Safety Usage at the Range

[randy]

To paraphrase Chris: "Train like you fight and fight like you train".

[blackeagle603]

ditto that and what Chris said.

This is the primary reason I haven't ever got into the DA/SA or striker fired pistols. I'm a simple minded creature of habit and a slave to 1911 manual of arms. All the autoloaders I own have essentially the same manual of arms/safety location (e.g. 1911, BHP, SW 22A).

by analogy...
I had a racing buddy in the 70's who always rode Bultacos and Montesas. He about killed himself racing a Japanese dirt bike -- foot controls were reversed. He was fine until he had to make an instinctive/panic reaction and he reverted to European right side shifter habits.

I almost did the same when I started flat tracking a Harley with right side shifter/left side rear brake)

[Frankingun]

My range in the city is very anal about safety. No holster draws except for bowling pin competition, rituals for calling the line clear and hot. Also, when clear to change targets, we put all guns on the firing bench, open and pointing downrange, magazines and cylinders out. If you have a semiauto that doesn't have a slide holdback, we put a fired cartridge or a rag in the ejection port. NO handling of guns until the line is called hot. When I fire, I try to use safeties, as that is how I'll be carrying. After fishing a gun or two out of the lake, of course!

[randy]

If you have a semiauto that doesn't have a slide holdback, we put a fired cartridge or a rag in the ejection port.

Something like this or this might be a useful addition to the range box.

I have some 20+ year old NRA marked chamber flags that still work fine for long or hand guns.

At ranges such as you describe I put them in even if I can lock the action open as an additional double check and to keep the Range Safety Officer happy.

[cu74]

The only safety that really works is the one between your ears.

That said, I use chamber flags any time I'm going down range to change targets - extra assurance and an easy way to see that no round is chambered.

[Termite]

The only one I might trust would be the one on my K98 because I know it's a solid chunk of steel holding back the firing pin.

The three position safety on a 98 Mauser is, IMHO, the best rifle safety in the world. It was designed so that semi-educated troops could safely carry a rifle with a round in the chamber.

[308Mike]

The only one I might trust would be the one on my K98 because I know it's a solid chunk of steel holding back the firing pin.

The three position safety on a 98 Mauser is, IMHO, the best rifle safety in the world. It was designed so that semi-educated troops could safely carry a rifle with a round in the chamber.

I don't know, the one on my K-31 works pretty damn good, first time & every time. There's no way you could pull the trigger and make it fire with the safety engaged.

[MarkD]

The only one I might trust would be the one on my K98 because I know it's a solid chunk of steel holding back the firing pin.

The three position safety on a 98 Mauser is, IMHO, the best rifle safety in the world. It was designed so that semi-educated troops could safely carry a rifle with a round in the chamber.

I don't know, the one on my K-31 works pretty damn good, first time & every time. There's no way you could pull the trigger and make it fire with the safety engaged.

Ditto with my Mosin Nagant rifle, no way that firing pin is going forward short of massive steel failure. Pull the trigger all you want too, the striker is disconnected from it.

[NVGdude]

Yeah, but the Mosin safety was designed as a "garrison safety", you put the safety on when you got back to base, it was supposed to be off in the field. "Is gun, is no safe." Da?

Now if we are talking a firearm on the bench with the action open, then no, I do not use the safety. On every handgun I own that has a safety, it's impossible to actuate the safety with the slide open. Rifles, some will some won't. Actuating the safety on an empty gun seems odd to me.

As for using the safety when shooting, I generally load all my self loaders the same way: load magazine, rack slide or operating rod, thumb safety to on, drop mag, top off mag, reseat. Gun is now loaded. During a re-load, you leave the safety off.

[Combat Controller]

I am good about the safeties, except in AR's we never used them, and were trained to leave them off. Probably not part of the program, but there you have it. To this day I forget to engage it at the range, but I am pretty good about it if I patrol sling it and there is actually a round in the chamber. On the other hand, I had to break the habit of chambering a round in my pistol before using it. Almost got me killed once.