Opinions On Safteys On Paintball Guns

[superman]

my pumps don't have safeties, Fire the ball before putting the bag on as others have said.
My mech cockers that i actually use do not have safeties. I ensure that whoever picks it up knows it does not have a safety multiple times before they touch it.
mech mags that are not benchmark frames have safeties. Benchmark safeties suck and i always accidently turn them to safe.

[rawbutter]

When using it I'll forget to turn it off before a game and miss a few shots due to the safety still being on, so at this point I just don't use a safety.

If you're forgetting to turn it off/on, then you might just need more practice. It's like putting on a seat belt in your car. You might have to be really intentional about doing it at first, but eventually it will become second nature.

I also have a routine I've developed when entering/existing the field. When I'm going on the field, I put on my mask, pull off my barrel sock, turn off the safety, and switch on the loader. Those four things are associated with each other in my mind. When coming off, I turn off the loader, turn on the safety, put on the sock, and then take off my mask. Again, those things are all connected. It's hard to do one without all the others now.

[Ironnerd]

Similar system, different order. Aviation types love Mnemonics to remember stuff.

MASS (going on to the field)
Mask (on)
Ammo (power feed on)
Safety (off)
(barrel) Sock (off)

SSAM (coming back off)

[lew]

On my Automag and Pro Lite, I use them because they're already there. I do not rely on them as even my second line of defense against an ND. Same goes for power switches on electros. On my Cockers, I won't tolerate a safety. Trigger discipline, barrel bag, mask, and, when not on the field, keep the damned thing pointed in a safe direction AT ALL TIMES.

[Bow]

I degas my mechs and just don't pump my pumps.

I believe safeties are necessary but at least locally gun safety isn't taught anymore so most people/kids don't know jack shit about proper gun safety.

Barrel bags are my favorite thing in paintball. Having worked at the field for 5 years and having played for nearly 15 I can say I've seen probably a thousand people shoot into their barrel bags. Kids who forget to turn off their electro, renters who keep their finger on the trigger, etc etc.

Personally I don't use safeties since I degas. Regardless; My Emek safety doesn't work because of my gen 1 frame/hair valve and my T2 never came with one. Degassing is the safest option for me since it purges both systems and neither have check valves.

[Cyberpyr8]

To be fair, I've probably shot my barrel socks 1000 times over the years! It does happen.

[Jonnydread]

Totally valid and a good call to de-gas. I have a few guns that have the style of reg that holds some air after de-gassing which has ended in me scaring the shit out of myself.

[Cyberpyr8]

Yeah that's been the majority of mine too. I have had a few guns that hold enough air and I would ultimately do a desk pop.

[coyote]

The more levels of safety a sport like paintball has the few negligent discharges. That leads to fewer accidents, and less non players looking at us with a jaundiced eye.

Ego sometimes gets in the way of redundant safety measures. The game is exceptionally safe because of our behavior. It can be unsafe do to our behavior as well.

[P.I.C.T. Tactical]

I have been playing 20+ years, managed paintball fields, etc.
I am a big proponent of safety’s. Not just for newbs either because I have seen plenty of space dildos go off while everyone is standing listening to the brief.

[CrowsFeast]

The only time I've had an accidental discharge was when my electro trigger caught on top of the pod on the front of my vest. Fingers were outside the guard of course.
I've missed more than a few shots because the safety accidentally engaged (usually if I'm switching hands to shoot from the other side of cover).

Actually I have sort of had a second accidental discharge. A young guy wanted to hold my Ego7 and when I handed it to him he grabbed it by the frame... and trigger.

So actually both times were with the same marker (finely tuned hair trigger) and it doesn't have a safety (not that I often use them on markers that do).

[anson]

This is my Safety Sir!
Proceeds on to the field without a mask

[nobbie333]

I am left handed and with most safety being a push button I find my self accidentally putting the marker on safe when I don’t want to

I always use safeties, I don't think I'd buy a gun without one.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[Jordan]

Have you tried not being left handed?

[nobbie333]

Like what use my other hand?

[Cdn_Cuda]

Also a lefty on the trigger, can confirm.

[homerj]

I use them. If it’s an electro, i pretty much always turn it off as soon as the game ends since there’s usually 10 or minutes of downtime between games. I really can’t recall ever forgetting to switch the safety off before the game starts but it’s possible.

[Arthur]

Ooooof, thatsa a strong statement about barrel bags after all the shenanigans I've seen. People can't handle that type of freedom, gotta bag it.

I mean, hey, I get it -- Treat them like guns. Problem is people are awful with real guns too. Its honestly had me thinking about creating barrel blocks for them too, lol. Don't hate me. I've almost been shot, no fun.

[vijil]

On electros, I always treated the POPS as a safety of sorts. It's so easy to degas that it becomes second nature.

To the point that one of the first mods I made to my Trracer was to put a POPS on it. Took some messing about, but it worked. It was my first pump and I was so underwhelmed I never went back to pumps, even after putting a primo hopper and nice barrel and loads of mods on it I just couldn't bring myself to like it. Rollouts, vastly different velocities when you AT vs when you don't, wobbly as hell pump stroke, offset feedneck, yuck yuck yuck.

[smiffington]

I use safeys and barrel bags whenever I can. I'm kinda paranoid of accidentally firing in the staging area so I enjoy the two layered peace of mind. The only safety I don't like is the quasi ar safety on my TMC. I constantly knock if into safe mid game. Y'all to the south should have stuck with my boy Eugene's original design of forward semi, up safe, and rear for pew pew pew. I don't know why that ever did get changed but I'm sure someone will chime in.

[Hp_lovecraft]

I don't think I own any paintguns with a safety. The last one that had a safety was my Splatmaster from 35 years ago. I didn't realize they still make them, apart from milsim stuff.

But I see the point... an extra layer of safety. I like barrel plugs and bags since that is a visible layer. You can't trust a safety just by looking at it.

[Siress]

I just TL;DR this thread but wanted to give my opinion. Because I'm an a-hole like that.

I don't have data to show it, but in my experience trigger safeties (mechanism intended to disable the trigger itself) cause more harm than good. The trigger mechanism activates the firing mechanism. I prefer safeties that address the risk directly. The risk here is that the firing mechanism launches a projectile that exists the barrel with the potential to cause harm. So, I prefer barrel bags alone so that users learn to keep their dirty d beaters off the trigger when they don't intend to shoot. Anyone that thinks they can put a load on the trigger 'because the safety is on' is likely to cause an accidental discharge. Screw that noise. And besides, between paintball and firearms - want them to learn trigger discipline with a paintball gun...easy mode.