Triggers and bearings...

[68 Mag]

Well all, I've been looking. Then I studied. Then I looked again. Then I came here to ask a question.

I've heard the term 'roller trigger' used a few times, but I know there are at least two different forms of it.

Form A: A roller in the center of a double trigger, where one can move your finger vertically and actuate the marker on both the up and down sequence.

Form B: A roller where the trigger itself pivots, in the frame. I dont know if these are available for Mags, or if they do anything more than add a 'placebo' affect, but they exist.

And that leads to my original question. What advantage would a trigger such as Form B have on a mechanical Mag? To be honest, I dont see the resistance of not having a bearing being all that significant. Of course, at the same time, my only experience with it was on a borrowed Timmy. While I couldnt tell a difference, with the new trigger the owner was outrunning a Halo. I think it was a placebo affect more than anything else, but if it helps, it may show up on a mechanical Mag on my wall...

Opinions? Ideas?

[Gunga]

The old RT sears used to have a roller bearing. Now they (and RT Pro & E/X-Mag sears) use a brass bushing. Both the roller bearing and the brass bushing are press fitted into the sears.

I played around with them briefly, comparing the drag with just the sear on a sear axle pin and also with it installed in a rail. The roller bearing is slightly smoother, not a lot, especially when you lube up the brass bushing and compare the two. Not enough to get all worked up and excited about, like 'OMFG!!! I can now shoot 20 BPS faster than I could before, and all my balls are laser guided onto their targets!!! All thanks to this new gizmo!!!' as some people tend to do.

[JKW]

68 Mag,
This is an old thread and I hope you come back to check it. As somewhat of a pioneer in the use of the ball bearing pivot in paintball marker triggers, I feel I am qualified to provide my input here. The idea of the ball bearing pivot,(both my trigger and CP's copy of it, use ball bearings) or my use of it, seems to be misunderstood by many. I came up with it as a way to cut friction alright, but not necessarily in the pivot. I was after the drag that is caused by the trigger rubbing on the sides of the grip frame. Adding shims to take out slop and sideplay in the trigger can keep the trigger away from the sides of the frame, but this can actually add drag and slow the response of the trigger at its pivot point and makes the problem worse rather than better. The bearings in my Intimidator triggers alow the trigger to be firmly locked in place as far as side to side play goes, but still let it move very freely back and forth. They do not touch the sides of the frame at any point. Also, the precise positioning of the trigger relative to the micro switch, provides for more consistant switch activation yielding finer adjustment and helping to reduce trigger bounce.

Now, with all that in mind, I think the advantage on mechanical mag would be pretty much nil. There might be a benifit to the slight (I say slight, because pin mounted triggers do not allow the inner races of the ball bearings to be held firmly in place the way the Timmy's bolt in arangement does) side play reduction in the feel of the trigger but thats about it. I did do a ball bearing trigger for an E-mag where we were able to keep the trigger body away from the sides of the frame, but there was still a lot more play than in the Intimidator triggers.
Hope this helps.
Jason