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'.

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.

cocked and locked

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.

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.

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."

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.

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

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.

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