Magazine Removal of S&W = Safety/Waddayathink?

booger

A magazine removed from most S&W model pistols renders the gun inoperable. Now I don't know what exact models of what year, but most where this way for a long time, correct?I personally like this feature and was wondering what other manufacturers and or models have this feature.Any ideas and do you all like this "feature" or hate it?

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Them ducks is wary.

thesupermonkey

When the sh*t hits the fan and you need to get a shot off, it would really suck if the pistol wouldn't fire because the mag wasn't completely in the weapon. I'd rather have a gun that operates in more ways than there are to disable it. Just my onion...Munkey

.250Savage

Yes, the P35 has a magazine disconnect, which would mark the first time I ever disagreed with His Majesty, Sir John Browning. Of course, he died in the midst of designing this, so it may have been the man who finished up the design. I despise all forms of mag safeties, built-in locks, satellite uplinks, and anything else except what absolutely must be there. Kind of suck if the perp showed up when you were swapping mags, wouldn't it? And I completely disagree with the Taurus, H&K, and whoever else has built-in gun locks. I don't have a lock on my fire extinguisher, and for the same reason: you very likely won't have the key when you need it most, unless you strap it to the piece, and then, what's the point of having it at all? And to those who say "Just don't use it", I can only say that Mr. Murphey will make sure it jams itself on at the worst possible time. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

Shootist3006

Booger, I believe that the magazine disconnect is a safety HAZZARD, not a safety feature at all. The world is full of stupid people and giving them one more way (by assuming that a loaded gun was safe because the mag was out) to kill themselves isn't going to help.BTW, one of the simplest ways to improve the trigger pull on the Hi-Power is to remove the mag. disconnect.

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Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis[This message has been edited by Shootist3006 (edited 01-05-2002).]

ED P

A dealer I talk with sometimes said that S&W has this on their civilian guns, but as most law enforcement don't like it (can't squeeze a round off if in the middle of changing a low mag for a full one), that S&W has all the same models available without the mag safety, but the gun is etched right on the side "for LE use only".

roysha

A "one shooter" beats a "no shooter" every time!!

roysha

A "one shooter" beats a "no shooter" every time!!

booger

Thanks for the input. Others have said for law enforcement that it is a good thing to have a magazine disconnect because if, in a struggle over control of a gun with a perp, drop the magazine and use plan "B" -> nightstick, mace, backup gun, run like hell, etc. While I'm not championing that cause, it made sense to me but I realize a cop may have a very different opinion on that stratedgy.

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Them ducks is wary.

Otoman

AAAHHHH Browing P-35 the father of Semi-Auto Pistols and still the best feeling pistol in the world with a set of Pachymr Grips on it. I think you can defeat the Magazine safety by depressing the spring and tacking it into place so it thinks the magazine is in there.

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KIMBER: Pistol du jour

Gordian Blade

For what it's worth, the Marlin Camp 9 Carbine uses S&W magazines and it has the same "won't fire with the magazine out" feature. I think of it as a safety for dummies and I would never rely on it. The Ruger PC-9 carbine uses Ruger pistol magazines and doesn't have this feature. I can see where LEOs might prefer to be able to fire a weapon whenever it has a round in the chamber. The Marlin carbine was designed for the civilian market, while the Ruger was designed (primarily) for the law enforcement market, so which one has and doesn't have the no-mag/no-fire feature makes sense. BTW, neither of these became very popular (Marlin stopped making the Camp Carbine for various reasons), but I have both and like them both, although neither one is "perfect".[This message has been edited by Gordian Blade (edited 01-05-2002).]

nunn

I don't like magazine disconnectors either, but there is a case for them in a uniformed officer's belt gun.Suppose a bigger stronger opponent gets partial control of the weapon and the two are struggling over it. If the officer can hit the magazine catch, he can then let go the gun, let the bad guy keep it a while, and reach for his second gun.

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Certified SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of the General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the premier gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net Jesus is Lord!

lrarmsx

The Browning High Power, various-- Stars, Bersas, (some)Llama's, some Berettas, most S&W's, some French MAB's, Phoenix Arms,... There are quite a few others that have mag disconnect safeties, but that is just some off the top of my head.