What Is A Striker-Fired Pistol? (Explained)
When you hear people refer to a pistol as a striker-fired pistol, they are talking about the firing mechanism on how the firing pin makes contact with the primer.
Historically, pistols use a hammer-fired firing mechanism.
Normally a hammer is cocked back and when you pull the trigger the hammer is released, slamming into the firing pin which then pierces the primer of the cartridge causing it to ignite and be fired.
A striker-fired pistol has no hammer but instead uses a spring-loaded firing pin.
When the trigger is pulled the built-up spring energy is released and this causes the firing pin to hit the primer.
Striker-fired designs have been around for a long time but were not popularized until the 1980s with the Glock line of pistols.
Now, most modern pistols are striker-fired because of the increased reliability. The simplicity of the firing mechanism is a huge improvement with fewer moving parts and chances of failure.
This style of pistol is very popular among the concealed carry crowd because, without the exposed external hammer, the pistol is more concealable by design.
Also, the safety features inherent to the design.
To find out more about Hammer-Fired Pistols, we have info on that.
Advantages of Striker-Fired Pistols
The best and key benefit of a striker-fired pistol is the clean and simple design. With fewer parts that can break and less maintenance required, striker-fired pistols are very sophisticated.
Another advantage is how quickly and easily they can be field-striped and cleaned without special tools for the takedown.
The Army just switched from the old Beretta M9 (hammer-fired) to the new Sig M17 (striker-fired) because of how easy they are to work on and maintain.
Striker-fired pistols are also very repeatable without much variance in the end product. With older hammered-fired pistols every trigger could feel and perform completely differently even on the same model of gun.
Consistency for striker-fired pistols is great for military units and law enforcement agencies.
For example, if you shoot a lot of Glock for training and are proficient with them, all that training will translate to any Glock pistol because of how repeatable the trigger pull will feel.
Often with a hammer-fired gun, you have to know if the pistol is cocked or not and what condition the pistol is in.
Questions you will ask yourself is the safety on? Is the hammer fully cocked or half-cocked. Did I decock the pistol by mistake?
The simple design of the striker-fired pistol eliminates all the guesswork and extra problems that might occur.
Pretty much all you need to know is if the gun is loaded with a round in the chamber you know all you have to do is pull the trigger. Stupid simple.
So if you are new to guns or want to introduce firearms to a newbie, striker-fired pistols are far simpler and easy to learn.
The anti-snag design of striker-fired pistols is superior for concealed carry. Exposed hammers tend to get hung up on clothing and snag on garments.
Disadvantages of Striker-Fired Pistols
With almost everything when it comes to firearms, there is always a trade-off. If you want the most crisp and smooth trigger for accuracy, then the hammer-fired triggers can’t be beat.
This is for a very specific niche of gun owners though.
Competition shooters normally lean towards a clean and light trigger with a crisp break like you see on 1911 or 2011 style pistols.
Hammer-fired triggers can also be tuned and polished by gunsmiths to lighten them up and increase accuracy.
Some people might consider the gun always being cocked a drawback but personally, I think this is a good thing.
Guns are dangerous and they are supposed to be. If you follow all the gun safety rules you will never have any safety concerns.
I want a pistol to be ready to shoot by simply pulling the trigger. I am not a fan of external thumb safeties.
Striker-fired pistols are usually polymer-framed guns making them lighter. Nowadays most people are okay with this but there are still some holdouts who only shoot metal-framed guns.
Are Striker-Fired Pistols Good?
Striker-fired pistols are the most modern style of pistols on the market today and are very popular with the gun community.
Most people would consider them the most dependable and rugged handguns you can own.
For self-defense in any scenario, I recommend a striker-fired pistol. The only situation I might not want a striker-fired pistol is if I’m in the wilderness with dangerous big game.
In that rare case, I would want a 44 Mag.
Here is some more info on the best striker-fired pistols I suggest for concealed carry. They are Sig P365X, Glock 43X, Springfield Hellcat, Ruger Max-9.
I have full reviews and buyer guides of them at the links.
Furthermore, if you are new to firearms and want to learn more about what pistol might be right for you, check out the guide on the Best 9mm Pistols.
Giveaways
One of the coolest things we do here at First World Crusader is giveaway free gear to our readers.
It allows us to create better content, educate more readers, and share the love of firearms.
*Every $1 you spend at the store is 1 entry to win a piece of gear (excluding any special promotions).
Check out our Shop page to get some swag and enter the giveaway automatically.
*Every comment you leave on one of our articles is 1 entry to win.
Please help us build a strong community by participating.
We highly encourage you to read and review all official rules for the sweepstakes of your choice.
To view all of the information and which item is next to giveaway, learn more at our Giveaways page.
Do you prefer striker-fired pistols? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Every comment you leave on one of our articles is 1 entry to win in our giveaways.
