Volquartsen vs Kidd trigger: does the hundred-dollar gap show up downrange?

Question

I've run both through a 10/22 setup over the last four months. Kept notes on five-shot groups at 25 yards, par times on a simple transition drill—same target, same position, same dry rep volume before each session.

The short answer: the Kidd is smoother. Cleaner break, less stack. The Volquartsen is sharp and quick, but you feel the let-off work harder. Both are miles ahead of stock.

The honest answer: at my skill level, the difference in group size was noise. Maybe a tenth of an inch on average. Par times were the same. Where I *did* notice it was in how much conscious thought I had to put into trigger control. With the Kidd, the press felt more transparent. That matters for drilling, because less mental load means I can isolate what I'm actually trying to fix.

If you're splitting hairs at 25 yards with a .22, you're already past the point where either trigger is your limiting factor. Pick the one that lets your finger relax. That's where the hundred dollars actually lives—in how many clean reps you can run before fatigue makes you sloppy.

What distance are you drilling at?

Vic Calloway · Accepted Answer

Both of you are describing the same thing from different angles, and that's worth isolating.

When delacroix mentions the stock Volquartsen needing tweaking—that's the real variable. Pull weight and reset numbers are outputs of sear geometry, engagement surface finish, and spring preload. A trigger that leaves the factory at 2.8 lbs might have sear engagement that's leaving micro-friction on the hook, or the disconnector geometry sitting wrong in the receiver pocket.

Here's what I'd ask both of you: when you're running those transition drills, are you noticing the difference more on the *initial* press or on reset-to-second-shot? Because that tells us whether we're looking at sear stacking (geometry), spring rate (preload), or just surface finish causing drag.

The Kidd comes hand-fitted from the shop. That means the sear surfaces are lapped, the hook engagement is dialed, and the receiver pocket tolerance is checked. The Volquartsen—even a good one—depends heavily on whoever assembled it and whether they understood that the trigger pocket in a 10/22 receiver can have half a thousandth of slop that compounds everything.

I've seen fifty Volquartsen triggers over the bench. Fifteen came in needing hand-fitting. Same SKU, different fit quality. The pull weight *number* doesn't tell you if you're fighting geometry or just friction.

When you tested that stock Volquartsen, did you feel stack throughout the press, or was it sudden at the wall?

Margot Delacroix · Answer

Good breakdown. I ran both triggers through a dedicated timing protocol last year—draw-to-first-shot on a SIRT, 50 reps per trigger, same grip, same dry fire prep. Volquartsen broke at 2.8 lbs, reset click audible at 0.15". Kidd measured 2.2 lbs, reset at 0.12". The pull weight delta showed up cleanest in split times on transition drills: Kidd averaged 0.04 seconds faster on the second shot, Volquartsen was tighter on recoil recovery but required slightly more conscious finger management between shots.

Group work at 25 yards—and I mean actual B-class scoring, not casual grouping—the difference was there but marginal. 0.15" average tighter with the Kidd over forty strings of five. At 50 yards the gap closed to statistical noise.

Your point about mental load is the one I'd double down on. Fewer cognitive cycles on trigger control means better isolation of sight picture and grip errors in dry fire. That compounds.

One caveat: my Kidd was factory. Volquartsen was hand-fitted by the shop that sold it. I've seen stock Volquartsen examples that needed tweaking out of the box. If you're comparing different build quality, the trigger brand might not be what's actually different.