Basic Installation.
Actually, the fitting of the trigger is very simple. It can be a little tricky to align the parts during installation and, certainly, the positioning of the trigger spring and its bolt stop arm, can be a little frustrating until you have had some practice. The good news is that there is nothing you can do during the installation of the trigger that can cause problems.
To carry out the basic disassembly of the trigger group and to fit your new trigger please refer to the excellent instructions provided by Tactical Excellence. This information can be found here. If you simply wish to gain the advantages of our metal trigger and you do not wish to use its adjustability feature then, by following the TE instructions, your installation will be complete.
Trigger Travel Adjustment.
You may wish to use the adjustment capability of your new trigger to reduce the pre-travel found in the standard CX4 trigger mechanism.
There are two ways of adjusting the trigger, the "close" way and the "closest" way. For the "close" way please follow "Poppo's Adjustment Suggestion" below. "Poppo" of the Beretta Forum came up with this user friendly technique using snap-caps for the trigger adjustment. I think his idea is so good that I have included a quote from his comments on the Beretta Forum that explains how he proceeded.
The "closest" way of adjusting the trigger involves using live ammunition at a range. This technique is more time consuming but allows tighter adjustment. You will eventually need to follow these instructions if you want to adjust your trigger to the finest degree.
Overall, probably the best idea is to combine the two techniques. Carry out a "close" adjustment in comfort using the snap-caps then head to the range for final adjustment.
The important difference to remember between the two ways of adjusting the trigger is that the trigger mechanism of the CX4 acts a little differently under the recoil of actual live firing than it does as a result of cocking the mechanism manually. If you try to get a very fine adjustment using snap-caps you will almost certainly experience failure to fire with the second round of live ammunition. This is not a real problem since the corrective trigger screw adjustments required are very small. Since final fine trigger adjustment will involve using live ammunition PLEASE READ ALL WARNINGS.
The following comments apply to both adjustment techniques.
1. You cannot get all of the slack out of a CX4 trigger because some slack is needed to allow the trigger bars to reset during firing.2. If you want the closest adjustment possible you can only make the final adjustments to the trigger with the rifle assembled and using live ammunition. Therefore a suitable safe range and testing area is required.
3. As shipped the adjusting screw is set to have no effect on the trigger movement. Initially it will require several turns on the screw before it makes contact with the trigger housing. Subsequently, only small adjustments will be required.
4. You will be adjusting the screw installed in the trigger INWARD to remove trigger slack.
5. A small hex wrench is included with the trigger.
6. Because of the tight clearance involved you will only be able to move the screw 1/4 of a turn per attempt.
Poppo's Adjustment Suggestion.
"I should probably note that I have the 9mm version CX4, fitted for 92 mags. Once installed, I ran some snap caps through it just to make sure I had everything back together properly. Without doing anything else, I already liked the feel of the metal trigger and I was tempted to just leave it as is. Brian had also sent me some adjustment instructions. I won't go into the detail of them, but basically you fire a few rounds adjust the screw 1/4 turn, fire a few more rounds, adjust it some more and continue this until the trigger fails to reset. Then you back the screw out to the last position and you are all set.
I asked Brian about using snap caps for the adjustment and he said that it was not as reliable since there are differences in the speed etc. of how the bolt cycles using live ammo. This made sense. However, I decided to go ahead and try it anyway since I felt I could take my time doing this in the house vice at the range. Especially since each adjustment requires you to 'field strip' the gun (pull the halves apart) to get to the screw. So I started by cycling 6 snap caps, then turning the screw in 1/8 turn (vice 1/4), 6 more snap caps, 1/8 turn etc. until I got to the point where the trigger would not reset. Then I backed the screw out 1/4 turn. I figured this would give me enough extra play to compensate for any difference when using live ammo. And if it gave me any problems I should only have to make one more adjustment."
The Detailed Version.
1. At the range remove the upper section of the rifle (field strip) to gain access to the trigger adjustment screw (Refer to the Beretta CX4 Manual - page 63. "Disassembly"). Adjust the screw inwards 1/4 of a turn. Assemble the rifle (Refer to the Beretta CX4 Manual - page 65, "Reassembly"). Insert a magazine with two or three rounds. Fire the two or three rounds down range.
2. If the rifle functions correctly repeat the operations in step 1.
3. At some point the rifle will malfunction. The first round will fire correctly, the action will cycle and eject the spent shell case, but pulling the trigger for the next round will not fire the rifle. The reason is that you have removed so much slack from the trigger mechanism that the trigger bars cannot reset correctly.
4. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT - READ AND UNDERSTAND FULLY. ALTHOUGH THE TRIGGER WILL NOT FIRE THE RIFLE, THE ACTION CYCLED CORRECTLY. THERE IS NOW A LIVE ROUND IN THE CHAMBER AND THE HAMMER IS COCKED. FOLLOW THE NEXT INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY AND COMPLETELY.
5. Keep the rifle pointed in a safe direction. Remove the magazine with any unfired rounds. Cycle the action with the cocking lever to remove the live round from the chamber. Visually inspect the chamber before proceeding. (Refer to the Beretta CX4 Manual - page 61, "Load Check"). Do not pull the trigger before moving on to step 6.
6. Disassemble the rifle to gain access to the trigger adjustment screw. Adjust the screw 1/4 of a turn OUTWARDS . Assemble the rifle. Insert a magazine with two or three rounds. Fire the two or three rounds down range.
7. Since you have returned the rifle to its last properly functioning adjustment it should now function properly.
8. If you wanted to be really picky you could adjust the screw inwards 1/8th of a turn this time and check to see if the rifle functions correctly but reliable operation is more important than removing as much of the trigger slack as possible.
9. If at any point in this procedure you feel concerned about your ability to complete the trigger adjustment - STOP. Find experienced help or call us at 503-621-3017 at ANY time for support.