Today I wandered into the Yooper Gun Shoppe and lying in the display case was:
P229 .40 with a Newington NH address. No box or papers. Only one mag. Night sights dead. Appears unfired. E2 grip. After a negotiation out the door for $450. I tried the trigger in the shop and thought it was DAO. At home, research would indicate it is in fact DAK as there is definitely a two-stage reset to the trigger. I am very experienced with decocker DA/SA Sigs of all types, but this trigger will be new to me. So..All you DAK fans, (and non-fans) give me your experiences with DAK. Mainly I am interested in how long it took you to gain proficiency with DAK and how easy it is use when shooting from the short trigger reset stage.
Thanks in advance!

Its different and definitely a slower shooter for me. I have P229 Dak in 40 as well. The P229 IMO handles the 40 very well but when it comes to the DAK you have to release the trigger all the way out for the lighter trigger pull which is a little different than what im used to doing.

You’ve probably identified it correctly, but the DAK hammer is distinctive and doesn’t look like any of the others. The closest is the “bobbed” DAO hammer, but not the same.






In my experience teaching a few people to shoot pistols with DAK triggers, it didn’t really take very long. What I had to more commonly work with new shooters about was the major transition between the initial long, heavy double action pull and then the light, short single action pull of the classic DA/SA SIG pistols.

One thing that’s usually ignored about the question is that generations of shooters managed double action triggers in revolvers that were much more common until the 1980s or so. That fact puzzles me to this day when someone says he cannot shoot an autoloading pistol with a double action trigger. If so, it’s a good thing he wasn’t trying to learn to shoot a revolver at speed 100 years ago—or even 40 years ago when an S&W model 10 was my issued weapon.

As for the short DAK reset, it too is far less difficult to master than the switch from DA to SA in a Classic line SIG. First, it can be ignored and not used at all if desired. In actual use, I and many other users of DAK triggers found that we could use the short reset in rapid fire strings and not even notice the change in the pull weight. As for becoming accustomed to it, it’s just one more different trigger reset characteristic among many that anyone with different types of guns will have to deal with.

But as I say, if one doesn’t like letting the trigger reset only part of the maximum distance before pulling it again, it’s not necessary to do that.

I went from a P-220 DAO with a heavy, long trigger pull, to a P-220 DAK with a lighter trigger pull.

Didn't take me that long to adjust at all. On the DAK, there's a noticeable "sweet spot" before the break. Shorter reset on the DAK than the DAO as well. I liked the DAK much more than the DAO.

Dry Fire
Dry Fire
Dry Fire...

It has the bobbed rounded DAK type hammer. I want to learn to ride the lighter trigger reset in order shoot a little faster. I have a P250 so I need to adapt from its full DAO operation to the DAK two stage. A matter of practice, practice, practice.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
All you DAK fans, (and non-fans) give me your experiences with DAK. Mainly I am interested in how long it took you to gain proficiency with DAK and how easy it is use when shooting from the short trigger reset stage.

I've never owned a DAK SIG, but I've shot several when teaching with Bruce Gray.

I remember a student who contacted me before class who asked for additional "tip" on how to manage the DAK trigger...he was going to attend the class with a DA/SA SIG. I told him I'd be happy to work with him during the lunch break. At lunch he brought up his DAK 229. I asked him to trigger the first shot on the "push-out" as we'd been doing with his DA/SA gun and then release the trigger and press though the trigger stroke again. We were only about 7-10 yards from the target but both shots overlapped. I asked if he needed further "tips", and he replied, "I guess not."

All that to say that the DAK is a much easier trigger to learn than a DA/SA transition. It especially helps if you have prior revolver experience...a clean DAK trigger is comparable to a smooth S&W K-frame trigger. The only thing you have to remember is to not try to yank through the trigger stroke to "hurry up" the shot; unless your goal is to yank the shot off.

I tend to let the DAK trigger all the way out for follow up shots. Might have something to do with the fact that I compete with a revolver. I can't get down to .20 splits, but splits under .30 are pretty common. The "trick" is to never stop the trigger stroke either on the way to reset or to the break. You won't be "prepping" the trigger and breaking the shot as the sights return to your POA, you be getting the sights back on POA as the shot breaks

But it isn't hard to utilized the shorter reset either. Under time pressure, you'll never notice the heavier trigger stroke as you'll just be pulling through it as you did with the original trigger stroke

'a clean DAK trigger is comparable to a smooth S&W K-frame trigger. "


Concise. All you need to know.

I started professionally with revolvers. First in USAF with the S&W Model 15 (still want one) and ending with the 686 just before the LEO jump to auto pistols. So I have no problem with DAO and my 250s all have smooth pulls that I like. The more I dry fire the DAK, the more I like it! Greg Cote has mags inbound for me!

email sent

Sj4550:
I replied. Thanks!

I started out shooting revolvers. The DAK trigger is a natural for me. Don’t do all that nonsensical slowly releasing the trigger to find the reset. Just let the trigger return naturally, then stroke through it again.

Spending time trying to find the reset is wasted time.

If you screw up and short stroke it, it will still Fire. Pretend that’s what that first reset is for.

quote:

Originally posted by Sgt 127:
I started out shooting revolvers. The DAK trigger is a natural for me. Don’t do all that nonsensical slowly releasing the trigger to find the reset. Just let the trigger return naturally, then stroke through it again.

Spending time trying to find the reset is wasted time.

If you screw up and short stroke it, it will still Fire. Pretend that’s what that first reset is for.

I ran DAK triggers years ago.
Although I will admit I rarely utilized the first reset.

I shot it like a DAO, I was always better with the DA shot than the SA shot anyway with my DA/SA Sigs.

I've just purchased a DAO P226 and have a DAO hammer for my recently acquired P228.
Nice to have options.

I loved DAK at first sight. Being accustomed to long-stroke DA revolver trigger-pulling for 21+ years by the time I tried DAK, in 2004, and also acquainted with several auto-pistol systems, I required NO transition. DAK was my 12-round revolver, that reloaded with magazines. My very first range session was the qual course at the PD range, where I trounced all my scores with the Glock G22 that I had fired for two and half years. Soon, I was shooting DAK about as well as I could shoot a 1911 or Ruger GP100.

Already being accustomed to letting revolver triggers reset a-l-l the way, and still using DA revolvers for serious purposes, I made no attempt to transition to using the optional shorter DAK reset. It was simply there, in case I ever short-stroked the trigger, but, it never happened.

All was well until arthritis in my right wrist caught up with me. The recoil dynamics of .40 S&W, the high P229 bore axis, and probably the P229 grip shape, combined into a perfect storm to defeat me. When I was almost age 54, in 2015, my then-chief OK’ed 9mm to again be a duty cartridge for all personnel. By then, Gen4 Glocks were extant, which fit my right hand well, unlike the Gen3 I had used previously. I refer to the Gen4 Glock G17 as my “orthopedic” pistol.

I kept my P229R DAK, my “partner” for 11 years of street duty. I may fire it left-handed, now and then, for old time’s sake. I sold/traded my two non-railed P229 SAS DAK pistols, and my DA/SA P229 pistols.

Update: I ran 150 rounds through the gun today. No issues and the DAK was quite manageable. Accurate, too. Refreshing change from the tactical tupperware.
Mystery: A kind and generous SF member gifted me some 229 mags and the baseplates have unusual (to me, anyway) markings. They are marked 40/357 and the letters N P in tiny letters. Anyone ever seen these markings?

Eloquent in it's brevity. The DAK is my favorite Sig trigger. I wish I had tried it sooner because all the conversion parts are gone.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
'a clean DAK trigger is comparable to a smooth S&W K-frame trigger. "


Concise. All you need to know.