Steve,
I think we're talking past each other. The sear safety I'm referring to is an after-market addition and not the normal safety activitated by the thumb lever. Here is a top-down photo of a Luger that has had its sear safety removed. The hole on the right is where the rivet held the safety spring. There is a slot milled in the top edge of the side plate and there is another hole beneath it where the spring engaged when the side plate was removed. The purpose of this added safety was to prevent triggering the firing pin once the side plate was removed to field strip the gun. Without it, it is possible to discharge a chambered cartridge after removing the barrel and receiver from the frame. Apparently, it happened more often than the police thought acceptable.
