Glock Safety
- Thread starter otasan56
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Hhmmm....I think Glocks are safe enough. I've had access to a few. Not too many cops/yr accidentally shoot themselves with their own service pistol. [Did know one that shot himself in the leg/foot 2X, but he was special.]--Patrice
Wanderling
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I am an engineer and part of my work requires being versed in industrial safety. The "safety is between the ears" argument is great; the "safety is only between the ears" argument (which Glock zealots love to repeat) is false and in my line of work will get you in trouble really fast.
Everybody, even the best trained and most experienced people, make mistakes.
Sometimes they get lucky and nothing happens.
Sometimes they make mistake and don't get lucky and then you have an AD/ND. Calling them "idiots" when there absolutely nothing in place to prevent the gun from firing if trigger is accidentally pulled on is wrong and counter productive. Yes, trigger is not supposed to be pulled accidentally; clothing is not supposed to get in the way; the gun is not supposed to get worked loose while in the car; but it happens. And a reasonable measure of safety is always better than no safety at all. Glock doesn't have a trigger safety - it has a device that prevents accidental discharges by other reasons.
I still bough Glock because I really like everything else about this gun. I installed an aftermarket Siderlock safety on it that's mounted on the trigger. It's very intuitive, easy to install with no gunsmithing experience, and because it's in a rather unorthodox location, it may stop someone from shooting you with your own gun. Now I heard people say that it defeats the purpose of safety being inside the trigger guard; not really. I will not deliberately place my finger inside the trigger guard unless I am ready to fire - at which point I will deliberately disengage the safety and place my finger on the trigger in one motion - and at all other times the safety is on and doesn't need to be touched.
Here's a photo of this device (the round pin on the trigger):
Everybody, even the best trained and most experienced people, make mistakes.
Sometimes they get lucky and nothing happens.
Sometimes they make mistake and don't get lucky and then you have an AD/ND. Calling them "idiots" when there absolutely nothing in place to prevent the gun from firing if trigger is accidentally pulled on is wrong and counter productive. Yes, trigger is not supposed to be pulled accidentally; clothing is not supposed to get in the way; the gun is not supposed to get worked loose while in the car; but it happens. And a reasonable measure of safety is always better than no safety at all. Glock doesn't have a trigger safety - it has a device that prevents accidental discharges by other reasons.
I still bough Glock because I really like everything else about this gun. I installed an aftermarket Siderlock safety on it that's mounted on the trigger. It's very intuitive, easy to install with no gunsmithing experience, and because it's in a rather unorthodox location, it may stop someone from shooting you with your own gun. Now I heard people say that it defeats the purpose of safety being inside the trigger guard; not really. I will not deliberately place my finger inside the trigger guard unless I am ready to fire - at which point I will deliberately disengage the safety and place my finger on the trigger in one motion - and at all other times the safety is on and doesn't need to be touched.
Here's a photo of this device (the round pin on the trigger):
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Glock's are as safe as any pistol on the market. The bottom line is every pistol is a tool and the operator has the responsibility of being safe with it.
Wanderling.
2. It's not ambidextrous.
3. No big deal to touch the trigger, then, because you only do it to when you're ready to fire? Well, good on you. How do you put it on?
And if you don't make a habit of regularly touching the trigger (when you don't actually want it to fire), how would you even know it's on? Most people verify the safety is on every time they handle, set down, or reholster a gun.
In reality, I don't think it's a huge deal to carefully and consciously touch the trigger when setting it. I am really not thrilled about developing the habit of touching the side of the trigger before shooting, though. That's a lot of invitations to Mr. Murphy if you practice a lot. I imagine a habit like that could be especially troublesome if you have any other guns with a really light trigger.
1. Tex Grebner's leg would probably disapprove of this safety.
2. It's not ambidextrous.
3. No big deal to touch the trigger, then, because you only do it to when you're ready to fire? Well, good on you. How do you put it on?
And if you don't make a habit of regularly touching the trigger (when you don't actually want it to fire), how would you even know it's on? Most people verify the safety is on every time they handle, set down, or reholster a gun.In reality, I don't think it's a huge deal to carefully and consciously touch the trigger when setting it. I am really not thrilled about developing the habit of touching the side of the trigger before shooting, though. That's a lot of invitations to Mr. Murphy if you practice a lot. I imagine a habit like that could be especially troublesome if you have any other guns with a really light trigger.
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I agree, that's part of being human. But when you start adding guards to prevent injuries from those mistakes, folks don't learn from them.
I have owned a glock for most of the nine years I've been shooting on a regular basis - and my only ND was with a 1911. On that note, never catch a falling pistol. I made a mistake, and I learned from it.
I disagree. In every industrial accident I've witnessed, I can tell you what brainfart the operator had - and I normally tell the trainees about them.
We just have two different mindsets about it since we come from different backgrounds. At one point in time, I would hang a chainsaw from my belt and climb a tree next to a powerline. Since folks had to think for themselves, I saw fewer injuries at that job than I did in any manufacturing job for the same length of time. In manufacturing, folks are too dependent on the safety devices and guards.
There is so much truth to this. If you look at the ND poll on this forum, only something like 4% of the NDs people fessed up to having could have been prevented by a manual safety. The rest of them, a manual safety would not have mattered one way or the other.
Adding an ineffective safey that prevents 4% of NDs might sound appealing to you, but I wonder how many additional NDs and failure-to-fire malfunctions occur from the added complexity.
If you look at those stats, removing the external hammer from your firearm will make it 4-5 times safer than adding a manual safety. The more stuff you add to the firearm is just more things to "play with." That's why Glocks are so safe. They're boring. So you put it in the holster and you leave it alone.
Even the best trained and experienced folks can make mistakes with any firearm, and a manual safety won't change the outcome in the vast majority of those blunders.
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robinkevin
Member
Can't believe this thread is still alive...
The only safety a Glock is missing is a heavier trigger. This problem is solved with NY1 and NY2 Triggers. Yes I am a revolver guy and prefer heavier triggers on carry pistols. A light trigger is great and fine on a target pistol, rifle or even hunting rifle so long as an external safety is present. But for self defense lets leave safeties out as they are a device that can fail. This goes both ways keeping the pistol from firing and allowing the pistol to fire, I think the fact that safeties can fail is one of the first lessons I was taught. A heavy trigger is nice on a defense pistol for those who have good trigger control and like them, some are fine with lighter triggers though I don't like them.
NOW to the topic on the thread... its a pin that you pull out... this requires both hands to be free whats the odds of always having both hands free? Sorry but it's a another device that can fail, no thank you.
The only safety a Glock is missing is a heavier trigger. This problem is solved with NY1 and NY2 Triggers. Yes I am a revolver guy and prefer heavier triggers on carry pistols. A light trigger is great and fine on a target pistol, rifle or even hunting rifle so long as an external safety is present. But for self defense lets leave safeties out as they are a device that can fail. This goes both ways keeping the pistol from firing and allowing the pistol to fire, I think the fact that safeties can fail is one of the first lessons I was taught. A heavy trigger is nice on a defense pistol for those who have good trigger control and like them, some are fine with lighter triggers though I don't like them.
NOW to the topic on the thread... its a pin that you pull out... this requires both hands to be free whats the odds of always having both hands free? Sorry but it's a another device that can fail, no thank you.
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