Are Manual Safeties on Striker Fired Handguns Heresy??

So would 1911 or S&W leg, etc, be any different than a Glock leg when the magical safety fails to stay set in the holster, or possibly never was reset in the first place prior to reholstering?

Seems people still want to blame anything but themselves for things when they go bad. If your gun is going off just sitting in its holster, youre a cheap ****! Dont buy or use crap gear, you need a proper holster.

trackskippy said:

So would 1911 or S&W leg, etc, be any different than a Glock leg when the magical safety fails to stay set in the holster, or possibly never was reset in the first place prior to reholstering?

Seems people still want to blame anything but themselves for things when they go bad. If your gun is going off just sitting in its holster, youre a cheap ****! Dont buy or use crap gear, you need a proper holster.

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of course not. A safety should be very positive. No way is the safety coming on with a Shield. My Ruger LC9S has a nice positive click, also. I had an SR9 that had a good safety. The M&P’s other than the Shield are a bit too easy to manipulate, but I don’t carry any of those other than at the range so it’s a non issue for me. I also hate double sided safeties. I don’t need or want a safety lever on the right side of the gun. In these days of gun modularity, we should be able to swap out the side of the safety lever or at the very least remove the side we don’t want or need. I can’t figure out how with all the other aftermarket parts, most of them unnecessary and cosmetic only, that a safety lever isn’t offered. We can put in 2 pound speed triggers and not offer an aftermarket lever?

But it does kind of negate the whole my holster is my safety argument. Sure, they mostly do that job well, but not always.

trackskippy said:

So would 1911 or S&W leg, etc, be any different than a Glock leg

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Has '1911 or S&W leg' happened enough to earn the term/phrase?

What we really need is a biometric fingerprint reader on the trigger face! Programmed to your strong hand trigger finger. (extra license required for weak hand finger.). Maybe also a trigger that requires two pulls to shoot one round. That way if you accidentally pull the trigger, no harm will be done. How about a little hologram pop up window at the rear sight asking “are you sure you want to delete this object?” More safeties are better so let’s do this right. All of the above is total sarcasm btw.

danez71 said:

Has '1911 or S&W leg' happened enough to earn the term/phrase?

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Go back in time and look. Its been going on since man has carried firearms. Glock leg is just popular these days, and usually heard from people who dont like Glocks. If you want to see a current 1911 version, go on you tube and look up Tex shooting himself in the ass with his.


The holster isnt the safety, its a means to carry the gun. If you use a proper holster, the gun is theoretically safer, but nothing is a 100%. Same goes for a manual safety for that matter. Buy crap gear, and/or dont properly maintain it, or replace it as needed, and you will have problems.

I used to find the safety on my 1911's off on a pretty regular basis when carrying them. The safeties were stock parts, not faulty, or ambi, required a bit of effort to get them off, and yet they were still quite often off at the end of the day. Ive also carried them and other guns in both leather and kydex holsters, and leather is much more prone to be an issue to having problems in this respect, especially if its used daily and hard in general.

Look, this is always going to be a people issue, not a weapons or gear issue. If you cant bother to take the time to properly learn to use what you use, and learn to use them safely and proficiently, buy and use proper gear, and maintain it, youre likely to have some problems down the road, and anything that follows, is all on you.

trackskippy said:

Go back in time and look. Its been going on since man has carried firearms. Glock leg is just popular these days, and usually heard from people who dont like Glocks. If you want to see a current 1911 version, go on you tube and look up Tex shooting himself in the ass with his.

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In the dozen or so years I've been on gun specific forums, I dont recall people using the term 1911 leg or S&W leg.

I'm sure it happens but just don't see the phrase used. If it was used as frequently, seems logical that I'd stumble upon it with the same frequency. But I haven't.

Homerboy said:

My Ruger LC9S has a nice positive click, also. I had an SR9 that had a good safety.

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I've carried both extensively in very high quality holsters. I've found the safeties off on both numerous times. It happens. As others said, train with that safety every single time you practice your draw. I don't have "Ruger Leg" because the chain of firearm disciplines was not broken.

Glock leg is popular because its the thing these days, especially with those who aren't Glock fans. Do you really think this has never happened in the past until Glock showed up?

If you have tender ears, you may want to lower the sound.



It happens with everything, and in every instance, the gun did what the gun was supposed to do, even if the person using it, thought otherwise.

trackskippy said:

Do you really think this has never happened in the past until Glock showed up?

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No one said otherwise and in fact, I said

danez71 said:

I'm sure it happens but just don't see the phrase used.

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So whats the problem then?

40 years ago, the revolver boys would have been calling it 1911 leg.

Glock is the popular brand to whine about these days.

trackskippy said:

So whats the problem then?

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You tell me. Your comment seemed to be countering something that was never said in this thread.

I was simply trying to answer your question.

trackskippy said:

So whats the problem then?

40 years ago, the revolver boys would have been calling it 1911 leg.

Glock is the popular brand to whine about these days.

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I don't remember ever hearing the term "1911 leg" but I do remember the term "Glock leg" arising in the 1980s after Gaston's creations were brought to the US.

trackskippy said:

Glock leg is popular because its the thing these days, especially with those who aren't Glock fans. Do you really think this has never happened in the past until Glock showed up?

If you have tender ears, you may want to lower the sound.



It happens with everything, and in every instance, the gun did what the gun was supposed to do, even if the person using it, thought otherwise.

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You seem kind of triggered.

I own many Glocks, but the fact is there are a crap ton if videos out there with them AD/NDing with keys, drawstrings, pressure, etc.

Not the same as ol Tex getting carried away with his trigger finger.

For the record, I don't own a single striker fired handgun with a safety.

Not triggered at all. Simply stating that it can, does, and has happened with all of them, and its not an issue with the gun. Any of them.

Well you've all gone and done it, I'm gonna take my DA/SA out of my holster and put a gun with a proper safety in it instead.

And it's all this thread.

It has nothing to do with the fact I haven't shot my EDC X9 in a good while and just plum forgot how much I love that thing.

Nope, internet thread

trackskippy said:

Glock leg is popular because its the thing these days, especially with those who aren't Glock fans. Do you really think this has never happened in the past until Glock showed up?

If you have tender ears, you may want to lower the sound.



It happens with everything, and in every instance, the gun did what the gun was supposed to do, even if the person using it, thought otherwise.

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That’s a perfect example of some
Clown who has had lots of “training” and is still an unsafe fool. My
Favorite part of that video is when the idiot said “I reverted to my training and called my mother”.
Another highly trained clown who shouldn’t be trusted to use a spork walking around with a loaded gun.

The fact that he even posted that video says a lot. He never realized it would make him into an Internet joke.

I'm at the mid point of my seventh decade. My first experience with the 1911A1 was at MCRD Parris Island SC in the Summer of 1964. Being Left-Handed, you soon learn to be semi amberdictrous. As this is written I have Glock Gen 3 and S&W MP9 semiautomatic pistols. All are without the provision of a thumb activated safety lever. We also have examples of the 1911 series pistols with the amberdictrous thumb safety lever. I have a preference for the striker fired pistols with out the thumb safety lever. Preferences each to their own applies.

Homerboy said:

That’s a perfect example of some
Clown who has had lots of “training” and is still an unsafe fool. My
Favorite part of that video is when the idiot said “I reverted to my training and called my mother”.
Another highly trained clown who shouldn’t be trusted to use a spork walking around with a loaded gun.

The fact that he even posted that video says a lot. He never realized it would make him into an Internet joke.

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He is a clown. Cant say how much if any training hes actually had.

Also a perfect example as to why you put in constant and ongoing positive practice with "everything" you plan on shooting, using, etc.

Looks like he did get that safety off though. Needs some work on that trigger finger.

gc70 said:

I don't remember ever hearing the term "1911 leg" but I do remember the term "Glock leg" arising in the 1980s after Gaston's creations were brought to the US.

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You do realize that just about every other gun manufacturer has come out with striker fire pistols to compete against Glock in the gun market. So there have been several self inflicted gunshots over the years with many other guns. I think it’s just that Glock leg just sounds better then using another company name. But no matter what gun someone shoots themself with, 99.99% of the time it’s the shooters fault, not the gun.
I remember when the wonder 9s were hitting the market in the 80s. There were a lot of hammer fired guns that people were having NDs. This was most often with guns that had decockers. For some reason people just didn’t like to see that hammer fall so, they would try to pull the trigger and use their thumb to lower the hammer. Lots a ND. But no one came up with a silly name for it.
But this topic is not about people shooting them selves. It about manual safeties on striker fire guns. Most often it’s a person that likes a manual safety on a striker fire guns that will come up with all kinds of reasons that the manual safety is needed. When someone debunks one of his reasons or just points out how far fetched some of these reasons are, they start to argue.
Now for the ones that like striker fire guns without a manual safety, most of them will tell you that it’s up to the person to decide. And that a person should use what he, or she is most comfortable and confident with. Pretty much there is no argument other then people trying to push their beliefs and views on others. Or to justify their decision.
Like I’ve said before, it’s up to you to decide what is best for you.

GunnyUSMC said:

You do realize that just about every other gun manufacturer has come out with striker fire pistols to compete against Glock in the gun market. So there have been several self inflicted gunshots over the years with many other guns. I think it’s just that Glock leg just sounds better then using another company name. But no matter what gun someone shoots themself with, 99.99% of the time it’s the shooters fault, not the gun.
I remember when the wonder 9s were hitting the market in the 80s. There were a lot of hammer fired guns that people were having NDs. This was most often with guns that had decockers. For some reason people just didn’t like to see that hammer fall so, they would try to pull the trigger and use their thumb to lower the hammer. Lots a ND. But no one came up with a silly name for it.
But this topic is not about people shooting them selves. It about manual safeties on striker fire guns. Most often it’s a person that likes a manual safety on a striker fire guns that will come up with all kinds of reasons that the manual safety is needed. When someone debunks one of his reasons or just points out how far fetched some of these reasons are, they start to argue.
Now for the ones that like striker fire guns without a manual safety, most of them will tell you that it’s up to the person to decide. And that a person should use what he, or she is most comfortable and confident with. Pretty much there is no argument other then people trying to push their beliefs and views on others. Or to justify their decision.
Like I’ve said before, it’s up to you to decide what is best for you.

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Yes, folks have inflicted wounds on themselves with every kind of gun. The term "Glock leg" does not reflect jealousy or hatred of the brand; Glocks were simply in the right place at the right time to get pinned with the term.

As to manual safeties on striker-fired guns, people should do what they think is necessary to be safe. However, I cannot see the mechanism used to strike a primer -whether hammer or striker- as being particularly relevant with regard to safe pistol handling.

gc70 said:

Yes, folks have inflicted wounds on themselves with every kind of gun. The term "Glock leg" does not reflect jealousy or hatred of the brand; Glocks were simply in the right place at the right time to get pinned with the term.

As to manual safeties on striker-fired guns, people should do what they think is necessary to be safe. However, I cannot see the mechanism used to strike a primer -whether hammer or striker- as being particularly relevant with regard to safe pistol handling.

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Truth, and it's not like the earliest strikers didn't have safeties.

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But of course people are referring to modern 5.5ish lb partially cocked triggers in many common plastic guns. Frankly there are hammer guns like the Sig DAK and HK LEM that would be just as susceptible to the same "Glock Leg" syndrome if handled without care, yet they get a pass in the accusations of unsafe gun designs.

I've seen this same argumentative discussion on many other forums. It's kinda like arguing about religion and politics...we all have our point of view and it probably isn't going to change or change others because of an internet discussion. As @GunnyUSMC and others have stated...carry your firearm in a way that you're comfortable carrying it. However you carry it ...train on it repititously until it's second nature.