Decocker vs safety for HD/range

Safety vs Decocker

  • Safety

    Votes: 9 20.5%

  • Decocker

    Votes: 35 79.5%
  • Total voters
    44
  • Poll closed .
B

bm303

New member
Hi all,

I am buying my first handgun this month. It is going to be a SP-01 or a P-09, still undecided. Probably an SP-01 Tactical. Either way, if I go with the SP-01 I need to decide if I want a safety or a decocker.

I have been very inaccurate with DA pistols compared to SA or striker fired. But I am relatively new to shooting so I'm sure I can improve this. If I am going to be using the firearm for HD, wouldn't a decocker make more sense? At the range I can shoot in SA but practice in DA when I choose. At home I will keep it stored in a safe loaded and decocked. That seems like the safest, most fool proof manual of arms for a middle of the night SD scenario.

Given that this is my first firearm I am trying to find the best manual of arms for my situation so that I learn and practice with a method that is going to be the most effective. Do I want to give up that first shot accuracy in order to have a fool proof point and shoot engagement at 4 am and not have to deal with a manual safety?

I do love the SP-01 or I'd just pick up the P-09 now and call it a day since I can swap out the decocker for the safety and vice versa.

The gun will never be carried. Range fun and HD only.

I am aware there is no right answer here but if you had to go back and choose to learn on one platform for self defense with your first handgun, would you choose a safety or decocker? Thanks all
 
Saw an excellent S&W 5906, perfect condition, for $385 this week. Police trade in. It has the decocker/safety and I'd get it but my money is tied up in a DPMS 3R.

Deaf
 
Nothing against striker fired. In fact I really like the M&P9 and the P320. But I shoot the CZ 75 the best and like the heavy weight. My bud that I go shooting with also owns a ton of striker fired handguns so I was looking to get something else that we could both shoot that isn't a plastic striker fired gun.
 
Or you could go with the H&K USP where you have both a manual safety ala 1911 style as well as a decocking lever on the same gun at the same time! ;)
 
Decocker for everything...My p-09 is my HD pistol. I don't care for "cocked and locked" myself.


You may also want to take a look at the 75 B Omega "convertiable"

Lot's of true CZ folks don't like the omega 75s but I don't have any issue with mine, maybe I don't whine enough.


Congrats on your decision to shun striker junk.
 
If the gun is NEVER going to be carried, you can go with a non-decocker-equipped weapon without concern.

At the range, when you're finished, you just drop the mag, clear the chamber, and drop the hammer.

At home, you leave it cocked and locked (and properly locked up when you're not around).

Learning to manually decock a weapon is not rocket science. It's a basic gun-handling skill that scares most people who haven't done it much, but you really don't hear of negligent discharges while decocking. Those sort of problems come from other gun-handling mistakes -- like assuming that the gun is empty. (DUH. Been there, done that. Never had a ND while decocking, though.)
 
"...but if you had to go back and choose to learn on one platform for self defense with your first handgun, would you choose a safety or decocker? "

Knowing what I know now, decocker only.
 
I prefer DA/SA with a decocker. I have the same philosophy as you about the initial DA pull being safer in a middle-of-the-night panic situation.

You can definitely improve your DA accuracy with practice. I practice mine all the time and, while I'm no expert marksman, my DA accuracy is a LOT better now than it used to be.

I used to use a slow DA pull, trying to anticipate the break. I have found that getting on target and then making a steady, firm DA pull works best to avoid trying to anticipate the break, which usually results in jerking the trigger.
 
Not to sound like a broken record, (oops, too late)
the first order of business is to become adept with the double action trigger.
If you have trouble figuring it out on your own, get help.
Dryfiring helps a lot, too.
 
I'm a firm believer in decockers, if you're going to have a round chambered. Adjusting to DA pull is easier than remembering to release a safety in an emergency and far easier than handling a "cocked and locked" handgun.

I saw your preference for a handgun. But, I've taken to carrying my HK p7 and also having it handy for HD. It cocks by squeezing the handgrip, and decocks by releasing the handgrip. Squeezing the handgrip takes 10-12 pounds of force, but that force come from the full hand, not just a trigger finger. Holding the handgrip depressed (hardly requires any force) results in a SA action trigger; one of the best triggers in the business.
 
To put it bluntly, I don't like the idea of fiddling with buttons or levers (which might not be the same from gun to gun) before being able to defend myself or my family. I only want one control to be necessary for the operation of my defensive handguns: the trigger.

Double action gives you the "safety" of not having a hair trigger in your drawer or on your belt. It also keeps semi-automatics on even keel with that other important class of guns that you might end up needing to use in a hurry: revolvers. Revolvers generally don't have manual safety levers either. Like many revolvers, many DA/SA semi-automatics can be thumb-cocked if a person wants to do it. In my opinion, the optional step of thumb-cocking a hammer is preferable to the non-optional step of turning off a safety lever that has been engaged.
 
I really dont see what the difference is. If you take the time to learn what youre using, whats it really matter?

If youre mixing things up, then you really need to constantly practice with all of them, to stay current with any of them.

If youre weak in your DA shooting, then you need to practice that until you no longer think about it when youre shooting the gun. Lots of dry fire, and lots of DAO shooting is the only way to go there.
 
Keep in mind that the safety on many DA/SA handguns also decocks the gun—this is known as a decocker/safety—and most modern guns equipped with one of these (e.g. Beretta 92 series, S&W 59xx series) have firing pin blocks that prevent the gun from discharging if dropped on a hard surface with the gun decocked and off-safe.

Therefore, with one of these guns, using the decocker/safety as a safety is essentially optional; the shooter can use the lever solely to decock the gun and immediately flip it back to the FIRE position before holstering or placing the gun in the bedside safe.

As a minor footnote, a handful of DA/SA pistols will drop the hammer against the engaged safety when the trigger is pulled, allowing the trigger to serve as a decocker. I believe this design is highly inappropriate for a defensive firearm, because it can lull the shooter into highly unsafe decocking habits, and it can lead to critical-time-wasting confusion in an intense self-defense scenario when the shooter pulls the trigger and the hammer falls but the pistol goes "click" rather than BANG! :( I prefer traditional thumb safety operation – i.e. the trigger either locks up solid or is disconnected when the pistol is on-safe. This immediately makes it obvious that the pistol isn't firing because it's on-safe.
 
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For a range gun, it doesn't really matter. You are probably always going to load the gun and then immediately fire in SA mode.
For a gun that is going to be stored loaded, I'd definitely go with a safety.
Shooting a handgun well is tough enough without wrestling a DA trigger, and for HD a safety is nice if there's ever a doubt about who's going to get their hands on the gun besides you.
 
How about a DAO or striker fired pistol?
Click to expand...

How about a DA/SA striker-fired pistol with a decocker? The Walther P99 might be old school by now but it's still got fantastic ergonomics and a wonderful trigger.
 
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