Decocker Safety

[Chester32141]

What is the proper way to let the hammer down w/ one in the chamber on a Makarov ? Should I use the decocker safety or let the hammer down manually ?

Chester

 

[OleCodger]

See post below.

 

[jcwit]

I've always let the decocker drop the hammer til it failed once and only once. Thank God it was pointed down range as it should have been. But never again will I trust a decocker.

A bullet going out the tube can NEVER be called back.

 

[HammerBite]

The Pistolet Makarov has a free-floating firing pin. A free-floating firing pin does not have a spring. Because it does not have a spring, there is only one way to ensure that the firing pin will be in position for the hammer to hit it; the firing pin must be longer than the firing pin tunnel. When a cartridge is in the chamber, the cartidge prevents the firing pin from moving so far forward as to be out of reach of the hammer.

If you manually lower the hammer, the hammer will be left resting on the firing pin, which, in turn, will be resting on the primer. A blow to the hammer will fire the pistol.

The decocking safety intercepts the hammer fall and locks the hammer before it reaches the firing pin. When the safety is subsequently switched to "fire", the sear holds the hammer off of the firing pin by engageing the hammer's safety notch.

Use the decocking safety!

Because of the free-floating firing pin, it is essential that the firing pin tunnel be clean. A tunnel filled with decades-old congealed cosmoline can cause a slam fire if the firing pin is in the forward position with its movement restricted.

In a properly operating Makarov the firing pin can mark the primer as a round is chambered, but does not have enough mass to fire the round.

 

[OleCodger]

Never too old to (re)learn a lesson.

You two fellows have reminded me of what I've said many a time......don't trust it if it's man made. I've always been careful to point the pistol in a safe direction before using the decocking lever but then I wonder, is there really a safe direction considering the range of the .45 caliber. Therefore, in the future I will very, very carefully manually decock my pistols. I went back and deleted my previous post as a result of you two.......thanks!

 

[ultradoc]

I have a Mak and I have never trusted or used the decocker on it. I let the hammer down manually.

 

[MICHAEL T]

Point in a safe direction and use decocker In a house a bucket of sand Remember accidents can happen its man made and could fail. So always point in a safe direction.

 

[marv]

If/when your hand and thumb heal after the ND while manualy decocking an auto, you will probably start using the safety decocker.

 

[makarovnik]

I use the decocker but frequently check that little sucker for peening and such.

The original decocker on my Russian IMEZ Makarov got peened pretty early on and also slightly loose. I replaced it with a nice purple one that was Bulgarian in origin. I think the purple one was heat treated better or maybe just harder steel but it has held up much better than the original.

I'm glad I bought a bunch of extra parts before makarov.com stopped selling parts.

 

[HisSoldier]

Not a Mak, but J.B. Wood in his book on Trouble Shooting Your Handgun speaking of Walther hammer drop/block safeties said he has seen many that were broken by the hammer hitting them. He advised dropping the hammer with a thumb on it to lower it gently while toggling the safety. The safety "drops" the hammer but I'm not letting it slam into the block. Obviously the muzzle must be pointed at something unimportant in any case during any handling.