Out of battery safety?

[Dwight Gruber]

Originally Posted by STEINBVG

I see. But can it be both? If the striker escaped the sear, but the toggle is not fully locked?

Actually, no. When manually operating the action it is possible, by depressing the trigger at the proper moment, for the firing striker escape capture by the sear bar, and for the breechblock to continue into battery with the firing pin protruding through the breech face, a form of decocking. Collectors commonly do this in order to store their pistols with reduced compression of the striker spring. It is absolutely necessary to make sure that there is no round being chambered when doing this, because the firing pin spring is very strong even when uncompressed, and this can fire a cartridge.

Under normal shooting circumstances this is not a problem because the action cycles too fast, and the trigger action is too slow, to defeat the disconnector.

There is one circumstance in which this can be a problem. Occasionally the action will "hang up," the toggle will not quite close when returning to battery. Reasons for this include insufficient strength of the recoil spring, or some other mechanical malfunction. Shooters will usually overcome this by simply pressing down the toggle until it closes and continue firing.

However. the "hangup" usually occurs at the point where the firing pin engages the sear bar, and the recoil spring strength is not sufficient to overcome the momentary addition of the firing pin spring cocking pressure. In this circumstance, simply pulling the trigger may release the entire breechblock into battery with the firing pin extended. Unintentional discharge is a possible result.

--Dwight