[mguffey]

Currently reading a book called "The Book of Illusions" by Paul Auster. Now, Paul isn't a knowledgeable guy about guns. But he describes a situation in 1988 in which a safety on a small revolver of unspecified caliber prevented an accident. Now, safeties on revolvers exist on recent guns...

But,
back in '88, can anyone tell me if there was a small revolver with a safety manufactured and sold? (I'm inclined to believe there was not, but would like to know one way or the other.)

[10-Ring]

I'm guessing another bad case of poetic license going very very wrong :scrutiny: I doubt it too.

[rhedley]

Yes, S&W made a order up for the French Govt, I seem to recall.

And years back, there was a Gunsmith that offered a modification to a S&W as a safety on a revolver.

[telewinz]

I heard that also but I believe it was the Ruger Security Six in .357 Magnum. Also by "safety" might the author mean the transfer safety bar system that prevents the firing pin from striking the primer unless the trigger is pulled. That safety goes back over a century with Iver Johnson pistols.

[Kahr carrier]

:confused:

[Jim V]

Well, the English had some of their Enfield revolvers modified with cross bolt safeties. There were several small European revolvers with manual safeties, I believe NAA is making a revolver with the same type of safety.

In 1988 the Magna Trigger safety was a modification done on S&W revolvers where the shooter had to wear a special magnetic ring to get the revolver to fire.

[mguffey]

...for the fast response. So such a revolver could have existed, one which would keep the trigger from pulling or the hammer from being pulled back, but it would have been uncommon.

So, after the protagonist aims (what he believes to be an empty) gun at head, fails to pull trigger, lowers gun, sees safety, sees that it *is* loaded, the incident ends. He puts the gun in the freezer, which in context seems appropriate. But I would have used a Baggie. (I may yet try this.)

Alas, that is probably the only appearance of a firearm in this story. Auster the author is not known for gunplay and I was surprised at the inclusion of such a scenario for a ND.

By the way, a review is in progress for a firearms eBook some of you may have heard of on other forums. Page under construction at http://thearmedcitizen.com/gunpages/sota_cd.htm

[otomik]

paul auster is cool.

he is a noir fan, i think he might care to know something about guns. there is some guns and gunplay in his books, Leviathan had some, Music of Chance had some, Mr. Vertigo had some, City of Glass had some, a lot of his books have guns but he never talks about them in any detail like William Gibson or Ian Fleming have (of course they are much more detail oriented writers).

Auster spend a lot of time in france translating literature, maybe those french contract S&Ws influenced him.

[Jim K]

I suspect that, like almost all writers outside the gun field, he doesn't know a revolver from an auto pistol. Further, I take all such stories with a grain of salt until I know what the writer's agenda is. Is he recounting a story, telling a personal experience, campaigning for "safe guns", or what?

Jim

[jar]

IIRC the S&W Hongcong mod involved the cylinder release. If you turned it up it also locked the trigger.

[Otony]

Some of the small frame Webleys had a safety catch old boy!:D

[Tim Schlosser]

I had a European manufacture single action revolver with a safety once. It was a small lever to the left of the hammer that, when rotated, would block the frame mounted firing pin. Worked pretty well.

[Croyance]

A number of revolvers from the turn of the (last) century had grip safeties, IIRC.

[sixgun_symphony]

S&W made a "safety hammerless" revolver. I think it was produced in .32 S&W and .38 S&W chamberings.

http://www.rememuseum.org.uk/arms/pistols/armpr/arm290b.jpg

[telewinz]

It was a S&W Century also called a "lemon squeezer". It does have a grip safety and no outside hammer. They can still be gotten at gunstores and shows every once and a while. Based on the S&W 'J frame, made until the 50's or 60's(?).

[EJ]

Thunder five--

[Lone Star]

Sixgun Symphony-

That's the gun that Marguerite Krux (say, "Crew") (played by Rachel Blakely) carries on the syndicated TV series, "The Lost World". I've posted about it several times on this board. S&W New Departure Safety Hammerless. Her gunbelt is really nifty, too.

It has a GRIP safety, not a true safety, like some Webleys and the rare French contract S&W's. The French have used even more S&W's without that odd safety, which was on the right side of the frame. The pix I've seen suggest the French safety slid fore and aft.

"The Lost World" has just been cancelled, but re-runs run in many markets, and on TNT at 6:00AM CENTRAL time. There are some interesting vintage guns on that show, and Marguerite and Veronica (and Finn, in the last season) are easy on the male eye...

Lone Star

[4v50 Gary]

I don't believe it was the Webley (.38) that featured the manually operated (block type) safety but rather the Enfield break-top revolver. Moving it (from the left side of the frame to the right) allowed the hammer to be rotated back for firing.

[Johnny Guest]

There may well have been an Enfield model or two wiht a safety, but the most recent Webley I owned was one of the Asian police models--A variant of the Mk 3, with a square crossbolt, at extreme top rear of the frame, above the stocks. Operated just as you described.

Don't recall if this revo was from Shanghai or Singapore. Could have been Hong Kong, I guess, but I seem to recall "S. P. D." and a number.

This was a pretty classy little piece, actually--Had a decent factory blue job, unlike most of the Brit military .380s, which were usually painted black. Sold it to Elder Son's former roommate while short of dinero, and wish I had it back.

Best,
Johnny

[curt]

err otomik Ian Fleming didn't know diddly about guns despite his war experience. That may explain why he initially armed bond with a .25acp berreta before moving him up to the big leagues with a .32 acp PPK. Some armorer fellow wrote to him about this as i recall and suggested that he use a colt .38 which he did in Dr. No i believe. Fleming was so grateful that he incorporated the felllow into his stories, i forget how (and i've hijacked this thread enough anyhow).

[Lone Star]

Gary-

If you can produce documentation of an Enfield revolver with a safety, I'd like to see it. Neither the old .476 or the No. 2 series .38's had safeties. Certain Webleys did. Not only the Singapore police edition referred to by Johnny Guest did; some pocket models did.

Curt-

You are selling one of the finest, most authoritative gun writers short. You're thinking of Geoffrey Boothroyd, who was fictionalized as, "Major Boothroyd" and made "Armourer of the Secret Secret Service" in, "Dr. No". His gun books are among the best of their kind, and "The Handgun" should be read by everyone interested in handguns. It would help a lot of people to learn things rather basic before they have to ask some of the questions they do here and on other forums. I wish it was more widely available. I believe it's currently out of print.

By the way, the actor playing Boothroyd in the movie form of, "Dr. No" looks nothing like the real Scots TV script and gun scribe.

Lone Star