I had the chance to shoot an AR 9mm with a binary trigger last week and I have been processing the acquired knowledge since then.
Conclusion: I don’t see the advantage.
Once you get used to the fact that a shot will go off after you release the trigger, you tend to giggle a bit and start to operate it fast. To me the result was that the second shot probably landed 2 blocks away from the first one. So, I started to slow down trying to keep the muzzle controlled while teaching my finger (and brain) to make sure the release shot was coming. I eventually managed to get both shots on target, but it was slow as, if not more than regular double tapping.
I am sure that with enough practice, I might learn to operate this particular apparatus, but truly what’s the point? I believe that you are better off remain old school trigger which is about the same time performance for me, or invest money, time and paperwork and go for a full auto gun.
Again, this is my experience and opinion. You are free to have your own different one.
Binary triggers remind me of the old crank handle I had on my 1022… fun but just makes noise. To me they are an attempt to get around nfa rules and a BIG safety issue.. especially when you have firearms with and without them.. jmho.
I went through this experience in my ARs and quickly returned to Geisele SSA-E triggers. Whether in my AR10s or my AR15s, which are as customized as possible (LWRC and DD), these rifles enable a shooter to reach speeds of 7-8 rounds per second accomplishing ten-inch groups for the acclimated shooter–it takes a few hundred bucks for an experienced shooter to get used to running her fast in the heat of the moment.
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Now the AR10 takes additional time and money to produce results that the lighter 223/556 easily accomplishes. But for an additional two to three hundred bucks, 12-14″ groups are possible shooting five to seven rounds per second.
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And once you get experienced to produce those results with either rifle, you can’t develop the muscle memory to produce those same optimum results when going back to the range at a later time shooting cold. It takes most shooters a half mag to get back in the saddle again. Although I have shooters half my age, a young version of me up to 2015, that can flat out-run the AR10 producing 10-12″ groups at five rounds a second shooting cold.
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My favorite shooting drill is three random swinging 16″ sq. targets at fifty yards in a variable 5-15 mph cross wind. In each caliber you must empty the mag as fast as you can put rounds on targets. Seldom does anyone (experienced shooters) finish the mag in less than a minute without a few misses.
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In reality it’s a strange thing, no one stands still when you shoot at them. Therefore, shooting paper is simply for sighting-in your gun and if you lack the energy to embrace a realistic challenge simulation.
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Binary and full auto triggers are only useful if you have multiple threats, unseen and within cover, shooting at you, which leaves you with ‘spray and pray’ as your best hope until you can run to protective structures.
Don’t discount the fun and novelty factor. If it’s a question from you as to utility, certainly I see that and respect your judgment. It’s when a politician or bureaucrat wants to make that determination as to what everyone does or doesn’t “need” re a gun, that I take issue.
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Going a little further, bump stocks, FRTs, binary triggers, and even Chlock switches, are at root a reaction to politicians making just that type of decision. Would a “regular” machine gun or n-round burst mechanism work better and more reliably for most people, in most situations? Probably. But taking that route is expensive and difficult if not impossible for most people; so the market responded.
Someone explain to me how a binary is kosher, but an FRT is not?
Forgot to subscribe to comments
It’s Tuesday.
My opinion: There’s clearly a learning curve, so that complicates matters somewhat.
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For a “fun” gun, go for it if you want one.
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For a “working” gun, KISS applies. Especially if I might have to hand off the gun to someone who hasn’t invested the time to familiarize themselves with a different trigger system. The last thing I need in a defensive situation is bullets flying in unintended directions because the person using that gun has never used a non-standard trigger.
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My opinion. YMMV.
Binary triggers are just a way to waste money and ammo for a quick giggle. I classify them with bump stocks. Make a lot of noise, have other folks on the range go “Ohhhh….” Go home.
Seems like a ‘range toy’ that’s teaching the shooter to do it wrong; with a binary trigger, if the target needs only one shot it gets two anyway (assuming the second is close to the first). With a normal trigger, training – aka “brain-engaged muscle memory” – allows one shot when only one is needed, and a second probably almost as fast as a binary trigger and, I suspect, with the firearm under better control regarding shot placement.
And, when one is trying to be “unobtrusive,” as opposed to “covert,” a binary trigger defeats the purpose; sometimes,. maybe even often, when one sound is heard and the brain is processing other tasks the thought is “what was that?” One shot may not draw much attention, but being forced to complete the second discharge by trigger design will confirm to the now alerted that it is, indeed, a gunshot.