HiredGun's glock questions reminded me of a lingering question of my own. What's the deal with Glock safeties? I remember reading that they are remarkably safe guns, but I also remember reading the exact diametric opposite. What's the deal? Lead me to the truth, o Totse Gun Sages!

For all practical purposes, the only way a Glock is going to fire is if the trigger gets pulled. I know it seems like that's how it is on all guns, but there's alot that will fire if dropped.

On the down side though, if a retention strap of a holster gets in the way, it will go off. If a careless shooter leaves his finger in the trigger guard while holstering, it will go off. If you have a holster that pinches the gun at the trigger guard, then there's a chance it will go off.

There's alot of people that complain about the apparent lack of a safety. However if you're cautious like you should be around ALL firearms, then there shouldn't be any problem.

I have no problem with Glocks. They are extremely reliable and I don't recall seeing one get jammed up. I just can't shoot them worth a shit, so I don't mess with them.

Glock saftey goes as follows: don't pull the trigger if you don't want the gun to go off. They are as safe as a gun needs to be, they only shoot when you pull the trigger. Anything more just prevents natural selection from happening. They have all kinds of internal safties to prevent them from going off if they are dropped.

When police departments first started picking up glocks as duty weapons they had a rash of cops shooting themselves in the leg when they drew, because they could get away with drawing with their fingers on the trigger when they had revolvers. Glock saw the problem and sent a guy (ex-cop) around the country teaching police how to draw without their fingers on the trigger. He ended up shooting himself in the leg.

Glock accidents still boggle my mind, why does this keep happening? I've always had the habbit of keeping my finger out of the trigger guard until i'm ready to fire. If you do not pull the trigger, the weapon will not fire.

Any firearm that i've owned that came with a safety, i've never used them.

There is a mechanism called a "SAFE-T BLOCK" that can be installed on any glock. It's basically a manual safety, simular to those found on other guns.

With all that said, my glock is so safe eventually i'm going to get a factory three and a half pound disconnector and lighten up the factory five pound pull!

as they say... it's not the machine it's the person who drives it.

no matter how safe a gun is, if you use it improperly (drawing w/finger on trigger) you run the risk of screwing up real good.

with my 1911 i keep a round in the chamber and just leave the hammer down. In a personal defense scenario it could be problematic since i'd have to pull the hammer back. I haven't decided yet. i don't really like DAO semiauto pistols i feel like i'm wearing something out if that makes sense.

You keep the hammer down on a 1911? How do you do that? If you pull the trigger and ease the hammer down, then the firing pin is sitting on the primer with pressure behind it, which is a serious no-no.

Don't a lot of the more modern 1911's have a firing pin block and half cock? Without the trigger pulled it fully won't engage? I used to lower the hammer on a live chamber on my 1911's (Springfield V10 and Charles Daly ES) and never had a AD. Then i got used to carrying them cocked and locked.

I carry my 1911 cocked and locked. I think it is awkward to draw and cock, and I just can't get the isreali draw down, so it is my only option. Besides mine is a series 70 style Springfield so it would just be downright dangerous to carry with the hammer down and a round in the chamber.

Series 80 styles have a firing pin block. There's not very many that are like that though. The majority don't have it because the design makes the trigger pull a little bit rough. Almost all have the half cock notch, but it's far from being safe. A small bump could still drop the hammer if it's at half cock.

Either way, the safety is still a shitload faster than trying to pull the hammer back. The main spring is very strong, so the wear isn't oo big of an issue. If a condition 1 weapon makes you nervous than you don't really have any reason to be around them. It don't go boom unless you pull the trigger, so carry it like it was meant to be.

Before i carried "cocked and locked" i trained myself to draw while thumbing the hammer back. Got pretty damn quick with that technique espically opposed to isreali style.

To Che4rev

The guy you are talking about that allegedly shot himself in the leg was Bill Rogers. That is a flat-out lie. Bill was a career FBI agaent, champion sport-shooter and pioneer in combat shooting. He is still one of the fastest Glock-shooters I have ever seen. He is a gifted instructor and a complete gentleman. I suggest you check your facts before you type something else stupid.

Glock did not have any problems with negligent discharges until the NYPD adopted them. The NYPD's Firearms' Training Unit worked with Bill and several others to train out the bad habit many veteran officers had passed down to rookies. NYPD officers were in the habit of stroking (i.e. pulling the triggers on their revolvers) halfway through the action cycle to make fast shots. A stupid practice started by someone with no background in firearms training, it unfortunately spread like wildfire through the NYPD.

Christ, I don't know who spreads more half-truths...old women or gun-enthusiasts.

next time you see him, ask him how his leg is doing. If he is a fed I wouldn't be supprised if he shot himself several times. New York is not the only place they had a problem with that. Cops being stupid is a universal thing.