Yep, AS mode doesn’t happen automatically. The slide has to move back however far, so the only time it’s encountered during what I’d call normal use is after a slide lock reload or clearing a malfunction (and during administrative tasks like loading, clearing, press checking, etc.).
And Olstyn is also right. I’d just argue that essentially doing a press check isn’t a good way to “re safe” a gun. You may get it done before reholstering, but certainly not when coming off target, moving, or doing anything else where your focus is supposed to stay down range. Too awkward and slow. We wouldn’t use manual safeties or decockers if they required completely breaking our grip and carefully moving the slide just far enough but not too far (too far and you eject a round or cause a malfunction).
Well I like the gun and shoot it well, but through the past three decades, I've transitioned from revolver to TDA to p99 and now carry a H&K p2000 TGS LEM. It's a very simple and consistent platform, not for everyone, but good for me. The p99 has been safe kept and I may sell it. Thank you for the clarifications.
A P99 defaults to AS mode after the slide is racked to chamber a round.
After firing, a P99 defaults to SA mode at trigger reset.
When you holster an LEM pistol, you can and should put your thumb on the hammer. This adds safety.
You can't do this with the P99 AS.
So I don't think, LEM has less margin of safety than AS.
Todd Green recommended putting the thumb on the hammer when holstering an LEM pistol. AFAIK the "gadget" for Glock pistols is quite popular in this forum, it's the same idea.
As I have previously stated several times on this forum, that's not true. Holding the decocker button of a P99 down blocks forward travel of the striker. That means that it can be used in much the same way as the hammer of a hammer fired pistol. I have personally verified this by chambering a primed but otherwise empty case in a P99c, holding down the decocker button, and pulling the trigger through its entire stroke. When this is done, the striker is pulled back and released, but a portion of the decocker button interacts with a lug on the top of the striker, interrupting its forward travel before it can impact the primer even though pulling the trigger deactivates the striker block. You get a click, but no bang.
Granted, using this method of course results in the pistol being decocked and thus not in AS mode, but as you and others have stated earlier in the thread, DA mode is how it's designed to be carried anyway.