Action Considerations for the Concealed Carry Pistol

Single action, double action, double action only (?!) striker-fired? Revolver or semi-auto? Mostly meaningless for the well-trained shotist, but there are not a lot of those around. For most people, some action types are undoubtedly easier for them to shoot than other types, though this can be a double-edged sword. Easier to shoot is easier to shoot, even if you don’t want to shoot right now. I know from reasonably long experience, that my trigger finger will stay in register under stress unless I want to pull the trigger. I mostly see people, even reasonably well-trained people, put their finger on the trigger when pointing their gun at a suspect. This is not good, and the justifications I have heard for it simply point to someone who is less skilled, less knowledgeable, and less confident than I would like to see. Not to mention what society wants to see these days. Let’s call these people “the many”. So for the many, which action is best?

We at Pistol-Training.com have long recognized the traditional double-action (DA/SA or TDA) as being best. Not just for the many, but for most others as well. However, to focus on the needs of the many, we prefer the traditional double-action auto for several reasons.

1. The first long pull of the TDA trigger is a better hedge against a negligent discharge (ND) than any other type of trigger pull. No trigger should be viewed as a mechanical device intended to prevent ND’s, but the DA trigger does a better job of that than any other trigger out there. As many experienced shooters and instructors have discovered, it is the length of the pull, even more than the weight, that seems to accomplish this.
2. A DA trigger actually gives a really good “surprise break.” We will discuss this technique in detail in the future, but suffice it to say, many shooters have been taught that the way to make an accurate shot is to achieve a surprise break. When you have to pull the trigger quickly over the better part of an inch, it is hard to judge exactly when it is going to break.
3. Once the decision to fire has been made, the DA trigger can be pulled very aggressively and accurate hits can be made at great speed. This aspect calls for a bit of training, but is not hard to learn and works very well, basically bringing the DA pull to the same level of practical effectiveness as the single action trigger, without that trigger’s drawbacks.
4. Once you are past the first deliberate shot, you then have what many shooters consider the holy grail of triggers, the single action (SA) trigger. This tends to allow for speedy, accurate fire and few people will willingly choose another type of trigger at this point in the action. When the FBI went to DA/SA guns many years ago during the dark ages, the head of their firearms training unit said something along the lines of: “We want the first shot to be double action as a hedge against ND’s, but once an agent has deliberately pulled the trigger, he’s in a gunfight and we want him to have the best trigger available for winning that fight.” Sometimes those G-men get it. No worries though, they forget it as fast as the next guy walking in the office who wants to make his mark.
5. Few shooters seem to understand how to draw and reholster safely from a duty or range holster, let alone from an IWB or AIWB holster. A TDA gun allows you to rest your shooting thumb on the back of the hammer when holstering. There are some notable exceptions out there which should never have been created, but the vast majority of TDA guns allow for this. On the one hand, it theoretically lets you feel if the trigger is being pulled, which could allow you to stop what you are doing and address the issue. Over the last few decades guys have found that their pit zip cords or other modern jacket features could wind up inside the trigger guard when reholstering. Sometimes they got away with it, sometimes they got a loud bang. Another benefit of resting your thumb on the hammer when reholstering, and the aspect that I favor, is that I have found that it is basically impossible to pull the trigger when your thumb is on the hammer. Literally impossible. I don’t even have to actively resist with my thumb. Just laying it there does the job. I’m sure someone out there has anatomy that will invalidate this aspect, but in more than 20 years now, I have not met one. Given the great interest in speed without proper followthrough, a mechanical feature of the gun that prevents ND’s is a great thing. Yes, it still needs to be trained. At the risk of beating a dead horse, I really think this benefit cannot be overstated. I’ve heard and seen advanced shooters downplay this benefit, but I don’t think they have given it their full and considered opinion. Of course, I’ve also seen more entry level shooters downplay it, and unfortunately, they just don’t know what they don’t know.

What about the downsides to the DA gun? I mean, everyone knows they are just harder to shoot. They certainly can be, especially if your hands are smaller than a man’s size small glove. If you have hands that small, which includes a lot of women, then you have a legitimate issue that can make shooting the DA gun more difficult, or even impossible.

No one gun is right for everyone. For most people though, the DA trigger, regardless of their hand size, is what they complain about. Since some of the fastest and most accurate shooters have used DA guns (usually revolvers in years past), the trigger is clearly not the main issue. As far as the common line that DA autos don’t have as nice a trigger as DA revolvers, who cares? If you pull the trigger correctly, you will get a hit. If you pull it incorrectly, you will not get a hit. This is true for all action types, but once you learn the correct way to pull the trigger, you will access new levels of shooting ability. In fact, once you know how to shoot a DA trigger, you will shoot all other triggers better as well.

Ultimately, it comes down to the mission of the gun. In the modern world, it is a threat management tool. Guns get pointed at other people a lot compared to how often they are used to shoot other people. Until a suspect becomes a deadly force threat, it behooves all of us to ensure that they are not shot by accident. Finger in register and muzzle pointed in a safe direction is a good start, but since so many people can’t seem to do that, a more forgiving trigger that takes the human stress response into account is a good thing. If they need to be shot, we need to shoot fast and accurately, both to end the threat as well as to minimize the danger to nearby third parties. Once the action is over, it is important to reholster safely and not shoot ourselves. The DA auto allows for all of that to happen, bearing in mind that no gun is safe and effective for the untrained person, regardless of their job description.