today I want to talk about an accessory that is available for a Glock pistols
called the striker controlled device. Now it seems like anytime this product comes
up online, some people want to get out their pitchforks and start a virtual
riot and I would like to think that's the result of a simple misunderstanding.
So before we look at the actual products let's talk about why it even exists to
begin with. Before Glock pistols started gaining popularity in the 1980s and 90s
almost all semi autos were either single action with a manual safety or double
action single action with a safety or a decocker or both.
Now, Glocks don't have any of those things they are striker-fired and they
just have a trigger and a mag release and a slide stop. Today, Glocks and other
striker-fired pistols are the norm rather than the exception.
Shooters appreciate the simplicity of operating a pistol with fewer controls
they are easier to learn, some would say easier to master as well. Of course that
simplicity has a downside. You've got a relatively light trigger with a short
length of travel and no external safety which means there are fewer fail safes
in place to prevent an unintentional discharge if the shooter has less than
perfect gun handling. And let's face it -- no matter how well-trained we are, we all
make mistakes. I don't know any shooter who can honestly say they always have
perfect muzzle control or that their finger has never drifted to the trigger
when it wasn't supposed to and that is why in addition to the big four gun
safety rules everyone learns, there are some additional best practices that are
widely taught in the training community. In particular, there are some procedures
that we can use when we are reholstering which is when a lot of gun
handling mistakes often occur. Before the gun even moves towards the holster, take
a brief pause to verify that the the finger is indexed on the frame or the
slide well away from the trigger. Clear the cover garment if necessary and
visually check to make sure the holster is clear of obstructions. Stand or lean
in a way such that the muzzle doesn't have to cover the lower body as the gun
goes into the holster and then slowly and deliberately reholster the gun. Those
are some great procedures to help reduce the risk
of unintentional discharge but some people like me are not totally satisfied
with that. When you've got distractions going on in front of you, whether that's
at the range or in the real world, people tend to skip some or even all of those
steps when they're reholstering. There is one more thing you can do
depending on what kind of gun you have. With a hammer fired double-action pistol,
you can pin the hammer with your thumb, that way it is impossible for the gun to
fire even if there is a finger on the trigger or a drawstring or a piece of
shirt tail or something like that it gets hung up in the trigger guard. I
really like this practice because after you've been doing it for a little while,
it pretty quickly becomes ingrained into your muscle memory. Eventually it's just
something you do and it would require a mental effort to actually holster the
gun without your thumb on the hammer. So even if something crazy is going on
downrange and you end up doing the stupid
no-look speed reholster thing or maybe it's dark and you can't really see
inside your holster all that well, subconsciously thumbing the hammer still
helps prevent an unintentional discharge. Unfortunately you don't have that option
with a striker-fired pistol because it doesn't have a hammer and that is why a
couple of really smart guys from the Tao Dev Group developed the striker control
device, also known as The Gadget. This is a little part for a Glock pistols that
replaces the slide cover plate on the back of the slide. When you're shooting
the gun normally, it doesn't change anything about the way the Glock
functions, it's just a slide cover that tilts outward as the trigger is pressed.
But if you apply pressure to the back of the slide it blocks the rearward
movement of the striker so in that respect it acts just like a hammer on a
double action gun. If you thumb the back of the slide when you're reholstering, it
can't fire. Like I said in the beginning, for some reason the striker control
device seems to elicit a lot of anger and controversy. I'm not exactly sure why.
It's not a mandatory upgrade, it's just an option for people who want to take
advantage of an additional layer of safety. Some people might be concerned
that it's going to affect the feel of the
trigger pull or something like that or maybe it's going to cause malfunctions. I
haven't had any problems with this one or any of the others that I've put on
other Glocks but more importantly, I know a lot of dedicated Glocks shooters who
have been putting tens of thousands of rounds through Glocks with Striker
Control Devices on them. Some of them were even beta testers who have been
using these things for the last five years or more. I'm not aware of any Glock
that's had a serious problem as a result. I'm sure it's possible, but I think a lot
of the concerns about reliability are theoretical. It might help ease some
people's doubts if maybe they had a better understanding of how this device
actually works. It's a pretty simple concept. First let's look at how a
standard Glock works with all factory parts. This is the firing pin assembly.
The firing pin or striker is kind of partially tensioned once it's in the
slide and then as the trigger is pressed, it continues to move rearward and then
when the trigger press is complete, the spring sends the firing pin forward
again. Now I'm gonna pop this back in the slide
and put the slide cover back on. The firing pin moves back and forth in this
channel here in the slide and the slide cover just kind of sits there holding
everything in place. Now here is a slide with a striker control device installed
and it's basically just a slide cover with a little extra piece that extends
into the firing pin channel. So now if you're firing the gun normally, the
firing pin just pushes that piece out of the way. There is no spring in the
Striker Control Device so it moves freely and doesn't add any tension that
would affect the trigger pull. But if we manually apply pressure to the Striker
Control Device, it prevents the firing pin from moving. So there's really not
much to it. I can see how it might make the trigger press a little gritty if you
dunked the whole gun in a mud puddle or something like that but that's not much
of a real-world concern for most of us. A lot of you guys who know I am a fan of
DA/SA pistols have asked me about options in the single stack
nine-millimeter or pocket pistol category. Unfortunately there are very
few to choose from. I think the next best thing would be a Glock 42 or 43 or some
other subcompact Glock equipped with a Striker Control Device. Because of the
way most other striker fire pistols are designed, it doesn't sound like we will
be seeing similar devices for the Smith & Wesson M&P or sig p320 or other
striker guns anytime soon but they are available for pretty much any gen 2
through gen 5 Glock. You can get them from taudevgroup.com/scd. The
normal price is 89 bucks but it looks like they are on sale right now for 79. I
think they are well worth it and I don't see any reason why I would carry a Glock
without one