Get a Glock.
That's the Coles notes version of the discussion, yes.
TW25B
Get a Glock.
Carrying cocked and locked may worry some people but not really an issue here since we can't CCW anyways!
Was looking at a Norc hicap 1911 for my ATC pistol and the fact that I'd have carry cocked and locked does seem a touch disconcerting. Heavy da trigger just seems safer to me.
If you are carrying the pistol down your pants, double action makes sense. If you are firing at a range, double action semi autos serve no purpose. Noone at the range is likely to have a double action rifle.
Single action only is easier to fire, no need to make things difficult.
SA isn't easier to shoot, it simply covers up a lot of poor form, but that will only carry a person so far and then their performance will level off. The issues I have with SA guns are these: Exposed hammers(generally) and a manual safety. Extra parts and extra steps to shooting. I like it simple and reliable.
TW25B
What I'm gonna say now is heresay so don't hold me to it.Seems like I've opened a can of worms. So many options. I'm still leaning towards the 1911 platform for simplicity and ease of use. My wife and kids will be learning to shoot any pistol I buy as well.
Would a single action also have fewer internal parts to possibly be failure points?
What I'm gonna say now is heresay so don't hold me to it.
I have spoken to friends who are in LE and have taken multiple gun fighting courses in the States where many rounds are shot through a weekend. They tell me that 1911s go down like crazy at these courses, one guy even said the Jericho pistols fail also.
Take it for what its worth. I know I'm sticking with my Glock!![]()
If you shoot a SA auto well, your form is perfect for that platform. You can get away with limp wristing a Glock but not a 1911, so poor form is a matter of conjecture pertaining to the platform under discussion. This also suggests that if you shoot a 1911, you can't easily transition to a striker fired gun; this isn't something I've found to be true.
My observations are exactly the opposite. The heavy weight of a 1911 and the short and light SA trigger all add do a nice job of covering up poor form. The light weight and heavier trigger of a striker fired pistol do not cover up bad form, they make you honest.
I don't see how an exposed hammer is a problem. An exposed hammer on a 1911, that's carried cocked and locked, cannot catch on clothing if CCW is your concern. Those preferring the appearance striker fired guns, might object to the appearance of the "dated" exposed hammer design, so the issue is properly one of perspective rather than function.
Exposed hammers are not necessary, it's a dated pointless design that involves additional parts. Clothing is one concern, dirt and debris is another. If there is a space between the hammer and firing pin then there is the potential for foreign matter to interfere with that relationship.
If you can't manage the manual safety on a 1911, it makes one wonder, but you can safely remove or ignore the thumb safely, provided the grip safety is not also deactivated.
It is not about activating the safety, it's about it being pointless as the safety is removed when the gun is drawn. When the gun is holstered the trigger is covered and the safety is on. There is no benefit to a manual safety when you immediately disengage it when drawing. The other issue is that manual safeties get forgotten when shooting under stress and they aren't always ambidextrous without the addition of parts.
To my way of thinking, trigger action is the most critical element pertaining to pistol marksmanship. A SA trigger breaks with the same amount of travel and weight for each shot, from the first to the last round fired. A DA trigger requires a long pull for the initial shot, and short pull for each subsequent shot unless the hammer is dropped to the safe position; then it takes a long pull to once again initially fire the pistol. A DA only trigger doesn't require a safety, but it does require a long trigger pull to fire the gun every time, and IMHO, is the most difficult trigger type to manage. Striker fired triggers can be long pulls or short, at any point during the firing sequence, it simply depends how far the shooter allows the trigger to reset after a shot. This to me is less intuitive, than either a DA or the simple, works the same way each time, SA trigger. The striker fired trigger is an example of an extremely complex trigger design, where a SA trigger is the simplest in both design and function, yet both designs have proven reliable under adverse conditions.
The safe double action trigger of a Glock is in fact a double action only design, but it doesn't suffer from the classic long and heavy pull of a hammer fired DAO gun. The only difference between the safe double action and an SA trigger is that there is some slack in the SDA trigger, much like a two stage trigger on a rifle. You don't have to take up the slack before breaking the shot, you can press right through from start to finish if you wish or need to. If you take up the slack and work the reset after each shot(which you should be doing regardless of action type) the trigger becomes very crisp and very short..... Kind of like a single action gun.
Most SA guns are old outdated designs. They have limited capacities, are heavy, large, expensive, contain more parts and pieces and are less reliable. DA/SA guns are even worse as they have two very distinct trigger pulls and often very soft or absent resets.
OMG! First time?? With a .45? Wow! The kid's a natural!
In the bold sir
TW25B
^ agreed. Clearly the OP doesn't understand that eventually he will end up with all the varying actions in his lock up. (+ revolvers, + black and red rifles, + black powder {rifles and revolvers}, +,+,+)![]()