Bad idea to carry hammer down on loaded chamber. Perennial question, both sides weigh in, poster usually ends up carrying the way he or she initially wanted to anyway.
Maybe so DPris but some things have been clarified in this thread for those with eyes to see, like;
"The way God and John Browning meant it to be carried Condition One"
Browning, along with Colt engineers, designed the gun to the military's demands. Had Browning been left alone it would have been a very different gun.
The military intended the 1911 to generally be carried in condition 3. C&L was for interruptions in firing or for just prior to engagement. Condition 2 was often used by troops in the field authorized or not. Different branches of the service had slightly different demands and all three modes were used.
Cooper had a decided impact, a positive one IMHO, on the prevalence of C&L these days. We speak of the conditions that Cooper came up with.
These 3 points and a couple of others ought to at least be acknowledged.
And, based on the development of the 1911's design evolution, I still maintain Browning did not design it or intend it to be routinely carried cocked & lock.
I agree with ya. The mechanical evolution of the gun, the evolution of holsters for it, etc. all point to a gun that was not ,in decades past, routinely carried C&L by as many shooters as carry it that way now either percentage wise or in raw numbers. Jeff Cooper and a few bigger changes in society account for the change.
Mechanically the 1911 has never stopped evolving, it continues to do so today. Testiment to a solid basic design. New grip safeties, new thumb safeties, new types of extractors, barrel lengths and calibers JMB never thought of, etc.
I encourage folks to choose a gun that suits them. That fits their hand well and that they enjoy shooting then get to know it. In the 1911 that means you have three options for carry.
For me, and others, condition 2 is for situations where condition one is not possible or is inadvisable. Some folks can't imagine such a situation. Their experience is limited perhaps. I also carry condition one when I can.
Under duress, the seemingly simple become difficult, thus the fine motor skills required to perform the cocking of the hammer could become problematic, whereas the quite natural act of swiping the thumb saftey is quite easy.
The assumption here is that the only time one would carry a 1911 is where you expect to need it immediately and under stress. The assumption is wrong.
The assumption that cocking a hammer is a fine motor skill that one would loose under stress is also wrong. Generations of shooters have and continue to carry single action wheelguns in all sorts of situations, particularly while hunting and manage to cock a hammer. Ol Wyatt Earp didn't know he'd loose his fine motor skills up against the Clantons.
It's a matter of training.
If a fella dedicates themselves to the 1911 it rewards ya.
tipoc
