1911 - How do you carry
 

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'.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

1/2 cock on a 1911 is not a safety- its merely a shelf on the hammer to slow it down or stop it if the gun malfunctions and is set off without the trigger being pulled.


Cocked and locked is the prefered way- its perfectly safe even though it goes against what everyone is taught when they were a kid about hammers on revolvers and lever actions, the 1911 is different.

The other way to carry is with the chamber empty and the hammer down.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

cocked and locked

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Yep. It's either cocked and locked or chamber empty with hammer down. But if I'm carrying, you'd better believe there's going to be one in the pipe.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

I used to go with the chamber empty but i had a time when i needed mine and it jammed when i tryed to put a round in the chamber[:@]. Just my luck too. The first jam in 1,100 rounds. So now i go cocked and locked with a full clip and one in the chamber.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

I was browsing and came across this on www.smartcarry.com/cocklock.htm I thought it was informative and the firstparagraph was actually a good but funny reply.
Texas Ranger Charlie Miller was minding his own business when a concerned citizen came up to him, noted the hammer cocked back on the big 1911 dangling from the Ranger's belt, and asked, "Isn't that dangerous?" Charlie replied, "I wouldn't carry the son-of-a-bitch if it wasn't dangerous."

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Cocked and locked is considered the safest...short of not having a round in the chamber. Cocked and locked looks mighty dangerous but most people forget that with cocked and locked there are actually TWO safeties involved before the gun will fire, i.e. the regular safety AND the grip safety. You gotta disable both to shoot it. This is how all the cops who carry 1911's are taught to carry.

I've not personally heard of anyone having accidental discharge in this configuration.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

I used to carry my Hi Power cocked and locked as well.

Consider that one of the more popular carry guns is the Glock and the only safety it has is in the trigger. It is carried cocked and locked with an internal hammer and only a trigger safety. Most of the accidental discharges from them from what I understand are from people holstering them while they still have their finger in the trigger guard. Which you should never do any way.

Paul

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

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.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Cocked and locked. Think about it. Isn't that actually the same way you carry your rifle or shotgun?

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

OK case closed - cocked and locked it is.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

And, from what I understand, it is MORE dangerous to carry with a loaded chamber and the hammer down...as far as that option...

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Depends on the design of the gun really.

Paul

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Since this thread was about 1911s, I meant for that design only...

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Condition 1, cocked and locked, the gun will ride in a holster all day long and won't go off till you disengage the safety and pull the trigger. The trigger finger is the best safety of all, don't put you finger on the trigger till you are ready to fire and you will never have a discharge.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Well there are different designs of the 1911 style pistol. Are you talking a newer generation or an original colt 1911? I believe some of the newer versions have a firing pin block which would make it much safer to carry with the hammer down, or cocked for that matter since the firing pin would be blocked until either the grip safety or trigger safety were activated.

I will be honest though I was not considering 1911 only type pistols when I said that. I was just thinking single action semi auto pistols in general. Most of which are based on the 1911 design.

Paul

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Condition 1

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Locked and cocked

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Yep, including DAO 1911s where it would be correct to carry with one in the chamber and the hammer down.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

The 1911 has another little safety oddity. The firing pin is INERTIA driven and not long enough to reach through the receiver and stick out where it could impact a primer. If this doesn't make sense, just unload your 45 auto and then with the slide locked back, press the rear of the firing pin flush with the back of the receiver bolt. Up front on the bolt face nothing comes out...which makes one ask how the thing fires??? The trick is the firing pin must be DRIVEN by a blow from the hammer hard enough to make it spring forward and come out the bolt face, i.e. "inertia driven."

Thanks to this, you can chamber a round in a .45, let the hammer fully down on the round resting in the chamber and them smack the back of the hammer with a rock and the gun will still not fire. (No inertia as the firing pin is pushed out of the way by the hammer.)

The catch is if something accidentally pulls the hammer partially back and then slips loose. It could theoretically cause the gun to fire. By carrying the gun "cocked and locked," the hammer is LOCKED in position and the gun is protected by two safeties.

Officers who carry the gun this way figure it's just a tad faster and easier to flick a safety down than it is to try to get hold of a hammer and pull it back in an emergency situation where a half second could save your life.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Cocked and Locked....

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

There may be differences, for the sake of intelligence on this issue, my info was from what is generally considered the "regular" 1911, and I am no expert (for sure) on the topic (but that is also the reason for the disclaimer of "from what i know")

I woul dimagine things like Para Ordnance DOA and some other 1911-types are surely not the same, and as always, do your due diligence in finding out what your particular brand and model (generation) does as far as safety designs...

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

I carry mine with a round in the chamber, with the hammer cocked and safety on. It is the best mix of safety and being able to bring the weapon into use immediately if needed, which I imagine is the only logical reason for anyone to carry a defensive firearm such as a 1911.

You could carry without a round in the chamber, which might be ever so marginally safer, but good luck chamberinga roundif you have to use one hand to fend off an attacking dog, person or anything else that could reduce you to only having one hand available to manipulate your weapon. It is a bad idea to carry a defensive weapon in a state such that it is not immediately ready to be deployed.

Because there is no decocker, the process of decocking the hammer could cause the gun to go off thereby harming your thumb and putting an unintentional hole in something. I would never decock a loaded 1911.

RE: 1911 - How do you carry
 

Actually, what prevents this more than anything is the firing pin block present on Series 80 and subsequent Colts and most any 1911 made in the last couple of decades or so. Hence the third safety, which is deactivated by trigger pull.