Safety

A lever-style safety, as seen on the Kronos XVIII-500.

A safety or trigger lock is a lock featured on high-performance blasters used to prevent the blaster from being fired.

Details

Safety switches on a blaster prevent the pulling back of the firing trigger, locking it in stable place until the safety is deactivated. For flywheel-powered blasters, this will also prevent the acceleration trigger from being pulled back.

Safeties come in a few different designs: a push-button/cross-bolt design found on both sides of a blaster, a lever-style switch, a slide switch, and a grip-style safety that is featured below the main trigger, similar to an acceleration trigger. Most safeties are ambidextrous, and can be either reached with a user's thumb or index finger.

Some blasters have a lock built into their firing triggers that act similar to a safety. These are wholly internal and do not have an external switch, instead detecting if ammunition is loaded and/or if power is being supplied to the internal motors. Safety locks that prevent flywheel blasters from revving up when the jam door is open are also common.

History

The first blasters to feature a safety function were the 2015 RIVAL blasters, although the earlier 2008 Vulcan EBF-25 and 2010 Stampede ECS had power switches that essentially acted as a safety. This would later be adopted for RIVAL-style brands and series, such as Adventure Force's Tactical Strike series, as well as the high-performance Dart Zone Pro series of blasters.

Trivia

• Power switches (such as the one found on the Barricade RV-10) may also be considered a safety feature, as they prevent the blaster from being powered and fired when not on. This is in juxtaposition to blasters who have their power actuation built into the firing trigger, rather than having an external switch. In the case of the latter, to prevent accidental firing, the batteries would need to be removed from the blaster.
  • Acceleration triggers themselves may also be thought of as safety switches, since it requires a conscious action to pull both the acceleration and firing trigger. Despite this, high-performance blasters that have an acceleration trigger also have an additional safety, further reducing the chances of accidentally firing the blaster.
• The Codebreaker Crossbow and X-Shot Lock Blaster have their own "safety lock" that comes in the form of a combination lock that must be entered correctly for the blaster to be used.

Gallery

A push-button safety, as seen on the Artemis XVII-3000.

A slide switch safety, as seen on the Fate XXII-100.

A grip safety, as seen on the Liberator.