I continue to be amazed at the number of folks who seem to think controlled round feed is so important and the same with the three position safety ala Winchester Model 70. I personally refuse to by any gun with such a safety as I've learned the two position Remington safety and thus ALL my guns MUST have the same operation so I don't ever have to think about it but it is just automatic to me. I've never had a failure to feed or eject with my push feed Remingtons. In fact you can turn the rifle upside down and it continues to feed and eject just fine thank you. These things are necessary only in the mind of some folks. Hint they really aren't necessary.
For most people I know the ability to turn a rifle upside down and still have it feed is unimportant in the extreme – and that is not their reason for preferring CRF. Nor am I aware of any real problems caused by variations in safety design.
For myself, I prefer CRF and fixed-blade ejectors for a number of reasons. First, the CRF rifles tend to have larger, stronger, more reliable extraction mechanisims – no little springs or pins. Further, and just as important to me and perhaps more so, mine have fixed-blade ejectors. Since I do 99.9% of my shooting at the range I appreciate being able to ***easily*** unload with one hand without brass flying several feet.
As to safeties, the primary problem I’ve had with various types is with the Cross-Bolt Saftey on some of my lever guns. Normally I negate the difference by leaving the CBS in the “Fire” position and hunting with an empty chamber and half-cock until ready to shoot. Once my buddy insisted I engage the CBS with an empty chamber and when it came time to fire I levered a round into the chamber and dropped the hammer onto the CBS with an annoying “Clack”. The buck, of course, took off at the sound.
When it comes to bolt guns, I have Remingtons with two position safeties that behave differently – the old style that lock the bolt when engaged and the new style, which I prefer, that allows you to open the bolt when engaged. I also have one that has been converted from the old to the new style. My Savage has a three-position slide safety while some of my Rugers have a two-position slide safety and others have a three-position wing safety. Other than pulling the trigger on an empty chamber, which I’ve done more than once, the difference in the rifles itself has caused no problems.
Guess I’d have to say that identical safeties “are necessary only in the mind of some folks. Hint they really aren't necessary.” At least not for some/most of us.
