Defense Gun Trigger Survey

[IanS]

What kind of trigger have you come to prefer for your primary defense gun?

I've lumped certain guns (P7, CZ75B) for simplicity.


Thanks for participating.


edit: Walther P99's would be considered DA/SA Decock Only

 

[WillBrayjr]

The single action auto (1911A1) has a short travel and breaks, very consistant from first shot to last.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

...which you think would be a really good thing for self defense purposes, but Ayoob seems to think that such triggers are legal nightmares. Of course, he has no proof.

 

[IZinterrogator]

Have your cake and eat it, too.

I use a Beretta 96G for my HD gun because I have the safety of a DA trigger with the ability to go SA if I have the opportunity. Plus I know the gun will go bang and the BG will go down when I pull the trigger, no matter where the hammer is.

 

[IanS]

Interesting responses. I wasn't sure if I wanted a debate. But heck. Why not.

IZInterrogator,

Great signature by J.S. Mill



.....As for 1911's not everyone is comfortable with short single action triggers or an active safety in a defense handgun. Longarms require active safeties since they usually are constantly held in ones hands. Handguns can be holstered which is also a type of "safety".

 

[Handy]

Having examined an LEM, I would put it in the same category as the Glock - assisted DA. The USP is available in a true DAO.


I went DA/SA with decock. Simple, accurate, but enough of an initial pull for an added measure of safety that something like a Glock lacks.

I don't like safeties on reactionary guns - just something else to go wrong.

 

[IZinterrogator]

I demand a recount...

since my choice is coming in second.

 

[wichaka]

1911 4 3/4lb trigger............

 

[Handy]

Also, a P7 doesn't have a safety, and is an "other".

 

[IanS]

I consider the staple gun grip of the P7 a "safety" One must engage it to shoot. And one must release it to be back on safe. It is one BIG active safety. Besides, as I explained I lumped some guns for the sake of expediency. There would have been too many choices to get a sense of what people have gravitated towards. Again, I just wanted to get a sense for what people preferred.

Its not a scientific survey. And One Big caveat. Some people who have participated may have only owned one handgun so far in their life. Its their first 1911 or first Glock and so they chose what they have.

 

[Handy]

My objections are do to the relative weaknesses and strengths of some of the clumps. I wouldn't carry a safety gun, I would carry a P7 as first choice by virtue of the big lever not acting like a safety (you can pull it after the trigger, for instance).

Same with the LEM in the DAO category. Different animal, but almost identical to the Glock in use.

 

[IanS]

Interesting. I didn't know you could fire the P7 that way. I wonder how accurate or inaccurate that would be.

 

[Tamara]

Any and all guns I carry have one of two triggers: 1) Short single action with safety, or 2) DA(O) revolver.

 

[Tamara]

IanS,

Interesting. I didn't know you could fire the P7 that way. I wonder how accurate ... that would be.

From my experience, not very.

 

[Handy]

About the same as any DA gun, in my experience.

 

[Tamara]

Handy,

About the same as any DA gun, in my experience.

Seeing as how it requires one to violate a cardinal rule of pistol accuracy (moving any part of the hand other than the trigger finger) I just didn't find that to be true. I've busted rocks at 100 yards with the DA trigger on a Smith wheelgun; I don't see that happening with a four-finger squeeze on a P7 frontstrap...

(One's opinion of DA triggers can be affected by what DA triggers one has been exposed to, of course. If most all of my DA shooting had been with the gritty, stacking, and often heavy DA pulls found on most DA/SA autochuckers, I'd think differently. )

 

[Handy]

The "secret" Tamara is that you are moving the three weakest fingers, while the trigger finger is stabilizing the gun.

I've done it in IDPA for speed - it is not a preferable method, but is effective in close defensive shooting.

 

[Tamara]

Handy,

I've done it in IDPA for speed - it is not a preferable method, but is effective in close defensive shooting.

Oh, I didn't mean to imply it wasn't good enough for "minute of felon" at 7 yards, but I also wouldn't call that "accuracy" in the conventional sense of the word. One could definitely do much better with a good DA trigger and good technique, as PPC shooters can attest.

 

[FirstFreedom]

I went DA/SA with decock. Simple, accurate, but enough of an initial pull for an added measure of safety that something like a Glock lacks.

I don't like safeties on reactionary guns - just something else to go wrong.

Absolute Ditto.

 

[blades67]

I carry Glocks, SIG Sauers and Kimbers (though not all at the same time usually) so I need a "combination of the above" option.

The P7 is a very accurate handgun. I fired one last Thursday and managed to hit everything that was aimed at from ten to 100 yards. There are only two times the fingers move while firing a P7. The first is when the cocking lever is engaged enabling the gun to be fired and the second is when the lever is released thereby rendering the pistol safe.