How effective is a grip safety on handgun?

Question

I am completely prepared for all the anti-gun bashing I about to receive but I am looking to purchase a Springfield Armory XD 45 ACP and want to know how effective really is a grip safety in comparison to a trigger safety, and decocking safety. Please experienced handgunners answer only. This is mainly for home and business protection

Answer 1

Grip safety's have been used on 1911 style pistols since their invention, I think that alone should be a good enough testament to their effectiveness. Look at how many copies of the 1911 pistol there are and they all use the same grip safety. Glocks trigger safety is another effective safety, as are external safetys and decockers. NO MECHANICAL safety should ever supercede a user's own common sense and safety knowledge. Grip safety pistols are very often carried in condition one( ****** and locked) where a round is in the chamber, a full magazine in the well, and the hammer is ****** back with the thumb safety engaged.Even with the thumb safety off, the hammer cannot drop on the firing pin without the grip safety depressed. Glock's trigger safety may have a few uneducated people fooled into thinking it's less safe, but it has been a proven and effective safety since it's inception as well. The question now lays with what YOU the actual user/shooter of the pistol are most comfortable with. My daily carry sidearm is an HKUSP full size, with external thumb safety/decocker switch. I have carried many different types of 1911 styled pistols with grip safetys, glocks with trigger safetys, and revolvers with no safety! Your confidence level should be dictated by what you feel is the safest type of safety for your own personal use.(I'm talking about proven safetys in reliable well built firearms, not saturday night specials)NO FIREARM is 100% safe, no safety is 100% effective. A firearm is only as safe as those handling it.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I'm assuming you are talking about .45 ACP, which is currently by far the most common type of .45. There are also .45 Ling Colt (an older revolver round going back to the days of cowboys) and the .45 GAP, which is much newer. There are a lot of "good" .45s right out of the box. Just about any 1911 style handgun is good, although Kimber is one of the best. There are also Ruger and S&W Semiautos in .45 that are extremely reliable. If you are thinking about a Glock, I'd look at the Springfield Armory XD-45 too. It's a lot like a Glock but built a little more heavy duty and with a few more features (not that Glocks are necessarily a bad gun, Springfield Armory just took the idea and tweaked it a little. And there are other brands that make perfectly good .45s too. What's at least as important as getting a really good gun is getting a gun that fits you well. As long as the gun itself is decent, the better it fits you the better you will be able to shoot it. Also, take some time to consider what you will be using it for. 45s can back quite a recoil punch if your on the smaller side, and although most people can get used to it with a little practice it still is more recoil than some calibers. If you are looking for a home or self defense gun, don't get one that is compensated because the fireburst at the end of the barrel can temporarily make it hard to see at night, not as bad as a camera flash, but in that kind of situation the distraction could be very bad. If it will be more of a target or competition gun, having it ported or compensated could be a major advantage because the reduced felt recoil will help you place accurate follow-up shots much more quickly. Think of what other features would be helpful or not for whatever purpose of purposes you intend the firearm and make sure whatever you get is well suited for that purpose. Also, if it is going to be a defensive gun, You might want to consider a double action .45 revolver that takes moon clips. Double action revolvers are much simpler to use while in a stressful situation (you don't have to remember to switch off the safety or rack the slide to get a round into the chamber), and they are more reliable than semiautos because you don't have to worry about the next round not feeding or anything like that. Also, Moon clips are very simple to use and make reloading very quick and easy, even in the dark where visibility is compromised. Double action revolvers are very underrated as defensive guns because of the lower capacity, but in most confrontations only a few rounds are fired anyway, so the high capacity semiautomatics are usually no more than a false sense of security. Not that I don't own several of them, but it's true. Whatever you get, for whatever purpose you get it, make sure you go to the range regularly and practice until you know the gun inside and out. After that still go periodically to keep up your skill. I hope this helps.

Answer 4

I own a Kimber custom II .45 ACP 1911 handgun and i absolutely love it. It has the dual grip and thumb safeties on it. If the grip safety is not full depressed the gun won't fire, I am very impressed with the effectiveness of the grip safety. Hope this helps...

Answer 5

they been used on 1911 for just about a 100yr now so whats that tell ya. lol. I have a XD 9 it's the best thing I ever spent money on! it's reliable, never jammed once and I have over a thousand rounds through it already. I use it on the job, concealed carry and competition (IDPA). I love it, have no complaints. it's great also b/c it has a mag release on both sides so you could take out the mg without taking it out if the holster and it's quick and easy to field strip, cocking Decatur (that doesn't mean you never have to make sure it's not loaded, always treat it as it is!) For the price and reliability you can't beat it! AND it comes in 45! The mags are made with durability in mind.

Answer 6

I've had no problem with my XD 9. With both the trigger safety and the backstrap safety is very effective. There is a third safety, that's internal but I don't fully understand how it works.

I carry my XD sometimes and have had no problems. the Thing to remeber is keep your finger out of the trigger guard unless you are going to shoot.

Answer 7

They are one of the safety systems for the 1911 single action pistols. 1911's are designed to be carried ****** and locked so as to not have a hammer on a live round in the chamber. The grip safety is there to make the pistol un-fir able unless you are physically holding the gun in your hand, given how the pistol is designed to be carried this is a welcome devise.

Answer 8

Well first off, I have never liked the device. The fact few guns other than the 1911 have used one, kinda backs that up. It works well, but can be a hinderance if the gun is losely griped. Safety #1, is still keeping the finger off the trigger till ready to shoot.