Hammer fired or Striker fired

[kalipsocs]

Whatever gets the job done really. There are so many hybrid systems now I just look at how it operates. For instance, my Walther P99 is striker fired DA/SA with a decocker which I my fav setup for a CC piece (i don't CC it, just sayin...). Taurus is weird because it is a DA/SA but functions like a SA in normal use and double action if there is a failure to fire (like reverse of the Walther) but no decocker. I like that my hammer guns HIT those primers though. Feel of the trigger and whether or not I can get it in the style I want (decocker is preferred, manual safeties avoided for CC) are primary concern. Strikers get a slight edge in my book because a enclosed firing mechanism reduces debris getting into the mechanics and causing a malfunction the moment you might need it most.

Some of the Taurus's DO have decockers. I have the 24/7 OSS striker fired with decoker.If you note some models with DS in the name, it stands for Deckocker Safety.

Sorry, you are correct. I should have specified my model (709).

[The Annoyed Man]

Excalibur, TAM, all:

Thanks for the information.

Can someone comment on the operation, pros/cons
of decockers? My assumption is that they safely
drop the hammer on a live round without firing it.

What is the safe operation of a decocker in order to
unload a firearm?

SIA

I can only comment on the difference between my 1911s and my USP Compact, which is hammer fired but has a decocker.

On the 1911, making sure the pistol is pointed in a safe direction and finger is off the trigger, drop the magazine, then disengage the thumb safety to unlock the slide, and rack the slide to eject the chambered cartridge. Follow up with the usual visual and tactile inspections of the open chamber to verify that it is empty. Keep in mind that the safest way to carry a 1911 is cocked and locked. Whether or not the pistol is at risk of firing if dropped is dependent on whether the firing pin is restrained by either a light pin combined with strong spring, or on some kind of mechanical restraint as in the series 80 or Kimber pistols, and not on whether or not it is cocked and locked.

On the USP Compact, making sure the pistol is pointed in a safe direction and finger is off the trigger, engage the safety, drop the magazine, and rack the slide to eject the chambered cartridge. (Unlike the 1911, the USP slide can be cycled with the safety engaged.) Follow up with the usual visual and tactile inspections of the open chamber to verify that it is empty. The decocker does not figure into the safety of unloading the pistol, as racking the slide to eject the chambered cartridge will cock the hammer anyway if it was previously decocked.

The main advantage of the decocker on the USP is that it gives you two carry options: 1) cocked and locked, single action on all trigger pulls; or 2) decocked with hammer most of the way down ("half-cocked" if you will) on a loaded chamber, with a DA pull on the first shot and SA pulls on subsequent shots. It should be noted that if you carry it decocked and the manual safety disengaged, then the only "safety" you have is trigger discipline and the holster itself — and I would not holster the gun without the safety engaged, decocked or not, as a preventative to "Glock Leg."

BTW, on the USP, the safety lever is also the decocker lever. "Up" is Safe. "Horizontal" is Fire. And pressing downward below the horizontal decocks the hammer and then the lever returns to the Fire position.

I carry my USP cocked and locked so that drawing, un-safeing, and firing the gun will be as close as possible to doing the same with the 1911, preventing muscle memory "confusion."