Choice of handgun for the non-shooter.

[NS2]

Not without a cause Dev.

There are only two legitimate ways to carry a modern 1911 SD pistol.

1)  Cocked and Locked or Condition One.

2) Hammer down on and empty chamber with a loaded mag or Condition Three.


That other option known as Condition Two with the hammer down on a loaded chamber should be renamed to Condition Stupid and if you carry your SD 1911 in Condition Three, you need to re-think your level of devotion to the 1911 platform for SD.

Owning a 1911 is like owning a Wolf hybrid.  You have to think about it differently than you do other canines.  You have to train, care for and feed it differently than other canines.  If you do those things properly and diligently, you will be rewarded with a highly reliable and deadly friend.  Lapse into mindlessness or laziness and you will get bit.

[Devereaux]

"Condition Stupid" - I like that! Personally, the thought of thumb-cocking a loaded 1911 is scary. ?What if my (sweaty) thumb slipped off the hammer. Seems like the least I could expect would be a thumb with trashed ligaments - not so useful as a thumb. Condition STUPID is right on!

[jmstevens2]

I think you failed to see my point. I carry a 1911 often. I did for years in the Army and still do. It was DESIGNED to be locked and cocked. I get all that. That is how I carry myself. My point is all the "experts" that do not understand how it works and do stupid things like half cock, I know a guy who locks and DECOCKS! The idiot carries it chambered, hammer down. I sure hope he knows what he is doing. I don't think so. Some don't get that it is not a S&W 59 or something like that. It is a 1911.

[cornmastah]

You only "thumb cock it" when you really mean business... right?  I remember watching an A-Team episode and noticed that the guy did the thumb cock for emphasis on a 1911.

I get all that. I guess jm's statement combined with Cornmash's just set me off. Perhaps they were being "funny" - I sometimes don't get humour right - even when I am the one making the joke.

My comment was made with sarcasm intended.  I'm sorry that it didn't come across as such.  I guess it is hard to read sarcasm on forums.  Yes, I do own a few 1911's and understand how they work (and how you would never carry them chambered with the hammer down--otherwise known as "condition stupid").  My comment was intended to mock how hollywood uses the thumb hammer cock (on handguns) and racking of a shotgun or rifle to emphasize that the character holding the gun "REALLY means business now."  I find it funny that they do that on any gun other than double-action revolvers--because of the fact that the gun would not function without a round in the chamber anyways.  So pointing an unchambered gun at someone (in the movies of course) has no point really.  I was watching some old episodes of the A-Team and noticed that the BG was carrying a 1911 with the hammer down (never showed him rack the slide).  When he got really mad (and REALLY MEANT BUSINESS) he did a thumb hammer cock which made me laugh. I think JM caught on to the humor and posted accordingly.

[Eric R Shelton]

The whole concept of carrying a loaded 1911 on half cock just makes my teeth tingle.

Ack!  Mine too!

I know Eric likes to talk about how easy it is to take apart a Block, but I would hazard to guess that at most 1 in 100 Block owners ever do that.

Probably even fewer.  Outside a broken trigger spring, there's rarely (if ever) a need, and shooting with proper trigger reset, it'll work anyway.  I shot an entire course of fire at MAG40 with my trigger spring removed.

Probably about that number take apart a 1911, too.

I would guess even fewer still.  I've owned more 1911s than Glocks, and for longer, and I have zero interest in detail stripping one.

So the half cock ledge is only allegedly for catching the hammer if it should inadvertently fall - not much of a likelyhood with modern cut sears. If you have the hammer on the half cock ledge, the safety doesn't work. So now you are left with a gun that is loaded, that is sitting on a small ledge not in any way optimized to hold a sear, and that has no safety ability. How is that even vaguely rational? Best idea today would be to take out the half cock notch completely - takes away the possibility to do something stupid (and isn't that where today's society goes).

+1