Kel-Tec P32 - If it is DAO, why is it only "single-strike"?

L

Logistar

New member
I am planning on purchasing either a KEL-TEC P32 or a NAA Guardian .32 caliber.

I would like to know how the action works on a KEL-TEC P32. After briefly looking at one, it appears that it will fire ONCE after racking the slide. It can not strike again unless the slide comes back again.

My question is: When you rack the slide, is the hammer then
"cocked"? - And I guess it will stay that way until fired.

Does that make it "cocked and UNlocked" anytime there is a round in the chamber? (No manual safety) :eek:

The trigger on my Taurus DAO will ALWAYS pull the striker back and let it fly toward the primer no matter what. Racking the slide has nothing to do with it. Does anyone know how the KEL-TEC P32 actually works? :confused:

THANKS!

Logistar
 
There is no manual safety. I think that they use the extraordinary long trigger pull to act as some sort of a safety.
 
The P-32 is DAO -- just like the GLOCK is DAO. (I know, I know, the Glock is "Safe Action", not DAO.)

With either gun you've got to reset something ( the trigger or the striker) before a second shot can be made.

Its a design feature. Why Kel-Tec chose to do that with the P-32, when they showed that it wasn't necessary with the P-11, is a puzzle.
 
I'll leave it to someone else to explain the actual mechanics of the trigger but the hammer is not cocked back when you rack the slide if that is what you're asking. It is down and is quite safe to carry with a round in the chamber.

Glocks are considered DAO but the slide must be racked after every trigger pull just like the P-32.
 
This is the way Kel Tec decribes it... http://www.kel-tec.com/prod02.htm
The trigger connects via a transfer bar to the hammer. The hammer is driven by a novel free floating extension spring. The light weight firing pin transmits the energy of the hammer to ignite the primer. After firing, the hammer block holds the hammer away from the firing pin, providing a mechanical safety. The functioning of the mechanism greatly surpasses all applicable SAAMI safety standards.
Click to expand...

Many firearms such as the Glocks and Kahrs and in this case the Kel Tec P32 have no second strike capability. Pulling back the slide "pre-tensions" the firing mechanism in preparation to fire. Completely pulling the trigger will then allow the weapon to fire. There is some arguement against the benefits of a second strike capability, but I'm from the school that if a round fails to fire I'm doing a clearance drill to get a new round in there pronto! I'm not going to pull the trigger a second time in hopes that the round will fire.

Having the striker or firing mechanism "pre tensioned" in no way affects the safety. The weapon cannot be fired until more pressure is applied by using the trigger. So don't wory about cocked and unlocked. It's far from that.

And your safety on the Glock, Kahr, most Sigs, Kahrs and a host of other weapons including revolvers is the one between your ears. Best safety ever designed.:D

Good Shooting
RED
 
To me this seems more like SAO rather than DAO, Glocks included. My CZ 100 is true DAO, you have repeat strike capability all day long.
 
FWIW, you only have to move the P-32 slide back about 1/4" to re-set the trigger. That's helpful when you dry-fire with snap-caps. You don't have to eject the snap-cap to dry-fire again.
 
My Taurus PT-145 is true DAO, and my Para-Ordnance LDA's have no second-strike capability. You can tell it in the trigger. The Taurus has more effort required to pull the trigger, due to it having to completely reset the striking mechanism for each trigger pull.
 
Second-strike capability is highly overrated. If you have a FTF, the absolute wrong thing to train to do is try pulling the trigger again! In most cases, all you'll hear is another click, if that. However, you have wasted valuable time that you could have been using for a proper FTF drill.
 
I think of the P32 as "half-cocked" although as stated above that's not completely accurate. I suspect the main reason Kel-Tec uses this design is to obtain a lighter trigger pull, which tends to get very heavy on small guns. I've tried the NAA Guardian, which I believe is true DAO, and that trigger is literally a pain to manipulate.
 
I agree with Hydrilla. In my view, trigger action on any gun that does NOT cause the hammer/striker to impact every time you pull it is a Single Action trigger. Triggers like that on the 1911, Glock, Kahr, and from the sounds of it, the KelTec, are in my opinion, single action, unless I'm just misunderstanding the term. I don't give a crap what staging or charging or other marketing mumbo-jumbo terms they say are going on 'under the hood', if the hammer doesn't fall every time I pull the trigger, it's NOT a DA trigger.
 
That is what I wanted to know! Thanks, guys, for all the help! I WILL be practicing with snap-caps and it's good to know I don't have to pull the slide all the way back. (I didn't expect to have to pull it back at all though!)

I would prefer that the trigger was a TRUE DAO but it sounds like the action should be OK for me. It just didn't make sense at first.

Thanks again!

Logistar
 
KelTec calls it a "double action" but it is not the same as their 9mm P11. I've owned both and the P11 is a TRUE double action; every time the trigger is pulled, the hammer impacts the transfer bar. In the P32, after a light strike, the slide actually only has to be brought rearward about 1/8-1/4" to reset the hammer. What happens is that the hammer is held in a semi-cocked position until the trigger is pulled. When it falls foward on a light strike, it has to be re-set to the half-cocked position, much like a Kahr, or Glock. Normally, the rearward travel of the slide after a live round leaves the barrel re-sets the hammer to a half-cocked position. In an emergency situation involving a light strike, I'd be yanking that slide ALL THE WAY BACK to eject the faulty round for a fresh one.
 
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