Colt Series 80 "problem"
- Thread starter superted
- Start date
...Gold, pure gold!
Somebody (don't know who or when in the 1980's) decided that the Original Colt 1911's and the series 70's were flawed. If a chambered gun with mechanical safety "on" (the way it's designed to be carried) were to be dropped onto it's muzzle, the gun would, could or did discharge the chambered round. It seems that the firing pin return spring, combined with the weight of the steel firing pin was the "problem". A 1911 that weighs "X" being dropped on it's muzzle from "Y" height, generated enough inertia for the steel pin to over come the return spring, thereby striking the chambered rounds primer hard enough to set it off.
So in the 1980's, the series 80 was designed with a bunch of levers and such (I've never owed one...can you tell?) to prevent this "problem" from occurring.
My school of thought is that if you're dropping you're pistol...that is the first, primary and really ONLY problem that needs to be addressed. But hey, somebody got paid gobs of money to come up with the 80's design, so although I'll never own one, who am I to criticize?
{side note} the simple replacement of firing pins to a Titanium one (read lighter than steel), resolves the issue (if there ever really was one), if it worries one that much.
Glock has no "safety" per se.
