Second Strike Capability, serve any purpose?

[flintknapper]

My older Brother has finally convinced his wife to get her CHL. They are "mulling over" what kind of pistol she should get. There is no doubt it will reside in her purse most of the time (tactically sound or not).

I suggested a small frame (high quality) revolver, for its simplicity and reliability. He's thinking medium size auto, DA with second strike capability.

I don't have any problem with the DA auto, but suggested he not get too hung up on the SSC feature...because it will severely limit his choices.

Of course... after the decision for an action type has been made, sister-in-law will need to handle many different weapons to see which feels the best to HER, we all understand that.

Thoughts on Second Strike? I don't think it hurts to have it, but I don't see it ever being used (or not the way I was trained).

Willing to learn something though!

[txinvestigator]

I think that is one of things that is just a personal preference. I don't see it being an advantage either way, really. WIth modern factory ammo, how many times have you have a round that failed to fire on the first hit.

For those few, how many fired on the second hit?

However, since it is HIS wife that will be carrying.......... ;)

[Chris]

i had a lightweight double eagle officers model. it was a damn fine weapon and i regret ever selling it. would make a fine weapon for personal defense.

[flintknapper]

I think that is one of things that is just a personal preference. I don't see it being an advantage either way, really. WIth modern factory ammo, how many times have you have a round that failed to fire on the first hit.

For those few, how many fired on the second hit?

However, since it is HIS wife that will be carrying.......... ;)

With a still "healthy" hammer/striker spring, I've never had factory ammo not go bang. Had some "reloads" that had a batch of hard primers once (winchester), but not many of those went off the second time either.

I am more concerned that she learn the proper techniques for getting a fresh round in the chamber than standing there hoping one more "hit" will do it. There is more than one reason why your "auto" won't go bang, and it might not be the primer.

Just seems like a waste of time to me, but maybe I'm being short sighted. At least with a double action revolver when you squeeze the trigger (again) you're putting a fresh round in front of the hammer.

[No4Mk1]

I am more concerned that she learn the proper techniques for getting a fresh round in the chamber than standing there hoping one more "hit" will do it.

BINGO!! If you pull the trigger and get no response the chances are much higher that you have some other sort of problem and your best bet is to start failure drills right away rather than first trying a second strike.

[longtooth]

I am 56 yr old. Fired my 1st shot at 6. From the time I was a mid teen I have burned a lot of powder. In all that time I have never had a factory load not fire. I would not even consider ssc in a personal defense weapon. Not for me, Wife or Mother.

[Paladin]

For those few, how many fired on the second hit?

exactly... if it didn't go the first time around, it's not especially likely to go the second time.

tap-rack-bang

[Charles L. Cotton]

For those few, how many fired on the second hit?

exactly... if it didn't go the first time around, it's not especially likely to go the second time.

tap-rack-bang

I agree. It's far more likely that a reloaded round will go off on a second strike. The majority of misfires with reloaded rounds are caused by a primer that is not fully seated, but that is not high enough to cause a failure to feed. The first strike pushes the primer the rest of the way into the primer pocket and the second strike fires the round. This too is rare, but not as rare as a factory round going off on a second strike. (BTW, the most common cause of not fully seating the primer is short-stroking the press handle.)

Regards,
Chas.

[gigag04]

For purse carry, I have heard the wife our LGS owner advocate a S&W type revolver with the rails taht cover the hammer's travel. Thus allowing firing FROM the purse.

I thought this was an excellent idea as a lady can walk with keys/OC in one hand, battle grip on weapon (still concealed) in the other when going to a vehicle/leaving a bldg.

-nick

[90north]

I'm sure we all remember the infamous "black talon" rounds. They had black bullets with nickle cases. They were replaced with the more PC "Ranger SXT" with the same black bullet, but now with a brass case. I saved some of the black talons and used them for my "Barney Bullet". When I would clear my pistol for what ever reason, I would put the black talon as the top bullet in the magazine. After loading my pistol, I would remove the magazine and add a ranger SXT to replace it. Just a little memory jog to make sure I had chambered a round. During our annual qualifications, first round (the black talon that was always chambered first) failed to fire, did the "tap, rack, fire, drill and went on. I retrived the "dud" and checked it, good strong primer hit, but didn't go bang. You can get a mis-fire, even with premium ammunition. Personally I don't think a second strike capabality is worthwhile, just learn and practice your malfunction drills.

[ThunderDownUnder]

Thoughts on Second Strike? I don't think it hurts to have it, but I don't see it ever being used (or not the way I was trained).

I agree, I don't think it hurts to have. Under duress, folks tend to pull the trigger again if the round Fails To Fire anyway. This is not just my experience but that of the Texas DPS training staff. That's one of the reasons why they went to the SIG P226 with the DAK trigger mechanism.
I have had a few rounds in 35 yrs of shooting that FTF and ended up recocking a 1911 hammer and most would fire on the second try. That's maybe 1 in 10,000 rounds that FTF on the first strike. It's not too big of a deal to me though.

I recently picked up a SIG P226R DAK .357SIG just like DPS issues and while it's a nice gun and I like the theory of the restrike capability, it has some drawbacks.
The long trigger pull/long reset, and shorter fingers don't work all that well together. Most handguns that have a restrike capability share these traits. Most inexperienced shooters will tend to stage the DA trigger and that can lead to anticipating the recoil and shots are fired low .
If I were choosing a handgun for a relatively inexperienced shooter, the restrike capability would not be much of a priority.
To me and most importantly, how does the handgun fit the hand?
How easily can the shooter handle (load, chamber, unload) the handgun?
And can they handle the caliber? The common training drill to see if a person can handle a particular caliber is...
fire 5 shots in 3 seconds and have all 5 hit a chest plate (or inside the 5 ring on a B27 target) at 7 yards.

I think the restrike capability is more a gun selling point than a practical need.
Just a few thoughts...
J
CHL Instructor, FFL, range owner and all the bull that goes with it !!!!

[G.C.Montgomery]

Like ThunderDownUnder, I don't think it hurts. But it makes no difference to me. My standard stoppage reduction is always tap, rack, decide/scan. So a round that fails to fire will normally be ejected immediately anyway in that stoppage reduction method. There are extended stoppages that require different procedures but none of those procedures take advantage of the second strile capability. So, second strike capability offers me no advantage. YMMV.