Technical mountain climbers don't use 1/4" hardware store nylon braid for safety line, yet that would probably be a safer proposition than to trust the safety systems often found on many weapons. Don't pretend that years of gunsmithing or whatever somehow means others shouldn't learn about what it is that they trust their safety to. There is a reason why every hunter/gun safety training program in the country emphasizes the idea of never pointing a weapon at anything you would not be willing to shoot.
On that note, I remember well the first time I climbed at Joshua Tree. The bolted climbs there were put up under the American aesthetic, which is bottom-up rather than on rappel like the Euros do it. So, every bolt was put in by a guy on a stance, not clipped to anything, scary far above the last bolt, using an impact hammer an expansion bolts... As you can imagine, the bolts are few and far between! To your point, Klik, they often WERE manky old 1/4" hardware-store crap, too.
In an area like Smith Rocks, where climbs were put up under the Euro aesthetic, there's a bolt like every 8 feet, and they are usually these beautiful, 3/8 or 1/2" stainless climbing-specific bolts...
