Originally posted on MaxVenom.com

If you’re a firearm owner, you may have pondered what’s next after acquiring a handgun and an AR15. In this article, I review binary triggers for Glock. I discuss two options at different price points and the unique capabilities they bring to the shooting range.

How many of you reading this have a handgun and an AR15?  

What’s next for the for the man that has checked those boxes? The correct answer would be training.

But instead, you are after something smaller than a full-size carbine; a 300 blackout because it only requires a 9-inch barrel. Or something in a pistol caliber, like a CZ Scorpion. I know, an MP5 clone!

These are rabbit holes. 

They are deep and expensive tunnels that result in guys having a safe full of guns that fulfill an imagined angle or scratch a gun-ownership itch.

We all have such ambitions.

Personally, I would like to own a mini–Uzi. But what would owning an Uzi do for me exactly? It’s a machine gun.

Who doesn’t want a machine gun?

If all machine gun prohibitions were lifted tomorrow, every last gun store in America would have a line around the block. People would be lining up to own one. Not for any practical purpose, just to have one, because you can and because machine guns are fun!

Take a moment to imagine how cool that would be.

What would be your first machine gun?

But wait, let’s dial that dream back for a minute. What if tomorrow what became legal was that same dream-gun, but in a 3-round bursts as opposed to FULL-full-auto?

Would that change anything for you?

Not for me; I would still have my mini-Uzi, going Brap Brap Brap. 

Personally, I would have that Uzi an AR, MP5 and G18.

Then why does the world seem to change for so many people when you can “only” get one round on the trigger pull and one on the release? And why, especially when it comes to a pistol?

Either it is because the awesome factor falls off a cliff under a three-round burst OR it is because we are simple creatures whose brains are governed by a strict set of norms and what other people are willing to readily accept as “cool”, especially regarding handguns.

I suspect it is the latter.

Because if a guy comes to the conclusion that he needs a pistol caliber PDW and announces to his friends that he is about to dive into building or buying a MP5 clone, SBR it and deck it out with expensive accessories and then.. of course, a binary trigger, his friends will gather around like a bunch of frat boys and start chanting, GO GO GO!

And when that mission is complete, everyone will stand around nodding at the achievement like, “hell yeah.“

But if that same guy announces his intention to throw a binary switch on Glock, he will find that many people, for one reason or another, lose their goddamn minds!

They’ll say,

“If you want faster split times, train more.”

Is something just that lost you guys?

It’s not about MY split times.

Do you even realize that with a binary trigger, you could DOUBLE whatever YOURS are?

Split times.. If I’m honest, I think they are actually just afraid of the idea.

Personally, I don’t need that MP5 clone $ hole in my pocket. I have other expensive hobbies.

I mean, if you have a passion for that particular platform, go for it. I will even toss you a “hell yeah” after you SBR that thing and toss a binary trigger in it. Because an MP5 without a go-fast switch is just a big, heavy, short-barreled dinosaur that isn’t capable of much more than any fully outfitted modern handgun can do. Light, laser, and optic are par for the course in many concealed-carry handguns these days.

But let’s face it, even a fully kitted Glock can never be Rainbow Six level cool, or can it?

Probably not. But, of all the guns that can be configured to fire, upon both pressing and releasing the trigger a Glock might be the most fun!

Franklin Armory

I was already on the wait list for the Franklin Armory (acronym that sucks) binary Glock trigger when I learned about the option that I would end up acquiring first. That being the G-Flex drop-in binary trigger for Glock 17, available at PerformanceTriggers.com

The G-Flex Trigger

This trigger seemed like a wild cat! With an MSRP of just 229, the cost of the G-Flex trigger was a fraction of the (supposedly) soon-to-be available Franklin Armory G-S173, and it was available now, like right now. So, I could not resist.

Drag of the firing pin over the trigger bar

The trigger arrived. I dropped it in and began to marvel. There was, at first, an off-putting drag that I noticed of the firing pin over the trigger bar when the trigger was dead, but once the firing pin was captured and as the slide functioned after each release, it seemed more a feature than a bug of the G-Flex trigger.

No off switch

The G-Flex is all two shots for the price of one (pull and one release) all the time. Yes. There is the option to cancel the send of the second round, which involves holding the trigger, dropping the mag and racking the round out of the chamber. But again, there is no on/off switch to this function, but I’m okay with that for 229 bucks.

Thankfully, I had decided in advance that the G-Flex trigger would have a permanent home in one of my spare frames. So, there was little more to do than to be off to the races with my newly assembled double tap all the time “Glock”.

At the range

I started out with reasonable caution. Actually, above and beyond:

Two rounds in the mag, Let’s get a feel for this thing without any possibility of my newly G-Flex outfitted Glock getting away from me. This wasn’t my first rodeo, but I wasn’t about to make it my last because I failed to exercise caution.

PaPOW

And that was Weird!

My first few shots with the G-Flex were incredibly disorienting. That probably isn’t the right word but it’s the first that comes to mind. There is just something that gives your brain a sort of full stop when your handgun goes off when you press the trigger and then goes off again.

I struggled with it my first 2, 4, 8, 10 and even 17 round magazines. You just needed to lock in your grip, focus on your red dot, and try not to overthink it.

Once any concern had passed that I wasn’t going to send one into the ceiling, much less the carrier (I would NOT actually recommend even trying this trigger at an indoor range) and after I managed to stop overthinking things, the G-Flex began to show me what it could do, and by that I mean on top of what I can do. Which was very Brrrrap!

As I began ripping (whole range stopping and looking) strings of shots. It was impressive, the G-Flex trigger was incredible and for the price, actually it was almost unbelievable.

We’ve come to take binary triggers for granted in ARs, AKs, MP5s and even 10/22s. This was a previously unseen and unheard-of rate of fire from a pistol, outside of highly tricked-out race guns shot by avid professionals; nobody sees this, especially from stock looking Glock.

Then, shortly thereafter, I got an email notification that the long-awaited Franklin Armory G-S173 was in stock and available to purchase. And as I was currently riding the thrill of my newly acquired G-Flex, I decided I need to try the Franklin Armory version as well.

Franklin Armory G-S173

The Franklin Armory G-S173 soon arrived and upon examining the trigger and the build quality of the slide, I began to feel the value. That damn selector was the 900 dollar must-have, and now I had it.

The installation was a breeze. There are plenty of YouTube videos, so I won’t belabor the process. After function checking, I was itching for some more trigger time.

So, at the range again

I was much more acclimated this time, and my expectations were more in line. So, everything was PaPOW PaPOW PaPOW, no worries.

So, cut to the chase. What were the significant differences?

Well, the G-Flex has a heavy trigger. I don’t think you would find a discerning Glock man that would even call it “good”. But to be honest very few people found the G-S173 trigger highly favorable either.

The most notable point of interest for the fast fire enthusiast is where the second round breaks with each option. At least for me, with the G-Flex (installed on a Lone Wolf frame) the second round broke very near the rear of the release. This made “doubles” highly discernible when shooting quickly as opposed to fast. The G-S173 trigger broke noticeably more towards the front of the release. This makes the cadence of fire more rhythmic when shooting.

For the grand finale, I decided to try my fast-fire options with a support enhancement system known as the One-Shot (USA1Shot.com). Let me just say, I am in LOVE with binary fire from a Glock in conjunction with this platform.

And the overall combination of a Glock outfitted with a RDS, light/IR laser combo, along with a binary trigger is about all the MP5-like fun factor that I need in my life.

Conclusion

In the end, different strokes for different folks. If you want to have a binary outfitted AR or AK, go for it. If you want to build a binary outfitted MP5 or clone, go for it. And if you approve of the following but raise an eyebrow to a binary outfitted Glock, Check yourself, chicken!

With all the fun factors that can be had for just north of a couple hundred, the G-Flex is money well spent.

The level of selectable binary excellence that can be had in a Franklin Armory G-S173 is.. almost worth the price.