How long do you keep your gun cocked?

[eurohacker]

In movies you always see the guy pulling out his gun and blasting away without pulling back the mantle thingie. So I am wondering whether it's a good idea to have the gun cocked for long periods of time? Won't you wear out the spring or something?

Do you keep your guns cocked when you carry?

 

[Third_Rail]

It depends. Most springs are worn out by repeated tension and relaxation of the metal. To keep them either compressed or expanded doesn't hurt them usually.

Not "mantle", you mean hammer. Carrying a firearm with a cocked hammer usually doesn't happen except for a 1911, which due to the mechanics of the firearm is quite safe. Most others aren't too safe to carry cocked, if they have an external hammer at all.

 

[Chupacabra]

Do you keep your guns cocked when you carry?

Yes! My carry gun is cocked and locked 24/7, 365 days a year and it's mainspring hasn't worn out yet.

Springs will only wear out through use and being compressed beyond there design limits.

 

[Gordon]

I keep it cocked until I pull the trigger.

 

[shermacman]

Tensile steel is a thing to behold. Your car's valve springs start their life getting compressed at the factory. Ten years and 150,000 miles later after being compressed and released 10 times a second, they still work just fine.

 

[dasmi]

I wonder how the 21 year, 496,000 (odometer stopped there a while ago) mile valve springs in my brother's volvo 245 are doing?

 

[foghornl]

Springs wear, but over a loooooong period of time. Springs fail quickly when stretched/compressed beyond design limits.

BTW, my 1911-A1 is always cocked-n-locked.

 

[Otherguy Overby]

In movies you always see the guy pulling out his gun and blasting away without pulling back the mantle thingie. So I am wondering whether it's a good idea to have the gun cocked for long periods of time? Won't you wear out the spring or something?

Do you keep your guns cocked when you carry?

1911s... Mine are cocked an locked whenever they are loaded which is just about always.

My long guns are generally left loaded with an empty chamber. The only exception is if they have an external hammer. Those tend to have one in the chamber and are left at half cock.

BTW, a mantle thingie is part of an oil lamp. Or a shelf above a fireplace.

We call 'em hammers, of course many of us in the US consider the hammer our favorite tool.

 

[eurohacker]

Excellent info!

I guess it's good to have a gun with an external safety if you're gonna keep it cocked all the time?

 

[Zak Smith]

A gun set up for defense use should be kept in the appropriate "ready" condition. For a BHP or 1911, that's cocked & locked. For a DAO or DA/SA auto, that's decocked. For a Glock, it's striker "reset".

I guess it's good to have a gun with an external safety if you're gonna keep it cocked all the time?

It depends on the design. A glock's striker has some potential energy stored in its "reset" state. But most conventional handgun designs with an actual hammer have either a safety (e.g 1911) or a decocker.

 

[Henry Bowman]

In movies you always see ...

Not a valid source of information.

But not a bad question. if ya' don't ask, ya' won't know.

 

[benEzra]

Many (most?) modern handguns don't have to be cocked before firing.

My personal handgun is a Smith & Wesson 3913LS. The slide (I assume that's what you are referring to) has to be pulled back and let go in order to chamber the first round, but the gun is then decocked by pushing the safety lever/decocker at the rear of the slide to the "SAFE" position. This drops the hammer to the uncocked position, even though the round is in firing position in the chamber. The safety can then be left "ON" or it may be moved to "OFF," and in either case the gun is completely drop-safe and there are no springs compressed.

To fire, the safety is moved to the "OFF" position if it's not already there, and the trigger is pulled. The first 3/4 of the trigger stroke cocks the hammer, which releases when the trigger reaches the release point. The recoil operates the slide, cocking the hammer for subsequent shots (meaning the 2nd and following shots use a much shorter and lighter trigger pull).

This mode of operation dates from the 1930's and is often called "traditional double action" or "DA/SA" (meaning double action on the first shot, single action subsequently).

My wife's Glock is partially cocked by operating the slide to chamber a round, but is never fully cocked until the trigger is pulled. There is no difference between the 1st round and the 2nd round trigger pull. Glocks are a bit unique, but can be considered a variant of "double action only" (DAO).

Some guns (e.g., 1911's) have to start with a cocked hammer since the hammer cannot be cocked by the trigger mechanism. In such guns, the gun either has to be carried with the hammer back and the gun on SAFE (i.e., "cocked and locked" or Condition One), carried with a round in the chamber and the hammer down, needing to be thumb-cocked before firing (Condition Two), or with a full magazine and empty chamber, necessitating racking the slide before firing (Condition Three).

 

[eurohacker]

So, 1911's essentially have two safeties?

 

[Zak Smith]

eurohacker,

Demonstrate your l33t skillz by utilizing the Search function.

Plugging in "1911 safety" returns over 10,000 threads that have discussed 1911 safety.

Here are just a few---
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=121858&highlight=1911+safety
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=67170&highlight=1911+safety
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=62511&highlight=1911+safety
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=53396&highlight=1911+safety
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=5882&highlight=1911+safety

 

[armoredman]

I gather you are european, so you'd like to hear that my favorite, the CZ 75, can be carried full cock, safety on, half cock, safety on, and full down, safety on or off, in complete safety. I carry mine in the half cock, as my PO1 has the decocker, leaving me either full down or half cock options, and the decocked is designed to drop it to half cock. Works great.
Watching the movies for factual information is like assuming Benny Hill and Absolutely Fabulous are accurate representations of life in England.

 

[cidirkona]

The only time my striker/hammer's not back is when it's making alot of noise... Those springs were made to be held back all of the time.

The springs in your car haven't worn out and left your car flat on the ground, have they?

-Colin

 

[benEzra]

So, 1911's essentially have two safeties?

At least two. Manually operated thumb safety, and grip safety (even with manual safety off, raised portion at back of grip must be depressed by gripping the gun in order for firing mechanism to work; reduces the chance of a single-point failure causing an accidental discharge).

Some newer 1911's also add a firing pin safety, that prevents the firing pin from traveling forward to hit the primer unless the trigger is depressed.

 

[EVIL5LITER]

Tensile steel is a thing to behold. Your car's valve springs start their life getting compressed at the factory. Ten years and 150,000 miles later after being compressed and released 10 times a second, they still work just fine.

Alot more than ten times a second. At 2000rpms, which is a very conservative estimate for the average cruising range of a car, they are getting compressed 32 times per second. Most of your newer four cylinders cruise at 3-4k rpms, which would make it around 64 times per second.

Not to mention when you actually step on the car, which can drive it upwards of 100 times per second. And the amount of force behind the springs is staggering. It's not uncommon for a spring to have pressures of well over 500lbs when compressed.

 

[El Tejon]

euro, the most important safety on a gun is between one's ears!

As many here, I carry a 1911, the hammer is always cocked. I have carried 1911s for three decades now. The springs do not wear out (well, had this plunger spring wear out in a Colt at school, one time, at gun camp).

 

[OrvilleYertleson]

It depends on the weapon.

When I carry a firearm that is designed to be safely carried with the hammer back, then yes, I do.

However, not all weapons are designed to be carried in this fashion. My Makarov comes to mind. When you place the weapon on safe the hammer is lowered automatically.

 

[Eric Bryant]

Alot more than ten times a second. At 2000rpms, which is a very conservative estimate for the average cruising range of a car, they are getting compressed 32 times per second. Most of your newer four cylinders cruise at 3-4k rpms, which would make it around 64 times per second.

You need to divide that number in half - there's only one combustion cycle per every two revolutions.

It's not uncommon for a spring to have pressures of well over 500lbs when compressed.

Actually, an open pressure of more than 300 lbs or so is pretty uncommon for something like a stock small-block Chevy. Smaller multi-valve engines presumably run even lighter springs, as the overall valvetrain mass is significantly less.

Back on topic - the only way a quality spring will lose its preload under compression (known as "creep") is exposure to high temps. What kind of heat? At least 400F, but probably even more for most modern materials. Keep your cocked-and-locked 1911 (or loaded magazines) away from the oven, and things will be OK.

 

[artherd]

Watching the movies for factual information is like assuming Benny Hill and Absolutely Fabulous are accurate representations of life in England.

You mean, they're NOT accurate!?

I carry my Glock 34 'reset' but glocks are kinda unique. Operably, they are a light "Double Action Only" but internally the mechanism is a little, uh, special.

It works very very well however, and is amoung the safest handgun designed.

 

[torpid]

Everything I know about firearms I owe to watching Benny Hill and Absolutely Fabulous.

.

 

[No_Brakes23]

I wonder how the 21 year, 496,000 (odometer stopped there a while ago) mile valve springs in my brother's volvo 245 are doing?

Better than the odo, obviously.

I was always taught that a 1911 has 3 safeties, thumb, grip, and internal, (I never quite understood how that one functioned though.) This is specifically in relation to a Series 70, don't know about the others.

One of the things I like about the CZ75 is that it (in certain trim,) is in that small family of safe condition one weapons.

 

[Joey101]

Relocated in General Gun Discussion