The double action trigger, or simply DAO, has a long history in all types of pistols and revolvers. The concept is still technically seen in many different pistol designs that people trust and love, like Glock. In my experience, the hammer fired variants of the DAO are misunderstood and simply damned due to inexperience and ignorance. The illusion of the DAO being harder to learn means it must have no use in today's world of instant gratification. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I would have to say that the DAO has become one of my favorite trigger designs for carry after lots of training and pushing myself. HOW IT WORKS The name says it all, so I am going to refrain from giving too much detail such as a mechanical breakdown since the concept is the same, but not all designs are the same. it would take several articles to cover all the individual designs out there for this trigger system. The most common representation that the DAO has is in the form of a hammer fired pistol or revolver. The concept in how the action works is the same, in any case. When you pull the trigger, it not only cocks the hammer, but releases it to strike the firing pin. Pistols like the Glock and Kahr use the same DAO concept, but the difference is that the striker is cocked and then released to strike the primer. With the hammer fired variants, your trigger bar needs to rotate the hammer by pivoting it, and then release it. This takes distance, giving it a longer and heavier trigger pull due to the force needed to pivot the hammer. On the other hand, the striker merely works off a spring being stretched or compressed and then released. Depending on the striker spring tension, this trigger pull can have more weight, but the distance is less and the press rearward is very direct in comparison. It is debatable on which one is better at ensuring a solid strike on the primer, but that is something that might depend more on the individual firearm. As mentioned above, every time you pull the trigger, you will be cocking and releasing the hammer or striker. This is the part about the DAO that is most hated, but is also a redeeming quality. People that absolutely hate the long weighted pull of the DAO will still praise it for being consistent, unlike double action/single action triggers. Depending on the firearm design, the trigger pull can be long and heavy with no reset like on a revolver, or be relatively short and light a quick reset like on a Glock. There are even pistols like the Walther Creed that uses a double action only trigger, but it has a short trigger travel due to the specific design that utilizes a rare two part hammer and sear system. Regardless, the trigger pull is the same but with less distance in the trigger pull. DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS The DAO trigger system has advantages and disadvantages inherent to how it works. The DAO can be a benefit or a burden, depending on a few factors that I am going to cover here. The first thing to do is look at the three most popular things you will hear people say about the DAO and then break it down. "THE LONG TRIGGER PULL IS SAFER" There is something to be said about having a long trigger pull before the shot breaks. People tend to feel that the DAO lends itself to being more"safe" by requiring a deliberate pull of the trigger. For the most part, this claim is based on the chance that the trigger can get snagged when holstering, or when having the pistol pocketed without a holster. The added weight and trigger travel can typically allow the user to feel a snag and act accordingly before having an accidental discharge. Another side of this is that the long trigger pull also lowers the likelihood of letting off a shot unintentionally due to the flinch response under stress. There are many Police departments that require long trigger pulls for their service weapons in order to help ensure that the Officers really intend to shoot. This doesn't mean that it is impossible to accidentally shoot, but it lowers the chances of it happening. I think plenty of new shooters getting into carrying a firearm may find this to be a benefit in order to be sure of their target and send the shot(s) when they actually need to. "IT IS HARD TO SHOOT A DAO PISTOL ACCURATELY" There is some truth to this statement as the DAO requires more time to practice isolating your hand and finger movements. But this is something required in shooting regardless. We are doing things our bodies don't do in our everyday lives, and therefore, it is a perishable skill. Without alot of repetitive and focused training and practice, your shooting will be piss poor regardless. And in my experience, getting good with a DAO pistol sets you up to shoot much easier with other pistols with shorter and lighter trigger pulls. Also keep in mind that DAO pistols have a long history and many legendary shooters have accomplished great feats despite these perceived disadvantages. It is all about your dedication to training and practicing rather than using gear to try to supplement or even hide your poor skills. And poor skills typically means there is a lack of discipline, meaning you might want to make sure your flinch response won't result with you spending a life behind bars. "YOU CAN'T SHOOT THE DAO FAST" My own reply to this statement is "so the F*** what? You are not going to get brownie points for doing a mag dump in 1.35 seconds in a self defense shooting. You will most likely be missing half of the magazine or just shooting more than necessary. The DAO does slow most people down, but I hardly see that as a big issue. One shot after another until the threat is down is what we are taught. Therefore, you must make sure you are shooting just the right amount of rounds. If you need the whole mag, fine. I have found that a proficient shooter will be able to shoot pretty fast with the DAO trigger. For myself, I find that it is timed almost perfectly. By the time my sights get back on target, I am able to let off another shot. How is that a disadvantage to have inherent shot accountability? Unless you are competing professionally, I would advise you to concentrate on making your hits as fast as you can, not just trying to crank off shots to please your shot timer fetish. You should always try to shoot faster, but you need to have accountability of your shots at the same time. hammering your shots out in record time is useless when you are not making accurate hits. If you can keep your groups tight while on the move and one handed, then that is fine. But overall, speed is of dubious value in a gunfight. Only hits count, and it takes time for people to bleed out and register that they were hit. Therefore, your ten shots may have ended up being twice as much as necessary when 5 shots in the same amount of time would have generated the same results. TECHNIQUE BREAKDOWN The secret to achieving precision with the DAO is simply pulling the trigger without any sympathetic hand or wrist movement, which would move the alignment of the gun to the target. This can be challenging because the trigger finger not only needs to move further, but also needs to apply more strength. This requires more time practicing. Realistically, the practice is merely teaching your body to do something unnatural which is isolating the movement of one finger while freezing the shoulder(s), flexing and holding the wrists still, and not moving the other fingers which are holding the pistol firmly. This is no easy feat since our bodies are not really built to do this in any perfect manner. We are indeed capable of doing it, but it takes time. Now as far as the actual technique one needs in order to obtain good accuracy with the DAO, you will have to basically forget what you have done with other pistols. First off, the simple concept is simply pulling the trigger. You are to commit to it all the way through without any staging, slowing down, or speeding it up. Just like with a revolver, you don't stage it. Get your sights on target and pull the trigger all the way through as fast as you can without stopping and without moving the gun. If you are moving the gun, you are going to need to concentrate on isolating the trigger finger movements. When you are very proficient, success will be you pulling the trigger as fast as you can and the sights won't even twitch. When learning to pull the trigger on a DAO, you will notice that your wrist and hand are going to get a helluva workout. You may only get a dozen trigger pulls in before you start feeling the burn. This is called working out. It is a foreign concept for those who only work with a single action or something with a short trigger pull. This is not a negative thing. I have often told people that the double action trigger will be the best training tool to invest in. It will make you stronger, thereby invalidating the need to buy things like aftermarket triggers since anything less than 7 pounds with a short trigger travel is going to feel light once you get proficient. Getting good with the DAO is simple, but it takes time, common sense, attention to detail, and patience. Apply these things and commit to it and you will come out a better shooter on the other end. SUMMARY Despite alot of the criticism delivered toward the hammer fired DAO pistols and revolvers, history has shown the DAO to be very effective in the hands of actual trained individuals. That said, I find that most of the hate is sourced in ignorance and fear that ones skill would be tested and shown to be sub-par. On the other hand, the critique may be from those thinking speed is more important, which is not necessarily true. Working on theory is not typically going to result in you making good choices. My goal is to try to open your mind and educate you so you can carry on smartly. All in all, I hope you don't reject the value and usefulness of the DAO. It is worth the work, as long as you value advancing your skills.
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