The L.C. Smith Collectors Association
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    Re: 1947 LC Smith 30" Field: how safe is the safety? Archived Message

    Posted by jason on October 25, 2015, 3:28 pm, in reply to "Re: 1947 LC Smith 30" Field: how safe is the safety?"

    Thank you for the info, and the helpful picture.

    From what I've read, it sounds like I should be good to go, as long as the safety's work properly, which I will test first.

    The picture gives me some good insight, but I wish I could find a picture that showed how the safety link pushes the sears so that there is no contact with the triggers.

    I am a skilled DIY [do it, or destroy it, yourselfer- depends on day] guy, who has worked on more than a bakers dozen handguns to fit sears and tune them for the characteristics desired [1911, BHP, BabyEagle, SA revolvers and DA revolvers, plus striker fired.]

    I am familiar with some safety designs.

    I have also replaced sear/trigger/hammer [technically that is what the parts manual calls it, on the 'hammerless' design] on Savage 99s, worked over trigger/hammers on Marlins, bolt/triggers on Mausers, Mosins, and stoned surfaces for ARs and Mini-14s.

    I am not bragging. I am letting you get a sense of my technical familiarity. Thus, don't lose me with technical terms/jargon, as I have no formal education in these areas, but images and detailed description of what these parts do make a lot of sense to me.

    So, From what you have said and the images indicate, I am guessing that the safety in the 'rear' position means there is a metal bar of some sort that presses down on the sears to prevent the sear from pivoting up, no matter how much trigger pressure is applied. Is this accurate?

    From the images I found, it appears that the sear pivots 'up' in the rear, to disengage from the internal hammer by pivoting 'down' in the front.

    When I attempted to test the firearm with the safety on, the trigger wouldn't move.

    Your earlier explanation was that the safety disconnected the trigger from the sear. If this were the case, wouldn't the trigger move freely as it was no longer engaged with the sear?

    The combination of the location of the safety, the fact that it is 'on' when pulled to the rear, and the fact my triggers didn't move when safety was on, lead me to think the safety prevents sear motion.

    Kind of like the thumb safety on a 1911 prevents the sear from pivoting, to release the hammer- no matter how much pressure is placed on the trigger of the 1911, the sear doesn't pivot due to the mechanical 'block' on it's range of motion.

    As opposed to a Star Model B or Ballistar Molina, where the safety acts on the hammer by preventing the hammer from rotating, no matter how much the sear 'bounces'.


    Am I on the right track?

    Lastly, some of the posts mention that there is no secondary interrupter [or some such language] on the safety design of the LC Smith. I am struggling to understand what they are discussing, due to my lack of knowledge of shotguns.

    My only frame of reference is the safety factor added to 1911s and BHPs by having a secondary 'half cock' notch on the hammer to prevent hammer follow if the hammer notch shelf shears off. Is this the type of detail that is being discussed? And, if so, is there some relevant explanation of why this design of safety, when combined with the LC Smith sidelock design, is so robust it isn't needed?

    I looked at the image of the sidelock and thought that there is no way the hammer would follow/bounce if the sear were immobilized. There was too much 'meat' on the shelf to be of significant concern, unlike the .020" heights of a 1911, for example.

    Thanks for any and all details you can give me to help me understand this system inside and out.

    I am not afraid of it. I am confident I'll be safe. I am just trying to have the level of knowledge about this system that I do about the other firearms I have at home.

    Thanks for the explanations so far!


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