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gunwalker
MemberPosts: 479 Member
Please settle an argument about safety
gunwalker
MemberPosts: 479 Member
My carry gun is a 1911 full size. I choose it because it is the gun that I shoot best. The problem is that I have not found a holster that works well for me so I prefer to carry it inside my belt on my right hip. It is very comfortable that way. I also prefer condition one. Two relatives are concerned that I have an exposed trigger and feel that is dangerous. I do not see any way that a 1911 can discharge with an accidental trigger pull. What say Ye?
We do not view the world as it is, but as we perceive it to be.
Replies
The holster I have for my 1911 clone completely covers the trigger guard, and also has a retaining strap that passes between the frame and the cocked hammer. Am I paranoid about Condition One? You betcha. Stop making excuses about the darned holster 'working well for you' and just buy one anyway. get used to it, get over it, and carry safely.
I always open carry at the range and have had a lot of people say "Did you know your pistol is cocked?" For a long time I used it as a teaching moment to inform them how a 1911 works....now I'm just as likely to say "Yep" and go about my business....
:win: The 1911 was intended to be carried 'cocked and locked'. That is where the phrase comes from, for cryin' out loud! :silly: Hell, even horselips is convinced this is how things should be!:jester:
George Carlin
I say I agree. I don't see how either, but that's the famous last words o a soon to be dead man. I say don't take chances, just be careful.
But besides that, I do think the 1911 is one of the most intrinsically safe firearms ever made. There's a lot to do to make it go bang, too many things for a normal accidental discharge to happen, yet it can be made to go bang very fast when needed.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Actually, the 1911 was intended to be carried in Condition 3. Condition 1 is a fairly recent thing, maybe 40 years or so. However, they are safe in Condition 1 if the pistol isn't worn out.
My personal choice is to have the trigger covered, but that's just me...I used to carry a 1911 in a Mexican carry, which is very unadvisable (I guess). But I was younger and dumber back then.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Although that never happened to me, I think it is absolutely possible as well as the biggest potentail problem with such carry.
Luis
True on Condition 1, but there's a fair argument to be made that the pistol was ORIGINALLY designed to be carried Condition 2 - loaded chamber & hammer down - most probably on half-cock, but fully lowered wouldn't be a problem due to the inertial safety feature of a spring-rebounding firing pin. Consider the following:
1. The original 1911 had a tiny little extension on the grip safety, making it easier to reach the thumb around back to retract the hammer. The hammer itself had a big checkered pad giving a lot of traction to that thumb.
2. Consider what the guys in the Army conducting the trials were used to; 1873 Colt Peacemakers carried hammer down.
3. Consider what John Browning had previously designed over the previous 25 years and what the shooting public was used to: The Winchester 1885, 86, 90/1906, 92,93/97, 94, & 95 - ALL designed to be toted around with a loaded chamber and the hammer on half-cock.
The primary purpose of the thumb safety was for a cavalryman to lock his pistol into an unfireable mode while he got both hands back on the reins to regain control of a squirrely horse. Looking again at the older Winchesters with otherwise similar trigger systems, an actual safety and how to use it were both pretty new thinking.
What we've since learned is that Condition 1 is a better way to carry a pistol in a non-military setting, and that getting into Condition 2 (a.) can be hairy for the lowest common denominator to achieve, and (b.) isn't all that compatible with "modern" 1911's that were built with high-rise beavertails and ring hammers. We've also learned that the 1911 and other pistols are a great deal smarter than a lot of the folks trying to operate them. Condition 2 simply turned out to be a bad idea for people with a less-than-full understanding of the gun, or people who's attention wasn't fully riveted to the loading process.
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
Hammer down on an empty cylinder.
Brilliant piece of writing....