Why hammer fired?

Does Ruger say anywhere in their information on the Security 9 as to why they made it hammer fired and not striker fired? I'm just curious, I guess. Nothing against either hammers or strikers.

Probably because they think there are enough folks out there that prefer a hammer fired pistol to sell enough of this model to make money with it.

Clovishound said:

Probably because they think there are enough folks out there that prefer a hammer fired pistol to sell enough of this model to make money with it.

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Ruger isn't alone. The Springfield XD-E started the current "trend" back to hammer fired carry guns. One claim is that the slide is easier to manipulate than on striker fired guns and this may make them more attractive to women and others without a lot of hand strength.

22/45 Fan said:

One claim is that the slide is easier to manipulate than on striker fired guns and this may make them more attractive to women and others without a lot of hand strength.

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Hmmm... if so, that's interesting. A lotta firearms neophytes are surprised by how hard it is to rack the slides on most pistols.

My first thought when I saw the price on this gun? Taurus has been selling a boatload of those Millenium G2 Guns because they are so cheap. I'm thinking maybe Ruger saw that and said "hey- if we can make a gun that's not only cheap, but also way better than that, we can sell them like hot cakes."

I think they may be right. A Ruger that's the same size as a Glock 19, with the same capacity, but about $200 cheaper? Win-win.

The Walther Creed has been around a while and must sell as the PPQ has not replaced it. With the postings some have made about keeping the striker channels clean and dry on the striker fired pistols could see some people opting for hammer fired. Most H&Ks and a lot of Sigs are hammer guns.

I'm guessing that since the LCPII was the most popular pistol in America this year Ruger wanted to capture that customer base with a larger caliber pistol. May also be cheaper to produce than a striker fired pistol, though I don't know why or if that is true. Apparently it also uses the SR series mags.

Hammer fired will probably have a horrible trigger---like the LCP

I'll probably spend the extra dough and get the S&W 2.0 Compact

rugerfreak said:

Hammer fired will probably have a horrible trigger---like the LCP

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From what I have seen so far, it appears the trigger will be okay.

rugerfreak said:

Hammer fired will probably have a horrible trigger---like the LCP

I'll probably spend the extra dough and get the S&W 2.0 Compact

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Hammer fired can have the best trigger of any type of handgun. Ever shot a well-tuned S&W revolver in single action or a good quality 1911?

I have an S&W M&P 2.0 with an Apex kit and a Les Baer 1911. The M&P is good and far better than the factory trigger but the 1911 is much better.

Just to answer the OP's question as best I can...
I know exactly why I own nothing but 'hammered' guns, but I have no knowledge of why Ruger does what it does. I kinda doubt that anyone else does either.

DGW

It could well be Ruger has excess capacity since Trump got elected and they view an opportunity in market niches they are not in.

I was really hoping the Security 9 would be DA/SA like the P guns were. Oh well, my Browning Hi-Power, Kimber Micro, and wheelguns have me covered.

In my experience, hammer fired is much more reliable in handguns. Striker fired is OK if your not alone and others can keep up the fight while you clear your weapon. However, I've had many times more of failure to fire with striker fired handguns and would fire on second try. Striker fired is OK if you have a handgun that that can have the trigger pulled again as Taurus did and some others.

A few striker fired guns have a "second strike" ability and a lot of hammer fired guns (1911, BHP, Colt and Ruger single actions, etc.) don't. Decocker and DA/SA autos and revolvers do but not every hammer gun does.

If a round doesn't fire, you simply slap, rack and fire. The only failure to fire incidents I ever had with my striker fired were when I got a bad batch of primers.

lashlaruhe said:

In my experience, hammer fired is much more reliable in handguns. Striker fired is OK if your not alone and others can keep up the fight while you clear your weapon. However, I've had many times more of failure to fire with striker fired handguns and would fire on second try. Striker fired is OK if you have a handgun that that can have the trigger pulled again as Taurus did and some others.

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Glocks are the most reliable pistol on Earth as well as a host of other striker fired handguns, e.g., SIG P320, H&K VP9, etc. I have shot boatloads of ammo through all types of handguns and by far striker fired are the most reliable with problems only caused by bad ammo 99.99% of the time.

Ruger sales have tanked after 8 yrs. of panic "Goldrush" buying under Obama which spoiled them and most other firearms manufs. They, like Springfield Armory, are introducing goofy hammer fired semi-autos as a "Hail Mary" to drum up sales. At most, a few old die hard 1911 geezers may cotton up to a new hammer fired semi-auto and some FNG's not wanting to lay out much cash, but the rest of the World (and money) went striker fire with Exhibit A being the Army adopting the SIG P320 and dumping the "brick" Beretta. Read 'em & weep.

I own hammer fired & striker fired handguns. I believe the quality of the trigger depends on each individual design more than which system is used to ignite the primer. I don't really care about second strike capability because if I get a bad round I believe a better response would be tap, rack, bang than to keep pulling the trigger hoping it will ignite.

As for the trigger on the new Security 9 how can any of us comment on a gun we haven't seen held or pulled the trigger on. I hope Ruger sells a boat load of them but I don't believe I'm interested in this at this time. Who knows though, I might change my mind later.

Honestly, hammer fired firearms are things quickly disappearing into the rear view mirror.

Do they work?

Sure, but so do bi-planes, flintlocks, buggy whips and so on.

Striker fired is here to stay.

I don't believe revolvers or 1911's are going away anytime soon. If anyone has ever made a striker fired revolver I know nothing about it. Look around & see how many different 1911's there are on the market. That isn't even getting into the walther creed & XDE & others. There are flavors for everyones taste today.

Mike J said:

I don't believe revolvers or 1911's are going away anytime soon. If anyone has ever made a striker fired revolver I know nothing about it. Look around & see how many different 1911's there are on the market. That isn't even getting into the walther creed & XDE & others. There are flavors for everyones taste today.

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That purty-much sums it up for me too.
Just speaking for myself, me thinks that I'll just keep my all-steel, hammer-fired, SA 1911's, BHP's, and call it good. Leastways, I'll keep 'em until somebody invents a better mouse trap...which considering the industry's current mind set of primarily designing new guns to be 'lighter/cheaper/easier to produce', probably ain't going to happen in what's left of my lifetime. :lol: .

DGW