Tim Hoffman, designer of the Hoffman Super Safety, has done it again with the Trigger Kicker. The original Super Safety was simple, inexpensive and could even be 3D printed. The Trigger Kicker follows in those footsteps and may be the simplest and least expensive forced reset device currently on the market.
The Hoffman Tactical Trigger Kicker sells for just $43. It’s a single piece of hardened 4130 alloy steel that replaces the disconnector and disconnector spring in an otherwise standard AR-15 fire control group. You actually end up with one fewer part than you started with. It’s an incredibly simple concept, but as I found out during testing, there are a few things you need to pay attention to.
Simpler Than the Super Safety
Hoffman’s Super Safety was already a remarkably simple forced reset system. It consisted of a push-button safety, an actuating lever and a rounded safety detent. It replaced the AR’s standard selector and was available in both two- and three-position configurations.
Installation wasn’t necessarily difficult, but some combinations required fitting. Depending on your receivers, you might have needed some Dremel work inside the rear of the upper to provide clearance for the actuating lever. The Super Safety also replaced the familiar AR selector lever with a cross bolt style push button safety, somewhat like you’d find on a shotgun.
The Trigger Kicker strips the concept down even further. Your regular AR selector stays right where it is. The Kicker replaces the disconnector and its spring, and that’s basically it.
There’s one significant tradeoff. The current Trigger Kicker is a two-position system. You have safe and forced reset modes, with no conventional semi-auto position.
That’s not unprecedented. Early two-position Super Safeties worked the same way, but it’s something you need to understand before buying one. I prefer a three-position setup with safe, semi and forced reset, so I was a little hesitant about the Trigger Kicker initially. At $43, though, I figured it was certainly worth trying. I actually bought two.
Installation Is Easy, But Check Your Hammer
If you can install a standard AR trigger, installing the Trigger Kicker is a breeze. Even if you’ve never done one before, Hoffman provides an installation video and detailed instructions that make the process pretty straightforward.
There’s one caveat, and it’s an important one. Make absolutely sure you have the correct hammer profile. I checked mine before installation and thought I had the right type. I didn’t. That mistake sent me down a rabbit hole that lasted a couple of range sessions.
I kept experiencing hammer follow, so I started doing what I’d always heard you were supposed to do when tuning a forced reset system. I swapped buffers and tried different ammunition. At one point I even began wondering whether the 10.5-inch Palmetto State Armory upper I was using was simply over-gassed. After a fair amount of frustration and some back-and-forth in a forced reset group, someone suggested that I stop chasing other variables and order the proper hammer directly from Hoffman.
At only $8 as an add-on with a Trigger Kicker, they’re cheap enough that I ordered a few. Having spares around certainly wasn’t going to hurt, and that turned out to be the answer.
Hoffman’s Trigger Kicker Guide specifically addresses hammer compatibility and other potential trouble spots. With the huge number of companies making AR parts, not every supposedly mil-spec component is exactly alike. Hoffman provides pictures and information to help identify compatible components, and he encourages customers who are having trouble to contact the company for help.
If there’s one thing I’d emphasize after my experience, it’s this: don’t just think you have the right hammer. Be sure. I burned about 150 rounds troubleshooting a problem I could have avoided by paying closer attention.
Back to the Range
For my next range trip I installed the Hoffman hammer and brought both my PSA upper and another one. I also brought various buffer weights and Winchester .223 Remington 55 grain FMJ ammunition. I’d been doing quite a bit of shooting with factory reloads, but at this point I wanted to eliminate as many potential variables as possible.
I started with the alternate upper, an H3 buffer and the Winchester ammunition. I pulled the trigger and the gun took off. It actually caught me by surprise. I was about halfway through the magazine before it really registered that everything was finally working exactly as it should.
I loaded another magazine to make sure it wasn’t a fluke and got the same result. Then I tried the factory reloads. They worked too.
Next I put the PSA upper back on and loaded it with Winchester. It ran like a champ, and the reloads worked with that upper as well. At that point it was pretty obvious that neither the upper, ammunition or buffer had been the problem. It was the hammer and swapping to the correct one had fixed the issues I’d spent a couple of range sessions chasing.
That experience also led me to take another look at something that’s commonly repeated about forced reset systems. The conventional wisdom is that an FRT-equipped AR needs an H2 or H3 buffer. Shooters reporting success with standard carbine buffers often seem like the exceptions.
According to Tim Hoffman, that’s not actually a requirement for the Trigger Kicker. I contacted Hoffman while working on this review and asked him about buffer weights. He told me that he conducted all of his testing with standard buffers and generally doesn’t recommend changing the buffer unless bolt bounce becomes an issue. If you want to err on the conservative side, Hoffman told me, “an H2 buffer is a great option, but not strictly required.”
He also noted that he doesn’t currently know why some ARs seem more susceptible to bolt bounce than others, although differences in mass ratios and how smoothly individual guns operate may play a role. That’s particularly interesting considering how quickly I’d started swapping buffers when my rifle wasn’t working. The conventional wisdom had me looking at buffer weight when my actual problem was hammer geometry.
Once I had the correct hammer installed, I dropped from the H3 to an H2 and the gun continued running like a clock. Could I go lighter? Probably. Hoffman certainly sees no reason that a standard buffer shouldn’t work if bolt bounce isn’t an issue. The H2 works well in my gun, though, so I’m leaving it alone.
The Trigger Kicking Commando
My Trigger Kicker test bed is an SBR built on a Bad Attitude Department M16A2 marked lower with a Palmetto State Armory upper and 10.5 inch barrel. It wears a GI surplus detachable M4 carry handle, A2 pistol grip, CAR-style stock and Strike Industries quad rail.
It’s basically my take on a Colt Commando-style carbine rather than an attempt at a correct clone. The Trigger Kicker actually fits the theme nicely because nothing about the exterior of the gun gives away what’s happening inside the fire control group.
With the correct hammer and H2 buffer installed, I’ve put approximately 250 rounds through the working configuration. Combined with the roughly 150 rounds I burned while troubleshooting the wrong hammer, I’m at about 400 rounds total with the Kicker. Reviewing video of multiple firing strings with an online rate of fire calculator puts the SBR at approximately 700 to 750 rounds per minute with the H2 buffer. It’s certainly fast enough to make ammunition disappear in a hurry, but it doesn’t feel excessively frantic.
Once I’d established reliability, I didn’t see much point in continuing to turn $20 bills into noise by dumping magazines into trash. I wanted to find out how controllable the Trigger Kicker was, particularly since I no longer had a conventional semi auto setting. I was pleasantly surprised. Two round bursts were easy, and if I concentrated on the trigger, I could also get single shots fairly regularly. It’s obviously not as effortless as flipping a three position selector to Semi, but the Trigger Kicker gave me considerably more control than I expected.
I also brought a buddy along who had never fired a full auto firearm or used a forced reset system. He was producing controlled doubles almost immediately. He managed some singles as well, although doubles were more common. For someone with no previous experience behind either system, I thought that was pretty impressive.
I still prefer having Safe, Semi and forced reset. The Trigger Kicker hasn’t changed my mind about that, but it did change how much the lack of Semi bothers me. In actual shooting, the two position setup proved considerably more useful than I’d expected.
A Visual Reminder
The standard selector creates another consideration. There’s nothing externally indicating that a Trigger Kicker equipped lower doesn’t behave like an ordinary Safe/Semi AR. I have enough ARs that I could see myself grabbing this one and forgetting which fire control system was inside it. More importantly, I didn’t want to hand the gun to a buddy at the range who might flip the selector to Fire expecting one shot and suddenly get considerably more rifle than anticipated.
My decidedly low tech solution was a yellow stripe around the CAR stock. It’s an immediate visual reminder to me that this isn’t a conventional AR, and it’s distinctive enough that someone else handling the gun will hopefully stop and ask what the stripe means before shooting it. As a bonus, I don’t hate the way it looks. It has the appearance of some sort of armory marking, which works pretty well with the retro Commando vibe. I may add a rack number and lean into the idea even further.
Forty-Three Bucks Well Spent
I already owned the basic components I needed, so at $43 apiece, the Trigger Kickers were ridiculously inexpensive compared to the other forced reset systems I’ve tried. Even adding a compatible $8 hammer only brings the package to $51.
The simplicity is equally appealing. There’s no proprietary selector hanging off the gun and no complicated collection of parts. With compatible components, you remove the disconnector and spring, install the Kicker and retain the standard AR controls.
Hoffman is also working on addressing the two things I’d most like to change. He’s developing a three position version that will provide a conventional semi auto setting, and he’s working toward compatibility with a broader range of hammers. Pricing hasn’t been announced, although Hoffman has indicated he’d like to keep it close to the current Kicker if possible.
Even if the three position version costs a little more, not needing a different hammer would offset some of that difference for shooters whose existing hammer isn’t compatible. I bought two current Trigger Kickers and, after getting the correct hammer installed, I’ve been impressed with how well this ridiculously simple little piece of steel works.
I still want that third selector position, and when the three position Trigger Kicker comes out, I’ll be buying more.