Tell me about the PSA Dagger

[redneck]

I am intrigued by this gun. The reviews are good, the price is great and the fact it can be had with ten mags for a great price makes it seem like the ultimate range toy. I like to do occasional gunsmithing projects and have built one 1911 from parts, a couple rifles, and have some other projects in the works so the wide open aftermarket parts market for the dagger is also appealing. I have not gotten to handle one in person and everything I read about the trigger has me confused. Is it a glock trigger or is it like an M&P?

The PSA page lists it as a single action striker fired. I read lots of complaints about how it has a hinged trigger like an M&P and yet it is considered a glock clone with widespread parts interchangeability. So is it a long pull like a glock? Or is it more like a first gen M&P?

I am pretty invested in the M&P line after carrying one for more than ten years and also into 1911's. I do have a Kahr K9 and I have some friends who are into glocks. I can shoot the long DA type pull ok with practice but really don't like switching back and forth during a range session. So I can probably stop daydreaming about buying a dagger and pile of mags if it has a glock style trigger. Otherwise I might need to own one haha. What is the consensus of those who have them?

 

[Sistema1927]

It's a pretty decent Glock Gen 3 clone for the price. Don't worry about the trigger, for most users it is just fine. It will however, take pretty much any Gen 3 Glock trigger if you want to change it. The only problem that I have with mine was a difficult to manipulate mag release, but replacing them in the two I own took care of the problem.

 

[tominboise]

I have one and prefer the feel of the trigger against my finger, as compared tto my Glocks. The trigger pull is the same as the Glock trigger pull. Mine shoots well and is quite accurate and reliable thus far.

 

[redneck]

So is it a long DA like a glock?

Or is is single action like an M&P?

Everyone says its a glock but the website says its single action and folks compare it to the hinged trigger on the M&P. I don't care if its the worst possible example of either, I'd just like to know which camp it falls in

 

[redneck]

Thanks tominboise, we were posting at the same time. I can probably look elsewhere for a range toy/project.

 

[JohnKSa]

Since it's compatible with Glock Gen3 components, I would assume it uses the same action as a Glock. The Glock is neither a true DA nor a true SA.

A DA gun is completely trigger operated, but the Glock striker must be "set" by the action of the slide. Without the slide being operated, the trigger will do nothing, unlike a traditional DA.

An SA gun would normally only drop the hammer/striker and doesn't perform any significant compression of the mainspring/striker spring. The Glock trigger performs a significant amount of the compression of the striker spring. About half of the striker spring compression is done by the trigger in the Glock design.

So it acts somewhat like an SA in that the slide must be racked to set the striker (and pre-compress the striker spring) and somewhat like a DA in that the trigger performs a significant amount of the work of compressing the striker spring.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Since it's compatible with Glock Gen3 components, I would assume it uses the same action as a Glock. The Glock is neither a true DA nor a true SA.

A DA gun is completely trigger operated, but the Glock striker must be "set" by the action of the slide. Without the slide being operated, the trigger will do nothing, unlike a traditional DA.

An SA gun would normally only drop the hammer/striker and doesn't perform any significant compression of the mainspring/striker spring. The Glock trigger performs a significant amount of the compression of the striker spring. About half of the striker spring compression is done by the trigger in the Glock design.

So it acts somewhat like an SA in that the slide must be racked to set the striker (and pre-compress the striker spring) and somewhat like a DA in that the trigger performs a significant amount of the work of compressing the striker spring.

And thus, has no 2nd strike capability if that is important to you.

 

[JohnKSa]

Correct. Since the slide has to be operated to set the striker and pre-compress the striker spring, the trigger is dead after it is pulled until the slide cycles. Theoretically, it's possible to pull the slide back slightly and set the striker without ejecting a chambered round, but in practice it's tricky. If it doesn't fire on the first try, the best approach is to fully cycle the slide manually.

 

[someguy2800]

So is it a long DA like a glock?

Or is is single action like an M&P?

Everyone says its a glock but the website says its single action and folks compare it to the hinged trigger on the M&P. I don't care if its the worst possible example of either, I'd just like to know which camp it falls in

It is a clone of a glock 19, so the trigger pull is similar to a glock 19. There is a 1/4" of takeup to tension the striker which is like a 2.5lb pull, then a wall, and then a about a 5 lb single action break. After the first shot if you let off just to the trigger reset you will already be at the wall so you don't have to do the 1/4" takeup for each shot.

The PSA dagger's are awesome. The trigger is really gritty out of the box but a few minutes of polishing the trigger bar, the connector, and the striker shoe cleans it up nicely or any aftermarket glock gen 3 trigger will work. Mine have been 100% reliable and the build quality is great. The shape of the grip is also much improved over a glock. I ordered a few more this weekend and planning to build up a stockpile of them for a rainy day.

 

[someguy2800]

If I didn't know anything about these brands or what they cost and you handed me a Glock 19, a S&W M&P, a FN509, a CZP10c, and a PSA Dagger with a cleaned up trigger, let me shoot a box through all of them, and then said you can buy any of these you want for $500, I would pick the Dagger 10/10. The fact that the dagger is actually only $250 and 15 minutes of polishing is just icing on the cake. Maybe that's not a fair comparison to give the PSA the benefit of trigger work, but that is really the only thing that any of the others would have up on it out of the box IMHO.

 

[Buzznrose]

I don’t disagree but my question is how will they hold up? At what point will the owner see issues? 10K? 20K? 50K?

Time will tell. I would love to see some long term data.

That said, I am a PSA fan. I think it is an outstanding training tool for folks who carry similar guns. I personally have duty grade AR’s but choose to use my PSA AR for training rounds. Based on how much abuse it’s taken and still running strong, it may well be a duty grade gun, but it wouldn’t be the one I would want in a real fight.

 

[tarosean]

So is it a long DA like a glock?

Yes it is a Glock copy

 

[someguy2800]

I don’t disagree but my question is how will they hold up? At what point will the owner see issues? 10K? 20K? 50K?

Time will tell. I would love to see some long term data.

That said, I am a PSA fan. I think it is an outstanding training tool for folks who carry similar guns. I personally have duty grade AR’s but choose to use my PSA AR for training rounds. Based on how much abuse it’s taken and still running strong, it may well be a duty grade gun, but it wouldn’t be the one I would want in a real fight.

That's a very good question, but 10k rounds of 9mm ammo is $2,000, and 50k rounds is $10,000. I don't really care if it wears out after 10k rounds, I'll throw the whole pistol in the garbage and buy 2 more.

There are quite a few 1k and even a couple 5k round reviews I've watched on YouTube. Glock has a 40 year head start on the reliability testing so the jury will be out on that for awhile.

 

[tarosean]

I don't really care if it wears out after 10k rounds, I'll throw the whole pistol in the garbage and buy 2 more.

Odd stance. Buying 3 vs the 1 that is known to last far beyond.

 

[Buzznrose]

That's a very good question, but 10k rounds of 9mm ammo is $2,000, and 50k rounds is $10,000. I don't really care if it wears out after 10k rounds, I'll throw the whole pistol in the garbage and buy 2 more.

There are quite a few 1k and even a couple 5k round reviews I've watched on YouTube. Glock has a 40 year head start on the reliability testing so the jury will be out on that for awhile.

The design is definitely proven…the question is whether the materials and manufacturing are solid. Time will tell.

Good gun to buy if you use spares to teach new shooters.

 

[someguy2800]

Odd stance. Buying 3 vs the 1 that is known to last far beyond.

My point was that if you are planning to put 10k-50k rounds through a pistol, then the initial cost of the pistol Will be insignificant. A glock doesn’t go through that round count without wear and tear either.

There is zero chance I’m ever going to put that many rounds through mine so it’s not a big concern for me, that’s not what I’m buying them for.

 

[someguy2800]

Good gun to buy if you use spares to teach new shooters.

Yeah exactly. I’m buying them for 2 reasons. First to have some pistols I can let people shoot at my range and not care about it, and to have some cheap reliable pistols I can transfer to people if the need ever arises.

In 2020 when minneapolis was on fire a couple hours away the shelves at every gun shop in the state were empty. I had several friends and family members ask me if I could sell them a handgun so they would have something to defend there families with and I didn’t really have anything to offer other than target pistols or my own defensive pistols that I need. I’m just going to build up a little stack of daggers in my safe that I can legally transfer if something like that ever happens again, as well as storing a few away for a rainy day.

 

[Lennyjoe]

It’s a great gun for the price, in my humble opinion. I plan to add a Couple more to the collection.

 

[gc70]

I have had both Glocks and Daggers. I prefer the Dagger's more rounded grip shape, metal three-dot sights, and hinged trigger. My son has been a Glock Advanced Armorer for over a decade and he didn't find any faults with my Daggers when he inspected them for me. As to durability, my son says Glocks now and in the future probably won't seem as good as those in the past; Glock isn't routinely replacing parts at shooting events as was previously done and the proliferation of Glock models has resulted in a lot more unique parts than Glock produced in the past.

 

[Mike J]

I don’t disagree but my question is how will they hold up? At what point will the owner see issues? 10K? 20K? 50K?

Time will tell. I would love to see some long term data.

That said, I am a PSA fan. I think it is an outstanding training tool for folks who carry similar guns. I personally have duty grade AR’s but choose to use my PSA AR for training rounds. Based on how much abuse it’s taken and still running strong, it may well be a duty grade gun, but it wouldn’t be the one I would want in a real fight.

I don't know about 10,000 round or 50,000 rounds. Not too long after PSA started offering the Dagger they had one they were sending to youtube reviewers. The last review I watched involving that pistol was at a round count of about 7,000 rounds. It was still going. I don't know if they went further with it or not. If you dig around youtube you might find an answer to some of your questions.
My only objection to my Dagger is that the mag catch was very stiff when I first bought it. It did wear in with time & use. I don't carry mine so it does not get shot as much as my carry guns. My not carrying it is not because I don't believe it will work. I already had a M&P 2.0 40 Compact with a 4" barrel when I got it. I had been carrying that for a couple of years. I recently changed carries but I went with a double stack micro 9 because of convenience. If I thought I could effectively conceal the Dagger AIWB I would probably carry it. The biggest reason I got the Dagger was because I liked the fact that it uses Glock parts & magazines which are readily available & relatively inexpensive.
I like the trigger on my Dagger but that is a sample of one & I do not know how much others may vary. It is not a crisp 1911 trigger but it is not bad.

 

[Elkins45]

Centerfire had the Combat Armory frames on sale for $40 so I bought one and ordered a PSA Dagger complete slide for it. I’ve only shot it about 100 rounds but so far it seems fine.

 

[Buzznrose]

Yeah exactly. I’m buying them for 2 reasons. First to have some pistols I can let people shoot at my range and not care about it, and to have some cheap reliable pistols I can transfer to people if the need ever arises.

In 2020 when minneapolis was on fire a couple hours away the shelves at every gun shop in the state were empty. I had several friends and family members ask me if I could sell them a handgun so they would have something to defend there families with and I didn’t really have anything to offer other than target pistols or my own defensive pistols that I need. I’m just going to build up a little stack of daggers in my safe that I can legally transfer if something like that ever happens again, as well as storing a few away for a rainy day.

I like this idea a lot. I too have a couple pistols I would make available to family members if the need arose as well. These would really be a better option for me.

 

[redneck]

I'm still intrigued but feeling less likely to buy one due to the long trigger. I don't get much time to shoot anymore and would rather not switch back and forth on triggers too much.

I like the looks of everything about them and the availability of cheap frames to try stippling or other projects on is a big plus. I have a first gen M&P 9C that I've had about 15 years and have worn the grip to the point it's shiny like I used a buffer on it (tried a talon grip and wore holes in it, I'm hard on stuff I guess but I bought it to carry). I'd kind of like to do something to rough it up, throw an apex trigger and a new set of night sights on it and have it be a carry gun again but I'm kind of attached to it and wouldn't mind doing a stippling run on something else first.

It would be nice to have a dagger to break new shooters in with also. I have a feeling I will own one eventually but it probably won't be my next purchase.

 

[gc70]

[snip] ... So is it a long pull like a glock? Or is it more like a first gen M&P? ... [snip]

I'm still intrigued but feeling less likely to buy one due to the long trigger. I don't get much time to shoot anymore and would rather not switch back and forth on triggers too much. ... [snip]

Having owned several M&Ps, Glocks, and Daggers, I was intrigued by your 'long trigger' comment. I got my most recent Dagger out of the safe and used digital calipers to measure trigger travel from fully forward to striker release; the result was 0.3" for four separate measurements. Since I no longer have any M&Ps, I wanted something more than fading impressions from my memory to reflect M&P trigger travel. I found the illustration below on the M&P Forum that shows a Gen1 M&P with a trigger travel of 0.3" from fully forward to striker release.

link to M&P trigger travel illustration

 

[drobs]

I'm still intrigued but feeling less likely to buy one due to the long trigger. I don't get much time to shoot anymore and would rather not switch back and forth on triggers too much.

I like the looks of everything about them and the availability of cheap frames to try stippling or other projects on is a big plus. I have a first gen M&P 9C that I've had about 15 years and have worn the grip to the point it's shiny like I used a buffer on it (tried a talon grip and wore holes in it, I'm hard on stuff I guess but I bought it to carry). I'd kind of like to do something to rough it up, throw an apex trigger and a new set of night sights on it and have it be a carry gun again but I'm kind of attached to it and wouldn't mind doing a stippling run on something else first.

It would be nice to have a dagger to break new shooters in with also. I have a feeling I will own one eventually but it probably won't be my next purchase.

I personally hate S&W jointed triggers as found in the early / original M&P and Shield. I like Glock triggers though.

I thought I would hate the Dagger's jointed trigger. Turns out the trigger is a non-issue. It's very Glock like vs M&P like.
Buy one you will like it.