By Kent · Lock Depot Staff Writer

Putting access control on an aluminum storefront door is where a lot of good intentions die. The stile is too narrow for a normal electric strike, a maglock means running to a fail-safe lock the fire marshal may question, and nobody wants to cut a brand-new glass door. Adams Rite built a part for exactly this corner: the Adams Rite 4300 Steel Hawk, an electrified latch, or E-Latch, that lets a card reader, keypad, or intercom release a narrow-stile storefront door without a maglock and without butchering the frame. Adams Rite is an ASSA ABLOY brand, and this is the lock I reach for when the door is aluminum-and-glass and it has to buzz open.

What the Steel Hawk actually does

The 4300 is an electrified surface latch that mounts on the narrow stile of an aluminum door. Instead of the door catching a mechanical strike, the latch engages a powered strike, and the access-control system, a reader, a keypad, an apartment intercom, releases that strike on a valid credential or a buzz-in. Push or pull and the door opens; the strike re-latches behind you. It is the electrified equivalent of the mechanical deadlatch a storefront door already uses, sized for the same narrow stile, so it goes where a full-size electric strike physically will not fit.

The reason to use it over the alternatives is prep. It suits the narrow-stile aluminum door the way a maglock and a full-size strike do not, and it keeps the door latching mechanically rather than relying on a magnet, which keeps the code conversation simpler on an egress door.

Fail-safe or fail-secure: decide this first

Every powered lock has to answer one question before anything else: what happens when the power drops. Get this wrong and you either trap people in or leave the building open.

• Fail-secure stays locked when power is lost. You still exit from inside mechanically, but the outside stays locked on a power failure. This is the right default for most storefront and tenant entries: a power blip should not unlock your front door to the street.
• Fail-safe unlocks when power is lost. You use it only where a specific egress or life-safety requirement says the door must free up on power loss.

For the ordinary access-controlled storefront, fail-secure is almost always the answer, and inside egress stays free regardless because you can always push out mechanically. Tell us the door's role and the local requirement and we spec the fail mode to match; do not guess it off a catalog line.

Pick the strike to the frame

The latch is half the job; the strike is the other half, and it has to match how your frame is built. The 4300 comes prepped for different strikes, and the SKU tells you which:

Flat surface-mount strike

For a flat (square) jamb, the strike mounts to the surface of the frame with minimal cutting. The 4300-20-101 flat surface-mount version is the low-prep answer for a standard square aluminum jamb.

Radius surface-mount strike

For a radius (rounded) jamb, common on a lot of storefront framing, the strike is shaped to the curve. The 4300-20-102 radius surface-mount version matches the rounded jamb so it sits flush.

Mortised strike

For a cleaner look where you can cut the jamb, the 4300-20-201 mortised-strike version recesses the strike into the frame instead of surface-mounting it. More prep, tidier result.

Measure the jamb before you order: flat or radius, and whether you can mortise it. The wrong strike either will not sit flush on a radius jamb or asks for prep the frame cannot take.

Finish

Match the anodized finish to the storefront. 313 dark bronze is the common match for a bronze-anodized aluminum storefront, with 628 clear (satin aluminum) for a clear-anodized frame and 335 black for a black storefront. The latch and strike show on the door and jamb, so match them to the existing framing and the door reads as one piece.

Common questions

Can I add access control to an aluminum storefront door without a maglock?

Yes. An Adams Rite 4300 Steel Hawk electrified latch fits the narrow stile and releases from a reader, keypad, or intercom, so the door buzzes open without a maglock and without a full-size electric strike the stile cannot take.

Should the Steel Hawk be fail-safe or fail-secure?

Fail-secure for most storefront and tenant entries, so a power loss leaves the outside locked while inside egress stays free mechanically. Use fail-safe only where a specific egress or life-safety rule requires the door to unlock on power loss.

Which strike do I order?

Match it to the jamb: a flat surface-mount strike for a square jamb, a radius surface-mount strike for a rounded jamb, or a mortised strike for a recessed, cleaner install. Measure the jamb before ordering.

Will it work with my card reader or intercom?

Yes, when the voltage matches. Tell us what releases the door and what voltage the controller puts out, and we match the latch and power supply so it works with your system.

Lock Depot stocks the Adams Rite 4300 Steel Hawk in flat, radius, and mortised-strike versions and the standard storefront finishes. Start at the Adams Rite hub, compare the mechanical version in Adams Rite MS1850 Deadbolt for a Narrow-Stile Glass Door, or if your door is a metal frame instead of aluminum, read HES 1006 vs 1500: Electric Strike for a Card-Reader Metal Frame. Or call 877-365-5625 with the jamb shape, the fail mode, and what controls the door, and we will match the Steel Hawk to your system.