Abstract: An electric strike type door lock in which the strike tongue is releasably held in its latch bolt securing position by a ball seated in a bore in a wall of the housing in which the strike tongue is mounted. Toggle linkage holds the ball in an operative position projecting from the mouth of the bore and into a pocket in the adjacent surface of the strike tongue, when the toggle linkage is in an extended condition with its knee joint slightly across dead center. A low powered solenoid operatively connected with the knee joint of the toggle, initiates collapse of the toggle and thereby enables the ball to be expelled from the pocket in the strike tongue by door opening force transmitted through the latch bolt onto the strike tongue.