Is there really a need for an Electronic Trigger Group? MDT says YES!

[Rockrivr1]

To me it's a solution looking for a problem. You can install an electronic trigger with no creep or follow through that is good for 1000 trigger pulls, is programmable and rechargeable.

The MDT Zero Stage Electronic Trigger will be available for the Remington 700 and clones and is adjustable from 4-64 ounces. Because the trigger is electronic, there is no take-up before the shot and no overtravel after the break. The electronics allow for firmware updates which lead to future development, such as pairing with electronic devices and applications. The MDT Zero Stage Electronic Trigger is drop-safe, and a full charge will last around 1,000 pulls before recharging.

Inside MDT - Shot Show 2023 - MDT Zero Stage Electronic Trigger

Continuing with our annual SHOT SHOW Tradition of innovation, today we highlight the new MDT Zero Stage Electronic Trigger.The MDT Zero Stage Electronic Trigger will be available for the Remington 700 and clones and is adjustable from 4-64 ounces. Because the trigger is electronic, there is no...

mdttac.com

 

[rcwhat]

I thought electric triggers were a huge no-no. Paintball has been using them for well over a decade.

 

[ChevyGuy91]

I thought electric triggers were a huge no-no. Paintball has been using them for well over a decade.

It is for a bolt rifle, so it is likely fine. I am surprised the gun industry is just coming around to paintball tech from the last 20+ years.

 

[556USER]

Uh.....what could go wrong?

 

[ReluctantDecoy]

Down to four ounces? Without any precision shooting experience under my belt, is that something people want?

 

[Mesatchornug]

Down to four ounces? Without any precision shooting experience under my belt, is that something people want?

(NB: also not experienced in that kind of shooting)

Quick search turns up:

TriggerTech Remington 700 Drop in Trigger Diamond

TriggerTech Remington 700 Drop in Trigger Diamond

triggertech.com

4 to 32 oz

Wouldn't want it on a hunting rifle except maybe a set trigger, and definitely not on a fighting rifle.

But in something like F-class, where you might have an 18 lb rifle, why not?

 

[Hailstorm]

I have used electric triggers on my Shocker and Angels way back when they first came out. Loved them. If you thing bump firing was easy. Just imagine what you could do going electric. We wouldn't modify the trigger for sure.

 

[drgrant]

It is for a bolt rifle, so it is likely fine. I am surprised the gun industry is just coming around to paintball tech from the last 20+ years.

There have been electronic trigger aporoval requests ages ago but they were all rendered illegal by the ATF because of the BS nostrum of turning stuff into a machine gun.... that's probably why this is confined to a bolt gun so nobody can make that claim realistically.....

Basically nobody did this before because the stuff you can get already is pretty damn good.... this probably reduces liability and manufacturing cost, though.

 

[whatluck]

I have an eblade autococker, and always wanted a firearm trigger like that. Triggered by breaking a light beam. Reset is magnetic. No springs. I've been accused of using full auto more than once.

 

[Mesatchornug]

a very dumb idea and not competitive with a triggertech diamond anyway.

Can you help me understand why you say this?

It has the same lower bound, and twice the upper range. The Diamond is a $300+ trigger. If they can price it similarly, that seems like the definition of "competitive."

I have no idea what's actually inside it, but if we assume there's a magnet to set the pull weight, you could pivot on bearings and have next to zero trigger feel except for the break. That seems like a pretty big selling point.

Sure, recharging sounds annoying, and I inherently distrust the angry pixies; but I'm not everyone, and a thousand cycles (probably only at 4 oz) sounds like a lot for a bolt gun. You're probably never doing that in a sitting, so you can recharge in your down time.

My biggest concern would be the lock time. With a mechanical trigger, breaking the sear releases the hammer. With an electronic trigger, there's an extra step - you break the trigger, sending a signal that releases the hammer. If we've gone through the trouble to get our pull down to 1/4 lb, I'd think we'd want to also minimize that time between break and release.

 

[paul73]

Can you help me understand why you say this?

to each their own. i really do not want anything electric in my guns, and definitely not the microswitches that can and will eventually misbehave.
the whole push here is to eventually make smart guns concepts with electrical triggers on authentication, so, i also dislike the whole trend, conceptually.

from engineering perspective, it is just an added up complexity that does not provide any additional functionalities.

 

[paul73]

and i bet the feel of that thing is NOTHING like the triggertech diamond or special when it breaks.

 

[Golddiggie]

I'll use mechanical triggers. I don't want more electronics in my firearms. Especially not for critical components. What happens when the battery inside starts degrading and no longer holds a charge worth a damn? Cold weather performance (below freezing/zero F)? We all know how batteries don't hold as much charge under cold conditions. Where you can use lubricants that perform well in those conditions, there's only so much you can do with electronics. It's also why scopes don't rely on JUST electronics to function.

As for price point, I'd expect the electronic trigger to be significantly more than the mechanical one. At least initially. They have to recover the R&D costs someplace.

 

[namedpipes]

There have been electronic trigger aporoval requests ages ago but they were all rendered illegal by the ATF because of the BS nostrum of turning stuff into a machine gun.... that's probably why this is confined to a bolt gun so nobody can make that claim realistically.....

Basically nobody did this before because the stuff you can get already is pretty damn good.... this probably reduces liability and manufacturing cost, though.

Didn't someone design a bolt operated AR to end run Maura's private laws?

An electronic trigger designed to be installed into THAT bolt operated rifle should be fine. Just don't go transferring the trigger assembly to an actual AR.

 

[namedpipes]

However, an electronic trigger will probably broadcast an SSID of "HACK ME!"

 

[Broc]

It is for a bolt rifle, so it is likely fine. I am surprised the gun industry is just coming around to paintball tech from the last 20+ years.

Haven't Olympic shooters been using electronic triggers in handguns for decades?

 

[paul73]

Haven't Olympic shooters been using electronic triggers in handguns for decades?

in pardinis.
well, it is a same conceptual level thing as a steer by wire in automotive.
a gain of function there was to let cars drive themselves. what is the benefit here? only new function here - excluding the 'fire by itself' would be to 'block fire'.
i just say that i hate the idea itself greatly when i am demoted from a decision maker into a mere input among with some 'other' inputs to consider, when we speak of a trigger in my gun. and the steering wheel the same, actually.

but i can see why it is important for the government to push it hard toward this direction, for sure.

 

[namedpipes]

in pardinis.
well, it is a same conceptual level thing as a steer by wire in automotive.
a gain of function there was to let cars drive themselves. what is the benefit here? only new function here - excluding the 'fire by itself' would be to 'block fire'.
i just say that i hate the idea itself greatly when i am demoted from a decision maker into a mere input among with some 'other' inputs to consider, when we speak of a trigger in my gun.

but i can see why it is important for the government to push it hard toward this direction, for sure.

Devil's advocate (but I agree with you)

The safety lever is one of two, maybe three inputs to the trigger / gun deciding how and when it will fire. They all have to be in agreement before the bang happens. Or in the case of a full auto, the gang bang.

 

[paul73]

The safety lever is one of two, maybe three inputs to the trigger / gun deciding how and when it will fire.

an external network request to the government hosted authorization service for the permission request.
sounds funny?

it is how you fly DJI drones now, in order to lift off officially, in some places. for MA coast it is almost all places now, actually, not sure how it evolved in last 3 years.

it was also considered some time ago - like 10 years ago - like a 'whaaaat are you stupid never ever gonna happen!' response - until it became a reality.
and it all happened very quick, actually.

so some things need to be killed while they`re young.

 

[drgrant]

Didn't someone design a bolt operated AR to end run Maura's private laws?

An electronic trigger designed to be installed into THAT bolt operated rifle should be fine. Just don't go transferring the trigger assembly to an actual AR.

Yes, but I doubt ATF would see it that way as its easily converted to semiauto. I would expect that to get denied if it's a pack in a common AR lower.

 

[namedpipes]

an external network request to the government hosted authorization service for the permission request.
sounds funny?

it is how you fly DJI drones now, in order to lift off officially, in some places. for MA coast it is almost all places now, actually, not sure how it evolved in last 3 years.

it was also considered some time ago - like 10 years ago - like a 'whaaaat are you stupid never ever gonna happen!' response - until it became a reality.
and it all happened very quick, actually.

so some things need to be killed while they`re young.

Did you see that I led with "I agree with you"?

Electronic triggers, at least any that ATF would approve, would incorporate an override letting police or other LE turn your gun off remotely.

 

[drgrant]

an external network request to the government hosted authorization service for the permission request.
sounds funny?

it is how you fly DJI drones now, in order to lift off officially, in some places. for MA coast it is almost all places now, actually, not sure how it evolved in last 3 years.

it was also considered some time ago - like 10 years ago - like a 'whaaaat are you stupid never ever gonna happen!' response - until it became a reality.
and it all happened very quick, actually.

so some things need to be killed while they`re young.

Lol aren't there firmware hacks for those drones? Of course they probably don't even take off if they don't have a GPS fix.

 

[Dench]

I thought electric triggers were a huge no-no. Paintball has been using them for well over a decade.

Longer than that, I think? Arent some of the original Angels from the late 90's? Those had fantastic electronic triggers. Not something I'd trust my life to but they worked very well for what they were in.

 

[paul73]

Lol aren't there firmware hacks for those drones? Of course they probably don't even take off if they don't have a GPS fix.

for latest ones - not really. no.
you can get a hacked mainboard for a swap, i think. there is also an attempt to use hacked auth requests in flat files, as long as you not letting the thing be connected to network, but it is all not the level for the average user to do.

i just got an email update from nolimitdronez, did not look in a while of where they got to, but, last time i looked they could not do anything good to latest good working firmwares dji had.
you would either had to roll back to very old glitchy ones, or, well, obey the no fly zones, unless you are a registered pilot and can get an authorization properly.

 

[drgrant]

for latest ones - not really. no.
you can get a hacked mainboard for a swap, i think. there is also an attempt to use hacked auth requests in flat files, as long as you not letting the thing be connected to network, but it is all not the level for the average user to do.

i just got an email update from nolimitdronez, did not look in a while of where they got to, but, last time i looked they could not do anything good to latest good working firmwares dji had.
you would either had to roll back to very old glitchy ones, or, well, obey the no fly zones, unless you are a registered pilot and can get an authorization properly.

Im actually kinda surprised drone software hasn't been open sourced.. ?

 

[eboos]

to each their own. i really do not want anything electric in my guns, and definitely not the microswitches that can and will eventually misbehave.
the whole push here is to eventually make smart guns concepts with electrical triggers on authentication, so, i also dislike the whole trend, conceptually.

from engineering perspective, it is just an added up complexity that does not provide any additional functionalities.

6 months from now paul73 is going to be writing posts about how awesome MDT electronic triggers are.

 

[drgrant]

to each their own. i really do not want anything electric in my guns, and definitely not the microswitches that can and will eventually misbehave.
the whole push here is to eventually make smart guns concepts with electrical triggers on authentication, so, i also dislike the whole trend, conceptually.

from engineering perspective, it is just an added up complexity that does not provide any additional functionalities.

This is a niche thing that will only ever get traction in spacegun type builds anyways, cant see it being mainstream. Avg joe hunter or shooter isn't going to want to have something tethered to a battery.

 

[Mesatchornug]

As for price point, I'd expect the electronic trigger to be significantly more than the mechanical one. At least initially. They have to recover the R&D costs someplace.

Considering how simple discrete electronics are and how many fewer precision parts you need, I'd be surprised if there's that much development cost. Especially since, as mentioned, electronic triggers already exist.

Im actually kinda surprised drone software hasn't been open sourced.. ?

Some drone software is open source.

Imported, COTS (read: Chinese) drone software is not. DJI keeps their design closed so they can broadcast back everything that Americans see through their devices. This is why .gov banned the use of DJI drones by servicemembers, etc. That it took so long for them to cotton on to it was...embarassing.

 

[paul73]

Im actually kinda surprised drone software hasn't been open sourced.. ?

it was until DJI came along.

 

[MC56]

I come from the competitive paintball world. Electronic triggers have been a thing since the mid-late 90s in the Angel LEDs, Eblade & freeflow autocockers and emags. Solenoids fail over time. I think this product will have a niche market and sell well in that small circle, but I can't see myself going to a trigger that is inherently less reliable by design than a mechanical Bix or TT.