Automatic Safety Options

[tnmike]

I require some advice and schooling please. I am currently having a 1910 C grade 12 refurbished. My gunsmith/restorer is asking how to leave the automatic safety. It has been disabled and he leans toward putting it back original. With his knowledge and the advice from several of you we are trying to take her back to original. (Bone charcoal case hardening/pointed up checkering/ etc.) But this is a functional issue for me.

Does the safety reset after recocking/ barrels closing or after each shot? I think I would get frustrated if between first and second shot it resets. Hate to be so naïve and I have a lot of shotguns but this is my first Fox.

[bbman3]

When you move the toplever to open the gun there is a small rod with a nail head on it that pushes the safety back.Safety is on before you close the action. Bobby

[ROMAC]

The area where the safetey rod passes through the cheek is very thin and prone to cracking if you are going to get a crack.

I'm getting a custom gun restocked and it was recommended to me to leave it out to reduce the chance of getting a crack in the future.

Others have said the same thing.

It only resets after moving the toplever and opening the gun, not after the first shot.

[eightbore]

Yup, Romac is correct. An automatic safety on any break action gun resets only when the gun is opened, not after it fires one shot. However, the automatic safety is an abomination and should be removed from any gun.

[tnmike]

Gentlemen: Thank you for the replies.

[oldr31]

The automatic feature is easily replaced if that is what you want. However, I suggest you consider how you will be using the gun. If you are primarily shooting clays the auto safety is a real pain in the neck. On the other hand, if most of your use will be in the field, then it makes sense. My 12 ga. has the auto feature and my 20 ga. has it disabled. I wish it was the other way around.

[SmithShady]

All of the Fox guns that I own (and others for that matter) have the automatic safety still enabled. I grew up shooting a Fox double with an automatic safety, and it just so happens that all of the guns I've purchased since have had it enabled. I think that if I were ever to purchase a gun with the rod removed, I would have it added back. I say this because switching the safety off is part of my standard routine when shooting a gun like this. I think it's all in what you get used too. I've never been a professional shooter and worried about things like a safety malfunction causing me to miss that all important bird in competition. I think consistency can be important when it comes to safety, and for me that means all of my guns operating the same way. I don't want to have to remember which ones to manually set. I think if properly handled, there shouldn't be a need for a safety, but since I'm already used to operating the gun this way, I'll take the additional security of having it there.

Mike

[Silvers]

I agree with Smitty on keeping the rod in place on all but dedicated guns intended for serious competition/money shooting. It's no big deal to train yourself to desafety the gun when casual target shooting. And you're rarely going to get more than two shots with your Fox in a true fair chase hunting situation, and even then it only takes a fraction of a second to disengage the safety once the gun is reloaded.

[Mike of the Mountain]

I disable the automatic safety on every double shotgun I can. Since I use all of them in competition, I don't want to even have the chance of "forgetting" to take the safety off. My pre-shot program for clays has nothing to do with taking a safety off because we don't use them for sporting. My brain works well when hunting. Even w/o an auto safety I will consciously put the safety on/off at the appropriate time when bird hunting. No different than shooting rifles while hunting, safety goes off when ready to shoot, safety goes back on after either shooting or the opportunity has ended.

[tnmike]

I had to make the call before I got all the advice....and I went with what My restorer suggested and he" reinstalled" the auto safety. I am just a bird hunter and it seems like the right way for me.

[Fin2Feather]

Talking about auto safeties will generate almost as much heat as talking about proper pheasant loads ! All my field guns have the safety enabled except a Sterlingworth 20, and I wish it did too; it just what I'm used to. It was disabled when I bought it but I have the original rod; I just haven't gotten up enough courage to try and take the gun apart and put it back in . I have a single barrel trap with no safety so I don't have to worry about that.