistols. The recessed crown protects the muzzle from damage if the gun is dropped or struck against anything during use. While it may not seem like a huge improvement, it does have benefits if your firearm is being used in the field or for concealed carry or duty use. A damaged muzzle crown is less than ideal and can significantly affect accuracy.
Some may argue the golf ball dimpling on the barrel increases heat dissipation during extended firing by increasing the surface area of the barrel. In my experience from shooting around 400 rounds in a few hours in 95+ degree heat, the dimpling doesn’t do much, if anything, for significant heat reduction. However, the dimpling does add rigidity to the barrel and strengthens it, much like fluting on a rifle barrel.
Impressions on the range and off
The combination of the Zev trigger and barrel makes for a spectacular and pleasant package to shoot. The Zev barrel has tight lockup on the breech and is noticeably smoother when functioning the slide. While I couldn’t obtain any observably improved groupings from the addition of the barrel, this is more a limitation of the shooter than the firearm. With the addition of the recessed crown and the durable construction of the barrel and its coating, it’s a noticeable improvement in feel and confidence to know it was me who missed the shot and not a limitation of the firearm. Effectively, it gave me no room for excuses to blame the gun during precision shooting.
The Zev trigger from the factory measured a crisp 3.5 pounds out of the box. I prefer a trigger over 4 pounds from shooting Glocks with a trigger around that range and decided to leave the factory firing pin spring in place. The trigger still measured a crisp, smooth 4.5 pounds with the factory spring. In my experience, the goal isn’t to make a lighter trigger. The goal is to improve its efficiency and performance. The Zev trigger does exactly that.
The trigger slack or “take-up” was slightly less and significantly smoother than a factory Glock trigger. The wall for breaking the trigger was well-defined and reset was slightly shorter and positive. I’ve included a video above to hopefully illustrate the difference in trigger pre-travel and reset between a factory trigger and the Zev. During testing, split times on the factory Glock trigger got as low as .14 seconds. With the addition of the Zev, the lowest split times were around .12 seconds. While not a significant decrease, any gains developed from a shorter reset are worthwhile – especially when seeking split times in the range of those normally only achievable with a single-action trigger reset.
Overall, the Zev Pro Flat-Face Trigger and Optimized Barrel are fine additions to any fighting handgun. The cost for both may seem significant (around $500) to the buyer but they are significantly cheaper than sending your Glock for a complete workover or purchasing a fully customized Glock – prices that easily exceed $1,400. For an easy, out-of-the-box upgrade to squeeze the last bit of extra performance out of your factory Glock, especially if equipped with an optic, this trigger and barrel combo is ideal. I strongly recommend this setup and, if your budget doesn’t extend to that point, the trigger is worthwhile at a minimum. I notice the benefits immediately and hope you do too.
