In a minority- I like DAO pistols

[Kookla]

I'm sure there's a few more like-minded folks out there, but not many I prefer a good DAO trigger (specially hammer fired)- seem to shoot good with them either staging the trigger or just pulling straight through. More comfortable with them as well. Was like a mini-field day when I picked up a Sig p250 last week. Now it's home with me

 

[Tirod]

Quite a few do. Most of the objections seem to disappear when they buy a pocket pistol. Then it becomes more an observation that it has second strike or not.

At one time a lot of revolvers were DAO, and the DA/SA versions were used DAO on the range and streets, especially by their biggest carrier, the cops of the day. Funny how the transition pistols were largely DA/SA until the Glock, which is used like a DAO with precocked striker. The difference in a Glock and Kahr can be as little as a tenth of an inch in trigger pull, with NY trigger the Kahr could be lighter.

DAO is a lot more prevalent in style of use than the shooting public wants accept. If we consider that a DAO requires pulling thru the trigger to tension the striker or hammer spring and then release it, and that is the only way to fire it, then it's a matter of degree how much travel and pressure is involved. As said, there are DAO's with lighter and shorter pulls than some guns considered not DAO.

Alternate viewpoints will quickly be posted below.

 

[pblanc]

I object to categorizing striker-action pistols as DAO or SAO. The term double action only originated with hammer-fired revolvers and pistols that worked by "trigger cocking" the hammer. This invariably required a long trigger press which often, though not invariably, required considerable force. To call a striker-action pistol DAO because it completes loading of a partially (often nearly completely) tensioned striker suggests some kind of parity with a DAO revolver or hammer-fired pistol that does not exist. I have shot a lot of striker-fired pistols that call themselves DAO but none of them have been even remotely like firing a revolver double action, or a pistol double action. Kahrs perhaps come the closest, but even the Kahr trigger press is much shorter than a DAO revolver or hammer-fired pistol. And I agree, there are striker-action pistols that call themselves DAO that have a shorter trigger press than others which do not, which makes the terminology very misleading.

I think DAO hammer-fired handguns as self-defense weapons makes a good deal of sense. Many people dislike them because they never master the ability to maintain sight alignment during the long trigger press. I have two DAO hammer-fired pistols, a Beretta Cougar 8000D and a SIG P250 9mm subcompact.

 

[usp9]

I like a nice DAO in a pocket gun for safety sake but otherwise I tend toward conventional DA/SA. The nicest DAO I've had is the Sphinx AT-380. Smooth as silk and only a little bit long.

 

[cc-hangfire]

I'll join the club! Although I have & continue to buy all kinds of firearms that I find interesting, my EDC & home guns are DAO (or as pblanc notes, what passes for DAO today): my favorite true DAO's are my SIG P250, Rem RM390, and the cheap KelTec P11. Then there are the hammer-fired-almost-DAO, partial-cock P3AT, LCP, S&W 5946, & LC9. And finally the DAO-like striker fired Khar CM9 & PT9, Shield, & a couple of Glocks. (And throw in the LCR & 642 even though they are revolvers)

I do appreciate the 3.5# SA trigger on my 1911, but I prefer no safety and a long trigger pull for personal defense handguns. I laugh out loud when I read about grown men complaining about trigger pulls over 5# as being heavy, or about the looong trigger pulls. Just practice, for goodness sake.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I never cared for DAO guns until I tried an HK LEM trigger. My P30SK has one, and I love it for a carry gun.

If you haven't tried one before, I recommend you do at the first opportunity.

 

[JDR]

I never cared for DAO guns until I tried an HK LEM trigger. My P30SK has one, and I love it for a carry gun. If you haven't tried one before, I recommend you do at the first opportunity.

Agree 100% with the above statement. Best trigger system that most LGS counter jockeys have not a clue as to how to promote or sell. IMHO, an HK P30SK(S) with a V1 Light LEM trigger variant (and I'd want the thumb safety with the V1 Light LEM) well this setup might possibly be the optimum CCW that I know of.

 

[Kendal Black]

I'm comfortable behind a DAO automatic, because I started out with (and still use primarily) DA revolvers. I see nothing wrong with pulling the trigger back a ways to make the gun go bang.

I like the simplicity. To go on safe, get your finger out of there. The safety is digital...if you refer to a finger as a digit.

 

[MedWheeler]

^^ I could have written these words.

 

[JO JO]

I am a fan I even like the sig Dak trigger

 

[Kookla]

Another thing I like that I forgot to mention with hammer fired DAO ( DA/SA too) is when holstering, I like being able to hold my thumb over the hammer. If it starts to move, I know there's something snagging the trigger.

 

[SeanSw]

I love DAO on pocket guns on snubbies and I only care for SAO on larger guns. The rest are somewhere in between. I'm struggling to shoot my CZ PCR to the best of my ability because only my first double action shot is accurate. The rest of my single action shots are pulling left. It's probably the opposite problem most people have with DA/SA pistols.

 

[JTQ]

Here's a Darryl Bolke article on the advantages of the HK LEM

https://pistol-training.com/archives/8549

 

[bannockburn]

I also like DAO pistols as my Kahr CM9's trigger is very much like the DA trigger on my two other CCW guns, a S&W Model 638 and a Model 649.

 

[bannockburn]

SeanSw

The rest are somewhere in between. I'm struggling to shoot my CZ PCR to the best of my ability because only my first double action shot is accurate. The rest of my single action shots are pulling left. It's probably the opposite problem most people have with DA/SA pistols.

Well it is for me as I have had a tendency (typically with nearly every SIG DA/SA pistol I have ever shot), to pull my first DA shot low and to the left. All of the rest in SA mode go right where I'm aiming.

 

[huntsman]

I have two DAO and two DA/SA pistols and I will not stage a trigger, IMHO that's a bad habit to get into for SD shooting.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Agree 100% with the above statement. Best trigger system that most LGS counter jockeys have not a clue as to how to promote or sell. IMHO, an HK P30SK(S) with a V1 Light LEM trigger variant (and I'd want the thumb safety with the V1 Light LEM) well this setup might possibly be the optimum CCW that I know of.

Agree. I choose to go safetyless myself, but my holster ensures the trigger will never inadvertently be pulled. I use a Stealth Gear Flex. Love the set up. All that said, I'd be perfectly happy with it having a safety as well.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I'm comfortable behind a DAO automatic, because I started out with (and still use primarily) DA revolvers. I see nothing wrong with pulling the trigger back a ways to make the gun go bang.

I like the simplicity. To go on safe, get your finger out of there. The safety is digital...if you refer to a finger as a digit.

Same here. Agree with the digital safety also. Nicely stated.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Another thing I like that I forgot to mention with hammer fired DAO ( DA/SA too) is when holstering, I like being able to hold my thumb over the hammer. If it starts to move, I know there's something snagging the trigger.

Totally agree.

 

[Taroman]

Add me to the DAO club:
For EDC:

For things that go bump in the night:

 

[Chuck R.]

Agree 100% with the above statement. Best trigger system that most LGS counter jockeys have not a clue as to how to promote or sell. IMHO, an HK P30SK(S) with a V1 Light LEM trigger variant (and I'd want the thumb safety with the V1 Light LEM) well this setup might possibly be the optimum CCW that I know of.

Agreed, the HK LEM is an awesome defensive trigger that the majority of shooters have never tried, nor probably even heard of. I've converted 3 of my DA/SA HKs to LEM as it's my favorite trigger setup. The only thing that makes it even better is a reset reduction done by a competent smith. Then you've got the best of both worlds.

Chuck

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I didn't like them for years but hadn't tried one either. Then, got a steal on a Beretta 92D. I shoot it much better than I ever thought I would and I like the simplicity. No safety, clean slide due to that which is nice. I like a hammer on a pistol and so the 92D is a great fit for me.

 

[Deanimator]

A friend of a friend is a Cleveland transit cop. His duty gun is a Beretta 96D.

I shot that gun on our club range. It was bar none, the second worst handgun trigger I've ever experienced. Only a friend's Colt All American 2000 was worse. It just ground and ground and ground until it went off. It was like holding two mill files together and pulling them in opposite directions.

People tell me that a DAO auto trigger is like a DA revolver trigger. I've got a safe full of pre-lock S&W revolvers, from a Smith 36 to a couple of 29-2s. If ANY of them had a DA trigger like ANY DA/SA or DAO auto I've ever shot, they'd go to Smith for repair yesterday.

 

[JTQ]

A friend of a friend is a Cleveland transit cop. His duty gun is a Beretta 96D.

I shot that gun on our club range. It was bar none, the second worst handgun trigger I've ever experienced. Only a friend's Colt All American 2000 was worse. It just ground and ground and ground until it went off. It was like holding two mill files together and pulling them in opposite directions.

This comment immediately made me think of this article from pistol-training.com https://pistol-training.com/articles/kevhs-very-opinionated-guide-to-the-beretta-92

Perhaps your friend is "lube-averse". An excerpt from the article.

Me: When was the last time you oiled this thing?
Him: The last time I cleaned it.
Me: When was that?
Him: I dunno. Like two years ago?
Me: Can I see your gun for a sec?
Him: Sure

 

[C0untZer0]

I like the trigger pull on the Kahrs, and I like the trigger pull on my Rohrbaugh R9.

The trigger pull on my RM380 is improving every week, I'm doing a lot of dry firing. and it is getting more like the R9 all the time.