The Fostech Echo goes all the way up to three. (Shown here at two.)
Make it Echo
Fostech Outdoors, makers of the Origin-12 series of semi-automatic shotguns and Bumpski bump-fire stock for AKs, recently received ATF approval to manufacture a new drop-in rapid-fire trigger designed for AR-15-pattern rifles. It’s a trigger that fires on the initial pull and then again on the reset!
Thanks to a strict reading of the law, these triggers aren’t considered select-fire or machine gun parts because they still only fire one shot with each pull of the trigger, only dropping the hammer the second time when the trigger is released.
Patent-holder Peter Hawbaker developed the trigger the help of Fostech and it’s coming to the AR market soon — they’re calling it The Echo. It uses all three selector positions for safe, semi-auto and rapid-fire modes. Flip the safety past the semi-auto position to the third position, and you’ll quickly discover why it’s named the Echo when you get an automatic follow up shot.
It’s not the first of it’s kind; rapid-fire triggers that fire on release have been around for a while for ARs and Ruger Mini rifles. But the Echo, as a true drop-in trigger, is a simple install for a fun rifle or pistol upgrade — and it’s sold separately. Other rapid fire triggers, like Franklin Armory’s Binary Firing System, are only offered with complete firearms.
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The kit includes a rapid-fire trigger pack and 3-position selector.
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Check the Fostech website or call for availability.
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In the safe position the trigger will not fire, as per usual. In the semi-automatic position the trigger fires only round when the trigger is pulled, which is also per usual. In the third position, or “Echo Mode,” the gun will fire once when the trigger is pulled and then a second when the trigger is released.
The controlled pair means fast and easy easy follow-up shots. Before anyone panics, the Echo has been designed with a safety that disables the follow up shot in case the shooter pulls the trigger for the first shot and does not want the second shot to fire. To prevent the follow-up shot move the selector to the semi-automatic or safe position and the second round will not fire when the trigger is released.
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Installed it looks like any other AR trigger.
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For now the model is a right-handed design.
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Optimized for tactical and competition shooters, the trigger has a light pull in the 3.5- to 4-pound range. Each kit includes a trigger pack and a three-position safety selector switch that has to be installed for the whole system to work.
The first stage in manufacturing is already under way, and Fostech expects that the first batch will be available in April this year with the full release scheduled for May. The MSRP is set at $479 — cue the complaining — although it’s not especially out of line with other rapid-fire trigger systems. The next steps for Fostech will be toward the AK platform and more.
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Read more at Fostech Outdoors: https://fostechoutdoors.com/