CMC’s Anti-Walk Pins – A Worthy Upgrade

I don’t spend all that much time talking about AR-15 upgrades, because I find that many bolt ons are basically chopper chrome. That is to say, they might look cool but actually don’t enhance performance. But today we are going to look at one that I have found to be worth your consideration. A thing that I use myself, and that I find to be worth the time and effort to install.

Batter up is the CMC Triggers anti-walk pin set. This one is a bit weird, if you go looking for the reason to use them. Originally, the anti-walk pin set was marketed as a method to enhance your trigger pull, making it closer to match grade. And or more accurate since it (????) somehow made the hammer fall straighter every time? Neither of which I found to be true in testing. It does, however, have a secondary purpose that is awesome.

The biggest reason I believe in anti-walk pins is because I frequently use cassette-style drop-in triggers. My all time favorite is the AR Gold, though I have also owned CMC and Trigger Tech models. And with a cassette-style trigger, it is not all that infrequent to have the front pin fall out. The reasons for this are twofold. First, the voodoo magic of a normal AR trigger puts spring tension on both pins, which means they don’t want to move in the first place. Second, the holes drilled in an AR-15 lower are a tolerance. Meaning, there is a high side and a low side of how big the hole can be. It isn’t much, but it is not exactly the same from gun to gun. And I have found especially cheaper lower receivers to err on the big side. You never have to redrill if you overbore to start with.

Now the AR Gold at least does have retainer springs built into the cassette, you can feel them grab a bit when you drive the pins in. But I have still lost them, particularly on heavy use guns. The AR Gold also still works without the front pin, but it takes your 2-pound crisp trigger and makes it feel like a 6-pound trigger. The entire cassette actually cams forward before it releases the hammer, which is sub-optimal.

An extra $15 to prevent this is absolutely worth it to me. And that is exactly what the CMC anti-walk set does. In place of a friction-held pin, the CMC has Allen keys on both sides of a threaded pin. With the two included allen wrenches, one must merely drive the pin in as normal, insert the screws, and tighten them down. I have never had one fail, and to me it is worth every penny. The included screws are fairly large and coated which is also important.

While I have had some things like Ambi safety screws rust out and fail, the CMC pins have never been a problem. First, your sweaty hands generally aren’t all over the trigger pins, introducing saltwater. Second, a bit of blue Loctite on the install provides a moisture barrier if you are worried.

CMC has always made solid products, and the Anti Walk Pin Set is one of their best. Let us not say that Eugene Stoner was wrong, so much as we are able to stand on his brilliant design shoulders. This is one bit of add-on that I wholeheartedly endorse.

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