This is an article written by Todd Green. This is his perspective on this subject.
DEFENSE OF THE TRADISTIONAL DOUBLE ACTION PISTOL
The mere title of this post makes me sad.
I have come to accept, begrudgingly, that we live in
a world where the perception “one trigger pull is better than two” isn’t likely
to change any time soon. It’s a perception that kept the 1911 dominant
for decades among shooting cognoscenti. Then Glock came along and made the
consistent “Safe Action” trigger a key part of its marketing campaign. We have
generations of shooters who have never really worked with a traditional double
action (aka “double/single” or “DA/SA”) pistol because they’ve simply been told
it’s too hard.
But let’s look at some facts and compare some numbers.
A typical Glock, unless you modify the trigger or put what
the company itself considers a competition only part in the
gun, comes with a trigger pull of about seven pounds (it may be advertised as
5.5 pounds, but check out this report
from Modern Service Weapons). Many,
if not most, Glocks issued to law enforcement in the United States utilize the
even heavier trigger return springs that add another 2-5 pounds to that number.
Your typical TDA pistol is going to have a first
shot double action trigger pull around 10-12 pounds. But after that,
all the rest of the shots you fire will be with a trigger pull of about four
pounds, maybe five pounds. In other words, after you deal with that first shot,
everything is easier than even a stock Glock with standard connector and
springs! Even most out of the box 1911′s from major manufacturers like Kimber
and Colt have trigger pulls above a typical TDA pistol’s single action.
Of course, plenty of individuals spend their time and money
to get a lighter trigger on Glocks and 1911s. I can’t tell you how many
students I see walking around with sub-4# triggers on such guns. Why? Because
it’s easier to shoot. And if the only thing you ever measure is ease of
shooting, that makes a ton of sense. It’s only when you start to think about
the broader situation of when you might need your pistol
and how you might need and what what you’ll really
need to do with it that you begin to realize the a super short, super
light trigger on a carry gun might not be so smart. If you haven’t done so
already, I suggest you take a look at Darryl Bolke’s outstanding The
LEM As A Street Trigger reposted
here last September.
I know I’ll never convert the hordes, of course, who learned
“this is my safety” watching Blackhawk Down and feel
empowered by the words of a fictional character on a movie set to behave in a
manner contrary to what the actual men of the actual unit depicted in the film
seem to teach when it comes to safety (see, e.g., Paul Howe and Pat McNamara). But as I’ve been ranting lately around here, the reality
is that under stress it’s far too easy to trigger check and drive that short,
light 3.5# DIY five cent Glock trigger job straight to the frame with resultant
Unwanted Noise.
So what are the trade-offs? If TDA is so awesome why do so
many people choose otherwise?
The number one issue, obviously, is that long, heavier first
shot. What was once considered the norm when police officers carried DA
revolvers is now a trigger that many find unmanageable. It’s not. It’s simply
something you need to learn how to manage. But when so many instructors have
little to no real experience with TDA guns, it can be very hard to find good
technique.
I’ve taken classes from some very big names in the training
world who absolutely had no idea how to run a TDA pistol properly. One famously
told a group of us in a private class that he recommends just firing the first
DA round into the dirt to get the gun cocked for “real shooting” … this to a
closed group of students who were allrunning TDAs (Beretta and SIG)
for the entire three day class! Don’t let an instructor hiding his own
ineptitude dictate what works for you. If you
expect the “everyone should carry a Glock and if you don’t your’e an idiot” guy
to be the ideal instructor to help you learn how to shoot your Beretta 92FS,
you have chosen poorly.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to get instruction from, as well
as train and compete along side, some of the best TDA shooters like Ernest
Langdon, Rob Haught, and “Super” Dave Harrington.
Learning how to do it the right way from experts imparts a lot more skill and
confidence than trying to learn from someone who’s more interested in telling
you that your chosen pistol sucks because it’s not the same thing he carries on
his hip every day.
I’m not suggesting that a long 12# trigger pull is as easy
to score hits with as a 3# tuned 1911 trigger. But with some proper
training neither is truly difficult.
The only other real hurdle with a TDA pistol is the need
to decock before holstering. Under stress this can become trouble
because holstering a cocked TDA gun is like holstering a cocked 1911 without
putting the safety on. Or like holstering a Glock that has been modified to
have a light trigger. 
If you’re going to
reap the benefit of that hammer-down condition you need to make decocking the
pistol part of your ritual. Again this comes down to simple training. I had the
great fortune to learn a lot of my shooting techniques from TDA experts and
their range commands always included “decock/safe and holster.” That simple
mantra is all it takes.
Even in the competition world, where the safety/street
considerations are often completely ignored, the TDA pistol is seeing a
resurgence. Having to deal with that one trickier first shot simply gets outweighed
by the ease of a smoother, lighter, shorter trigger pull for the next
twenty-plus rounds in a course of fire. The top two finishers (and half of the
top ten) at the past two USPSA Production National were shooting TDA pistols.
Clue.
Don’t think me hypocritical. I’m not saying you have
to shoot a TDA pistol or you’re wrong. There are downsides to the TDA.
Heck, some people due to injury or hand strength genuinely cannot manage a
10-12 pound trigger. For them obviously it’s a horrible choice! There are benefits
to a 1911 or a striker-fired gun and DAO type guns just as their are benefits
to the TDA. Make an informed decision. Choose what works best
for you… but not simply what shoots best when you’re slaying cardboard &
steel. Think about what really happens when it’s not on the
range but in a dark parking lot late at night when your family is with you and
a couple of shady looking characters start to ping your radar.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
