Favorite pistol Action?

[k9870]

My idea, best to worse:

1.DA/SA
2.SAO
3.Striker
4.DAO

Not enough experience with revolvers to judge.


I got to say, I see a lot of crap about each action online. 1911 die hards refuse to admit anything is better than SAO and villify the DA/SA. I like the ability to safely carry without a manual safety, its especially good on a LE gun or SD gun. Simpler. Best of both worlds. Some people say that since the first shot is DA you'll miss. People have qualified expert on revolvers for years. Also, if you have time to prepare for a shot you really need to count just thumb the hammer back.

Two, i put SAO. A little more complicated since you need to train with a saftey but still an excellent trigger. I love 1911s. I just don't have enough training to reliably flick a manual safety on the draw, its is way too slow into action for my use.

Striker guns just feel clunky to me,a nd not all that light, fairly long pulls too. Just never warmed up to them.

DAO is somethin some people advocate but I hate them. They'll say "its consistency of trigger"......yeah, consistently bad trigger. DAO pulls are long and heavy, hard to shoot well with. They also usually ahve lots of creep and inconsistency (in my experience.) The SIG DAK trigegr that I ahve the most experience with is fairly light for a DAO (6.5 pounds) but it has a horrible intermediate reset that feels like 10 pounds and makes follow up shots way slower since you need to fully bring trigger forward to get the 6.5.

[MT2008]

I understand the appeal of either SAO or DAO, but I personally like SA/DA. I think having the option to choose is nice.

On the other hand, for conceal-carry, then obviously DAO or striker (and preferably the latter) is preferred because you don't want the gun to snag. But some pistol designs are shaped in such a way that this is kind of a difficult goal, hammer or no hammer (like SIG's "SAS" models, which I personally don't like).

[Spartan198]

^Agree with MT2008.

[Krel]

I always liked the squeeze-cocking action of the H&K P7, too bad no one else ever used the action. Although there was suppose to be an Israeli company producing a squeeze-cocking pistol in the late 80s, early 90s, but as far as I know it didn't happen.

David.

[Yournamehere]

Well when k9870 says "action" he means trigger type and not so much the way the gun works or reloads itself. The squeeze cocker is sort of a striker design.

I'm not a fan of DAO triggers for reasons previously stated. I also for the most part agree with k9870s list, though it's more of a draw between SAO and DA/SA. It generally depends on whether you like an initial double action shot without any levers to disengage or whether you like your gun ready to go with a lever keeping it safe from firing from forces other than yourself, as well as no trigger pull difference when firing. It's a tradeoff where both systems have their benefits and drawbacks but it comes down to preference.

As far as revolvers go, it goes DA/SA, DAO, then SAO.

DA/SAs come up top because they give you the option of firing fully semiautomatic, or in a single shot fashion for more precise shots. Most revolvers from the major manufactures have pretty good DA/SA trigger setups too, and if they don't, a trigger job is not hard to have done.

DAO revolvers are better than DAO automatics as DA/SA revolvers are usually used in DA mode, and again, a trigger job can give you a good DAO pull, but you lose the option of SA for precise shots with a short length of pull. This trigger mode is usually just seen on small frame carry type revolvers where a precise shot isn't necessary, so it's not as significant a loss as it is on full size duty pistols.

SAOs are generally harder to load and harder to fire accurately in rapid succession. They were state of the art over 100 years ago, but today they're exhibition guns and not much more.

My preference for revolvers is DA/SA, but for automatics I'm on the edge. I've got a DA/SA and a SAO and I can't honestly tell you what I'd prefer for carry or combat or whatever. I'd probably lean toward a SA cause a safety is kinda nice to have, and I'm not really a fan of double action triggers on handguns, even with DA/SA guns. That might just be cause my 5906 trigger isn't great, but I'd need to try some other guns before I come to a conclusion.

[Nyles]

Well, I'm carrying a single-action Browning right now, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't feel more comfortable with one of the Sigs they issue MPs. Single actions are great for the range, but for daily carry I'd rather have something I (and more importantly, the non-shooters around me in a very thin-walled building) can carry loaded and with the hammer down.

[paraordnance]

DAO is somethin some people advocate but I hate them. They'll say "its consistency of trigger"......yeah, consistently bad trigger. DAO pulls are long and heavy, hard to shoot well with. They also usually ahve lots of creep and inconsistency (in my experience.) The SIG DAK trigegr that I ahve the most experience with is fairly light for a DAO (6.5 pounds) but it has a horrible intermediate reset that feels like 10 pounds and makes follow up shots way slower since you need to fully bring trigger forward to get the 6.5.[/quote]

Have you ever shot any of the Glocks? They have a very short dao pull and reset as well.

[k9870]

Thats why i put striker above dao. Glocks are more a hybrid desighn. Still dont like em much, but there not the worse either.

[Gunmaster45]

The problem with how pretty much all concealed carry pistols are DAO is that if it isn't hard enough to hold and aim the little bastard that hardly fits in your hand, you have to pull back an 6-12 pound trigger.

Full sized guns with DAO aren't actually that bad if you aren't in a huge hurry to hit your target. I shot a Beretta 96D and as long as I slowly squeezed the trigger, it followed through well.

I personally would prefer Single Action/Double Action best, but I still like the idea of carrying condition one, hammer cocked, and safety on. Because when you need to draw your weapon in a bad situation, your first shot really has to count, and the extra amount the sights are thrown off by you pulling back the DA trigger can determine if you live to eat breakfast tomorrow.

Conceal carrying a Glock 30 is appealing to me, since the trigger is in a half-double action and there is no safety. You just draw and fire. Plus it's sub-compact and fits 10+1 .45 ACP rounds. Plus I saw why having a smaller handgun for carry is more useful than a full-size. It's not about comfort in carrying, it's about being able to draw and fire it before someone kills you, and if it's smaller, it comes up faster.

[k9870]

And having a gun. I know 2 guys (brothers) who carry, one bought a .357 sig full sized glock, one a j frame lightweight. Guess who always had his gun, and guess who only carried in winter? A glock 30 may kick bad, its not the caliber, its how well you place shots with it. Ill keep .45 for full sized guns, 9mm is enough for carry. For civilian self defense, with modern JHP, there isn;t much difference in calibers. For LEOs, who need to fire at bad guys through cover, windshields, etc, i think .45, which maintains mass through barriers, is a much better choice.