Also I don’t know too much about the mechanics of the disconnects, nor how many variations exist, but I think of Sebastian’s Bersa where the spring failed on the disconnect leaving him with an inoperable gun (unless it’s held sideways).

This “Safety” feature could get you killed if employed in a defensive arm.

Also I’m not a huge fan of a loaded gun giving a false negative to the shooter. A gun with a round in the chamber and the magazine removed IS still loaded, but unable to fire, but will suddenly become “hot” with the introduction of an empty magazine, or the failure of the disconnect.

There is just no way this feature can be considered good.

A carry piece should go bang when the trigger is pulled, without having to worry about whether the magazine has been dislodged or dropped out.

One Browning; three S&W. One civilian; one cop; a professional police trainer; a firearms professional.

Two fatalities.

The first is that in IDPA you carry the gun around from stage to stage in your holster. You don’t carry it in a range bag or case. Because it’s holstered, the only way to make sure it’s secure in the holster is to have it holstered with the slide forward. You can’t securely carry a gun in a holster with the slide locked back.

Since the gun is going to be holstered, and the rules require a cold range, that’s where the procedure to show unloaded comes from. It’s an additional safety precaution.

Now, last time I looked, IDPA has a specific rule that said “All safety devices on a gun must be in working order.” That means that removing or disabling a mag disconnect safety is actuallly violating the rule.

I know local clubs may look the other way on this, but unless I mis understand the rule, this is against the rules and could result in a competitior being DQ’d.

So, before you do this mod, check the IDPA rule book for yourself and follow up by checking with the SRO of the club that holds the match.

On the flip side, the gun won’t discharge if the magazine isn’t seated properly, where that discharge would likely produce a malfunction that had to be cleared, and the mag would fall out of the gun during recoil–necessitating insertion of a new mag and racking the slide to fill the empty chamber. Otherwise: a rap on the magazine and problem solved.

Yeah, so that’s an amateur mistake. Though I am using it in a manner not originally intended, where its purpose was to render the gun “safe” simply by removal of the magazine. No weapon with a chambered round is safe for casual handling, as far as I’m concerned.

Being a wheelgunner who loves a nice clean break on single action, I’m not overly fond of sloppy triggers on guns with disconnectors. It’s a traditional European design practice as much as it is lawyering, where the French government requested that feature in the enormously popular GP. I could take or leave the disconnector, but considering the prevalence of imported pistols, I have given up and made peace with the fact they exist.

What I don’t like are internal locks, most of which are made of minuscule parts more appropriate for a ball point pen.

Dropping the hammer on an empty chamber with the magazine out is the most efficient way to make sure that everyone’s gun is in the same condition – safe.