Why don't revolvers have safeties?

P

Pond James Pond

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It occurred to me that a DA/SA semi is much like a revolver in that, if chambered, you could run it in DA for the first shot or SA.

The latter is made safe by having a safety catch so that the gun won't accidentally get discharged whilst bouncing around on a hip. SA is preferred for the lighter trigger and shorter travel before the break.

DA/SA revolvers also have a lighter, shorter trigger in SA, but could not be carried cocked for obvious safety reasons.

So why is it that revolvers are not made with safeties?

(I don't want one on mine, I'm just curious as to the logic)
 
Im sure someone will correct my ignorance, but most DA/SA pistols have a decocker, not a safety. This allows the pistol to go from SA back to DA. You don't need a safety for DA mode because of the heavy trigger pull - same reason you don't need a safety for a DA revolver. A decocker for a revolver would be possible I suppose to somehow lower a cocked hammer but you can do that manually already by holding the hammer back, pulling the trigger, and slowly lowering the hammer.

A true safety is mainly for SA pistols that have to be "cocked and locked" to safely carry.

I suppose if you wanted to carry a SA revolver for defense you would need a safety, but nobody does that because follow up shots would be really slow compared to a DA revolver or any auto loader.
 
I think you nailed it with the point about follow-up shots.

SA in a pistol means SA on the follow-up too.

SA in a revolver and you're back to DA for the follow-up shot, unless you have one of those automatically cocking revolvers.
 
Double action revolvers DO have a safety ~ its the hammer block safety of period Colt and S&W revolvers, and the transfer bar on more modern guns.

the safety is disengaged with a pull of the trigger.


Bob Wright
 
A double action revolver is carried in perfect safety and is immediately brought into action by drawing and pulling the trigger in double action use. And the gun can be fired with great rapidity in double action.

A Single Action revolver can be drawn and fired very fast by drawing and cocking the hammer and firing in Single Action firing, and repeat shots can be achieved in very quick succession. Older Colt-style Single Action revolvers are carried safely with and empty chamber under the hammer, while Ruger Single Actions can be carried fully loaded with safety because of the transfer bar mechanism.

This my every day carry rig, a Ruger Blackhawk .44 Special:



This gun is a New Model Blackhawk Flat Top .44 Special.

Another rig I formerly carried was this Ruger Three Screw Blackhawk, an ex-.357 Magnum converted to .44 Special. This one is safely carried with an empty chamer under the hammer (five rounds).



Either gun can be drawn and fired very quickly as I cock the hammer as the gun is raised from the holster. I don't subscribe to the practice of using the off hand for cocking the hammer.


Bob Wright
 
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And of course because this hobby is so perverse there ARE revolvers with safeties on them. I had a couple examples but I can't find 'em now.

The Heritage Rough Rider hammer block might constitute a 'safety' on a modern revolver since it is a lever that has to be manipulated to get the gun to fire but since it's a single action revolver I'm not sure it counts.

I have long suspected that the revolvers with a safety were built under a contract from mystery writers so whenever they wrote 'in the darkened room the hero drew their revolver and clicked off the safety' they could claim 'well there IS a revolver with a safety...
 
Double action revolvers DO have a safety ~ its the hammer block safety of period Colt and S&W revolvers, and the transfer bar on more modern guns.

the safety is disengaged with a pull of the trigger.
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^^^^ this.
They have "safetys", but not manual safety lever (in most cases). In revolvers the multiple safetys are internal & automatic.
 
A double action revolver is carried in perfect safety and is immediately brought into action by drawing and pulling the trigger in double action use.
Click to expand...

I agree. Thousands upon thousands of law enforcement folk carried DA revolvers for years and years with no outcry to mount a safety lever on them.

And as for DA speed you are again correct. Jerry Miculek and this video (there are many out there) come to mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzHG-ibZaKM

BTW nice pictures of some nice guns. You photographers on this site put me to shame.
 
There was a company (mid '80s IIRC) that would retro-fit a S&W Kframe with a manual safety.

I seem to remember it was a mod to the cyl release
 
Some Mk III and Mk IV .38 Webley & Scott revolvers were available with safeties. The safety was a crossbolt type mounted in the rear of the frame that blocked the hammer.

Smith & Wesson also made a special order of revolvers for the French Police that had an external manual safety.

In years past, there have been a myriad of European revolvers (mostly Belgian) that utilized a manual safety.
 
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Double action revolvers DO have a safety ~ its the hammer block safety of period Colt and S&W revolvers, and the transfer bar on more modern guns.
Click to expand...

Howdy

A transfer bar or a hammer block in a revolver are not the same as a safety. A safety is a device that prevents the firearm from being discharged if the trigger is accidentally pulled. Transfer bars and hammer blocks prevent the revolver from firing if dropped on the hammer spur. But they do not prevent the revolver from firing if the trigger is pulled.

Generally speaking, the trigger pull on a double action revolver is heavy enough to prevent the revolver from being fired accidentally. You really have to want to pull the trigger. And unlike a single action semi-auto such as the 1911, once fired in single action, the hammer does not automatically cock on a revolver. You have to really want to fire it again. Single action requires the hammer to be manually cocked, again a very conscience effort.

When S&W developed their Safety Hammerless pocket pistols (Lemon Squeezers) in the late 1880s, I believe it was the lack of a hammer to decock the gun that made them feel a grip safety was needed. Previously all their revolvers, single and double action, had hammers. The grip safety on these guns worked just like on a 1911, you didn't have to squeeze it hard, but you did have to grasp it and compress it to fire the revolver.

32safetyhammerlesswithbox_zps6a26bd76.jpg




In 1966 S&W made a short run of the Model 12 for the French Government that had a sliding safety mounted on the right side of the frame. It looked like the cylinder latch, but it was on the wrong side.
 
I have an old SA 22 that is stamped "made in Italy" and has a safety. From other examples I have seen, I suspect mine was made by Tanfoglio. I am guessing it has something to do with "import points". The revolver itself seems decently made and works just fine. The safety seems like a somewhat flimsy afterthought.
 
Driftwood,
Didn't the French also have a "K"frame 9mm with a safety? I'm thinking it was something like a 549 or something like that.
 
This my every day carry rig, a Ruger Blackhawk .44 Special:
Click to expand...

Well Bob, seeing as how you are in the Memphis area, I hope the 6 shots from your NMBH .44 doesn't leave you short on ammo. ;)

Seriously though, that hand cannon with your skills should give any group of assailants second thoughts about messing with you - if they have any wits about them.
 
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