Safety or Not?

[nlghthawk]

This is a rhetorical question as I made a video about my ideas on the matter. After 25 years owning guns and going through all of the phases, there are a lot of positions on this.

I do like it when people challenge my positions because it makes me consider if my position is appropriate on the topic.

I also mention other options other than Smith and Wesson. Enjoy!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpV1DNPKA1k[/ame]

 

[Tom S.]

You raise many valid points, especially for striker fired guns. Personally though, I do not like striker fired weapons to the point that I don't own any. I'm an old curmudgeon who bought into the cocked and locked 1911 many years ago. Besides the numerous reports of people being saved when someone who was successful in wresting away their firearm was unable to shoot them because of the safety being on, I also like the ability to re-cock the gun in the event of a misfire without having to re-rack the slide. I would put the ratio of rounds that fired when struck a second time to those who failed completely at around 80% or better.

 

[rwsmith]

For simplicity and for the sake.....

...of my family I got only DAO guns with no safety and I intend to use them for carry.

I have just discovered that I like a hammer fired SA/DA with a decocker and safety. I can shoot the better at 10 yards and beyond.

 

[Arik]

Not or indifferent.

If it doesn't need it then I don't buy it that way. They are all drop safe. Aside from that I'm not worried about shirts or strings or whatever. I lift my shirt up and holster the gun. That's it. Guns that have safeties but are not needed for function i just don't use. S&W 3rd gens, Beretta, some HKs. On those guns I just don't use the safeties.

To use safeties one must constantly train with using it. Most people don't. In a panic there is a great chance to forget.

The amount of people who shot themselves with a striker fired gun is less than the amount of times it's been re played

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Mulebuk Sam]

I do like it when people challenge my positions because it makes me consider if my position is appropriate on the topic.

Your position isn't any more wrong than those who see a safety as a detriment.

The biggest concern is that the gun manufactures are not forced into putting a safety on all their guns by people yelling and screaming for it out here in the gun community because they can't grasp how having a safety is another training aspect.

The late Jeff Cooper once said that it took roughly 3000 repetitions of anything to developed muscle memory reflex to where it would start to become natural. But that still does not take into account a panic or desperate situation where life and death are on the line.

I think the way S&W has played this out is the correct way, offering a choice without government interference.
And by Glock not caving into it I feel confident we will always be able to buy our guns without a manual safety on it.

Now that Glock is in the Federal police forces.

Bottom line you better be training with that safety. And it better be as natural to you and without a second thought if you ever have to draw your gun.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Everyone has their own thinking on these subjects... if it's kept you from unintentionally shooting yourself and others then good enough.

My general philosophy is that overthink is not a substitute for discipline. The guns I carry are all press and bang. Nothing to fiddle with, no substitutions for discipline. Has always worked for me.

As far as carry method... I pocket carry. Gun is holstered before it goes into the pocket. This eliminates all the fuss about catching it on clothing, drawstrings... on and on... which the vid is focused on eliminating.

 

[REM 3200]

Bottom line you better be training with that safety. And it better be as natural to you and without a second thought if you ever have to draw your gun.

I first shot a 1911A1 in 1946 and fell in love with it. I carried one for 26 years in the US Army as my assigned weapon and have shot one weekly since I retired in 1990. It is my carry pistol and nightstand gun. I hope I have the safety thing down pat by now.

 

[curtmini14]

1911 and bhps for me also cond 1.

 

[Mulebuk Sam]

I hope I have the safety thing down pat by now.

You won't really ever know will you until you have to defend yourself with it I suppose. But I should think so after that many years right, or you may be an even bigger dummy than I am.

 

[pharmer]

I've been carrying this in this condition for 22 years (that's the fourth holster though). First shot is not the most accurate but from 5 feet I can hit a 6" target every time. Joe

 

[walkin jack]

Regardless of which side of the "safety" fence you fall on I think we can all agree that the most important safety feature is your BRAIN. And in with the brain as a safety feature would fall TRAINING.

I carried Glocks for over 11 years with one in the chamber because I have confidence in them and spent untold hours training with them. Never a problem. A couple of years ago I went back to 1911s and had to spend some time getting back with the locked and cocked method. But before I have ever walked out the door with a fire arm I knew it backwards, forwards, innside out and upside down.

Whether a hot Glock or a locked and cocked 1911 only a fool would carry without being able to draw and fire with out having to stop and think about it. It should be like taking your next breath. That all takes time, practice and training.

How ever you carry you should be one with your gun, grasshopper. Now snatch this pebble from my hand....

 

[jbull380]

Training training training training with whatever you carry

 

[Lt JL]

I'm sort of indifferent about safeties. I do like hammer guns better, though. I like to ride that hammer with my thumb when reholstering. Too many years as a cop, I guess; can't look down when reholstering. DA/SA Sigs with decockers are my favorites, followed by 1911s. I like Glocks, shoot them well enough, but I don't trust them. I really wish we'd all go back to model 28s.

 

[REM 3200]

or you may be an even bigger dummy than I am.

Not sure I understand the last part of your post --- care to explain it.

 

[CS45Fan]

I have pistols with and without safeties. Most of my carry guns do not have a safety. My philosophy is a safety is one more think to remember in the heat of the moment. Just Keep you finger out of the trigger guard until you are ready to shot.

If your on the fence about a safety - buy a pistol with a safety and you have the option to engage the safety or leave it off.

 

[petepeterson]

My current set up is that everything I carry has a DA pull for the 1st rd. The 3rd Gen Smiths then differ from the revolvers and Kel-Tec after the first shot, but I don't have any safeties to worry about.
I do think we over think this a bit. I've considered going back to SA autos, mostly because I shoot them better. In reality, my Browning HP trigger is not much lighter than my GF's Glock 19 trigger, with or without a safety.

In the end, I'll probably stay with DA autos for self-defense, only because the safety factor outweighs the 1/2" or 1" I pick up in accuracy.

 

[JaPes]

Safety or not to safety is a personal preference. Personally unless employing a safety is essential to the design of the pistol (single action 1911), I choose not to employ a safety. I've recently chose to switch my carry pistol from a Glock 19 to a CZ 75D PCR. I find that the inherent features of a DA/SA hammer fire, decock only, pistol fits me better. The reasons are all outlined in the video below:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP8F_cwotM8[/ame]

 

[ContinentalOp]

Obviously, everyone has different views/preferences when it comes to safeties on guns.

My own personal preference is for no manual/grip safeties, but with a long and/or heavier trigger pull, for a self-defense gun. There's less of a chance for something to go wrong if I'm forced to use the gun in self defense. I've owned 1911s and have never failed to take the standard Colt thumb and grip safeties off during the draw, but I've never had to do that while someone was trying to kill me. I also like the safety hedge that a longer and/or heavier trigger pull offers.

I also like guns with external hammers, again for that little extra margin for error in terms of holstering safety. Like many people, I was taught to ride the hammer with my thumb when holstering. I don't consider it essential, though, particularly if I have the longer/heavier trigger pull. I carry a 642, though I admit I would love to get a Bodyguard J-frame not because it has the option for SA but because I can ride the hammer with my thumb while holstering. That's something I can't do on the 642.

The most important thing, though, is safe gun handling regardless of whether or not your gun has a manual safety. I like having those extra little safety features (long/heavy trigger, external hammer, etc.), but I wouldn't rule out using a Glock, Kahr, or similar type of gun simply because it doesn't have those features.