Trigger Safety? Need a little help here.

[buster cat]

I know I am a little behind the times, but age will do that to you. I notice all [or most] of the striker fired pistols have a trigger safety. Can some one explain the need for this? What is its function? From the little I know about the trigger on this type of pistol I just cant see the need.

Maybe there is something that I am not picking up on. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Buster Cat

 

[Cheesewhiz]

I would think the Glock guys would be able to explain this better than me but here goes.
In order to understand the double trigger (my term) you have to understand the striker pistol.
The striker pistol was developed to be a safe and simple police weapon, it would fire like a DA revolver with less trigger pull and travel and be as safe as a SA pistol but didn't need a safety as it was not fully cocked.
Before Striker fired pistols, most guns carried by law enforcement, when fired in the line of duty, fired from a DA mode or a cocked and locked mode, both required well trained and experienced LEO's to be good at it.
A striker gun when it is loaded by pulling back the slide and chambering a round, is also cocked but only half way. The rest of the cocking is done when the trigger is pulled and the gun then fires. After it is fired it loads the next round but it is still only half cocked, keeping the trigger pull the same for every round fired.
Glock was not the first striker fired pistol design, most say HK, some will argue that, whatever, but when Glock finished the design for it's pistol it incorporated a double trigger and no manual safety.
The double trigger was used because now that the gun was half cocked after loading it didn't need much trigger travel or other inertia to fire and brushing hard against the trigger or dropping it could possibly disccharge the gun accidently. The double trigger requires that a finger has to be fully on the trigger for the gun to fire.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

While Cheese is technically correct, and I suspect that's very close to the answer you'd get from Glock, Inc, I think it's there simply as a "safety point".

Guns have to have a certain number of "safety points" to be imported into this country. The ATF defines these things, and they make no sense; Sort of like, the AK-47 is legal, but of these X number of parts, X-3 have to be US made.

I don't think anyone can seriously argue, with a straight face, that the little lever on the trigger face is much of a "safety". It was added to increase the number of "safety points" on the pistol. Even with its inclusion, the .380 Glock was not importable for years because of the caliber (somehow figured into the safety point system). Now that Glocks are being made in the US, I understand you'll be able to buy a .380.

-- Sam

 

[dacaur]

The gun is set up so that if that trigger safety is not pulled back as you pull the trigger, the gun WILL NOT fire. Some guns can fire if you drop them, guns with the trigger safety lever absolutely cannot. If the lever is not depressed, the gun cant fire, end of story.

 

[Mike J]

Unless I'm mistaken on a Glock there is a striker blocker that is not moved out of the way if the little thing in the middle is not depressed. As Cheese stated it also prevents the trigger being pulled by something brushing against the side of it.
The XD's are different from the Glock or SR-9 in that the striker is fully cocked making it essentially a single action. That is why there is a grip safety in addition to the trigger safety.

 

[offshorebear]

There are no nessicary number of "safety points" on firearms in the US. Some states might have added restrictions, like the CA approval list, but there is nothing on the national level.

The AK restrictions you mentioned are 922r, which says you can only import firearms intended for "sporting use". A plain jane AK with a pistol grip, muzzle break, and bayo lug does not qualify as sporting, so it must have a certain number of US made parts to get around the importation restrictions.

 

[waynejitsu]

I notice all [or most] of the striker fired pistols have a trigger safety. Can some one explain the need for this? What is its function?

"Can some one explain the need for this?"

It is an additional safety that prevents the gun from firing unless the trigger is pulled.

"What is its function? "

It keeps the gun from firing if dropped or any other scenario without the trigger squeezed.
Unless the trigger is squeezed (pulled), it will not fire.
Think of it as a grip safety on a 1911, LOL!

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Unless I'm mistaken on a Glock there is a striker blocker that is not moved out of the way if the little thing in the middle is not depressed. As Cheese stated it also prevents the trigger being pulled by something brushing against the side of it. ...

The striker block is moved out of the way by the trigger bar, actuated by trigger travel. The little tab on the trigger isn't connected to anything, but it does keep the trigger from moving backwards unless the tab is depressed. With the spring tension and everything else in place it is very unlikely the trigger could move far enough under the acceleration of falling/hitting to move the striker block.

-- Sam

 

[Sonnytoo]

Once I get my 9c back from the factory, I expect the thumb-operated safety to work in a satisfactory manner. (It was not working properly.)
I have to say that I like the manual frame-mounted "1911-type" thumb safety. Perhaps that's because I have used 1911's as a standard carry weapon, cocked and locked, for more than a few years. However, it seems a bit superfluous to have the little tab in addition...and really screws up the trigger pull. And I don't like the manual safety to be ambidextrous. Obviously, the right-hand lever of that ambi is "exposed" to the outside environment and it can be swiped to the OFF position much more easily than the "inside" left-hand lever. (Of course, I'm talking about a person carrying the gun on the right side of the body.)
I can feel that little tab (on the SR9c) rotate as I begin to pull the trigger and if Ruger is going to have that thing, they could have made its operation a lot smoother.
Yeah, a lot of complaining...but I really like this gun and will compare it to my Glock 26 as time goes on.
Sonnytoo

 

[buster cat]

Folks thanks for all the replies, getting my self an education here. I can see the usefulness of a grip safety. But the trigger safety appears to me to be a solution looking for a problem. Or as my old grand dad would say about as useful as tits on a bore hog.

Buster Cat

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Once I get my 9c back from the factory, I expect the thumb-operated safety to work in a satisfactory manner. (It was not working properly.)
I have to say that I like the manual frame-mounted "1911-type" thumb safety. Perhaps that's because I have used 1911's as a standard carry weapon, cocked and locked, for more than a few years. However, it seems a bit superfluous to have the little tab in addition...and really screws up the trigger pull. And I don't like the manual safety to be ambidextrous. Obviously, the right-hand lever of that ambi is "exposed" to the outside environment and it can be swiped to the OFF position much more easily than the "inside" left-hand lever. (Of course, I'm talking about a person carrying the gun on the right side of the body.)
I can feel that little tab (on the SR9c) rotate as I begin to pull the trigger and if Ruger is going to have that thing, they could have made its operation a lot smoother.
Yeah, a lot of complaining...but I really like this gun and will compare it to my Glock 26 as time goes on.
Sonnytoo

FWIW, the S&W M&P pistols have a similar arrangement, but their method of getting the trigger tab out of the way feels better on your trigger finger, or at least mine. It's an articulated-looking trigger that I didn't think I'd like at first, but it actually feels much better than the Glock/XD style (imo, of course).

I do know what you mean. I find my finger sore after shooting a Glock for a hundred+ rounds due to the little tab. But my Glocks are carry guns which I don't tend to shoot a lot (with the exception of the 17-L).

-- Sam

 

[Mike J]

Folks thanks for all the replies, getting my self an education here. I can see the usefulness of a grip safety. But the trigger safety appears to me to be a solution looking for a problem. Or as my old grand dad would say about as useful as tits on a bore hog.

Buster Cat

So you don't see the point in putting the brake on the gas pedal. It does seem kinda crazy doesn't it.