Someone, take my safety - PLEASE!

[SmokinSigs357]

Hi. Official revolver guy here.

I'd argue modern revolvers are the safest guns out there, and don't have a manual or passive safety (yes, I'm aware there are exceptions like the S&Ws with grip safeties).

External safeties are all fine and dandy in certain applications, I suppose. I'd hate to carry a cocked and locked 1911 without one. However an external hammer is more my speed. If you touch off a double action revolver reholstering it, you were probably going to electrocute yourself making toast in the shower to save time tomorrow morning anyway.

Even old school non-drop safe revolvers are safe as mumsy's arms if you carry without one under the hammer. You can bang it around all day and with no round lined up with the firing pin, its not going off. Unlike a semi-auto, its still ready to go with the first trigger pull, though.

We live in a golden age of choice, though, plenty of options for any crowd.

Which is why so many carry DA/SA SIGs, Berettas, H&Ks...Dual-action revolver-like first pull, followed by Single action goodness with a magazine full of bad guy repellent...

 

[IndyBeerman]

I dislike manual safeties on defensive handguns. I not only dislike them because they're pointless (IMHO) but also because they can be dangerous to the operator.

Let me explain:

Someone take my safety, please! | The Bang Switch

Flame suit on.

Your opinion, that's the way you want to roll.

If my firearm is in my holster, my manual safety is off, that way if I have to pull and clear my holster, there is no worry about it being on and having to kick it off.

Before it goes back in the holster, safety is engauged, and once back in, it is kicked back off.

Too me it is an extra added layer of protection to prevent an accidental discharge from something odd gawfull going wrong and getting something caught in the trigger guard and hitting the bang switch.

 

[1911ly]

Can we just make it a FAQ and/or sticky and be done with it?

I would not mess with a guy that can bend the grip safety on his 1911, just sayin, gun may not be needed But seriously, I want to know more about this 870?????

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I have traded guns off because of them having a manual safety only. The only gun I own that has a manual safety is my 92FS. Which I don't even carry. I prefer hammer fired pistols equipped with a decocker. Unless it's a pocket pistol. Carry in a quality holster, and keep your finger outside the trigger guard until you are ready to fire. Most ND's happen because people are not safe or they are complacent. Besides, like anything mechanical, safeties can fail, and should not be relied on like some magic device. The best safety is in between your ears.

 

[cosermann]

...Gun with safety...opponent pulls trigger, no bang. You counter...

You then forget to disengage safety. He counters. You're dead.

(Also playing devil's advocate. )

Options for everyone's risk analysis. You pays your money, you takes your chances.

 

[blueboxer]

Personally, I like manual safeties on my gun for this reason: I like to have a high 1911 style grip. Holding a 1911, M&P, or CZ with my thumb up high on the safety just feels right.

Now on the issue of "safety-less" guns being easier to use when stress levels are high, and so forth. Yes, I agree that that is true. HOWEVER...all the other guns I use have manual safeties. AR's, shotguns, you name it. I have no problem forgetting to flick off the safeties on those guns, so I don't understand the big fuss about having to do so on a pistol. Especially when, as I do, my style of gripping the gun ensures the safety will be off. So I don't see the big deal about having to flick a manual safety off.

*I will say that I absolutely hate the safety on the Shield. IMO if you are going to have a manual safety, it should big and easy to actuate quickly. From my handling of the Shield, that isn't the case.

 

[88E30M50]

People are different. Not one person is exactly the same as any other, even if they are identical twins. The key thing is to get comfortable with your sidearm. Comfortable enough to be able to effectively use it if need be. For some, comfortable comes with a safety. For others, comfortable can only be had without a safety.

Carry what makes you comfortable and then practice, practice, practice. The question of having a safety is a moot point. It does not matter if there is a safety on your gun or not, as long as you practice enough to be competent with it. For years, I carried a 1911 in condition 1. Recently, I switched to a Glock 23 for daily carry. The switch had nothing to do with whether or not the gun had a safety, but was all about carrying what I shoot best. I still carry a 1911 from time to time, and still practice with it regularly. Find what works best for you and work on getting as good with it as you possibly can.

 

[koutsevil]

I think I have the safety argument figured out. I was talking guns with a guy at work, he needs a safety because he doesn't trust himself.

 

[Hookeye]

I always use the safety on a 1911/P35 and don't see what the big deal is.
It comes off as the gun comes up to the target.

Oh I might forget?

Haven't in 20+ yrs.

I could forget............and a lightning bolt out of the blue could smoke the badguy should I flub it. My guess is the odds of both happening are about the friggin' same.

 

[MilitaryArms]

The article isn't about the 1911.

 

[MilitaryArms]

I think I have the safety argument figured out. I was talking guns with a guy at work, he needs a safety because he doesn't trust himself.

That's what it boils down to, IMHO. Either a fear of your firearm or distrust in your own abilities drive the desire for a manual safety.

 

[88E30M50]

The article isn't about the 1911.

True, but it does discuss the usefulness of both the manual and grip safeties. Both of those are a hallmark of the 1911. Overall, I think it's pretty accurate when discussing the small safeties of a lot of modern pistols. A well designed thumb safety that allows a natural sweep to disengage is far different than a miniscule lever that can easily be missed.

The grip safety discussion does miss one point though. It makes the assumption that most NDs begin with a firing grip. In my opinion, the philosophy behind the grip safety is twofold. First, it requires a firing grip to shoot the gun. Second, it provides some level of drop safe protection in that the energy transferred when the pistol strikes the ground will almost always be opposed to the energy effecting the trigger. When dropped on the rear, the energy that might cause the trigger to move is the same energy that keeps the grip safety from disengaging. It's opposite when dropped on the rear.

The benefit of the grip safety is that a gun can be holstered with a three finger non-firing grip safer than a gun that does not have a grip safety. There are two recent NDs that would not have happened with a grip safety. The first is the issue of the gun that was adjusted in a worn holster and blew a hole in a car seat and door frame. The other is the father that adjusted his Glock that was not holstered but carried in his belt. That one killed the father with a shot to the thigh. Had he been carrying an XD, he would probably still be alive.

As you mentioned, the grip safety has downsides too. Sometimes a firing grip is not possible and in that case, the shooter would be SOL. Even with today's speed bumps, a firing grip is not guaranteed if you are struggling with someone or have taken damage to your hands.

I'm not bashing any single type of gun. I carry a Glock mostly but quite often carry a 1911. I am comfortable and practice with both. I think most any reliable gun can be effectively carried if the carrier practices until they are comfortable with their gun.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

The article isn't about the 1911.

So would you not consider a 1911 a defensive handgun?

I dislike manual safeties on defensive handguns. I not only dislike them because they're pointless (IMHO) but also because they can be dangerous to the operator.

The 1911 is also mentioned several times in the article, such as:

I personally own a 1911 that had the grip safety stop working thereby making it impossible to shoot until the part was replaced, so it can happen.

The XDs 9 (left) borrows the least useful feature of the 1911 (right) – the grip safety

and nowhere in the article does it exclude SAO's like the 1911. Perhaps you didn't mean to lump the 1911 in with your polymer pros, but I think you can understand how a reader would take it that you did.

 

[Rob377]

That's what it boils down to, IMHO. Either a fear of your firearm or distrust in your own abilities drive the desire for a manual safety.

One could say the same about the trigger safety, heavy 6#+ pull and firing pin safety in a Glock.

 

[ru44mag]

Typically a SA has a safety for obvious reasons, and DA often times does not. If a person prefers SA and that is what they shoot the best and the most often, then that is their defense handgun, even if an internet expert tells them it is dangerous and should not be used. I like SA best.

But can also shoot DA.

 

[richardraw316]

I myself thought i needed a safety. I sold my glock 22 because i had a trigger job done to it, and it was to light after that. i did not feel comfortable carrying it with a round in the chamber. i did not like me m&p45 because it did not have a safety. though the m&p had a 6 pound trigger that made me feel better about carrying it hot. i have come to the conclusion, its all in my head. i do not pull the trigger. i do not pull the trigger.
I now have an xd. i dry fired one time when i bought it. i have not pulled the trigger since. the problem lies in my imagination. for some reason i believe i am going to pull the trigger, even though i have not since buying the pistol.
For me and i will repeat that, for me, i would prefer no safety double action trigger pull at least on the first shot. if i have that, i feel easier about carrying one in the chamber. to me the exception to this rule is the 1911. not the grip safety, johns original design did not have it either. i have seen some 1911s with trigger so light, a stiff breeze would set them off. carrying cocked and locked. engage the safety.

side note: one thing i hate about this XD. the freakin grip safety must be depressed to rack the slide. this to me is just asking for a serious problem when my life, or someone elses life is on the line. very bad design. this will be something i will have to think on and decide if it bothers me enough to replace it.