When Did Firing Pin Blocks Become Prevalent?

[Trunk Monkey]

I'm watching Silverado. There's a scene in which one of the characters cocks his rifle to make a point. I was watching it and it occurred to me that in the early 1880s carrying your rifle with an empty chamber might have been a very prudent thing to do.

So my question is when was the firing pin block invented and when did it become common?

 

[MAKster]

I believe Ruger added a transfer bar safety to their single action revolvers in 1973. Colt introduced the 80 series with a firing pin block in the early 1980s.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I believe Ruger added a transfer bar safety to their single action revolvers in 1973. Colt introduced the 80 series with a firing pin block in the early 1980s.

So this is relatively a recent development

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Firing pin blocks are nothing new, they have been around for a long time. When the Beretta 92S came out in 1975 and had a firing pin block. In the 1980’s when the wonder nines got popular, many were targeted at law enforcement. Having a firing pin blocks on handgun was a big selling point. This was due to officers transferring from revolvers to autos.
Now days they are pretty much commonplaces. On some guns they are nothing more then a lawyer safety.
The biggest hurdle for the firing pin block on a handgun was keeping the action smooth. Some companies have been better at it then others. I remember how much the 1911 guys cursed the series 80 Colts when they came out.

 

[Outlaw75]

Firing pin blocks are nothing new, they have been around for a long time. When the Beretta 92S came out in 1975 and had a firing pin block. In the 1980’s when the wonder nines got popular, many were targeted at law enforcement. Having a firing pin blocks on handgun was a big selling point. This was due to officers transferring from revolvers to autos.
Now days they are pretty much commonplaces. On some guns they are nothing more then a lawyer safety.
The biggest hurdle for the firing pin block on a handgun was keeping the action smooth. Some companies have been better at it then others. I remember how much the 1911 guys cursed the series 80 Colts when they came out.

Didn't the Walther P-38 have a firing pin block of some sort?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Firing pin blocks are nothing new, they have been around for a long time.

But not the early 1880s

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Didn't the Walther P-38 have a firing pin block of some sort?

Yes it does. Which the Beretta uses one very similar. Like I said, the firing pin block is nothing new. Some companies had good designs going back many years, but it wasn’t until the 80’s before they really got popular.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

But not the early 1880s

There are some oddballs that go pretty far back, but I can’t think off the top of my head if there were any US made guns in the 1800’s that used a firing pin block.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

There are some oddballs that go pretty far back, but I can’t think off the top of my head if there were any US made guns in the 1800’s that used a firing pin block.

So it wouldn't have been ridiculous to walk around with an empty chamber on your Henry rifle in the early 1880s

 

[Mauser lover]

I think rebounding hammers were pretty commonplace before firing pin safeties. They aren't firing pin blocks, but I wouldn't hesitate to carry a S&W revolver in, say, 1910 with all six chambers loaded. From my couple of minutes of googling, it seems that a Charles Pryse patented the first rebounding hammer device in 1876. However, he seems to have been British, and I am unsure how many Webly revolvers made it over to this side of the pond in the 1880s. I'm unsure when the first American arm was fitted with a rebounding hammer. However, I would be interested in learning of the first!

I have no experience with any Henry rifles though, so it probably would be prudent to keep the chamber empty. However, since when has Hollywood cared about prudent firearm handling? They get lucky once in a while, but...

 

[Nacho Man]

I thought Colt came out with the Swartz safety a long time ago

 

[Stophel]

So it wouldn't have been ridiculous to walk around with an empty chamber on your Henry rifle in the early 1880s

It was standard procedure to carry a lever rifle with the hammer on half cock. This was the safety position.

 

[kell]

I did an old post called. Dropped revolver. That was when I joined this forum. I'll see if it is still available.

 

[Project355]

I'm watching Silverado. There's a scene in which one of the characters cocks his rifle to make a point. I was watching it and it occurred to me that in the early 1880s carrying your rifle with an empty chamber might have been a very prudent thing to do....

Well you can't really compare the entertainment media to real life, ya know? John Wayne, Chuck Connors, most of the rest would cycle the action of their '92s (rifles existing out of place in time) "for effect" or put another way, to illustrate (for theatrical purposes) to the audience that they were showing the adversary that they "meant business".

I take it as a grain of theatrical salt.

 

[herrwalther]

Colt developed the "Positive Safety" sometime just before being introduced in 1907. As the trigger is pulled, the positive safety moves down to allow the hammer (and firing pin on it) to reach a cartridge primer. This allowed a revolver to be carried with a full cylinder in a safe manner, unlike the Colt SAA. Rifles and shotguns with an exposed hammer have incorporated half cock notches as safety mechanisms since muskets and black powder.

https://www.gunblast.com/Cumpston_32Colt.htm

 

[kell]

Revolver can discharge when dropped. I have bullet wound to prove it.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Firing pin blocks are nothing new, they have been around for a long time. When the Beretta 92S came out in 1975 and had a firing pin block. In the 1980’s when the wonder nines got popular, many were targeted at law enforcement. Having a firing pin blocks on handgun was a big selling point. This was due to officers transferring from revolvers to autos.
Now days they are pretty much commonplaces. On some guns they are nothing more then a lawyer safety.
The biggest hurdle for the firing pin block on a handgun was keeping the action smooth. Some companies have been better at it then others. I remember how much the 1911 guys cursed the series 80 Colts when they came out.

Don't forget the S&W 39 (1954-55).

 

[JT-AR-MG42]

My vote is for the Walther PP series developed during the 1920's.
Hammer drop capability with a true firing pin block.

JT

 

[Elkins45]

I think this is from 1896. It was a transfer bar design.

 

[Tommygunn]

So it wouldn't have been ridiculous to walk around with an empty chamber on your Henry rifle in the early 1880s

I don't believe the 1860 Henry even had a half-cock notch safety. The later levers did, but no firing pin block. The 1873 and later had a spring loaded trigger block that was pressed down by the lever so the trigger was blocked when the rifle was out of battery ... but that isn't the same thing.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Well you can't really compare the entertainment media to real life, ya know? John Wayne, Chuck Connors, most of the rest would cycle the action of their '92s (rifles existing out of place in time) "for effect" or put another way, to illustrate (for theatrical purposes) to the audience that they were showing the adversary that they "meant business".

I take it as a grain of theatrical salt.

I really wasn't commenting on the accuracy of the movie.

It just happens that I saw the scene and wondered, as I usually do, why is that idiot walking around with an empty chamber in the first place.

Then it occurred to me that in the early 1870s that might have been a reasonable safety precaution.

And since no one has really been able to place a firing pin block any earlier than the 1890s I don't think that's that far out there

 

[jmorris]

“Half cock“ was the original firing pin block, around in early flint locks when you primed the pan. Revolvers and lever actions as safety’s back before people drove cars or walked on concrete.

 

[JohnKSa]

I was hoping someone would mention H&R's transfer bar and wasn't disappointed.

Another thing to remember is that while a rebounding hammer isn't the same as a firing pin block these days, in the days when firing pins were often incorporated into the hammer itself, a proper rebounding hammer safety was, in fact, equivalent in function to a firing pin block.

There were some effective passive safeties around, very early on, but things like half-cocked hammers, manual safeties and empty chambers played a much bigger role, out of necessity, than they do today.

 

[Outlaw75]

So it wouldn't have been ridiculous to walk around with an empty chamber on your Henry rifle in the early 1880s

Don't know about that, but cocking one to make a point would have probably been considered ridiculous and probably would have gotten you killed.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Don't know about that, but cocking one to make a point would have probably been considered ridiculous and probably would have gotten you killed.

Well that would have been a character mistake and outside the scope of this discussion