Gunsmiths customize firearms to add value in different ways. To make the gun more accurate. To make it recoil less. To make it fit the shooter better.
My old friend Rick Devoid does those things for customers’ firearms, but he specializes in another kind of added value: he makes them safer.
Many people decline to keep a loaded gun at home or at work for fear that some unauthorized person may gain access to it. Rick is the sole purveyor of the one “smart gun” that actually WORKS: the Magna-Trigger conversion of a double action Smith & Wesson revolver. It can only be fired by someone wearing the provided, low-profile magnetic ring on their middle finger. I carried one for many years and kept it loaded at bedside when my kids were little. We tested hell out of it, even shot matches with it. The thing works: it shoots when its legitimate user wants it to, and won’t fire when someone else tries to make it do so.
Rick also has the exclusive on the less expensive Murabito safety conversion of an S&W revolver, invented by the now-retired Frank Murabito. It turns the cylinder release latch into a thumb safety, too. It’s very fast, and highly likely to confuse any unauthorized person who gains control of your handgun.
Rick is also famous for his action jobs on Smith & Wesson and Ruger double action revolvers, and his slick-up of traditional double action S&W semiautomatic pistols. Finally, he is an approved – and very experienced – installer of the Joe Cominolli thumb safety for Glocks. Allowing the right thumb (or for southpaws, the left index finger) to activate the device, it operates with the same movement as a cocked and locked 1911: up for “safe,” down for “fire.”Rick also reduces and reshapes the grip on Glocks; he did so on my first .45 caliber Glock 30, and made it shoot way better for me.
Rick and Tarnhelm Supply are known for reasonable prices and fast delivery times. I have many Tarnhelm custom guns and am happy with every one of them. Information is available at www.tarnhelm.com.
I love the job he did on the grips and the trigger on my Glock 19.
He does excellent work !!!
Is there a used market for Magna-Trigger revolvers? I’ve been intrigued by the idea for several years. Now, as a father of a 3 year old who can climb and open just about anything that is not a gun safe (where all the goodies are), I’m seriously considering such a revolver as an additional layer of safety
Go to tarnhelm.com and make contact with Rick Devoid. He usually has at least one completed Magna-Trigger revolver on hand for sale. Alternatively, it’s not hard to find a good used S&W revolver in the configuration and caliber of your choice (K-frame and up, he prefers to work on pre-lock models) and send it along to him.
With all the interest in ‘smart guns’, why hasn’t the Magna-Trigger gotten any attention?
I’m in the market for trigger jobs on two brand new Ruger SP101 and it seems local gunsmiths don’t want to touch Ruger.
Also some work on a Colt Government Model to make it more tactically reliable.
Thank you for providing this information Mas.
If you have to wear a “magnetic ring” on the middle finger of your shooting (strong) hand to fire the gun what happens if your strong hand becomes disabled and you want to shoot with your weak hand? Seems like it’s a good safety feature that could end up getting you killed (in the above situation). A good bedside combo safe seems to me to be a better choice.
Captain Bob, that’s why Devoid recommends a ring on each hand. That’s how I always carried mine.
Pete, the “interest” in smart guns comes largely from the Prohibitionists. Their strategy has been to draft legislation that would eventually allow ONLY “smart guns,” virtually none of which work reliably. Their end-game is “Oh, you gave up your ‘dumb guns’ and the ‘smart ones’ don’t work? Well, too bad for you, Gun Boy.” They don’t want people to know about Magna-Trigger because it is the only “smart gun” that is street-proven to actually work, IMHO.
Mas, that was exactly what I figured, as well as the (farfetched, maybe) of the desirability of an electronic device that could be disabled with a jammer.
In my not-in-the-least-bit-humble opinion, the more complicated a thing is, the more likely it is to fail, and at the worst possible moment (in my own experience I’ve proven this too many times to doubt it).
Having to wear one ring, no, wait…I might get shot in the strong side so I better have another one on the other hand. Someone’s breaking in, where the hell is my ring(s)? I took them off for (insert reason here) and meant to put them right back on, but….
KISS.
The Glock safety device seems like an eminently good idea, given the tendency of some to inadvertently place their finger inside the trigger guard. I admit I’ve not shot Glock or other plastic pistols much (having an intense aversion to all things trendy), but whenever I do I always have a nagging voice in whispering in my ear that advises me that with no external safety, the thing isn’t safe.
Upon further review (as they say in the NFL), that voice is there all the time when handling any firearm, and perhaps that is a good thing.
Michael JT, I hear ya…
…but…
Concealed carry, like life itself, involves compromise. A couple of pounds of steel on your hip is an inconvenience, but one we accustom ourselves to and accept in return for having a serious fighting handgun constantly within reach. The same is true of a ring on each middle finger. I don’t judge people who put convenience and comfort over protection…but neither can I judge those who put protection a tad above minor inconvenience and discomfort.
To each their own. Options are good.
Jack: I have learned to live with the stock trigger on my DAO SP101. It has smoothed out with a lot of both right-hand and left-hand dry firing. I use snap caps, although they are probably not necessary. I concentrate on using a two-stage trigger press that blends nicely at will into a single squeeze. My thesis is that the two-stage idea forces the shooter to stay on target more consistently, especially on a moving one. It at least works for me. A strong, quick trigger let-off also seems to make for quicker firing. The SP101 barrel is inherently very accurate, and I have led at least one qualification exercise with this revolver against a dozen or so jam-o-matics, at up to 25 meters. The SP101 excels even more at shorter range, and the .357 speaks with authority. You get a distinctly fast and positive Mozambique drill with it. Thanks Mas, for any role you may have played in the development of this most reliable life-saver.
I had throating done on a satin-nickel Series 70 Colt Combat Commander .45 ACP that made the pistol run flawlessly with ball ammo, but hand-loaded hollow points would still stovepipe fairly often. Hollow point technology for 1911s has vastly improved since, though.
Thanks, Steve. All I did was convince Bill Ruger to make the SP101 in .357 Mag instead of just .38 Special. See “Ruger and His Guns,” the excellent biography of Bill Ruger by R. L. Wilson.
Two-gun Steve:
We can make your 70 Series Colt run flawlessly on hollow point ammo as well.
We just need to know the prefered brand and specs.
Rick Devoid: Thank you, sir. Maybe before long I will have another Series 70. If I do, I will send it on to you for refinement. That 1911 trigger I had was totally perfect after a little work, and the pistol was an ideal size for carry. Another keeper I should have kept. I always had total confidence in the 1911 safety system, although I never tried to perform any drop tests.
I noticed with particular interest in the option of a safety for the Glock.I read about these safeties online before, but wasn’t sure how durable they were.I’m thinking thumbs up now.
I’ve wanted a 1911 style safety on the Glock for some time. Here’s why:
Some years ago, I was exclusively practicing with a Glock 21 for a few months. After laying off for a while, I decided to go back to the 1911 for an organized training session, before an upcoming match. I had not dry fired the 1911 prior to these timed live fire drills. At the first beep, I missed swiping the safety! (with predictable delay in hitting the target) Regaining my composure for the next drill, I promptly missed swiping the safety once more!
I shot just fine after that, but it was a lesson I haven’t forgotten.
Tarnhelm . . . well I guess that saves from embarrassment (too) many thriller writers who’ve had characters checking the safety on their Glocks in tight situations. 🙂
I’ve been considering a Magna-Trigger for years (probably on a 2.5″ Model 19 Smith). I’m curious about whether the magnet will create problems for modern electronics that weren’t around when the system was invented.
I’m also curious about whether they work with Crimson Trace Lasergrips. I have those on every revolver I carry, although I’d be willing to make an exception for a revolver with a Magna-Trigger if I had to.
Tom Wright:
As far as the electronics, if you are careful, and haddle the eletronics with finger tips, you should not have a problem. (We did some testing with credit cards, and unless you rub the magnet directly on the card’s magnet strip, we had no problem.)
Crimson Trace Grips will not work with our safety.
I doubt the magnet will do anything, floppy disks where the only thing that could effect (and when did you last see one of those?). All hard drives have a very strong magnet in them to move the arm the read/write heads are mounted on.
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