Feeling safe with pistols that just have trigger safeties and not slide safeties.

[corneileous]

Just curious of advice there is to be given about overcoming being uncomfortable with a gun that only relies on a trigger safety.

I’ve just never cared for them. Nothing against Glocks really, I just never was interested in one because of all the horror stories that usually come with these types of pistols. The only pistol I have in my arsenal that is even close to one of these is my little EDC Ruger LC9S that has a safety. At one point before I bought it, I even considered the “Pro” version of this pistol but, wasn’t happy with the lack of a slide safety on it so that’s why I bought what I bought.

Just curious if there’s anyway to overcome that.

Thanks.


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[vaglocker]

Where is your mental sticking point? Holstering? If that is the case then a device like the "Gadget" for the Glock is where it is at.

[BehindBlueI's]

Number of people who've shot themselves with a striker fired pistol when a thumb safety may have prevented it: >0
Number of people who've shot themselves with a thumb safety equipped pistol because they relied on the safety: >0
Number of people who've lost fights because they didn't deactivate their thumb safety: >0


A thumb safety is an extra layer of security, if you want it or not. I don't and if I had not external factors, a TDA is my favorite balance between easy to shoot and easy to not shoot. Pick your poison, practice good safety procedures, remember anyone can screw up.

[RevolverRob]

BBI nailed it, as usual.

For ME - I like a gun with a hammer. Most hammer guns have a decocker or a manual safety or both integrated together. The hammer and thumb safety allows me to maintain certain kinds of manipulation habits that are hard-wired at this point in my life and make me feel more confident (not over confident) in my handling.

I like revolvers for similar reasons.

That said, one of my favorite guns are the Kahr series of pistols. They shoot very well for me due to the grip shape. They also lack an external safety or even "trigger" safety (in the sense of a Glock or M&P or whatever) and do not have a hammer. However, they have a relatively long, albeit smooth, trigger pull. I have no problem carrying these guns or even holstering them in an appendix position, but I definitely have to reset my brain if I switch to and start carrying them regularly.

At the end of the day, it's ultimately the gun and firing system you feel comfortable with that you can shoot the best, that you should use.

Don't let anyone convince you that one trigger is better than another. It is strictly a matter of personal preference and practice to shoot them well.

[corneileous]

Where is your mental sticking point? Holstering? If that is the case then a device like the "Gadget" for the Glock is where it is at.

Hmm, I had no idea someone made such a device. But if I’m reading that correctly, that basically pretty much incorporates the same concept as riding your thumb on the hammer as you holster a typical DA pistol like a Beretta Storm or 92/96?

But yeah, that is one of the areas of slide safety-less guns, is when holstering.

But I guess maybe I should add that I do have three handguns that no longer have a safety on them, and that’s my three Beretta PX4 storms after I converted them from a type F to a type G.

But, I feel a lot safer with these guns because number one, even though they don’t have a safety anymore- just a decocker, but as long as the hammer is never pulled back, I feel pretty safe with that full, 10-pound trigger pull they have in DA mode. And for added security, I like that I can ride the hammer as I push them into a holster and not have to worry about the trigger catching on anything if it ever does.


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[revchuck38]

My "mental sticking point" is holstering. My preference is TDA with a decocker rather than a safety, with an external hammer being a plus. After that, it's a gun with a thumb safety. My sole outlier is my M&P40 which has no thumb safety, and it's my dedicated nightstand gun with a WML.

[JHC]

I've handled, carried and shot 1911s and Glocks by far more than anything else. I like the 1911's thumb safety but mostly for every time I reholster.

With both, when the gun is hot and outside the holster I treat it like I was fixing to milk a rattlesnake; and I have no experience milking rattlesnakes btw. That's how I feel secure with the Glocks.

[corneileous]

Number of people who've shot themselves with a striker fired pistol when a thumb safety may have prevented it: >0
Number of people who've shot themselves with a thumb safety equipped pistol because they relied on the safety: >0
Number of people who've lost fights because they didn't deactivate their thumb safety: >0

I guess I don’t follow how someone could make such a claim when I’ve read many of times, where someone ran a bullet all the down their leg or shot themselves in the foot from not being careful as they holstered a pistol like this.

I’ve never heard anything regarding your second statistic but how can you say someone hasn’t ever made a grave error and lost a gunfight because they forgot to take the safety off? I mean, isn’t that primarily what the argument is for the “anti-slide safety” crowd, is the possibility of forgetting to disengage the safety?

Before converting my Storms, the only guns I’ve been around and shot have all been guns with safeties so, that’s really all I know. Hopefully I won’t ever have to find out for sure, but hopefully if that time ever comes around that I can say I feel real confident in remembering to take the safety off as soon as I pull the gun from the holster in a tense situation like that.

A thumb safety is an extra layer of security, if you want it or not. I don’t and if I had not external factors, a TDA is my favorite balance between easy to shoot and easy to not shoot. Pick your poison, practice good safety procedures, remember anyone can screw up.

I don’t know, hopefully my new found method of conceal carry in a pair of cargo pants works out because if it does, I might have found a new excuse to get me one of those little Beretta PX4 storm subcompacts that I’ve always had my eye on for quite some time but never bought one because even though they’re small, I just never got one because it’s like two of my little Ruger LC9S’s put together.

I think something like that converted to a type G would make a pretty good concealment pistol if the weight and the width of it wasn’t going to be a factor.


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[BehindBlueI's]

I guess I don’t follow how someone could make such a claim when I’ve read many of times...

It took me a second, but I'm thinking you don't realize ">0" means "greater than zero".

[corneileous]

It took me a second, but I'm thinking you don't realize ">0" means "greater than zero".

My bad. I guess I was just for some reason under the impression that you were using the “>” symbol the same as one would use a dash, semi-colon, bracket or parentheses...


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