I owned a pistol with a magazine safety..Once. I think it was a MAB PA-15.
If you removed the magazine, the trigger and slide were locked.
That means if there is a round in the chamber,you cannot remove the magazine and then clear the chamber.
It IS possible to manually pull the slide back and lock it open with the slide stop, then remove the magazine. That is rather cumbersome an not a very intuitive move. Or you can cycle the slide for every round in the mag till the gun is empty. The magazine safety encourages the practice of removing the magazine and leaving a round in the chamber, assuming the gun is "safe".
Others may disagree,but I believe magazine safeties are inherently dangerous.
No,I do not remove them. I just will not buy or own any pistol with a magazine safety.
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I asked because I was interested in hearing what other people thought, seeing if, how, and where their opinions differ from mine.
And if they differ from yours,?
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Something I have seen too often is the phrase "Its on safe" as justification for compromise.
So I maintain that the Human Being responsible for the gun is the most important safety.
But certainly that Human Being can,and should,take advantage of the "extra layer",the redundancy ,of manual safeties and safety features.
My hands are a bit odd. The heel of my hand is quite beefy. The center of my palm is hollow. Its not a reliable hand to compress a grip safety on a 1911.
No,I don't defeat the grip safety. Though some very serious pistoleros do.
I use only flat mainspring housings and grip safeties with a speed bump.
On top of that I tune the grip safety to minimum travel necessary. I make sure it works for me.
IMO,its a good idea to consider the holster as a safety feature,
Too many versions of "minimalist carry" don't consider the holster's role.
Belt clips, un holstered pocket or purse carry, etc leave an unprotected trigger subject to a pencil or cartridge brass or clothing or seat belt snag.
If I pocket carry,I use a kydex pocket holster. In an otherwise empty pocket.
Firearm safety is never reliant on one feature.
It does not matter one bit whether Alec Baldwin's trigger was pulled or his half cock notch failed or his thumb slipped,
The safety between his ears was not engaged.
"Treat all guns as if they are loaded" was broken.
"Don't point your gun at anything you do not want to kill"
Those are the "Safeties"
YES!! I use my safety! But if its that safety that keeps someone alive, my entire 359 degree universe of gun safety has FAILED. And I got lucky.