Safety catches, do you use yours?

[jeremy1391]

safeties on firearms are a good thing, especially if you have on gear and are carrying with one in the chamber. i know a guy didnt have the safety on his M4 engaged it snagged his gear and BAM negligent discharge into his buddies foot, his friend suffered nerve damage and cant feel any of his toes on that foot anymore. now if his safety were on the chances of this happening would have dropped to almost never possible.

 

[ArmedBear]

1 link less is 1 less to fail?

Well, I guess if you don't ever use the safety, it will never fail. Of course, that makes no sense whatsoever.

That's why you DO use it, but you don't RELY on it as if it can never fail.

 

[aquapong]

 

[zemio]

Thanks for the posts, team, interesting reading. I liked the movie BHD too. Just out of curiosity, did anyone find that chap in the chow line's argument "this is my safety!" a fair and reasonable explanation for why he was carrying a loaded assault rifle in a base canteen? Amazing looking pigs tho! Hunting pigs with dogs and a knife is a popular pastime here, but I'm not sure I would want to duke it out with one of those...

 

[Rexster]

Browning BLR - I carry chambered, and use the half-cock position, with the hammer spur folded forward, a truly good safety system, IMHO. The act of placing the hammer to full-cock unfolds the spur to firing position, so it works the same way as a traditional lever rifle's half-cock feature; no separate motion required.

Marlin lever rifle, with crossbolt safety: I loathe this type of safety, or more precisely, its location, and don't use it, except as an unloading aid. In brushy country, this type of safety can be bumped, changing the position of the safety. I may eventually get the kits that replace these safeties with a dummy screw.

Ruger No. 1 - I use the tang-mounted safety, round chambered, but since this safety does not, mechanically, do as much to prevent a round from being fired, I trust if less, and am more likely to have the chamber empty when moving. It depends on how rough/cluttered the terrain.

Winchester Model 70 - This is an excellent, ergonomic safety, that disconnects the firing mechanism. I trust this safety more than any other, equivalent to the 98 Mauser, anyway, and have no problem keeping a round chambered when moving. Dropping the weapon, or a blow to any part of the weapon, cannot cause it to fire. A derivative of the Mauser 98 design, these weapons had to be safe for soldiers to carry chambered while in battle.

Ruger Mini-14 - I am a lefty, and love this safety system. I have no problem with keeping a round chambered while moving.

AR15 - I hate this safety. It is ready to fire, with the "dingus*" down. I trained myself for two decades that when a safety lever is pointed downward, the weapon is on-safe, which is true of pistols I used in the past. Then, I take up the AR15 system, and find a safety that is ready to fire when the lever is vertically downward. While the MOTION of off-safe-ing an AR15 is natural enough, the vertical lever can cause me a crisis of confidence, no matter how much I train. One time I did a dynamic entry with an AR15, and this crisis of confidence surfaced. I don't plan to ever do so again. I have elected myself to be the shotgun guy, or the boltcutter/prybar guy, for the rare occasions I have to do this stuff. (Our SWAT team does most dynamic entries; we patrolman only do this if death or injury is imminent for people within.)

Remington 870 - I prefer to unlock the action, and keep it slightly open, or empty the chamber, rather than trust the safety. I won't trust a mere crossbolt. There are times I will RUN while carrying with a round half-chambered, and the action partly open, because I use a couple of these weapons on police patrol. When I have to really pour on the speed, I will grip the forend and barrel together, hard, with the chamber halfway open. When the guns ride in a vehicle, or are slung, the chamber is empty.

*Col. Jeff Cooper's term for a slide-mounted safety lever typical of the Beretta M9/M92 and S&W 1st-3rd Generation autopistols.

 

[moooose102]

i almost always carry my gun(s) loaded, with one in the chamber, with the safety in the safe position. the exception to that rule, is with my lever action rifles. they allow me to half cock them, and that is what i do, on those, i do not use the safety.

 

[Rexster]

Regarding the BHD scene, Paul Howe, a REAL Delta Operator who LIVED the battle portrayed in BHD, advocates USING the AR15's safety. (Don't take my word for it; read his stuff.) Do not mistake screenwriting for reality, folks! Moving through brush can cause a trigger to be pulled, and any number of other things can possibly strike or push a trigger.

My DA pistols are safe enough if my finger (and brain) constitute the safety, but they generally ride in holsters with covered trigger guards, or are in my "workspace" in front of my face, where hazards can be monitored. If I have to push through brush with a pistol in my hands, I can use index fingers along both sides of the triggerguard to shield the trigger, or the trigger finger on one side, and my body on the other.

 

[Boba Fett]

There ya go.


But that doesn't mean I don't also use the weapon safeties as well.

I trust the safeties on my rifles, BUT I also follow the four rules.

Used in conjunction, I have no need to fear a loaded chamber.

 

[Smith357]

In the field when either sitting or stalking I have one on in chamber and use the safety. I also make it claer to all i hunt with when I'm loaded and that the safety is engauged, i also make it clear to all when I have unloaded and the rifle and it is clear. On the range I do not walk around with the gun loaded and do not use the safety.

 

[rust collector]

I was taught to use a safety, but not to rely upon it. This has worked very well for me. On the target range, we have the luxury of keeping the bolt open until we're in position. Not so when hunting.

If you keep the bolt handle raised or the bolt or slide slightly out of battery, you may be relying on another mechanical device, the disconnector, to prevent unwanted discharge. A fall can close the action and derail this plan, so I think danger arises from not appreciating the danger.

I teach the kids to assume the worst, but use every advantage. Don't load until you are in the field. Keep the safety on but don't rely on it. Fire only when target is IDed and the foreground and background are known to be safe. Finger protects trigger in the meanwhile, but muzzle always pointed in a safe direction until it's firing time.

Why do you think firearms are designed with safeties if they are useless?

 

[double bogey]

I won't hunt around someone who doesn't use the safety.

 

[Tim the student]

my thinking being that a safety catch prevents a fully loaded and cocked weapon from firing by mechanical interference

Isn't that the point of them?

The 4 rules should take care of them, but sometimes the rules get broken. A safety is one more thing that may help if the safety between your ears is ever broken.

When I hunt, I always carry with one in the pipe, safety on. If you train with a safety, it is no more of an issue than learning how to properly pull a trigger.

When I was in Iraq, the safety was always on, unless I was actively shooting. Even going through doors.

Not doing so would get you ostracized, if not slapped up side the head in the circles I have run with my whole life.

Yep.

but as my driving instructor said 'A good driver can often salvage a bad situation, but a better one would never have let it develop in the 1st place.'

OK, sure. But what about when some drunk monkey runs a red light and T-bones you? You can prevent most things, but not all. Does he wear a seatbelt? Surely not, since he would never let himself get into a bad situation.

I won't hunt around someone who doesn't use the safety.

Indeed.

 

[sumpnz]

I carry with a full mag but an empty chamber when I know there's no chance of needing to make a snapshot (i.e. it's dark, I've already shot my animal, hiking through an area known not to have the game of interest, in the truck (mag unloaded here), etc). Once I'm in a situation where it's possible to encounter game and legal to shoot it I chamber a round and engage the safety. If I'm going to cross a fence line, I'll unchamber if alone. Otherwise if there's someone else there, one crosses without their gun, and then all guns for the party are handed over and then the rest of the party crosses and gets their still chambered, safety'd gun back.

It's not that hard to train to disengage the safety while shouldering the rifle. The last elk I shot I honestly cannot remember how or when I set the safety to fire. The deer I shot this year I think I know when I did that, but I'm not positive (soon as I saw the horns and was in the process of shouldering the rifle). And that came from just a handful of range trips and hunting trips. It was not intentionally drilled in.