Quote:
Originally Posted by Ingramite
This is just me but I'd be a lot happier with the models 81 and 84 if they had a decocker.
I would still have my 84bb and would have bought an 81 if they had a decocker. No way would I carry one cocked and locked without a grip safety too, like a 1911.
I don't like letting the hammer down on a live round. I realize that it's a training issue for me but nonetheless.
I keep the bullet hole in my work bench to remind me to never buy another one of these pistols. The very next morning I traded in my 84bb on a Browning BDA .380 which is basically the same pistol with a decocker.
|
I've carried a lot of guns in Condition 1 that didn't have grip safeties - Hi Power (my primary auto), H&K USP, SIG P238, Tristar C100 (CZ75 Compact clone), Star BM. There are likely more that I have forgotten. Never had an issue.
I think the key safety test is to carry it
around your house unloaded but Condition 1 in your carry holster. If the hammer falls, the worst thing you get is a pinch. That said, I've never had a AD and the only time the safety even switched off was during a long road trip. My ambidextrous Hi Power safety switched off, and I noticed it later that night (I'm certain the outside facing safety rubbed against the car seat and switched off). It was a bit scary, but the fact is the holster did its job protecting the trigger and there was no issue.
As far as decocking the M81, I agree that I'd rather have a decocker. However, I'll add that the FEG PA63 my dad gave me would fire when I used the decocker. THANK GOD I figured that out while at the range and with the gun pointed down range. I took it apart and thoroughly cleaned the decocking mechanism and it seems fixed, but I can't say I'll ever trust that gun again, and these days I'm not all that enthusiastic about decockers.