Loading with the safety on

darrell · Post by **darrell** » July 22nd, 2009, 10:15 am

??? I always loaded my P-64 and PA-63 with the safety on, but I had some one at the range tell me that this could damage the firing pin. I have a lot of doubt about that, but wanted to ask as I don't want to break a firing pin, but also prefer to have the safety on unless I am read to shoot.
I also wanted to see if anyone had used Pow'r ball in the PA-63. I am a little concerned about using the Pow'r ball in the alloy PA-63. I don't think it is an issue in the steel P-64. Neither of my 9 x18s will feed Hollow points a 100%. I know I could polish the feed ramp and probably will soon.

retiredsailor · Post by **retiredsailor** » July 22nd, 2009, 10:55 am

Darrell:

You were told correctly. Do not load the weapon with safety on. You can damage the firing pin and/or the safety decocking mechanism. :'(

The manual even directs you the disengage the safety when loading the weapon. If you do not have a copy of the manual, there is one on this forum you can download.

Also, I'm retired Navy myself...AT1(AW). :-[

darrell · Post by **darrell** » July 22nd, 2009, 12:25 pm

Thanks. I will definitely stop doing that. It is good to be retired military in this economy. We are also ahead the crowd in we already have goverment controlled health care and are premium is not pre-tax. I rotate the magazines every couple of months and reload at the same time. So I am probably lucky I haven't damaged anything yet.

torpeau · Post by **torpeau** » July 22nd, 2009, 12:58 pm

retiredsailor wrote:Darrell:
You were told correctly. Do not load the weapon with safety on. You can damage the firing pin and/or the safety decocking mechanism. [

I have read the manual, but had forgotten about this. Thanks for the reminder.

Generally, I never touch the safety on my P-64s. I let this standard stiff DA help out in that regard.

conscript47 · Post by **conscript47** » July 22nd, 2009, 3:16 pm

I have never done it, and like someone else said, I never use the safety. I've used it to de-cock before as I try to avoid dry firing, but that is about it.

Few questions... why does racking it with the safety on damage the firing pin or decocking mechanism... and second, does excessive dry firing pose a risk?

EDIT: on the PA-63, I would go light with the powerball ammo, the frame is not built to handle heavy shooting. Personally, I would swap to Wolff's heaviest recoil spring, try a box to see how your gun likes it, and then reserve it for self-defense use only.

tomek · Post by **tomek** » July 25th, 2009, 1:38 am

Surfing polish sites i found that p-64 can be loaded with or without the safety on.There was no warning that it can't be loaded with safety on.
for example: isp.policja.pl/download.php?s=12&id=260. Wikipedia probably used the same information. "A manual safety lever that secures the weapon from being accidentally discharged with the hammer either cocked or released also enabling the weapon to be chambered with the safety engaged or toggled off. In the “safe” position, the firing pin is locked and the trigger bar is disconnected from the hammer’s notch"

I found on the police and military firearm storage rules that pistols p-64 and p-83 should be storage unloaded with safety off.("Pistolety P-64 i P-83 należy przechowywać odbezpieczone")

For these that can read polish:
isp.policja.pl/download.php?s=12&id=260
http://www.iniejawna.pl/przepisy/policja/00_4_38.html
http://www.specops.com.pl/technika/bron_....om pendium1.htm
http://81.210.9.116/~apacz/smf/index.php?topic=8794.15

darrell · Post by **darrell** » July 25th, 2009, 11:47 am

Thanks
Darrell

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