A bump in the night, you grab your 1911 ...

[mavracer]

Safety on thumb on safety, finger indexed on frame.
If I wasn't comfortable operating a safety I wouldn't have one.

 

[Thermactor]

Safety off until I raise the gun to aim, then as I raise it to aim I use the thumb to click the safety on.

 

[Jeff White]

with 1911s and ar15s, i always do the same thing. safety comes off when i am moving from low ready to point at a target. when i drop back to low ready, safety goes back on.

This ^^^

 

[Sav .250]

I know guys who can sleep thru an explosion! Wonder what those folks do?

 

[hso]

ColtPythonElite ,

Once cyalume sticks came out I put a house key on one and stashed it in the bedroom as a precaution.

You as a LEO have a different obligation than I do wrt clearing so I'm going to secure my family and wait for you to finish your sweep.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Safety on. My biggest worry would likely be shooting a family member or my child. In fact going to kids room is my first stop. One of the classes I really liked the Loui Awerbuck taught was a two day home defense class. Mostly was blue guns and then air soft for some clearing with paper targets. Many if us, including me, were a bit uncertain on some things such as trigger on frame or finger. I know it should be obvious bit under the heat of the moment and some of the stress it isn't. What was also cool about that class is that after you went through you could tag along while the others went through or stand I. The rooms out of the way and watch. I learned as much if not more watching others walk through. I also really liked to watch Loui teach.

 

[TestPilot]

Firnig inhibited.

My thumb on the lever, ready to press it down.


I do not find 2kg or so resistance of a 1911 trigger sufficient enough to prevent accidental fire when a small amount of pressure is exerted during an inadvertant contact.

I am only speaking of inadvertant contact, not a forceful pull from a panic response.

If the trigger is too light, it may fire even before the user preceives much index finger pressure on the trigger.

There is a level to which trigger resistance and distance of travel can be increased without significantly affecting accurate shooting ability, for safety, and to me a 1911 trigger is below that.

 

[DHJenkins]

Click button on iPad, open camera streaming app, see racoon, go back to sleep.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Once you get past the first page all the good responses are taken.

That said,

A couple of people have said you always want to train the same way, If you train to take the safety off as you draw the gun then that’s what you need to do every time.

If you’re clearing your house in the middle of the night and some boogie man comes around the corner your brain isn’t going to think “Well since contrary to all my training and developed muscle memory I left the safety on so I better take it off before I shoot.” Your brain is going to try to pull the trigger and when you can’t it is very likely to panic. and freeze.

The OP mentions a cat or a raccoon so I presume he’s talking about leaving my home to go check, it only happened once or twice but I’ve had mountain lions in my back yard. In that situation I’m better off with some method of checking the grounds from inside the house than going out looking for trouble.


Under no circumstance would I do that. I no longer live in a home but when I did any out buildings were secured before sundown and nothing worth a gunfight was kept in them anyway. Either way I’m not going outside after dark.

 

[stevekozak]

Double tap

 

[stevekozak]

If I think I am going to be defending myself, the safety is off with a straight trigger finger. I have carried a duty weapon for over 20 years, but no 1911. My duty long guns get the safety flipped off as soon as the search begins.

This is me as well, minus the LE experience.

 

[SFsc616171]

re:bump in the night

I own SA pistols.

HOWEVER, for this proposed scnario,

the one in reach, at all times, is a double action revolver.

There are no munchikins, visiting or residing, nor others snoring, visiting or residing.

 

[SSN Vet]

If you practice drawing from Condition One, you are well in the "Rhythm" of swiping the safety off when presenting the firearm to a shooting position.

If I'm going to go prowling around my house, I'm not going to holster up.... so I'll carry low ready with safety on and do what I've trained to do.

If I make it to my "go to" spot b4 the potential BG, I'm confident that I am in control of the engagement and can achieve my mission requirements (protect wife and kids).

I will hold at that location a good long time and listen intently, b4 I decide to go any further.

 

[LeonCarr]

At Casa LeonCarr it is an 870 12 Gauge, Vang Comp Domed Safety, safety stays on until contact, then comes off immediately in the process of pulling the trigger.

The strong hand thumb can ride on top of the thumb safety on a 1911, especially an extended thumb safety, and be brought down in an instant at contact.

Both of the above is preferable to not taking time to identify your target and shooting a loved one.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[old lady new shooter]

Not if you've thought about this as a realistic scenario. I keep a key on a chem stick to toss out the window for the sheriff to use and if someone's actually inside the house the deputies are welcome to enter forcibly while the BG is between a rock and a hard place.

Yep, I also have a set of keys on a chem stick in my bedroom.

 

[HankB]

While I often carry a 1911 cocked and locked, I don't keep it around the house that way. In fact, my "house handguns" are revolvers.

Still, if I were to investigate a "bump in the night" with a 1911, I'd carry it on safe, with my thumb on top of the safety, index finger OFF the trigger unless/until I identified (emphasis: identified) a target.

 

[Cannibul]

House guns are Springfield XD 45 pistols and Mossberg 500/590 shotguns.

Round in chamber and ready to fire on each one.

There's only my wife and I in the house and she'll be ready to call 911.

 

[stoky]

Safety off, trigger finger off. I earnestly tried to learn to shoot with my thumb on the safety, going so far as to install a low safety and subsequently changing it back. I couldn't make it work for me.
It's in condition one in the holster, condition three when it's not on me.

 

[Kleanbore]

If I am "pretty sure it is a cat or a raccoon" I will wait and listen. Heading out to investigate with gun in hand would not be helpful. On the other hand, if it happens to be an armed violent criminal actor, heading out to investigate would have been the wrong thing to do. What to do regarding the safety is unimportant.

 

[guyfromohio]

For those who shoot 1911s, it's a moot point. Thumb is already on the safety ready to disengage before firing. It's how we shoot them. No memory or thinking involved. It's just how they are to be shot.

 

[Cannibul]

For those who shoot 1911s, it's a moot point. Thumb is already on the safety ready to disengage before firing. It's how we shoot them. No memory or thinking involved. It's just how they are to be shot.

I drop the safety on the draw. It's how I've always practiced.

 

[stoky]

ditto

 

[Kleanbore]

I drop the safety on the draw. It's how I've always practiced.

If you draw when it is clear that you are immediately threatened, and that is is the only lawful time to do so when you are out and about, that's the way to do it. But the OP speaks of grabbing his gun before heading out to investigate. Would you really disengage the safety before walking with gun in hand?

 

[murf]

finger off the trigger!

murf

 

[shafter]

Gun at the low ready, thumb on the safety, finger off the trigger. I'm looking for a raccoon but if I thought someone was in my house I'd be barricaded and on the phone with 911.