New to the Dagger series of PSA’s lineup. I ordered the 9mm Dagger version with the threaded barrel. Who has run a compensator on your Dagger and did you have to do any other mods other than putting it on. Thank you for your time in advance!
welcome to the forums!!! please enjoy your stay.
I’ve not run a comp on any of my firearms so i’ll just duck out now, but i wanted to welcome you.
Most folks running a comp will need to change their recoil spring at a minimum. Is there a reason you want to run a comp?
I never have so i was wanting to. None of my handguns have a threaded barrel. Figured id try out a compensator.
They can make function of the firearm finicky. Im biased, but threaded barrels are for suppressors…![]()
![]()
![]()
They seem to cause more problems than they fix.
one of my Glock barrels was too short, but it works on the rest, great for carbines i saw they just made an ak47 one too
still wear ears lol
Make sure you get Gen 3. A buddy bought a Gen 4 comp not realizing there was a difference. Let’s just say, there is a major difference!
I have a few of those for my AR’s, not a suppressor more of flash can. they do direct the noise downrange and I still wear ear protection.
the actual use of suppressors is primarily to hide your flash… even with a “good suppressor” it’s going to be loud the sound could probably still give away your position… but no light, not wearing or having anything reflective/shiny maybe some camo, and moving… even with real suppression is what i see… the only thing i wouldn’t wear ears with is a suppressed 22lr.
these are nice tho because you don’t have nearly as much mess in the carbine after…
i just put it on my Glock for sh*ts and gigs, personally i don’t run anything on my glocks and use threaded barrels themselves as the compensation like to me dagger is a 19 and a dagger with a threaded barrel is a 17
i built a race hi cap 45 in the 90s. i love the gun. it has a famous comp/barrel on it.
after shooting a little while some of the competition guys told me and this is true,
to get the purpose of the comp out of the comp you have to shoot the hottest loads possible.
i was loading “regular, will make power factor loads”. 230 grain with 4.5 or 5 gr of 231 powder.
i switched to 155 gr semi wad cutters with the max load of 9.5 or was it 10 gr of granular type #9? it was a hot load. it blew the gasses straight up from the comp which changed accuracy, recoil, everything.
MASSIVE change.
i bet most people with a comp dont know that.
like drag racing. you can go fast but if you port the heads and use racing fuel you can go faster but it is not a street car anymore.
Daggers, (and probably every other semi-auto pistol out there), don’t cycle with one of these installed. I tried it and it FTE every time. I should have done my homework before buying the SME. It’s close enough to the size and weight of a suppressor, and suppressors have pistons that allow them to work with semi-auto pistols. Hope this prevents others from making the same mistake I made. IMO, a lighter recoil spring isn’t going to help, because there is too much weight to allow the barrel to tilt to allow the cycling. Hence, here I am looking at buying a compensator…
Welcome to the forums @ruawakeyet ![]()
It’s not just that but also TOO effective of a comp has the same effect, even if you drop spring weight. You can only drop so low before the gun just won’t work regardless. Combo of the weight on a Browning Tilt Barrel design (most pistols .380 and above) and the larger compensation effect is a combo for failure.
Not sure if rotating barrel guns are effected by that, like a PX4. Hi-Points would work though.
imo everyone goes the wrong way with spring weights, 22lb guide rod if you are trying to run a comp or 15lb guide rod with nothing attached, 4lb firing pin spring and a reduced power safety plunger spring in the slide this will make your pistol feel entirely different.
That doesn’t make any sense to me. A comp or porting will decrease slide velocity, very noticeable on my Dagger with a RDS and micro comp on it. Meaning I would need a lighter spring to allow the slide to reciprocate faster rearward, with my usual 115gr ammo. A heavier spring would slow it down enough to jam up with 115gr, and can potentially cause the gun to short stroke.
It’s just like running a heavier buffer in an AR. The extra weight slows the rearward travel of the bolt, helpful in OVERgas situations, but too much can make it short stroke or fail to lock open last round.
Run the heaviest spring or buffer weight you can while remaining reliable of course. And when going light with Glock springs, you may need to change the striker spring to be lighter too. Too light of a recoil spring can cause the striker spring weight alone to cause the gun to go out of battery.
Sort of like an AR, ejection pattern/strength is a good way to check. If the ejection is weak, lighter spring. Glock’s and any pistol I can think of eject as the slide moves rearward, not forward. So lighter spring will allow it to move rearward, faster.
Another solution is to run hotter ammo, or a less effective comp. I have the Strike Industries micro carry comp, circle. Stock spring weight and 115 is on the edge of reliability.
too long and dumb, i didn’t read anything you just posted… it just works
easy now… ![]()
Interesting. Something I hadn’t used much brainpower about - thanks for at least providing food for thought.
With the PSA SW3 Dagger slide, would the gen-5 Glock compensator such as the Arc Division Glock 19 Gen 5 unit work? Or would the beveled edges collide? I wanted one of those Herrington Arms comps, but they are sold out. Just looking for a comp that doesn’t leave an ugly barrel gap.
Or maybe I’ll just wait for the 19x dagger slide to come out that has the integrated comp cuts.