Manual safety pistol with a push-button safety (cross bolt trigger block) at the back of the trigger guard The most common form of safety mechanism is a switch, button or lever that when set to the "safe" position, prevents the firing of a firearm. Manual safeties are as varied as the designs of firearms themselves, but the two most common mechanisms are a block or latch that prevents the trigger and/or firing mechanism from moving, and a device that disconnects the trigger from the firing mechanism of the firearm. Other designs may block the hammer or striker from forward movement or act as a block to prevent them from contacting the firing pin. It is usually similar to a manual safety in its function, but is momentary; the safety is deactivated only while the shooter maintains their hold on the grip, and is reactivated immediately once the shooter releases it. The
M1911 design is a popular example of a handgun with a grip safety, Another, unusual variant was found in the
Ortgies semi-automatic pistols. To disengage the safety, a user would squeeze a lever until flush with the rear of the grip. The lever then would latch in the disengaged position until the user released it again by pressing a button under the slide, whereupon tension from the striker spring would push it back to the engaged position. Thus engaging the safety also relieved some tension in the striker spring. As the Ortgies is a pocket pistol meant for personal defense, this feature eliminates the problem of failing to disengage the safety when one needs to shoot. Gripping the pistol tightly is all it takes to disengage the safety.
Decocker Most
traditional semi-automatic double-action/single action (DA/SA) pistols are designed to be carried with the hammer down (uncocked) on a chambered round, with or without a manual safety engaged. The pistol is considered safe in this state as the "double-action" pull that both cocks and fires the firearm is both longer and heavier than the "single-action" pull that simply releases the cocked hammer, and thus an inadvertent trigger pull is less likely. However, the act of cycling the action on such a firearm (as a natural consequence of discharging the firearm, or to chamber the first round) will leave the hammer cocked in single-action mode. To return the pistol to its safe state, it is necessary to uncock (decock) the hammer, usually by holding the hammer spur, carefully pulling the trigger, and then slowly lowering the hammer on the firing pin. Hammer-fired semi-auto pistols have a beaver tail to protect the shooter's hand from the slide, which makes it more difficult to securely and firmly grasp the hammer with the thumb than a double action/single action revolver, thus making an accidental discharge more likely. Striker-fired pistols, on the other hand, do not have a hammer, so the only way to return the trigger to its longer pull (safer) state is by means of a decocking or detensioning lever which actually releases the tension in the striker's spring without allowing firing pin full travel and internal safeties disengagement (such as the firing pin block which these types of firearms are generally fitted with). When a handgun is fitted with a "decocking" lever, there is no need to pull the trigger while holding the lever like in a revolver. The actual process of "decocking" the gun is done by simply flipping the decocking lever to its "decocked" position with the fingers away from the trigger. controls and parts: 1. Ejection port 2. Rear
sight 3.
Hammer, 4. Takedown lever 5.
Decocker 6.
Slide stop 7.
Trigger 8.
Magazine release A decocker or manual decocking lever allows the hammer to be dropped on a live cartridge without risk of discharging it, usually by blocking the hammer or retracting or covering the
firing pin before releasing the
sear. That eliminates the need to pull the trigger or to control the fall of the hammer; however, since all mechanisms can fail, it is still necessary to keep the muzzle of the gun pointed in a safe direction while decocking. A decock/safety is a combination manual safety switch and decocking lever. Two popular variants exist. In the "three-way" system, made popular by
Heckler & Koch pistols, the handler may decock the firearm by pushing down on the safety lever from the "Fire" setting, or engage the safety (even on a cocked firearm) by pushing the lever upwards. A simpler "two-way" system was popularized by the
Walther PP and is also commonly seen on the
Beretta 92: engaging the safety also decocks the firearm. The SIG Sauer line of pistols, such as the
SIG P226, frequently feature decocking levers. The earliest use of a single-action decocker was the
Vis wz. 35 "Radom" redesign in 1932 to enable horsemen to safely holster their firearm with one hand. The earliest use of a cocking/decocking lever is the
Sauer 38H from 1938.
Ruger until 2007 manufactured "decock-only" variants of its P-series pistols, and the "two-way" decocking safety has been available on these pistols since their introduction.
Hammer/striker cocker A device on handguns with single-action triggers such as the
H&K P7 and the Shevchenko PSh used as an alternative to double-action triggers to cock the hammer/striker has been used as a safety grip.
Drop safety Many jurisdictions such as the state of
California require some form of "drop safety" on all new firearms, which are usually passive safeties designed to reduce the chance of a firearm accidentally discharging when dropped or roughly handled. Such safeties generally provide an obstacle to operation of the firing mechanism that is only removed when the trigger is pulled, so that the firearm cannot otherwise discharge. Drop tests were introduced with the federal
Gun Control Act of 1968 for imported guns.
Safety notch A safety notch is one of the oldest forms of drop safety, used on older single-action revolvers manufactured before the invention of the hammer block, some lever-action rifles,
1911-pattern guns, and hammer-fired semi-automatics that were designed before the invention of the firing pin block. The safety notch is a relief cut made in the tumbler at the base of the hammer, that allows the sear to catch and hold the hammer a short distance from the pin or cartridge primer, in a "
half-cocked" position. The safety notch works first by allowing the handler to retract the hammer a short distance from the firing pin or primer, such that dropping the firearm on its hammer will not result in an energy transfer to the pin or spur, which could then discharge a chambered cartridge. A second purpose is to allow the sear to "catch" a hammer that is falling when the trigger has not been pulled, such as in cases where a drop jarred the sear loose or when the hammer was not fully cocked before being released. However, a safety notch used to "half-cock" a firearm is an active feature that must be engaged, and does not positively prevent accidental discharges in all cases. A certain amount of manual dexterity and familiarity with a firearm is also required to "half-cock" a firearm; unfamiliarity with how to engage the "half-cock" position can result in accidental discharges. Moreover, safety notch and "half-cock" style safeties are prone to breakage which can result in unintentional discharges leading to severe personal injuries or death.
Firing pin block A firing pin block is a mechanical block used in semi-automatic firearms and some revolvers that, when at rest, obstructs forward travel of the
firing pin, but is linked to the trigger mechanism and clears the obstruction to the pin just before the hammer or striker is released. This prevents the firing pin from striking a chambered cartridge unless the trigger is pulled, even if the hammer is released due to a faulty sear or the gun is dropped or struck by another object.
Hammer block A hammer block is similar to a firing pin block. It is a latch, block or other obstruction built into the action and normally positioned to prevent the hammer contacting the cartridge primer or firing pin when at rest. Similar to the firing pin block, the obstruction to the hammer's travel is removed as a consequence of pulling the trigger. This allows the hammer to contact the primer or firing pin only when the trigger is pulled.
Transfer bar A transfer bar is also used in revolvers and some exposed hammer rifles, but works the opposite way from a hammer block. The transfer bar has the spur that would otherwise be on the hammer, or encloses a firing pin similar to autoloading designs. The hammer itself cannot contact a loaded cartridge, but must instead strike the transfer bar, which then contacts the cartridge primer with the spur or pin. The transfer bar is normally positioned out of line with the hammer's travel, but is moved into place by the normal action of the trigger, providing similar "drop safety" to a firing pin block.
Bolt interlocks and trigger disconnects Popular on bolt, pump and lever-action firearms such as shotguns and rifles, a bolt interlock disengages or blocks the trigger if, for any reason, the bolt/breech is not in its fully closed, ready position. A variation is the trigger disconnect which prevents the gun from firing until the gun has not only been fully and completely cycled, but the trigger is released and squeezed again. This defines the behavior of
semi-automatic firearms which require a separate trigger pull to fire each successive cartridge and ready the next, and this is the preferred mechanism of disengaging the trigger on repeating-action firearms. Older pump-action shotguns such as the
Winchester Model 1912 did not have such a feature, and as a result if the trigger was held the newly chambered round would be fired as soon as the breech had been closed. Such disconnects or interlocks are generally simple to incorporate, and in fact are a by-product of many firearms' actions; pulling the trigger while the breech is unlocked or open does nothing as the mechanism is not fully reset until cycling is complete. As such these features are often not considered "true" safeties, although the interlock helps prevent misfires due to a cartridge not being fully in battery when its primer is struck by the pin (known as firing "out of battery"). Passing handguns or rifles to another person with the action open (known as "show clear") is recommended by elementary
gun safety.
Magazine disconnects A magazine disconnect feature does not allow a user to fire the gun when the magazine is withdrawn (even partially) by means of a mechanism that engages an internal safety such as a firing-pin block or trigger disconnect. As with any firearm feature, there is debate regarding the necessity of a magazine disconnect. Historically, most magazine-fed firearm designs had no magazine disconnector. There are exceptions, notably
Ruger rimfire rifles and some of their newer handgun designs, and the U.S. State of
California passed legislation in 2006 requiring magazine disconnects on all new handgun designs sold in the state starting January 1, 2007, which has resulted in their widespread availability in other jurisdictions as well. The arguments in favor of a magazine disconnect are that if the gun cannot fire without a magazine, then an accidental discharge can be prevented if someone removes the magazine but forgets that a round has been chambered. Also, if losing possession of the firearm is imminent, the operator can render the firearm useless by removing the magazine. One disadvantage of the magazine disconnect is that it may add tension to components of the trigger mechanism, making the trigger pull uneven or heavy. A safety argument against a magazine disconnect is that if a round is left in a chamber due to extractor failure or other reason the firearm will revert to being live unexpectedly when an empty magazine is reinserted. This is a danger because the user may
dry fire the gun during or after the unloading process. With a magazine disconnect depressing the trigger into a bullet trap or other safe direction, such as downrange, will not clear the round in the chamber because the trigger is disabled. When an empty magazine is inserted the firing system becomes reactivated, even though the trigger has been previously depressed. The
Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute stated that an "obvious concern with magazine disconnect features is that determining whether the gun is safe becomes linked to the presence of the magazine as opposed to actually checking the gun, opening the action, and making sure it is unloaded." Another concern is that if fatigue, debris or rust cause the disconnect mechanism to fail, it will most likely do so in the "fire" condition. A
tactical reload is the tactic of replacing a partially empty magazine with a fully loaded magazine in a situation where increased capacity might be needed.
Loaded chamber indicator . The loaded chamber indicator is a device present on many
semi-automatic handguns intended to alert an operator that there is a round in the chamber. It is typically a small button or pivoting lever (though sometimes a rod, such as on the
Ruger series of
.22 LR handguns, which are not slide pistols), generally located just behind the ejection port on the slide of the handgun that pops up to indicate the presence of a round in the chamber. Such devices have been in existence for decades; strictly speaking, loaded chamber indicators are not safeties, nor are they efficacious with an untrained user. Another form of warning is an indicator behind the ejector port that does not rise enough to disrupt a shooter's
sight picture, but enough to be easily seen or felt to alert a user that there is a round in the chamber. The opposite of a loaded chamber indicator is an empty chamber flag.
Trigger disconnector A
trigger disconnector captures the hammer in the cocked position after a shot has been fired, even if the trigger is held to the rear as the gun cycles. This ensures the gun can only fire in the semi-automatic mode, as the trigger needs to be released to 'reset' and have the disconnector release the hammer back to the trigger sear. It also prevents out-of-battery "
slamfire" malfunctions that occur when a hammer follows the bolt carrier group forward as it closes.
Other safeties Examples of the variety of typical semi-auto mechanisms are a stiff double-action trigger pull with the safety off (
Beretta 92F/FS), a double-action with no external safety (
SIG Sauer P-series, or
Kel-Tec P-32), or a crisp
single-action trigger pull with a manual safety engaged (
M1911,
FN Five-seven and certain configurations of the
HK USP). An alternative are striker-fired or "
safe action" type firearms which have a consistent trigger pull requiring force greater than required by a single-action design, but lighter than needed for a double-action trigger. Many such firearms do not have an external safety or external hammer (
Glock pistols and the
Walther P99 and variants). In both cases a trigger pull always sends a discharge, with internal safeties preventing non-trigger-pull discharges (e.g., dropping the gun). ==Firearms==