Posted: 2/7/2003 7:10:05 AM EDT
| hi, im new hear and i dont know very much about guns. i was reading over some of the posts here and i started to look at manufacturers websites and noticed theres two type of hand guns, double action and single. whats the main diffrence and what are the pro's and con's of each? sorry about the newb post but i gotta learn from somewhere. thanks guys |
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When you pull the trigger on a Double Action handgun it both cocks it and fires it. Single action handguns must be cocked by some other action. In revolvers, you cock a single action by pulling the hammer back. Semi-autos come in several styles... Double Action only. In this mode, when you pull the trigger it cocks and drops the hammer. If there is a round in the chamber, the gun will fire and then eject the spent casing and load a new on. DA/SA or what is often called Traditional Double Action. This type semi can be fired for the first shot like the DAO. If there is a round in the chamber it will cock the hammer, drop the hammer, eject the spent round, load a new round and leave the gun in a fully cocked state. SA or Single Action. In a Single action, the hammer is cocked and left in the cocked position. The trigger lets the hammer fall, but if the hammer is not already cocked, it will not cock it. Some good examples of this are the 1911s and HiPowers. When fired, if there is a round in the chamber the SA gun will fire, eject the casing, load another and leave the gun in the fully cocked position. The final category includes some of the newer striker fired guns like GLOCK and the Springfield XD. The advantage to DAO is that they are simply. Pull gun, pull trigger. Gun fires. The disadvantage is that trigger pull is usually heavier and longer than SA. DA/SA guns try to get around that by having the simple but fairly heavy first shot trigger but then the lighter and usually shorter SA action for other shots. The dissadvantage is the transition between the two modes and that there has to be some way to safely lower the hammer to get back to DA mode. SA guns always have the lighter trigger pull, but there has to be a manual safety to make it safe to carry. The newer striker systems try to get around all of the problems listed above by adding other automatic safeties, bulit in trigger safeties, grip safeties and such. Many people have legitimate concerns about automatic safeties as opposed to manual ones that they can control and verify. |
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The USP .45 compact is: DA/SA or what is often called Traditional Double Action. This type semi can be fired for the first shot like the DAO. If there is a round in the chamber it will cock the hammer, drop the hammer, eject the spent round, load a new round and leave the gun in a fully cocked state. Good gun! |
| which one would you guys recomend the 9mm .40 or .45 for a first handgun? im mostly gonna be useing it at shooting ranges and homesecurity. another gun i was looking at was the para ordinance 12.45, which ones a better all around gun, im gonna go to a gun shop and hold them both and try to rent them at a range to see which i like better, but as far as build quality and you guys recomending which one would you guys rather have? thanks for all the info its been helpful. |
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Ahead, Way to look, well, ahead. In terms of recoil, the .45 seems to have the least as it's a fairly low-pressure round. The 40 S&W has the highest felt recoil for most people and the 9mm is in the middle. Keep in mind this can all go out the window if the gun weights vary dramatically. In other words a lightweight gun in .45 will have higher recoil than a heavy gun in 40 S&W. In terms of ammo costs, in my neck of the woods the 9mm is the cheapest and 45 and 40 are about the same. For self-defense it's tough to beat .45 ACP. The Para 12-45 is a sweet gun, especially in their DA/SA configuration. |
| It might be beneficial to read some articles by Evan Marshall and Ed Sanow who do one shot stop studies complied from actual shootings. While the sampling population is anything but vast the conclusions they have drawn and which have been consistent over the past decade are that, when efficient bullet designs are utilized, the differences in stopping power (overall best is the 125gr JHP .357 mag) between the calibers you mentioned vary only by a percentage or two. The ease of portability of pistols chambered for 9mm and abundance and low cost of practice ammo make it a logical choice for daily carry. A 9mm Mag Safe in the pipe backed up by a magazineful of 115 gr JHP +P Cor-Bons will definitely hold its own against its larger brethren. |