My two favorite deer rifles were a Ruger 77 and a Browning A-Bolt both with a tang safety I'm pretty sure I've nailed a few bucks over the years that I might not have with another type of safety having to shoot super quick. Why are they not more popular and is there a way to have a tang safety that would let you unload with the safety in the on position? Both of mine won't allow it.

In later production Ruger switched to an E-clip in place of the bolt lock on the safety of the 77, allowing the bolt to be opened with the safety on. An easy swap if you want to change it.

The X bolt has a button on the bolt handle that unlocks it with the safety engaged. So there’s another option for you.

IMO the M-70 style of safety is as convenient and functional as any tang safety....and I prefer it.

Well if a tanger can be made to lock the safety when unloading I'm sorta perplexed why they are not more common these days.

y
Can't say I'd want one on an over/under so why would I want one on a rifle?

Steyr SBS.

a tang safety is the most efficient for lefty and righties. Reaching over or around the action for the safety before shooting is stupidly inefficient. Read an African hunter and PH write that some PHs would still be alive if they hadn't needed that extra second to reach around for the safety. Ganyana was his nickname. Be Well, RZ.

Savage 10, 11, 16, 110, 111, 116 have 3-position tang safeties. For those of us who admit to owning Savage rifles....

Never hunted a rifle with a tang.
Wanna say I don't like th em, that ain't fair.
Work just fine on an O/U, probably just haven't
wanted a rifle with one.

Had a 270 Savage, never fired it. It got excommunicated,
was turning the others!

I don't know. I wear a bag over my head whenever I am shooting mine but yes, they have a good tang safety. The only thing I dislike about tang safeties is that they take away from the bedding surface at the tang. Not really an issue but, there it is. GD

And it works even better for those of us that shoot left handed with right handed rifles!

Speaking of convenient and reliable safeties; the Weatherby Mark V is my favorite. A motion by the thumb rolling the lever up and forward is positive and quiet and very unlikely to be accidentally disengaged by hand, gear, or brush. However, the bolt cannot be opened on safe. I guess it’s not ninny proof. Happy Trails

I am right handed and the M70 safety works better for me being on the right side. I suppose if you never had any shots closer than 100 yards, being on the opposite side of your operating hand would be better. I have never seen a M70 safety that was silent when simply pushed off with the thumb. for silent operation. For completely silent operation, for all M70's that I have operated, you have to use the thumb and fore finger and ease the safety lever to the fire position. That is more difficult to do if the safety is on the opposite side of the operating hand. RJ

I like the tang safeties on my 77's. I think it's about as good a way to go as any. That said, I've got a lot of different kinds of rifles, shotguns and handguns. I've never had a problem adapting to whatever configuration I'm using at the moment and I've never found any to be particularly inconvenient.

X 2

Familiarity - Familiarity - Familiarity

In cold Wx I hunt & shoot with thin gloves .... I DON'T like tang safeties.


Jerry

As long as it locks the bolt closed I don’t care where it is

There have been some interesting tang safety designs over the years.

Mannlicher Schönauers could be had with a "stalking (tang) safety" in addition to the flag safety. On the Mannlicher Schönauer the bolt is held closed by a leaf(?) spring behind the bolt handle with a bit of force, so unloading with the safety on would be possible. The Sauer 80 and 90 rifles - I think Colt sold them in the US - were both fitted with tang safeties, but they had a little button on the base of the bolt handle that would allow you to open the bolt with the safety on. Hand cocking rifles like the Blaser R8 and R93 also come to mind. In the uncocked position you just slide the cocking lever a little forward and can open the, otherwise locked, bolt.

I don't like safeties that lock the bolt.

I change out ones that are that way when I buy an old 700. I suppose a three position safety is OK, but I would never need to use the locking position. I never had a bolt come open on it's own so it is hard to understand why it is needed for me. The main benefit of a three position safety for me is resale value. Perhaps someone who buys the rifle likes them and for me the locking position is ignored.

The tang safeties on my 77 and my 99 are fine as far as they are in a good position to release the safety fast.

The military dropped the three position when they went to the M1 - the finest battle rifle ever made.

The tangers on my Rugers are very intuitive. I wish all my rifles were so equipped.

I have had tang (on Brownings) and lever (on Mod 70's) safeties, and I will take the tanger hands down. Much more intuitive and easy to use... and I used the Mod 70 a lot...

Ideally I want a safety catch which is close to my thumb, locks the bolt, and releases silently. The one on the Browning A-Bolt fills the bill nicely, though there are others as good.

If you need the safety catch to be on in order to open the action safely, perhaps there's room for improvement in your technique.

Sounds more like ineptitude or panic.


Jerry

I have four Savage rifles with a tang safety. They are faster. Browning superposed have tang safety’s

How's the accuracy with that bag over your head?

FWIW, the only rifles that I own with tang safeties are Ruger 77s.

Husqvarna has a tang safety that locks the bolt down. I believe their stocks are also known for splitting at the tang. Not sure if the two are related.

Most of my rifles are M70's and in my opinion the safeties are the most functional ones out there because they block the firing pin instead of just the trigger. That being said, a tang safety is a lot more convenient to use. I wish someone made a tang safety that blocked the firing pin, a tall order I know.

All safeties should be on the tang, it's the most natural place.

.

Couple of reasons for me: I'm often wearing gloves when deer hunting and the tang safety is more cumbersome, at least for me, than the M70 wing safety. Secondly, I' seldom need gloves during dove season so the tang safety works great. Also, one can break open an over/under or SXS, without the issue of emptying a magazine with the safety off. To each his own. YMMV.

I like either tang safeties or the M70 type without much preference one way or the other but slightly prefer the M70 type for the reason mentioned above. Most of my big game hunting involves wearing gloves. No gloves and I’d prefer a tang safety. Next to a cross bolt safety the 700 safety is my least favorite.

Z1R who used to be a Husky expert told me the wood shrinks in the tang area and you either have to trim the metal tube the trigger guard screw slides through or you have to remove the tube altogether and that will stop a Husky from splitting there. Once the wood stock shrinks the trigger guard and the tang will bottom out on that aluminum collar and that's when they split.

I love em, have had Ruger tangers in 338 and 458 WM's, just last year bought Wife an unfired, except at the factory, 7x57 Ruger tanger, it's a dead nuts hole puncher with old style 175gr Hornady round nosed bullets at 2408 fps i loaded more than 25 years ago, it wears a little gloss 2-7 Leupold in Ruger rings, so damn light, so quick to point, it's going to be fun to hunt with for hopefully many more decades to come.

Ruger really got the stock dimensions and barrel profile right. Ruger M77’s handle just right IMO.

Waiting for a modern bolt action with a hammer.



Bruce

Yes Sir they did, didn't bed or float, just installed an Ernie The Gunsmith spring, it's a little rag-holer, love it when that happens.

I missed this yesterday ^^^



I've hunted 77s a lot in the past. When you wear gloves.... the cloth over the web of your hand between thumb and index finger 'CAN' inadvertently push the safety OFF. I noticed that a 'few' times....when wearing gloves.

In all honesty whether a 2 position or 3 position I don't notice any diff in speed or effectiveness WHEN hunting.

I will not have a tang safety on a hunting rifle now.

Jerry

Many years back I used a Model 99 Savage in .303 savage. It had the safety under the stock that locked the lever.....I'm sure many here remember that. When I traded for a new Model 99 in .308 Win, it had a tang safety. On this particular gun it was a huge improvement IMO

That said, I still want to unload any firearm with the safety engaged and the action locked while in the lock position.....the three way safety is still something I look for in a gun.....at least bolt rifles.

All my side/side and over/under shotguns are quite the different story. They all have tang safeties but I can unload them with the safety engaged as the action opening lever acts as a third position while opening the action.

I dismiss any discussion of the Ruger tang safety as there are no Ruger firearms of any kind in my house.

A Tang Safety Savage made me lose a deer..... ,it is an older one with the flat sliding switch ,no raised hump in middle like some now ,,Was hunting in West Virginia ,it was 6 degree;s out (Weatherman report) even with gloves my hands were so frozen i could not put enough pressure with frozen thumb to slid safety forward ,thumb and other fingers just slide across safety ,deer just walked away . got home wearmed up hands ,could work safety like normal

To me they're a matter of execution. The 77 is a really well done example of the breed. I've used one off and on for 30 years now with no problems. This would be in conditions ranging from extra sweaty to very reluctant to move my hands away from the warmer in my coat pocket. Gloves, heavy or light, weren't a problem.

The Savage 110 series would rank as so atrocious I find them difficult to operate under ideal conditions. The mid 80's 243 that is our camp loaner rifle hasn't had the safety engaged in years. Don't load it until you're on stand, chamber a round, lift the bolt handle up until it stops out of battery, and place the rifle in the rack in the stand. If a deer appears, grab the rifle and lower the bolt into battery. Waaaayyyy easier and more positive than the weensie safety, especially in cold WI weather.

I have two old 99’s like that, a .22HP and a .303. I don’t really use the.22HP, just to play with. The .303 I occasionally hunt with. I have to say, that lever-catch set up is probably my least favorite type of safety.

Nothing quicker to me than a tang safety, also noted on the many snap shots made on dangerous game with tang safety double rifles by Professional Hunters and Clients alike for the last 125 years, and the stark remembrance of me standing there thinking about putting a shot together on a quail that just jumped up or dove that flew over the instant my Gramps had already slide his tang safety forward and fired his double shotgun, it was stupid fast.

Seems llke most folks liked the 77 tanger. What's different about the Hawkeye besides the safety?

I figured that if they thought that it was safe for the astronauts to drink, it was safe enough for me.

It isn't the best system for sure, but its what I grew up with and didn't know any different. 2nd nature to me know.

Prefer the tang, but next best to me is the cross bolt as on a 760. Both are intuitive, fast and as noiseless as anything else. I expect that many of those who share my preferences are, like me, more interested in shotguns than rifles.

Having said that, due to nerve damage which has reduced the sensitivity in my trigger finger and "safety thumb", tangs are a no-go for me in cold weather, so I'm using shotguns with cross bolt safeties. For the most part it really doesn't matter on a rifle since there's usually plenty of time to think about getting the safety off. And if there's not, well, that's just that deer's lucky day.