REALISM REALISED

AEGS CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD, AND AS MUCH AS SOME MIGHT SAY THAT MORE ELECTRONICS JUST GIVES MORE ROOM FOR FAILURE, IT IS BEYOND DOUBT THAT MANY MANUFACTURERS ARE STRIVING TO GIVE US EVEN MORE “REAL FEEL” IN OUR BATTERY-DRIVEN RIFLES, CARBINES, AND SMGS! DAN TAKES A LOOK AT THE TACTICKER REALISTIC TRIGGER SYSTEM FOR AIRSOFT REPLICAS AND FINDS IT VERY MUCH TO HIS LIKING!

From time immemorial, airsofter’s have always been on the quest to wring more realism from their replicas.

Whether it’s via recoil systems, real-capacity magazines, or fully functional controls, there have been a myriad of different ways to accomplish this task. Gate’s revolutionary TITAN Electronic Trigger Unit (arguably one of the most prolific ETU’s on the market) was a smashing success, but one aspect in particular left many players wanting, well… a little more.

Anyone who’s had time behind a TITAN will have no doubt noticed that there is a distinctive lack of tactile feel when working the trigger. The TITAN allows you to adjust the trigger sensitivity to set the firing point to suit your preference, but you are basically encountering “dead air” throughout the entire distance of trigger travel, with the only hard stop being when the trigger bottoms out against the gearbox shell.

For a lot of users, this was a forgivable tradeoff for the performance the TITAN brought to the table, but for many others, it left them wishing for a more realistic trigger.

Some earlier systems, such as the Black Talon Concepts Spectre accomplished a tactile feel by using a microswitch in lieu of the TITAN’s optical sensors. This was more akin to a “mouse click” or what one experiences with HPA systems than a true real steel feel. However, another notable Polish company, Perun, was the first to market to try and take a hard swing at replicating a real trigger feel with their innovative Clicker. This was a drop-in device made with a 3D printed housing and featured adjustable trigger break.

Jefftron, who hail from the Czech Republic and manufacture well-regarded ETU’s, developed their RFTS, or Real Feel Trigger System, while over on the HPA side, Polarstar released the Kythera mechanical HPA engine, which offered a realistic style trigger mechanism. By now, it was clear that manufacturers were keenly aware of customer’s wishes for realistic trigger systems and were uniquely developing products to meet that demand. Gate was the sole remaining holdout, and it wasn’t until mid-2024 when they finally released their answer in the form of the TACTICKER.

The Simple Things

The TACTICKER is a remarkably simple little device that is designed to fit atop the hole for the manual safety lever on your gearbox shell. This is constructed from a CNC’d 7075 aluminum housing, with a C45 hardened steel rod acting as the plunger for the trigger break. This rod has a groove cut into it that interacts with a set of spring-loaded bearings; when the trigger depresses the rod, it rides past the bearings, creating that distinctive “break” in the trigger press. You can fine-tune the weight

“THE TITAN ALLOWS YOU TO ADJUST THE TRIGGER SENSITIVITY TO SET THE FIRING POINT TO SUIT YOUR PREFERENCE, BUT YOU ARE BASICALLY ENCOUNTERING “DEAD AIR” THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE DISTANCE OF TRIGGER TRAVEL, WITH THE ONLY HARD STOP BEING WHEN THE TRIGGER BOTTOMS OUT AGAINST THE GEARBOX SHELL” of the break via a small set screw on top. Out of the package, I’d put the break right around 3.5 – 4 lbs. approximately, and this can be increased or decreased to suit your preference. It bears mentioning that much like the Perun Clicker, the lighter you set the break on the TACTICKER the less “crisp” the break feels, to the point where it can be rather muddled. At extremely light adjustment, you also lose the felt reset point too. Therefore, the optimal setting is pretty much right where Gate has set it themselves.

There is a lack of assembly instructions, but the installation is intuitive at least. Gate includes a set of three O-rings, which presumably are there to allow you to shift the Tackticker left or right to better align the rod with the front face of the trigger. A single screw is affixed from the exterior left-side gearbox shell to pin the TACTICKER in place. I would recommend using a dab of Loctite on both this screw and the set screw once you’ve got it setup to your liking. This will ensure these do not wander free under the vibration. I elected to put a small drop of ALG Go Juice down the pipe too. This may or may not be necessary in truth, but in my experience, ALG does a stellar job of slicking up moving parts.

From my testing, the TACTICKER is compatible with a wide range of triggers, including those types that are adjustable for cant angle and over travel, such as the MAXX and SPEED brand triggers, and includes Gate’s Nova and Quantum triggers. Depending on the trigger, and other setup criteria, you can get the TACTICKER to feel very much like a two-stage trigger, where you have a little bit of takeup before you hit the “wall”, followed by the break. This is a great setup for staging up on a trigger, which is not easily possible in a conventional ETU setup. Personally, this is where I found the TACTICKER to be most ideal, and with a little adjustment of the trigger spring I was able to nearly replicate the feel of my Geissele SSA 2-stage triggers. Technically speaking, if for whatever reason one wanted to create more takeup distance, all you would need to do is remove

“FROM MY TESTING, THE TACTICKER IS COMPATIBLE WITH A WIDE RANGE OF TRIGGERS, INCLUDING THOSE TYPES THAT ARE ADJUSTABLE FOR CANT ANGLE AND OVER TRAVEL, SUCH AS THE MAXX AND SPEED BRAND TRIGGERS, AND INCLUDES GATE’S NOVA AND QUANTUM TRIGGERS” material from the front of the trigger.

Speedy boys will also be happy to know you can also set it up with a tunable trigger and remove all of the takeup too, in effect, replicating a single-stage trigger. In this configuration, your actual trigger pull can be reduced down to around 5mm, approximately. It’s not quite possible to achieve a hair trigger with the TACTICKER, but it is possible to get extremely short trigger throw.

Explicit Design

The TACTICKER is explicitly designed to be used with Gate’s TITAN II Bluetooth or ASTER V2 and ASTER II ETU’s and currently only fits Version 2 gearbox designs.

I have confirmed it will also drop straight in and work on KWA’s ETU compatible gearboxes, the AEG 2.5+ and 3.0+ respectively. It is not compatible with other ETU systems, nor is it compatible with traditional mechanical trigger switches. It unfortunately is also not compatible with the older TITAN either. So those who have the legacy TITAN will need to consider upgrading to the TITAN II or the ASTER in order to enjoy the TACTICKER. You will want to be sure to finetune the trigger sensitivity setting in the Gate Control Station app when you’ve got everything assembled. This will allow you to set the firing point precisely at the same junction as the break on the TACTICKER.

Having tried all of the various trigger systems out there, including experimenting extensively with various passive microswitches and such in the past, I would confidently say the TACTICKER is, without a doubt, the best feeling simulation of a real trigger to date for AEG’s. If you don’t adjust it outside of the ideal range, the break it produces is very crisp (audibly so!) and it has a positive reset to boot. In conjunction with the Gate ETU, a nice gearbox build and pre-cocking, you can build yourself a marvelously snappy and responsive setup.

If you’re looking to make the jump into an ETU and want a real-trigger feel, the TACTICKER definitely warrants a being on your radar!

Gate Enterprise did not provide their products for review, nor provided any compensation or endorsements. You can check out Gate Enterprise and their products at: https://gatee.eu AA