CMWill, the three position safety lasted until at least 1927 because I have a Specialty Grade of that vintage that has/had one. I don't know why Hunter Arms finally did discontinue the feature, but I'll bet it was because shooters could never keep up with which position it was in, and hated the feature! It has certainly baffled me (and scared me from time to time also) so I ordered the Numrich 2 position kit and replaced the 3 position safety in both of my Elsies...Geo