brentfoto said:
You have violated basic firearm safety laws.
I don't understand the logic behind this HATRED (irrational logic and emotion) to something so logical as a mag release safety. Had OP had one this thread would've been non-existent.
This is only one instance of where a mag safety release could've saved the day. Only one...
Is it forseeable that a person might drop the mag without pulling the slide back? I think so... I'm not certain but reasonably sure there are many mishaps with those semi-autos that DO NOT have such a safety.
Allow me to do the honors, since it seems as if no one has elaborated on this. First of all, let me state plainly that safety is between your ears. Mechanical safeties, regardless of what kind, CAN fail. That is why we exercise great caution, and never violate the rules even if the safety is "on."
That said, magazine release safeties are absolutely horrible for a trained person. There's just really no way around that. If you have an ND (that shouldn't have happened in the first place), and you were following the four rules, no one will be hurt.
But if you're doing a tactical reload in a hostile situation, and you need to fire your weapon in the middle of the reload (the BG's friend comes around the corner, the BG you shot is not actually incapacitated, whatever the case may be), the last round you have (the one in the chamber) is now a dud with a magazine disconnect safety. Essentially, magazine disconnect safeties make you completely defenseless when you're performing a tactical reload, even though you have a round in the chamber.
Or, suppose that while you're drawing, you somehow accidentally hit the magazine release button, or something else causes the magazine to fall out, or you didn't seat the magazine properly the first time before you left the house, and you need to fire your weapon. And you don't get a bang, because even though that mag looks seated, it's not. I don't care how fast you can clear your malfunctions, but I guarantee you that I can pull the trigger once faster than you can pull the trigger, clear the malfunction, and pull the trigger again.
In short, magazine disconnect safeties, while "beneficial" for a great many a moron, are not good if you need to fire your last, chambered, round for whatever reason. And again, ND's, should they happen (and they really shouldn't), will not harm anyone if your weapon is pointed in a safe direction, and you treat it as if it's loaded, so on.
So far as avoiding ND's go, the best piece of advice I can give is, "you are ALWAYS a newb." Consciously go over the safety rules, and consciously do your chamber checks, mag checks, and feel both the chamber and the magazine. If you plan on cleaning or dry practicing, check multiple times. ALWAYS THINK ABOUT IT, just as if you were just starting out as a new shooter.
The problem that arises is that people who are "experienced," ten, twenty, fifty years, get the notion that they are experienced. Safety checks slowly become "automatic," and sometimes, rules and procedures are skipped. But no matter how long you have been shooting, safety checks should NEVER be automatic, as pulling the trigger should never be automatic. You should always CONSCIOUSLY do these things, and never think that because you are experienced, you won't make mistakes, or you are safe.
Be safe, be safe, be safe. Check the weapon again and again, and think about it, feel it, as you hopefully did when you were first trained to handle firearms. And you won't get an ND.
