limbaughfan
Member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2006
- Messages
- 323
How do you safley uncock a 1911.Post a video if you can,is it the same as lowering the hammer on a revolver
.45 .1911
- Thread starter limbaughfan
- Start date
- Status
CDignition
Member
You can't really, best way is into a sand barrel or downrange... anytime your finger is pulling the trigger, youre in danger of dropping a round out...you could of course unload it and do it on an empty chamber..
BullfrogKen
Moderator Emeritus
Remove the magazine. Eject the chambered round and lock the slide to the rear. Visually and physically inspect the chamber. Drop the slide, pull the trigger.
Do you have a specific need to do it loaded?
Do you have a specific need to do it loaded?
tegemu
Member
With a round in the chamber, there is NO - NO - NO!!!!!!!! safe way to decock a 1911. I tried it once. There is a .45 Cal hole in my front bedroom wall, through the outside of the house and I bought my neighbor a nice new Trane airconditioner. $1360.00.
Ala Dan
Member in memoriam
There is NO safe way to decock a SA 1911~!
progunner1957
member
There is no reason to lower the hammer on a chambered round in a 1911. The 1911 was never intended to be carried with the hammer down on a chambered round.
Condition one is the only way the 1911 was ever intended to be carried. That is what it is designed for. IMHO, anyone who is afraid to carry it in C1 needs to switch to a revolver, a DA auto with a decocker or a Glock.
Just my opinion...
Condition one is the only way the 1911 was ever intended to be carried. That is what it is designed for. IMHO, anyone who is afraid to carry it in C1 needs to switch to a revolver, a DA auto with a decocker or a Glock.
Just my opinion...
1911austin
Member
You should sell your 1911 to someone else and buy a Sig.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Decocking the 1911
Run Chicken Little! The sky is falling!
Lowering the hammer on any loaded gun carries a risk...but to state that there's no way to do it without shooting the dog or causing the polar ice caps to melt is absurd. It can be done, and it has been done for decades
before everybody got comfortable with Condition One. It's been done on Model 94 Winchesters and Model 97 Winchesters and single-shot scatterguns and double-action revolvers...and it's been done on the 1911 and the P-35 too.The hammer has serrations or checkering on it for a reason.
Practice it dry until you can do it every time without fail...a hundred times in a row, or two hundred, or whatever it takes for you to trust yourself. A two-foot high stack of dry newspapers is a good bullet trap for any .45 ACP round
on the market...for when you do it hot.
Run Chicken Little! The sky is falling!
Lowering the hammer on any loaded gun carries a risk...but to state that there's no way to do it without shooting the dog or causing the polar ice caps to melt is absurd. It can be done, and it has been done for decades
before everybody got comfortable with Condition One. It's been done on Model 94 Winchesters and Model 97 Winchesters and single-shot scatterguns and double-action revolvers...and it's been done on the 1911 and the P-35 too.The hammer has serrations or checkering on it for a reason.
Practice it dry until you can do it every time without fail...a hundred times in a row, or two hundred, or whatever it takes for you to trust yourself. A two-foot high stack of dry newspapers is a good bullet trap for any .45 ACP round
on the market...for when you do it hot.
Last edited:
MICHAEL T
Member
+ 1 on that 1911 Tuner
10-Ring
Member
....yeah that 1911Tuner said But w/ two active safeties & the passive one between your ears, there would be very few reasons to decock a loaded 1911
Happy shooting
But w/ two active safeties & the passive one between your ears, there would be very few reasons to decock a loaded 1911 Happy shooting
Crawlin
Member
Now that you have been told how to safely decock the gun, can you answer why you want to?
rcellis
Member
The only safe way I've found to have the 'hammer down' on a round chambered in a 1911 is on an LDA Para Ordinance 1911. But that's a double action arrangement.
For a conventional 1911, either don't chamber a round, or lock it.
Either way, keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you are pointing at your intended target.
For a conventional 1911, either don't chamber a round, or lock it.
Either way, keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you are pointing at your intended target.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Why?
Although there are few situations that would call for Condition 2...and I don't
use it very often any more...there are a few.
When operating an ATV in rough or muddy conditions, etc. It provides a little better protection from the elements that get into the fire control group through the gap between hammer and slidewhile still allowing one-hand operation. Some full flap holsters don't fasten readily with a cocked hammer unless one jams the gun tightly into the rig...making it tough to retrieve in a hurry. Flap holsters closed on a cocked hammer also force the hammer back onto the grip safety tang, which disengages one of the safeties.
Carrying in Condition One in rough terrain an open-topped rig...safety strap or not...exposes the hammer to lateral forces that can cause problems if struck hard..while hammer down offers a lower profile...and reduced leverage against the hammer if it is struck...and slide adds support which goes a long way to preventing such damage and reduction of the weapon to an inefficient club.
To ignore the option of Condition Two is to ignore a useful function of the weapon, and to fail to practice achieving Condition Two safely is to increase the chances of an AD if one ever does discover a need to carry it in that manner.
One does have to be focused on the task. It's like handling a rattlesnake.
If you get careless, it'll bite.
Although there are few situations that would call for Condition 2...and I don't
use it very often any more...there are a few.
When operating an ATV in rough or muddy conditions, etc. It provides a little better protection from the elements that get into the fire control group through the gap between hammer and slidewhile still allowing one-hand operation. Some full flap holsters don't fasten readily with a cocked hammer unless one jams the gun tightly into the rig...making it tough to retrieve in a hurry. Flap holsters closed on a cocked hammer also force the hammer back onto the grip safety tang, which disengages one of the safeties.
Carrying in Condition One in rough terrain an open-topped rig...safety strap or not...exposes the hammer to lateral forces that can cause problems if struck hard..while hammer down offers a lower profile...and reduced leverage against the hammer if it is struck...and slide adds support which goes a long way to preventing such damage and reduction of the weapon to an inefficient club.
To ignore the option of Condition Two is to ignore a useful function of the weapon, and to fail to practice achieving Condition Two safely is to increase the chances of an AD if one ever does discover a need to carry it in that manner.
One does have to be focused on the task. It's like handling a rattlesnake.
If you get careless, it'll bite.
steveracer
Member
Only time I carry hammer down on 1911s...
is in a shoulder holster. The thumb strap holds the pistol in there better with the hammer down.
BTW: CZ-75 is meant to be carried with the hammer down, and has no decocker. I do this all the time. Not any more dangerous than the assumption that you won't have hammer follow any other day.
is in a shoulder holster. The thumb strap holds the pistol in there better with the hammer down.
BTW: CZ-75 is meant to be carried with the hammer down, and has no decocker. I do this all the time. Not any more dangerous than the assumption that you won't have hammer follow any other day.
CDH
Member
Tuner, you make a good point about situations where you might NOT want to carry in Cond.1, but some extended points I'd like to add are:
1. Those who argue against Cond.2 in the context of this forum are mostly discussing the pros and cons as related to concealed carry on the street. Carrying a Cond.2 on the street puts you at a disadvantage from if you carry a DA/SA semi-auto the same way.
In those cases where a person wants to carry Cond.2, they would be better off getting rid of their 1911 and getting a DA/SA or DOA pistol instead.
I just don't see ANY reason to carry Cond.2 while in "CCW mode" on the street if self-defense is the primary purpose of carrying in the first place.
2. In all of the examples you mention about being in the woods etc., you are not in a self-defense situation where a "quick" draw and fire might be necessary. For all the reasons you mention, I'd just have my loaded mag inserted but with NO round in the chamber at all (and with hammer down on that empty chamber).
3. As most people agree, the hazards associated with Cond.2 are not carrying that way, but getting to Cond.2.
If you're careful and understand the risks and take precautions (stack of newspapers is good), you will get away with lowering a hammer onto a loaded chamber of a 1911 quite a few times.
But if you do it frequently, the odds are not in your favor over the long run. There are a good number of skydivers who have found out how those odds work even though skydiving is a "safe" sport.
I think the bigger picture is to educate people as to why Cond.1 is not only the best way to carry a 1911 for self-defense purposes, but is also a VERY safe way to carry it as well.
The only reason the Cond.2 subject keeps coming up is because people new to 1911's just don't understand the mechanics of the pistol or understand how the 1911 design incorporates safety features that make up a "system" of safety that makes it probably safer to carry in Cond.1 than a hammer-down, loaded revolver (the 1911 requires that 3 conditions be met at the same time before firing and the revolver has to meet only one).
Carter
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Pros/Cons
Hi Carter. Welcome aboard.
Your points are valid, of course. Most people who understand the risks of Condition Two opt to carry in Three in most circumstances when the need arises for hammer down...but it does negate the ability to bring the gun into an emergency with one hand...or at best greatly slows the process. You can hope that you'll always have the time and the option of using both hands...but don't count on it. Situations that call for the use of a pistol have a way of going all fugasi in two seconds or less.
A wise old man once said:
"A pistol is like an ambulance. You don't need one often, but when you do, you need it badly, and you need it as quickly as possible."
Hi Carter. Welcome aboard.
Your points are valid, of course. Most people who understand the risks of Condition Two opt to carry in Three in most circumstances when the need arises for hammer down...but it does negate the ability to bring the gun into an emergency with one hand...or at best greatly slows the process. You can hope that you'll always have the time and the option of using both hands...but don't count on it. Situations that call for the use of a pistol have a way of going all fugasi in two seconds or less.
A wise old man once said:
"A pistol is like an ambulance. You don't need one often, but when you do, you need it badly, and you need it as quickly as possible."
Vern Humphrey
Member
The Army carried the M1911 in some pretty rough conditions -- it's hard to imagine any civilian use that would top riding around on an Armored Personnel Carrier, day after day.
I never ran across a GI holster that wouldn't accept and protect an M1911 in cocked-and-locked condition. If I did, a little alcohol and stretching would probably fix it.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
re:
Quote:
>I never ran across a GI holster that wouldn't accept and protect an M1911 in cocked-and-locked condition. If I did, a little alcohol and stretching would probably fix it.<
************
I've seen a few. Seen a few more of the Bianchi UM-84s that I was hard-pressed to get a cocked and locked pistol into. Still got that hammer rollin' back and depressing the grip safety though...
Quote:
>I never ran across a GI holster that wouldn't accept and protect an M1911 in cocked-and-locked condition. If I did, a little alcohol and stretching would probably fix it.<
************
I've seen a few. Seen a few more of the Bianchi UM-84s that I was hard-pressed to get a cocked and locked pistol into. Still got that hammer rollin' back and depressing the grip safety though...
Vern Humphrey
Member
I meant a real holster.
If you have a holster that won't take C&L, get a different holster. Better than wind up facing charges for an ND.
Most military holsters will accept a 1911 cocked and locked, however any unit I've ever been in or associated with, if you carried a 45 cocked and locked your ass grass and the US Army was the lawnmowers. Even the snake eaters I Worked with. didn't carry it cocked and locked
Vern Humphrey
Member
If you're talking about peacetime or garrison, yes. The Army specified three carry methods -- unloaded, Condition 3 (mag inserted, chamber empty) and Condition 1 (cocked and locked.) The latter was only for occasions when sudden need for the pistol was anticipated.
The Army never endorsed Condition 2.
The Army never endorsed Condition 2.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Charges
Quote:
>If you have a holster that won't take C&L, get a different holster. Better than wind up facing charges for an ND.<
**********
Ahhhh, me no worried. I know the drill, brother.
Quote:
>If you have a holster that won't take C&L, get a different holster. Better than wind up facing charges for an ND.<
**********
Ahhhh, me no worried. I know the drill, brother.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
