So you claim to have actually witnessed this? I read about it, as I'm sure most of us have.I saw a cop shoot his foot when the draw string "clamp" on his Nike jacket got in the trigger of his glock while holstering... I've worn similar jackets while at the range... That was one spooky deal when he shot himself...
It prevents the weapon from firing due to inertia when dropped on its rear from excessive heights. Simply put, its a drop safety. That's why Ruger added it to the SR9.
This is one of those stories I referred to, and why I will not wear any garment with drawstrings. But, this could probably have been avoided by paying attention. If any resistance is felt while holstering your gun, STOP. And where feasible, you should also look.I saw a cop shoot his foot when the draw string "clamp" on his Nike jacket got in the trigger of his glock while holstering...
It prevents the weapon from firing due to inertia when dropped on its rear from excessive heights. Simply put, its a drop safety. That's why Ruger added it to the SR9.
With the exeption of series 80 or newer Colts and a few of the other models out there that do have a firing pin block safety system.So you claim to have actually witnessed this? I read about it, as I'm sure most of us have.
This.
All the safety features of a Glock, they're only there to ensure the gun can never fire unless the trigger is pulled. No matter if any or every part in the gun failed simultaneously at rest, or if dropped from a cliff with at least the FP safety working, the gun would still not go off.
The safeties on your 1911 are there to prevent the gun from firing WHEN the trigger is pulled. Completely different purpose.
The Glock is a race horse that must be backed (not raced) into the stable. The safety is off whenever it's out of the holster. The safety is back on when it's properly returned to the holster. No holster? Leave the chamber empty. And before you let your dog play with it, you should teach him proper gun safety. Every time someone shoots themselves (or their bedroom wall) with a 1911 because of user error, do you blame the gun?
BTW, your favorite gun, the 1911, is one of very few currently produced centerfire handguns which has no firing pin safety, whatsoever.* It's also one of the only semiauto handguns in production with a hammer but no hammer block. As much as people love their frame mounted safety that goes down for fire, it doesn't block the freaking hammer. So what's left? The beavertail safety prevents the trigger from being pulled. Manual safety prevents the sear from moving. There's no block between the hammer and firing pin. And there's no block between the firing pin and the primer. This is like setting up a bunch of dominos and blocking the first two from falling, while leaving nothing between the last two dominos and the detonator. Mechanical failure and/or a drop can cause that last domino to fall. At least the user has control over a drawstring during reholstering.
*Some have a trigger or beavertail activated FP safety, but many - perhaps most - do not, including many of the $1000 and up semicustoms. The FP safety "ruins" the trigger pull.
The half cock notch is engaged by the sear... so if the sear fails, then the half cock notch isn't going to be very useful. See fmcdave's post #15. Notice that in the event of a sear failure, the beavertail safety, manual safety, and half cock notch are all bypassed. The gun fires without the trigger being pulled. Even if the beavertail safety hadn't been engaged that wouldn't have mattered (unless it had a Schwartz beavertail safety). And all the manual safety does is to lock the sear in place... so if the sear fails to securely engage, the manually safety doesn't necessarily solve the problem - and it only helps when it's on! One may drop or jar the gun while the manual safety is off!No one mentioned the half cock notch on a 1911. It is specifically there to prevent the hammer from falling in the event of a sear failure.
Quite possibly a typo here, but if your thumb slips off the hammer of a 1911 while in Condition 3 (or going to Condition 3) the pistol will not fire.GLOOB wrote,
I think the half cock notch's main purpose is to prevent the gun from going off if your thumb slips while cocking the hammer (for condition 3 carry).