Michael A Ferber
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Is the day of hammer fired pistols over? Seems to me 75% of the market is all about new striker fired pistols. What are your thoughts!?!
Hammer Fire vs Striker Fire...
- Thread starter Michael A Ferber
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Well, the one thing that hammer fired pistols (generally speaking) will have over the striker fired pistols, is the quality of the trigger. Some also just like the idea of an exposed hammer. So, on the consumer end, I don't think they're going any where. There are tons of people that own firearms and don't carry them, or necessarily even shoot them. They just like them and like owning them. As long as there's a sufficient demand, someone is going to provide a supply.
From a manufacturers perspective, I would think that they are hoping that hammer fired pistols will go by the wayside. Most hammer fired pistols are steel or otherwise all metal in some form, have a lot of parts and cost more to manufacture. Striker fired pistols are generally easier and cheaper to manufacturer and I'd imagine allow for a higher profit margin.
So, I guess we'd need to figure out if the industry is driven by the manufacturers or the consumers. Still, in the end, lots of guys making a living building, repairing or modifying hammer fired guns so I don't think they will become extinct, but there sure will be fewer new models coming out. I don't think there's much room left for innovation with hammer fired guns.
From a manufacturers perspective, I would think that they are hoping that hammer fired pistols will go by the wayside. Most hammer fired pistols are steel or otherwise all metal in some form, have a lot of parts and cost more to manufacture. Striker fired pistols are generally easier and cheaper to manufacturer and I'd imagine allow for a higher profit margin.
So, I guess we'd need to figure out if the industry is driven by the manufacturers or the consumers. Still, in the end, lots of guys making a living building, repairing or modifying hammer fired guns so I don't think they will become extinct, but there sure will be fewer new models coming out. I don't think there's much room left for innovation with hammer fired guns.
Heir Kommt Die Sonne
Member
Striker fired is simpler. Less moving parts. Easy to work on, and you can dye the plastic frame any color you want.
Also, not that there weren't hammer guns this way, but on most striker fired pistols it's easier to mount optics on, because there's just more room to do so.
Also, not that there weren't hammer guns this way, but on most striker fired pistols it's easier to mount optics on, because there's just more room to do so.
JTQ
Member
It seems like more than 75%.
However, here's a Traditional Double Action fan, Ernest Langdon explaining his preference for the TDA guns
Corpral_Agarn
Member
While I prefer DA/SA and SAO pistols myself, I recognize that hammers are no longer necessary.
Corpral_Agarn
Member
I think that the classic designs like the 1911 with external hammers will probably always be in production. But I can't think of any new pistol designed with an external hammer made in a long time. There is no practical reason for them anymore other than nostalgia.
The better question is why did it take so long for pistols to drop the external hammer. We haven't had a new rifle or shotgun designed with an exposed hammer since the late 1800's. Many including the AR 15 use a hammer, but it is internal. Striker fired bolt guns have long proven to be the most rugged reliable design.
The better question is why did it take so long for pistols to drop the external hammer. We haven't had a new rifle or shotgun designed with an exposed hammer since the late 1800's. Many including the AR 15 use a hammer, but it is internal. Striker fired bolt guns have long proven to be the most rugged reliable design.
I was going to say, at least looking around the competition arena, hammer fired (think CZ-75, 1911 and PT-92s) seem to still be holding sway. There are a lot of hammer fired compacts (presumably for CCW) offered in the catalogs as well.
I'm always one to strike out on a different path. I just picked up a Sig P-250. Hammer fired DAO semi-auto.
I'm always one to strike out on a different path. I just picked up a Sig P-250. Hammer fired DAO semi-auto.
Hammer-fired guns have the potential to have better triggers in conventional browning-type tilting-barrel actions. Period. Hammer fired pistols dominate the top levels in games where competition is intense and shooting performance is measured closely.
I have one or two striker-fired pistols. I doubt I will ever buy another.
I have one or two striker-fired pistols. I doubt I will ever buy another.
URIT
Member
Put me in the hammer column. I do own one striker-fired gun that sees limited carry time; otherwise, I prefer my hammer-fired guns for EDC and the range.
Zendude
Member
The Latest and greatest S&W EZ's, Ruger 5.7 are hammer fired. So while your contemplating their demise, there are new ones in the market.
wonder if they had the same argument 100yrs ago...
Agreed. Ruger Security 9 and some of the pocket 380s are hammer fired.
earlthegoat2
Member
Im sure it is the consumer voting with their wallet.
Plastic striker fired pistols can be made much less expensively than the traditional DA/SA hammer guns. The masses who just want "a gun" will usually gravitate to the lower end of the cost spectrum. Enthusiasts are the ones who care about the minutiae between them. Enthusiasts make up a small portion of gun owners.
Plastic striker fired pistols can be made much less expensively than the traditional DA/SA hammer guns. The masses who just want "a gun" will usually gravitate to the lower end of the cost spectrum. Enthusiasts are the ones who care about the minutiae between them. Enthusiasts make up a small portion of gun owners.
Because there is a big interplay of action types and firing mechanism types that most people don't recognize. When you have an action that is held closed with something like a rifle bolt (with lugs engaged through camming force), you can ensure that the striker release/sear interface will be the same. So you can have a nice trigger with very little engagement between these surfaces.
Semi-auto, tilting-barrel pistols don't work that way. The striker engagement surface is in the slide, which is only being held closed (prior to ignition) by the recoil spring. The trigger sear engagement surface rides in the frame. There is slop between the frame and the slide - there has to be for the gun to function. So you simply cannot safely get the same kind of trigger in a striker-fired gun that can be gotten pretty easily in a hammer-fired gun. At least not in a Glock-ish pattern. It would take a fundamentally different design.
That's why the nicest thing you will ever hear an experience pistol shooter say about a striker-fired trigger is that it is very nice "for a striker-fired pistol." And, yes, I've shot a lot of Glocks and Walthers and Apex'ed S&W's and Sig P320's with gamer-grade triggers. Many of them had very nice triggers for striker-fired pistols.
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Zaydok Allen
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Hammer fired guns will persist for some time to come. Competition alone will ensure that.
I will admit that the pistols I daily rely on for safety or home defense are striker fired, but being a relative old timer (meaning that I qualify for the senior citizen discount at McDonald’s), I do still have and doubt that I’ll ever get rid of, a 1911. It’s still my favorite gun to shoot.
As for triggers, I think we’re gonna see some innovations that will close the gap. It’s gonna take some innovative thinking though.
I mean, look at the kahr cam trigger. Mine has butt loads of rounds through it and the trigger is slicker than snot. I wonder what some genius is gonna come up with. I’ve never been overly sensitive about trigger pull weight, but am sort of a snob about a clean break. I’m no engineer, but shorten this a little, lengthen that a little...maybe something like a kahr trigger with a 6lb pull, but shorter. I could marry that.
As for triggers, I think we’re gonna see some innovations that will close the gap. It’s gonna take some innovative thinking though.
I mean, look at the kahr cam trigger. Mine has butt loads of rounds through it and the trigger is slicker than snot. I wonder what some genius is gonna come up with. I’ve never been overly sensitive about trigger pull weight, but am sort of a snob about a clean break. I’m no engineer, but shorten this a little, lengthen that a little...maybe something like a kahr trigger with a 6lb pull, but shorter. I could marry that.
I used to be a big Glock fan. But have switched to CZ 75 compact.
1. I can keep my thumb over the hammer as a holster. This gives me tactile feedback if something is snagging the trigger. For ME, it is safer....since I favor AIWB carry.
2. The trigger is nicer..in my opinion.
3. I like to be able to see the status of the firing mechanism of the gun. In a striker fired..the striker is inside and hidden.( This is not necessarily a logical reason. But there it is.)
5. As I get older..the more I like metal guns over polymer guns. (I much prefer to hand down an all metal gun to my son ...than a plastic gun.)
What's that got to do with the hammer vs striker debate.... Well..in my neck of the woods...the steel guns are all hammer fired. I can't find an all metal striker fired compact. (If Glock made an all metal Glock 19...I may be tempted. )
1. I can keep my thumb over the hammer as a holster. This gives me tactile feedback if something is snagging the trigger. For ME, it is safer....since I favor AIWB carry.
2. The trigger is nicer..in my opinion.
3. I like to be able to see the status of the firing mechanism of the gun. In a striker fired..the striker is inside and hidden.( This is not necessarily a logical reason. But there it is.)
5. As I get older..the more I like metal guns over polymer guns. (I much prefer to hand down an all metal gun to my son ...than a plastic gun.)
What's that got to do with the hammer vs striker debate.... Well..in my neck of the woods...the steel guns are all hammer fired. I can't find an all metal striker fired compact. (If Glock made an all metal Glock 19...I may be tempted. )
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In 2018 there were about 4.6 million handguns manufactured in the US. Around a miliion of those were hammer fired. You be the judge.
All my handguns are hammer fired. 2 of my rifles are hammer fired. Call me old fashioned.
Personally, I think there's pros and cons to both. Pro for the hammers....better trigger. Pro for the strikers....allow less gunk to get into the action. So hammers for fun or competition, strikers for carry. But I often hear about striker fired actions being more modern...but there's been striker fired semiautomatic pistols since pretty much the beginning. At least since the Roth Styer 1907, probably before
If1HitU
Member
If it is, it's not for me,I own both.
jar
Contributing Member
Slow down.
Striker fired handguns have been around as long as there have been semi-automatic pistols.
Savage model 1907 made in 1913
Colt VP model 1908 made in 1919
FN VP model 1906 made in 1913-1914
Ortgies made in 1924
Walther Model 9 made in 1926
Mauser 1914 made in 1928
jar
Contributing Member
Again, the makers offered guns without external hammers in both revolvers and semi-automatics for well over a century.
Colt model 1903 made in 1906:
It was marketed as the "Pocket Hammerless" even though it had a hammer.
S&W and most other revolver companies were selling revolvers with internal hammers before 1900.
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jar
Contributing Member
Forgot perhaps the most famous Striker fired pistol of all time:
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