Safest semi auto platform

All of them are safe, the same cannot be said of everyone that picks one up.

Fine Figure of a Man said:

All of them are safe, the same cannot be said of everyone that picks one up.

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Pretty much.

The one you are most familiar with.

brutus51 said:

Have DA/SA decockers which I deem acceptable but the 1911 SA trigger has an advantage over them in my opinion.

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While I'm also a 1911 guy, and I agree the single action trigger is nice, I don't think the single action trigger offers a safety advantage.

If the single action trigger is unrelated to your safety observation, then that is a different matter.

I have a Tanfoglio Super Titan 380 automatic which has two manual safeties (a trigger block and and a hammer block. It also has an awful SA trigger, on of the heaviest I have ever run into. Is that safer than a 1911 with one manual safety and a good trigger pull? My Phoenix HP-25 has 2 manual safeties as well, and while the trigger pull is better than the Super Titan's, one of the safeties is interconnected with the mag release in order to create a very inconvenient magazine safety. The 1911 has NO magazine safety. Which gun is safer?

I don't mean to be snarky, it's just the pistol safety devices interest me. That is why I own the HP-25, in fact. (I have no excuse for the Super Titan. I thought it would be pleasant to shoot. Boy, was I wrong. How do you get rid of a gun where you honestly have to say the trigger pull is dreadful?)

I am willing to accept that a manual safety makes a pistol safer in a variety of ways, like if someone who has no business doing so (and no training) tries to fire the gun. But I believe Glock enthusiasts argue that the Glock's lack of a manual safety and lack of a single action trigger pull makes it safer than a 1911. Like so many things, you have to be clear what you have in mind in order to avoid getting bogged down in arguments about what constitutes safety,

(Sorry for being so long winded. It's harder to write short rather than long sometimes.)

Everyone has their own level of safety. Some folks dont like a passive safety like found on many striker fired guns. They SEEM unsafe. I get that. For me, decockers give me the heebie jeebies. Something about that hammer snapping down that gives me pause. I know they are a completely safe and have had several of them, but still.

I would say that any gun without a hair trigger is pretty safe even with a negligent bobble. I like my carry triggers around 6lbs. Personal preference.

Hk P7 is probably one of the safest. When the cocking lever is squeezed its ready to fire, when released, it decocks the striker and disconnects the trigger. Takes significant force to depress the cocking lever, but quite little to maintain once cocked.

The grip safety on the 1911 is a workaround. If Browning had thought of a firing pin block, he'd have tried to persuade the army of that instead. It has the same original purpose, only allowing commanded firing. It is not entirely effective (easily out of tune, heavy so can intertia release on drop, etc).

On the other hand, essentially all firing pin drop safety blocks are entirely safe and solve that problem just fine.

Manually-disengaged safeties are hilariously unreliable. They are, across all guns, not especially safe (many don't work properly, can be defeated with dirt, with heavy trigger pulls) and especially for handguns: they come off in holsters.

Modern guns from major manufacturers are hilariously safe. Along with things like modern hand grenades (the M67 is not a modern hand grenade), among the safest devices ever made. They work every time, they never, ever, ever "just go off." Ever. Uncommanded discharges simply never happen.

The closest we get is the system being bad. Bad holsters, such as the Serpa (esp on glocks) but also others, encourage incorrect actions and lead to non-deliberate trigger pressing.

After that, it's down to users. If we want guns to be easy to use, there is a risk of misuse. Some of the lock systems (magna-trigger) were much much safer, but also much much harder to use for everyday purposes.


Why do people mistrust modern striker fired guns? Not sure. I mean aside from general fear of the new, it's hard to explain rationally. You could say that everything is happening inside, so it's obscure and obtuse, but go ahead, tell me what all is happening inside a revolver.

shoobe01 said:

Why do people mistrust modern striker fired guns? Not sure. I mean aside from general fear of the new, it's hard to explain rationally.

You could say that everything is happening inside, so it's obscure and obtuse,

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I would say the fact that it's all inside and you can't see that cocked striker is what makes folks feel they are safe.

Lets face it, nobody at the range seeing you walking around with a decocker equipped SIG P226 in your holster with the hammer cocked and won't tell you that looks dangerous and you should decock your P226. On the other hand, everybody is pretty comfortable carrying around a striker fired gun in the same condition.

The difference? You can see the cocked hammer on the SIG and you can't see the cocked striker.

It depends on what kind of idiot is handling it.

Various kinds of handguns have various strengths and weaknesses with regards to preventing a negligent discharge.

Various kinds of idiots have various weaknesses with regards to causing a negligent discharge.

When the weaknesses line up... BANG!

A modern DA/SA is, in my opinion, the safest. I don't like manual safeties, and it is completely safe to carry hammer down. In fact, I regard my CZ75 as safe to carry Mexican-style, but I would never dream of that with a Glock. And the 1911 relies on too many mechanical safeties. Both, in a holster, are fine, but a hammer-down DA/SA is like a revolver, and fired without worrying about flipping a safety, and yet offers the trigger advantages of a 1911 in SA mode.

Based on your criteria an HK USP/HK45 or Beretta 92 etc. DA/SA but with a safety. So one could carry DA, decocked but safety engaged.

The HK P7 probably gets my nod for safest yet fastest into action.

All that said guns are dangerous.......they are kinda supposed to be. A modern striker carried in a modern holster is as safe as houses. I am a DA/SA guy but all guns come with them inherent risk. Just know your chosen platform and know it’s various safety considerations.

If the 1911 or other semiautos pistols are carried chamber empty, they are reasonably safe.
Open bolt firing submachine guns are safest when the magazines are removed while carrying.

I keep my Beretta 92 next to my bed chambered, decocked and safety on. I have owned it for almost 30 years and it is the second hand gun I ever purchased. I can't remember the last time I flicked the Beretta safety off, I pick it up and that just happens. Not being a sissy boy I have no problem with a double action first shot, like the safety coming off on its own it just happens.

I would never carry my Beretta though... it is fricken heavy! I never understood how cops could move with all that weight on their belt.
i carry striker fired pistols because they are small and light not because I particularly care for a stricker fired actions. Having carried a striker fired pistol of some sort for the last 20 years and never having a negligent mis-fire I guess they are safe enough for me.

All are safe if you handle them properly.

A traditional da/sa like the Beretta 92 is safer for general issue to the troops IMO.

All guns are safe. They are inanimate objects.
They become unsafe in human hands.

There is no such thing as a dangerous gun, only a dangerous person.

roscoe said:

A modern DA/SA is, in my opinion, the safest. I don't like manual safeties, and it is completely safe to carry hammer down. In fact, I regard my CZ75 as safe to carry Mexican-style, but I would never dream of that with a Glock. And the 1911 relies on too many mechanical safeties. Both, in a holster, are fine, but a hammer-down DA/SA is like a revolver, and fired without worrying about flipping a safety, and yet offers the trigger advantages of a 1911 in SA mode.

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ROGER THAT! What he said. In a critical situation a LONG DELIBERATE DA trigger pull is your friend!!! No need for any other 'safety'. That makes the semi-auto as safe as the GOOD OLD DA REVOLVER. This is just plan old COMMON SENSE!!!

roscoe said:

A modern DA/SA is, in my opinion, the safest. I don't like manual safeties, and it is completely safe to carry hammer down. In fact, I regard my CZ75 as safe to carry Mexican-style, but I would never dream of that with a Glock. And the 1911 relies on too many mechanical safeties. Both, in a holster, are fine, but a hammer-down DA/SA is like a revolver, and fired without worrying about flipping a safety, and yet offers the trigger advantages of a 1911 in SA mode.

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You are probably right, but in my opinion mastering a long DA first shot (arguably the most important shot in any situation) takes as much practice, or more, as mastering muscle memory to reliably utilize any safety device on a SAO.

And the few, anecdotally, times I've uncorked a DA revolver under adrenaline (snap shot at a white tail) it sure didn't feel long or heavy, but I did miss. I'm not convinced I would have missed with my 1911, and I know I would have disengaged the safety properly.

But still, safest, yeah I think a DA/SA is pretty well up there, I still think a SAO is safer but it's probably a horse a piece.

As for safety, I would choose a DAO revolver or hammer-fired pistol first, a DA/SA hammer-fired pistol second.

I simply don't like traditional DAO or DA/SA designs. I'm completely comfortable with either striker fired or a 1911 with a well designed thumb safety. For that matter there are several striker fired pistols out there that also incorporate a 1911 type safety which may well be the best of all features combined.

Any of them are perfectly safe while being carried. It is after they are out of the holster where a manual safety can make a difference. There are times when the gun needs to be inoperable, and putting it back in the holster isn't an option.