- Joined
- Jan 6, 2016
- Messages
- 304
Side-opening coil spring automatics shouldn't "fail to fire". The spring is "wound" past the arc of it opening, so there's always enough tension to open it all the way. If it doesn't open all the way then the pivot is cranked down to tight or there's gunk or grit or something inhibiting the action. I've heard of some instances of "bounce back", where the action is so strong that smacks against the stop and bounces back a bit; if the user doesn't hold the button until the blade locks, it might get "stuck" in a not-quite-open position. This could be a manufacturing default, or again, might be because of grit or lack of lube.
If an auto has this problem despite cleaning/lubing/adjusting, then it needs to go back for service or replacement. However, even one that functions perfectly in practice will always be less reliable than a manual opener, by its own nature (and all will be less reliable than a fixed blade, but that's a different topic of discussion). In typical daily, urban use, a side-opening auto will be sufficiently reliable. If it's for self defense, there's many, many arguments against carrying an auto that go beyond mechanical reliability. If you're in the military and deploying to a sandbox, the extra dirt and grit and whatnot can certainly impede reliability, but that's true for anything you might rely on.
ive read too many reviews on protech and gathered most of the basics, unfortunately, they are mostly collectors and "fondlers" and not users, im much more familiar with manual openers, maybe consider me be-dazzled by their star-spangled reputation, thank you for the information, i didn't know the mechanics of the auto, just the spring and button