Made a Big Mistake today.

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Safe?

'Twas said:

Even given a catastrophic sere failure with both primary and secondary notches failing, these newer models should be every bit as safe as a good DA/SA.

So are the old ones without the passive firing pin safety, provided
you keep a fresh, standard firing pin spring in it and you don't stand on a
stepladder and drop it onto concrete.

Cheers!

Tuner
 
:eek: Holy crap thats scary. Didnt realize I pulled up the old thread. Guess I forgot I still had my thread search up. Sorry guys.
 
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not trying to bash you but.........
If a friend/relative I was shooting with brought guns to the range already loaded in the bag they would have got a dirty look.
If they would have manually lowered the hammer on any gun ( especially atleast not pointed down range.) They would have got a smack in the back of the head.
Glad no one got hurt.

lol..just realized myself it was old.
 
Well what the hey, old or not it bares repeating. Watch what you're doing out there. Carrying a loaded gun in a case is not safe. Lowering the hammer on a gun is an unsafe but sometimes neccessery thing. Watch where you're pointing.
 
Quote"The 1911 (and other SA autos) are NOT designed to be carried (and certainly not stored) cocked and locked.

The 1911 is DESIGNED to be carried with the chamber EMPTY. A round should be chambered and the action locked only when there may be an immediate requirement to use the weapon (or to safe the weapon immediately after action). It has become common practice to carry the 1911 cocked and locked, BUT it was not necessarily designed to be carried that way.

I'm not even sure there is a compelling reason for carrying cocked and locked for NORMAL concealed carry. The decision to chamber a round and lock the action should be based on the threat (or threat level). Watch your situational awareness."




The compelling reason to carry cond.1 is that for the 1911A1 to be the supreme COMBAT pistol that it was designed to be,you need to know how it operates and was designed to operate safely.The weapon is dead reliable and safe condition 1,until you swipe the safety. Then it becomes the light triggered manstopper it is.The same goes for revolvers with the hammer resting on an empty cylinder. Simply a waste.Don't confuse modern day junk with a 1911A1. Glockleg simply does not happen with a 1911A1. There are always some among us that prefer their opinion over any other because they have put as much thought into formulating their own opinion as the original designer put into the pistol.And they are simply wrong with a longer explaination.JMHO Chuck.
 
You can avoid AD's if you properly lower the hammer. Using your thumb to decock is exceptionally dangerous as you don't have a good grip on the hammer.

This is likely what you did:

th_1911_wrong_decock.jpg

This is how you should do it:

th_1911_right_decock.jpg

Hopefully this helps.
 
2 fingered squeeze

...

I was taught, and it has never failed me, not even come close, that if I need to decock my Colt Defender, which I do, when I want to load up a full mag plus chambered round for 8 shots, is to take my non-shooting hand, using thumb and next-index finger, and "squeeze" and hold, both sides of the hammer, and pull the trigger, letting hammer down very lightly, slowly, with gun pointing down range.

Not saying it's the right way, but for me, it works if applied with "thought" and proper procedure, every-time.


LS
 
Theres a right way to lower the hammer.Pinch the hammer between the thumb and forefinger of your weak hand and pull the trigger with your strong hand and ease it down.I've done this since I was a kid and I've never had a nd.
 
Thanks for sharing this story with us Ron.

It's easy to become so comfortable with gun handling over the years that we think we'll never make an error, become sloppy, or violate a cardinal rule while in a hurry.

The most positive thing that can come of an accident like this one, is that by passing it around, the rest of us are reminded of the vigilance necessary in the handling of dangerous tools, not 99% of the time, but all of the time.

From your reaction it sounds like you'd be a lot more comfortable with an auto that uses a decocking mechanism. Love me a Sig, but of course, YMMV.
 
So if a gun has a decocker (like my Sig P220) Its safe to carry with the hammer down, round in the chamber?
Click to expand...

Until you pull the trigger, yeah. You can throw it against a brick wall, it's not going off.
 
Made a Big Mistake today.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I went to the outdoor range today, with three others. There were two strangers there as well. I opened my case and I was going through my guns. Some where Loaded, some were not, and I knew this. I knew my Star model Bm 9mm was loaed but I went ahead, popped the mag, checked it, put it back in. Then I cocked it, pulled the slide back to check the chamber. Loaded, as I knew it. I went to ease the hammer down and the gun went off. I barely even knew it. It was that sudden, I felt the bullet pass my left arm and off it went into the woods. If my father or friend had been standing there, like they normally would, I would have shot them. Typically I would never even have the gun pointed anywhere but down range but these types of stories always contain non-typical things. I really slowed me down. I was rushing. I guess I thought it looked cool checking my guns. I know it was a dumb thing and luckily no one got hurt but it really makes me wish all my guns had decockers. I love Stars and 1911s but I really don't like lowering the hammer. I'm not a fan of cocked and locked either. "



Consider yourself lucky that no one got hurt or killed and learn from what you did wrong. No one is perfect but try to keep this incident in mind the next time and everytime you handle any firearm.


Here's a perfect example of someone who did not respect his firearm and it reminded him of the danger with a damn near fatal result.

http://www.lmtonline.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18527607&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=473478&rfi=8
 
Holy thread ressurection Batman!

Y'all realize that the OP of this thread hasn't posted on THR in like 3 years right?
 
I really hope the OP got some better firearms training since the "incident".
I would not want him on a range that I was at.
 
The range gods were looking in your direction that day. Enough has been said by others in this thread that my comments are repetitive. Needless to say, I am just paranoid enough to store/carry/transport all of my firearms with a 'dummy' round in the chamber, whether there is a magazine involved or not (revolvers are an exception, one dummy round in each hole). The outfits that sell the AZoom dummy rounds are making a small fortune off of my paranoia, but I have yet to experience a negligent discharge at the range.

The dummy round comes out when I rack the slide on an empty mag and lock it open, then the dummy goes into that mag. At the end of the session, that mag goes in, slide is eased forward, and the hammer is eased forward using both hands. The mag is then removed, I have enough pistols with a magazine disconnect that this works for me.
 
The Star BM is, as far as I know, not safe to have with one in the chamber and the hammer down.

That said, 1911-style guns are not designed to be carried in that fashion at all, either. There's a reason they have an exposed hammer and a safety to lock it in place in the cocked position: it's so you'll use it as such. Safety doesn't do much good on a gun like that if you've got the hammer down, now does it?
 
No since me chastising you too, but I will comment that you're pretty lucky you didn't get your thumb torn off. I'm not sure I have the guts to carefully lower a hammer onto live round.
 
forgive me if this has been asked already. if there's a round in the chamber and hammer down on a single action then you need to cock the hammer before firing. is that much easier than racking the slide or something? i mean, it's not ready to fire anyway so what's the point? might as well chamber a round if you're going to have to cock the hammer anyway, right?
 
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