r e g g i Tr Tal es A BRIeF hISTORy OF The “FlIPPeR”-STyle SAFeTy. J. B. Wood B ack in the 1880s, the era of the top-break revolver, the Iver Johnson Company was competing with Smith & Wesson and two other firms. In addition to a lessfine-finish and lower price, they also tried a few innovative mechanical features. One of those was the first “transfer bar” firing system, designed by Andrew Fyrberg (often, alas, misspelled “Fryberg”). Around 1885, there was obviously a discussion of possible safety features. Perhaps there was an incident in which a revolver was being thrust into a pocket, and the trigger caught on a button, with disastrous results. Anyway, the design team—Iver Johnson, Andrew Fyrberg, and R. T. Torkelson—went to work on the problem. The US Patent No. 339301, was granted on April 6, 1886. The trigger “flipper” had arrived. Between 1888 and 1908, it was used on four models of the Iver Johnson Revolver. The device was very simple. A little spring-powered lever was set into the face of trigger, and its rear tail rested against the inside of the triggerguard. If the lever was not depressed, the trigger could not move. Wait a minute— couldn’t the aforementioned clothing button depress the lever? Er, well, yes. But not as surely as the trigger finger. Even after the patent expired, around the start of World War I, no other maker used it. Then, in 1930, J.P. Sauer & Sohn of Germany used a similar device on their Behordenmodell pistol. While there were mechanical differences in this semi-auto, the function was exactly the same. After this brief appearance, the trigger-safety design went dormant for around 50 years. Then, in 1980, Gaston Glock made it the only external safety on his new pistol. As everyone knows by now, the Glock was adopted as Military Standard by Austria, and later became the chosen police sidearm of many departments in the USA. In the years that followed, many firearms makers decided to include the trigger safety in their designs. This was partially influenced by “product liability” lawsuits, as any added safety feature helped in defense. From a practical/mechanical standpoint, according to some industry sources, the trigger safety was intended to guard against accidental firing if the pistol were dropped on its back, The “flipper” on the trigger as a safety lay dormant for nigh onto 50 years before being resurrected by Gaston Glock on his pistol (above). Many other firms now use this system routinely, but the original goes back more than 100 years. Photo: Robbie Barrkman. The original Iver Johnson trigger safety of 1886 (below) was invented to prevent inadvertent discharge pocketing of the arm. preventing inertial movement of the trigger and trigger bar. Actually, given the minimal mass of these parts, you’d have to drop it off a tall building. In this universe, Mr. Newton’s laws still apply. The new Beretta Nano is one of the latest pistols to sport a “flipper” type of safety on the trigger, among others. On J.B.’s much-altered Glock 19, the trigger “flipper” has been removed, and the slot filled. It now sports a side safety by 10-Ring Precision. 40 W W W. G U N S M AG A Z I N E . C O M • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 3
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