There is more than one safety, there is also a regular thumb activated one.
A double action revolver is a very good choice.
That’s where we are going. She is not a shooter but is interested. Went to 3 gun stores yesterday. They all pretty much said, yeah a revolver.
It’s a very sad thing. But she should know how to shoot. That’s my big thing. And We might like going to the range together. She has already mentioned that. So Chess and then ‘off to the gun range’. It’s very weird really.
Not on a Glock there isn’t. At least not OEM.
The OP seems unaware that there are plenty of semi-auto pistols that don’t have the safety bar trigger. If they describe what features, size, caliber they’re looking for I can recommend one.
My wife’s preferred gun is an old S&W Model 10 from the late 60s (.38 special). It’s got small grips which she handles comfortably in her smaller hands, and the recoil (especially with our lower power reloads for target practice) is very manageable. Though she’s very uncomfortable using it with a double action pull (back to the OP). When we did live fire practice at our certification, the instructor kept demanding she avoid using it as if it were a single action.
Still, I’d rather have her take deliberation and hit (and avoid hitting the wrong thing) than no being comfortable using it at all.
[ FTR - the pistol in question is an heirloom of sorts on perpetual loan from my FiL, who inherited it from a close friend of the family back in Minnesota in the early 80s ]
Nitpick: As I understand it condition 1 in the 1911 means the manyal mechanical safety is engaged so you have to flip it first before shooting. But again, the trigger safety bar in newer pistols is meant by design to allow fire if you are actually pressing the trigger.
As others have mentioned DA revolvers are a good alternative for a firearm that requires no switching anything to be ready to use but takes deliberate effort to move the trigger. Then there’s NYPD whose tranlation of that was to fit their Glocks with a beast of a beefy trigger pull.
12 pounds it was.
And there are Double Action Only semi-auto pistols that have no safety and cannot be cocked. They cannot be fired from the sear and have a consistent long, heavy trigger. One of the pistols in my personal collection is a Ruger P93 in DAO. That trigger is like 17 pounds.
What’s becoming clear here in this thread that has been a little challenging to follow is that the OP does not like the philosophy behind the Glock trigger safety. OK, fine.
However, what I do not understand as I read this thread is why the OP says here (emphases mine) —
What exactly is the very sad thing? And what exactly is very weird?
Is it because your wife will likely end up with a DA/SA revolver? Why is that sad? Why is that weird? Those answers, I feel, will go a long way in clearing up what the OP has been trying to explain in this thread (and, OP, ignore the whole Glock safety discussion; I think I get that).
While I have 1911s and they are fun to shoot, I prefer HK USPs. I have one in a .45 compact and that is the handgun I prefer to carry. I like the thumb safety that it has. I can carry it comfortably with a round chambered, and either locked and cocked with the hammer pulled, or not pulled.
My wife also has an HK USP (9mm) but her preferred handgun is a .357 magnum revolver. There is no safety on it but she likes the DA/SA trigger. For her, that is ‘safe enough’.
@enipla, can you answer my questions above about sad and weird?
Right. The 1911 would have to be in your hand to disingauge the grip safety (it’s just happens naturally. It ‘knows’ you are holding it) then you flip off the thumb safety. Easy but still a safety.
The trigger ‘safety’ bar is not a safety. You pull the trigger, and that action automatically turns off that ‘safety’ and it goes boom. In what way is that a safety?
It’s stupid IMHO. And is just in the way. That trigger safety does nothing but complicate the weapon.
I would really like it explained how that is a safety. When you pull the trigger, that ‘safety’ is turned off. A safety should prevent a gun from firing when you pull the trigger.
Because your trigger finger is the safety. (As it always is with any gun)
You’re still arguing against the Glock safety philosophy. You should just drop this because it’s apparent that you’ll likely never adopt to their way of thinking. As another poster said upthread, you either love it or you hate it. It is clear that you hate it. So you should just drop it.
It’s sad and weird because my wife who has never shot, wants to learn because of the state of the union. She’s not afraid of crime or immigrants. I’ll just leave it at that.
I like the idea because I do have a few guns. She should learn to shoot. I tried teaching her once, but it would be best if a pro does it.
The genie is out of the bottle. There are so many guns around that I think it a good idea for her to understand them. I’ve been giving her ‘table top’ lessons.
- Treat all guns as if they are always loaded.
- Never let the muzzle point at anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to shoot.
- Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
We are going to a range that rents a few models that would be good for her. We will rent one lane. I can keep her safe.
A cougar recently killed a woman hiker not far from here.
Also, once, my wife and dog where surronded by 4 coyotes. Yelling and throwing rocks got them to leave. But that could have turned out very different. A gunshot into the ground would have dispersed them a lot quicker. Our boarder collie dog was scared. She knew what was going on, and was outmatched.
I agree. I believe a .38 DA/SA would be a good handgun for my wife. I have a .357 and she can try that at the range. It’s too big for a CCW though, and she wants her own gun.
Makes since. Thanks for that, and, yes, that is sad and weird. These are sad and weird times that we’re living in.
Agree.
There are basically two kinds of “safeties”:
a) The gun won’t fire due to being dropped, vibration, etc. These are usually internal to the gun and can’t be readily seen. An exception would be Glock’s trigger safety; it’s a little lever built into the trigger and can be easily seen. And it’s purpose is to prevent the gun from firing if it is dropped, etc.
b) A separate lever or button that must be manipulated with your fingers before the trigger will “work”. These are sometimes called “external safeties.” When engaged they lock the trigger. When they’re disengaged they unlock the trigger. All long guns (rifles, shotguns, etc.) have them. Some handguns have them.
As for b)…
A long gun should always have an external safety, and this safety must always be engaged when you’re not actively shooting. In other words, when you want to shoot a long gun, you disengage the safety, shoot, and then reengage the safety. The primary reason for a long gun’s external safety is to prevent the trigger from accidently being squeezed due to anything getting into the trigger guard and hitting the trigger, e.g. a twig. (A long gun is normally carried with two hands, and the trigger is exposed and vulnerable.)
A handgun is different. Unlike a long gun, a handgun is carried in a holster, and the holster completely prevents foreign objects from coming into contact with the trigger. Therefore, a handgun does not need an external safety (but it still needs internal safeties to prevent it from being fired when dropped). But even though a handgun does not need an external safety, some have them anyway.
My personal opinion: I hate external safeties on a handgun. I think they’re completely useless. I think they’re even worse than useless: it’s yet one more thing I have to think about in a self defense situation.
I have a safety - Don’t drop the handgun. There, done. Don’t need that goofy trigger safety.
Though there are a couple of “should”s that should (ha!) be inserted in that sentence, but yes, that’s the thinking.
Plus, YES, that the primary “safety” IS handling the damn thing properly to begin with.
And to be fair it’s only called a trigger blade “safety” because that’s what someone called it for marketing and it stuck. Could have called it a “trigger stop bar” or something like that to be more accurate.
As mentioned earlier the nervousness with self-loading/semiautomatics is that upon chambering, the hammer/striker is cocked. Some DA autopistols deal with this via a “decocker lever” which safely lowers the hammer (with the firing pin blocked by the passive safeties, the trigger being forward) so you get both a round-in-chamber and a revolver-type long/heavy first shot pull.
Don’t handguns go through a drop test? Is this why this goofy ‘safety’ was developed?
Y’know, thinking more about it, it could be a bit of a psychological move?
“Yes our design’s passive safeties are sophisticated enough an active manual safety is redundant if the gun’s properly handled. But have you seen the average consumer?”
“…”
“OK how about we add a doohickey that signals YO DON’T PUT YOUR FINGER HERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO SHOOT?”
You can drop a loaded handgun a thousand times, and it won’t go off. Two exceptions:
- The handgun is faulty; something has broke in it.
- An external object comes in contact with the trigger when it hits the ground. This is very unlikely for most scenarios.
As this question never had much of a factual question behind it, I’m moving it to IMHO.
It’s a very factual question.
Yep, that’s one of Jeff Cooper’s Four Safety Rules.
This rule is so important that it can be expanded into four sub-rules:
If you are not actively shooting the gun,
- Keep your finger off the trigger.
- Keep your finger off the damn trigger.
- Keep your damn finger off the trigger.
- Keep your damn finger off the damn trigger.