Starts talking about his own custom 1911
“First of all, the feeding ramp is polished to a mirror sheen. It’s not going to have any feeding problems. The slide’s been replaced with a reinforced version, and it meshes perfectly with the frame. The frame itself has been iron-welded and scraped down multiple times for maximum precision. The front strap part of the frame has been checkered to make it dig into the hand. That prevents any slipping. The sight system’s original too. It’s a 3-dot type. It’s got an enlarged front sight, giving it superior target sighting capability. The regular hammer’s been replaced with a ring hammer. That enhances the cocking control and increases the hammer-down speed. They also reworked the grip safety to accommodate the ring hammer. It looks like they eliminated it altogether. This is a tool for pros. The thumb safety and slide stop are extended for precise handling. The base of the trigger guard is whittled down so you can use a high grip, and the trigger itself is a long type for easy finger access. The trigger pull is about 3.5 pounds. that’s about a pound and a half lighter than normal. The magazine well has been widened to make it easier to put in a new magazine. The magazine catch button has been filed down low to make it harder to hit it by mistake. The mainspring housing has been changed to a flat type to increase grip, and it’s even been fitted with stepping so that it won’t slip from the recoil when firing. On top of that, they added cocking serrations to the top part of the slide. That lets you load and eject cartridges faster in an emergency. Whoever did this is a professional, no question. This thing could shoot a one-hole at 25 yards in a machine rest.”
I am generally against safeties on pistols because they should stay holstered if you’re carrying them, and the holster acts as the safety by blocking access to the trigger. If you’re in the act of shooting the gun, the saftey routinely gets in the way and requires training in an extra step before firing, something that could be a problem in an emergency. A common way to lose a violent encounter while carrying a gun is to fail to actually shoot your gun.
A rifle needs a safety because there’s no good way to block accidental trigger pulls like that, since you have to open carry to have any reasonable amount of access.
Anyone carrying a gun in a holster should be required have sufficient training to use the safety properly.
It gives you more time to think before killing something and also protects you from someone grabbing the gun or someone else mishandling your gun if it leaves your possession.
That’s not how defensive pistol use works. I would suggest watching a bunch of videos from the Active Self Protection YouTube channel if you want to see how self defense pistol encounters go. But no, there’s not enough time or space to pull your gun out and then contemplate using it. If you have that kind of time for reflection, you have the opportunity to disengage or de-escalate which should always be what you’re working towards.
No worries. I didn’t assume anything negative - just wanted to answer. 1911 fudd vs Glock arguments aren’t exactly mainstream.
Typically there’s no cross-bolt safety on a 1911. Slide lock and beavertail are the main ones. The beavertail is on the back of the handgrip, and it’s supposed to be particular - the force is supposed to be at the top for it to disengage the safety.
Most people consider the cross-bolt to be a safety, so they sort of suggested a firearm with no “safety” have the safety removed.
I am generally against safeties on pistols because they should stay holstered if you’re carrying them, and the holster acts as the safety by blocking access to the trigger. If you’re in the act of shooting the gun, the saftey routinely gets in the way and requires training in an extra step before firing, something that could be a problem in an emergency. A common way to lose a violent encounter while carrying a gun is to fail to actually shoot your gun.
A rifle needs a safety because there’s no good way to block accidental trigger pulls like that, since you have to open carry to have any reasonable amount of access.
It’s not actually the amount of time that it takes that’s the problem. With pistols that have safeties, the proper training is (usually) to turn the safety off when raising the gun. The problem is that it’s a critical step you can mess up or forget to do under stress. Then you’re left with a dead trigger having just pulled a gun in a situation you viewed as dangerous enough to require shooting someone. You’re also stressed to hell and unlikely to think “oh yes, my safety!” Throw in that these kinds of situations are ones where half a second can make a big difference, and the saftey is just another thing that can go wrong.
There’s certainly tradeoffs, since not having a safety means it’s more likely your mistakes will result in a round being fired, but you can layer other procedures and devices to minimize that risk. In the end, it’s a feature that even the gun community can’t agree on, which is why some guns have them and some don’t.
The amount of training is kinda-sorta irrelevant. The amount of training you should be putting in is way higher than the amount you need to master the safety. But, the amount of training you need to put in is also high enough that you won’t ever have to rely on the saftey to prevent the gun from firing. So for me, if I can handle the gun without having to rely on a safety, that’s just one less thing that could go wrong and prevent me from firing my gun when I want to.
A pistol can be carried so that either
the trigger is inaccessible
Or
The gun is in my hand
You also set up your draw-stroke so that there’s no risk of the trigger catching on anything. With those conditions, the only thing a safety would do is prevent you from pulling the trigger. You shouldn’t have your finger on the trigger unless you’ve made the decision to fire, so the safety isn’t adding any value.
The safety does have value on a rifle, where it’s harder to prevent things from hooking inside the trigger guard (since you will be carrying it uncontrolled with the trigger exposed) but a pistol doesn’t have the same manual of arms and, in my opinion, your carry gun shouldn’t have a safety.
I think that’s a reasonable opinion. The safety argument is one of those things that is right on the line, so quite a lot of people fall on either side.
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Is this a genuine opinion you hold?
I am generally against safeties on pistols because they should stay holstered if you’re carrying them, and the holster acts as the safety by blocking access to the trigger. If you’re in the act of shooting the gun, the saftey routinely gets in the way and requires training in an extra step before firing, something that could be a problem in an emergency. A common way to lose a violent encounter while carrying a gun is to fail to actually shoot your gun.
A rifle needs a safety because there’s no good way to block accidental trigger pulls like that, since you have to open carry to have any reasonable amount of access.
Anyone carrying a gun in a holster should be required have sufficient training to use the safety properly.
It gives you more time to think before killing something and also protects you from someone grabbing the gun or someone else mishandling your gun if it leaves your possession.
That’s not how defensive pistol use works. I would suggest watching a bunch of videos from the Active Self Protection YouTube channel if you want to see how self defense pistol encounters go. But no, there’s not enough time or space to pull your gun out and then contemplate using it. If you have that kind of time for reflection, you have the opportunity to disengage or de-escalate which should always be what you’re working towards.
It’s a 1911…it has two external safeties at least. Glock fans like to say they’re monsters that shoot you in the leg for fun.
I feel like our downvoted homie was making a joke in line with the copypasta.
Thank you, I didn’t downvote them but I do appreciate the context.
No worries. I didn’t assume anything negative - just wanted to answer. 1911 fudd vs Glock arguments aren’t exactly mainstream.
Typically there’s no cross-bolt safety on a 1911. Slide lock and beavertail are the main ones. The beavertail is on the back of the handgrip, and it’s supposed to be particular - the force is supposed to be at the top for it to disengage the safety.
Most people consider the cross-bolt to be a safety, so they sort of suggested a firearm with no “safety” have the safety removed.
I am generally against safeties on pistols because they should stay holstered if you’re carrying them, and the holster acts as the safety by blocking access to the trigger. If you’re in the act of shooting the gun, the saftey routinely gets in the way and requires training in an extra step before firing, something that could be a problem in an emergency. A common way to lose a violent encounter while carrying a gun is to fail to actually shoot your gun.
A rifle needs a safety because there’s no good way to block accidental trigger pulls like that, since you have to open carry to have any reasonable amount of access.
Sounds like a good thing to me. How long could it possibly take?
It’s not actually the amount of time that it takes that’s the problem. With pistols that have safeties, the proper training is (usually) to turn the safety off when raising the gun. The problem is that it’s a critical step you can mess up or forget to do under stress. Then you’re left with a dead trigger having just pulled a gun in a situation you viewed as dangerous enough to require shooting someone. You’re also stressed to hell and unlikely to think “oh yes, my safety!” Throw in that these kinds of situations are ones where half a second can make a big difference, and the saftey is just another thing that can go wrong.
There’s certainly tradeoffs, since not having a safety means it’s more likely your mistakes will result in a round being fired, but you can layer other procedures and devices to minimize that risk. In the end, it’s a feature that even the gun community can’t agree on, which is why some guns have them and some don’t.
Depends on the situation? Taking time isn’t as important as establishing intent.
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The amount of training is kinda-sorta irrelevant. The amount of training you should be putting in is way higher than the amount you need to master the safety. But, the amount of training you need to put in is also high enough that you won’t ever have to rely on the saftey to prevent the gun from firing. So for me, if I can handle the gun without having to rely on a safety, that’s just one less thing that could go wrong and prevent me from firing my gun when I want to.
A pistol can be carried so that either
Or
You also set up your draw-stroke so that there’s no risk of the trigger catching on anything. With those conditions, the only thing a safety would do is prevent you from pulling the trigger. You shouldn’t have your finger on the trigger unless you’ve made the decision to fire, so the safety isn’t adding any value.
The safety does have value on a rifle, where it’s harder to prevent things from hooking inside the trigger guard (since you will be carrying it uncontrolled with the trigger exposed) but a pistol doesn’t have the same manual of arms and, in my opinion, your carry gun shouldn’t have a safety.
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I think that’s a reasonable opinion. The safety argument is one of those things that is right on the line, so quite a lot of people fall on either side.
Removed by mod