- May 29, 2017
- 7,770
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"When it comes to triggers, Glocks do things a bit differently. Like their competitors, they cock the striker back when the slide cycles, but unlike most of their competitors, they don't cock it all the way. A loaded Glock lives its life partially cocked, and relies on the force of your finger pulling the trigger to pull the striker all the way back before it's finally released and slams forward to ignite the cartridge.
The benefit of this system is safety, because if the striker is somehow released without pulling the trigger (through malfunction or abuse), it probably won't have enough energy to ignite the primer and fire the gun. This inherent safety feature is in addition to the three other safeties that make up Glock's "Safe Action" system, making Glocks the true safety fanatics of the handgun market.
Trigger-cocked strikers are uncommon - besides the Glock, only the Smith & Wesson SD9 and Ruger SR9 work similarly (to the best of our knowledge). The drawback of the design is a heavier trigger pull, since your finger on the trigger is actually doing some of the work to cock the gun, a little like shooting a revolver in double-action. Fresh out of the box, this Gen 4 Glock's trigger clocks in at about 8.0 lbs, although after a few hundred rounds of breaking-in it now measures 7.1 pounds (a far cry from the 5.5 lb trigger claimed by Glock's marketing material). In contrast, fully pre-cocked strikers usually provide a trigger pull around 5 lbs, which is how the Springfield XD, Smith and Wesson M&P, Sig Sauer P320, and almost all other striker-fired guns on the market get their light, crisp triggers."
"When it comes to triggers, Glocks do things a bit differently. Like their competitors, they cock the striker back when the slide cycles, but unlike most of their competitors, they don't cock it all the way. A loaded Glock lives its life partially cocked, and relies on the force of your finger pulling the trigger to pull the striker all the way back before it's finally released and slams forward to ignite the cartridge.
The benefit of this system is safety, because if the striker is somehow released without pulling the trigger (through malfunction or abuse), it probably won't have enough energy to ignite the primer and fire the gun. This inherent safety feature is in addition to the three other safeties that make up Glock's "Safe Action" system, making Glocks the true safety fanatics of the handgun market.
Trigger-cocked strikers are uncommon - besides the Glock, only the Smith & Wesson SD9 and Ruger SR9 work similarly (to the best of our knowledge). The drawback of the design is a heavier trigger pull, since your finger on the trigger is actually doing some of the work to cock the gun, a little like shooting a revolver in double-action. Fresh out of the box, this Gen 4 Glock's trigger clocks in at about 8.0 lbs, although after a few hundred rounds of breaking-in it now measures 7.1 pounds (a far cry from the 5.5 lb trigger claimed by Glock's marketing material). In contrast, fully pre-cocked strikers usually provide a trigger pull around 5 lbs, which is how the Springfield XD, Smith and Wesson M&P, Sig Sauer P320, and almost all other striker-fired guns on the market get their light, crisp triggers."
