"Magazine Safety": Good Idea or Tool of the Devil?

[coop923]

I've been trying to decide on a compact polymer-type auto for some time now and one consideration that has come up is that of "magazine safety" vs. no "magazine safety", and I was curious what THR members thought and their experiences and/or reasons.

 

[REAPER4206969]

I hate mag disconnects with a fiery passion and will not have them on a serious use weapon. They are now required on all newly submitted pistols in your state BTW.

 

[Ben86]

I find them to be an insult to my intelligence, tactically unsound and sometimes they interfere with the quality of the trigger pull.

I accidentally bought one with a S&W M&P9C a while back and the darn thing not only made the trigger a little grittier, but would keep the gun's sear deactivation lever from "activating" properly once a magazine was re-inserted. They are a solution looking for a problem IMO, completely unnecessary for the responsible gun owner.

There are plenty of great guns that don't have them by the way.

 

[highorder]

As a non-LEO, I don't see much use for a mag safety.
Most of them interfere with trigger pull. That's bad.

For cops? Another useful tool during a struggle for your sidearm, perhaps...

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

You didn't have an option for "I don't care" so I went with the third option. I've owned S&W metal frame pistols as well as a Beretta 86 that had mag safeties, and other than having to insert a magazine (empty, of course) to dry fire them, the operation of the rest of the gun is completely unaffected. It is a benign feature that neither helps nor hurts. Some mag safeties do affect trigger pull, notably the Browning Hi-Power.

 

[CajunBass]

I'm in the "I don't care" camp too.

 

[x_wrench]

i have not shot a pistol with one, so i can not comment on how they shoot. i do not like the idea. and, i do not like the idea that it is another peice of @#$%^ that the anti's can shove down our throats if they can not keep us from owning firearms. personally, i think we should round up all the anti-gun people, and ship them to a dictatorship, and see how they like that way of life.

 

[highorder]

Easy there.

We're just talking about a mechanical feature.

 

[bartman06]

I don't like them but i bought a Ruger that has one.

 

[pingpingping]

I did the unthinkable and removed mine from my m&p. *gasp* For whose safety do they exist?

 

[clutch]

Tactically they could have some use as in if you are fighting for your gun, dumping the mag would render in inoperable.

Having said that, if I ever need to reload, I'd like to be able to swap mags and still have the firearm capable of firing during the reload.

Most of my pistols do not have mag safeties and it is just a matter of time before I fix the one that does.

Clutch

 

[Wishoot]

I have guns with and without. Frankly, I don't really care if a gun has a mag safety. As long as I can shoot it well, I'm good to go.

 

[KIX]

With regard to Clutch and disabling my safety....

I thought about doing that to my CC gun, but...... in my state, if I ever needed to defend myself and I modified that safety, I'd be in deep doo doo.

CT isn't the most friendly state with regards to second amendments rights.

Jonathan

 

[Old Fuff]

Personally I don't like them. They're intended purpose is to prevent someone from ejecting a cartridge, chambering a new round, and then removing the magazine and pulling the trigger with a predictable result. Also you can leave the chamber loaded but remove the magazine, and the pistol is secured against an unexpected discharge.

In some large law enforcement organizations and military services with mixed levels of training and experience this feature may have merit. In circumstances where the individual user is trained they are unnecessary, and prevent one from shooting the last round in the chamber if the magazine has been removed - even if they want or need to.

I count myself among this latter group.

 

[Hangingrock]

I have a S&W 4506 and a M&P9 both with magazine safeties. I have no problematic issues with either. They allow me the convenience of having a round chambered and with the magazine removed are rendered safe for residential storange.

 

[1911Tuner]

Depends a lot on who you ask.

Personally, I don't like'em but I can live with'em. For the cops who were able to "Pop the Clip" during a hand-to-hand struggle...just before losing their pistol...they've been lifesavers.

 

[Deanimator]

Utterly useless to me.

If somebody tries to snatch my gun, my plan isn't to dump the magazine, it's to shoot them.

When I bought a Browning Hi Power in the '80s, the first thing to go was the magazine safety. It improved the trigger 100%.

 

[Rocketmedic]

I wholeheartedly support them. I feel that my personal weapons, although I know them, may one day be manipulated by someone without that training or familiarity with my weapon. A magazine safety is reasonably unobtrusive and doesn't affect use of the weapon, while it potentially saves lives. I can pop a magazine out should I fight for it in a home-invasion scenario and render the weapon inoperable, and should a child or unresponsible adult open the case and handload a round, it still will not go off.

Miniscule benefits in trigger pull and accuracy, to me, are not worth the loss of the mag safety.

 

[joe_security]

My '75 BHP still has it. I dont use the gun for anything but the range so its no problem. I often wonder how much better that trigger could be without it. I could see someone with kids pulling the mag and feeling better about it. There are storys about Illinois State Troopers dropping the mags at the last second, right before someone disarmed them (S&W model 39/439 back in the old days before Glocks).

 

[bigfatdave]

If somebody tries to snatch my gun, my plan isn't to dump the magazine, it's to shoot them.

Damn right. Someone taking your gun isn't a time to go to fisticuffs, that's the time to utilize the felon repulsion switch, you'll find it under the gun in a little lopy thing, pull rearward when the shooty opening in front of the gun is pointing at the person trying to take the gun.

For the love of FSM, someone trying to take your gun is grabbing the slide while you have a freaking pistol grip in your hand ... who has a better handle? It isn't a tug-of-war, pull back, if the violent felon doesn't let go the slide will be in battery as you pull back and your finger will have little difficulty moving the trigger rearward.

The magazine INTERLOCK (it is NOT a safety, no matter what some mouth-breathing marketing clown or politician says) is a useless gadget trying to substitute for inability to follow the 4 rules. I avoid them, or delete them as possible ... only one left and it is in a plinker, I'm looking into just permanently fixing the mag-sensing device into the "mag in" position.

For the "unauthorized access" worry, just put a damn cable lock through or take the slide off. Don't add hardware to a simple device designed to go "bang" on demand that might cause it to NOT go "bang".

 

[rondog]

I'd never really thought about it, my 1911's don't have that. If there's a round in the chamber, they'll fire it.

I suppose it's OK for most people and uses, it certainly prevents a lot of accidents for sure. I was at a party once where one friend shot another friend in the leg with a .25 that had just been "unloaded", by ejecting the round first and pulling the mag second. A mag safety would have prevented that.

And the ability to eject the mag and make the gun inoperable during a wrestling match for it sure sounds like a good idea for cops. I'd never thought of it that way.

But I could sure see a lot of reasons for NOT having that feature too.

 

[EddieNFL]

Mag safeties, firing pin safeties, trigger locks, safety rounds, smart guns, propellant tags, ammunition coding...

All belong in the Charlie Foxtrot file.

 

[2ndamd]

I did not know if I should vote for choice #1 or choice #4. I am voted for #4 but, I like #1 as well.

Mag safeties suck and I absolutely hate 'em. But, they can be an option for those that want them. Just do NOT mandate them on me.

 

[Tomcat47]

^^^^^^^^^ what he said ! ^^^^^^^^^:d

 

[Hanzo581]

Doesn't really bother me, having one or not would not be a determining factor to whether or not I buy a particular gun.