No, I was not suggesting a title for a new folk song when I wrote that line. In a recent phone conversation with American Rifleman editor Mark Keefe, we were both perplexed about the absence of hammers on new automatic pistols. Almost everything in the way of new designs is a striker-fired pistol. Sure, hammers persist on still-produced classics like the 1911 and Browning Hi Power, as well as several veterans of the Wondernine Wars like the Beretta and SIG Sauer. But look at the basic 9 mm service pistols of Glock, S&W, Springfield, Ruger, Taurus, Caracel and possibly others. They all use some form of spring-loaded, in-line striker that moves straight forward to smack the primer, rather than a floating firing pin that is struck by a pivoting hammer. Why?
January 23, 2013
