Magazine disconnect

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A magazine disconnect is an internal mechanism that disconnects the trigger of a firearm when its magazine is removed.

As with any safety-equipped firearm, there is debate about the necessity of a magazine disconnect, which has been available on certain pistols since the beginning of the 20th Century. Most magazine capable firearms have no magazine disconnect.

The pros of a magazine disconnect are that if the gun cannot fire without a magazine in the pistol then an accidental discharge can be prevented if someone removes the magazine but forgets that a round has been chambered.

The cons of a magazine disconnect are that without a magazine the pistol is useless as except as a club for, without if a magazine was lost or otherwise not available then at least the gun could be chambered with a single round to be used as a single shot weapon. From a technical standpoint, magazine disconnects add an extra parts to handguns and thus increases complexity which creates additional risk of component failure while potentially increasing production costs.

Many experienced firearms operators see little value in having a magazine disconnect safety due to the belief that proper handling and care can offer equal safety to the addition of a magazine safety component and see magazine disconnects being introduced as a way for gun companies to appease anti-gun politicians and thus hope to prevent them from forcing such "safety" features onto guns by law.