ORIGINAL: bronko22000
I would like to get a feel from you guys how you carry your 1911. Do you carry with an empty chamber, loaded chamber at 1/2 cock, or cocked and locked?
Cocked and locked, even with the grip safety seems to be the most dangerous but the fastest to get 'into action'. "This is "condition 1."
I carry mine in Condition 1. My holster has a thick leather retaining strap that snaps down between the frame and the cocked hammer, so it cannot fire unless the strap is unsnapped and moved out of the way.
Johnathan Browning designed the M1911 to be carried cocked and locked. His original design had neither a grip safety nor a half-cock notch on the hammer. Both of these features were added at the INSISTANCE of Army Ordnance! Neither is really trustworthy as a safety.