I carry 1911 style pistols cocked and locked with a round in the chamber, or condition 1. With a grip safety, thumb safety, and a firing pin block, it is one of the safest handguns. Since I bobbed the ambidextrous safety to accommodate CT laser grips, the thumb safety hasn't ever been knocked off safe inadvertently, while the gun rests in a good holster. I recommend never trying to lower the hammer on a live round. "There's many a slip twixt cup and the lip." Also, I recommend never allowing the hammer to be at half cock. The sear is carefully mated to the full cock notch on the hammer, and putting it into the half cock notch could degrade an otherwise sweet single action trigger.
Nice pictures of the original designs.