Leaving a 1911 on half-cock for storage?

[John Q. Pirate]

I have one of my custom 1911 "safe queens" disassembled for long-term storage. I have gone only as far as a standard field-strip, coating the parts in RIG grease, and storing them in an airtight container with some silica gel dessicant thrown in for good measure.

This might be a trivial issue, but I was concerned about letting the hammer rest on the frame under mainspring pressure (since there's no slide), and I was likewise apprehensive about simply storing the frame with the hammer fully cocked, so as a compromise, I left the hammer in the half-cock position.

Does anyone know if this is ok, or will doing so accelerate wear on any parts (specifically the mainspring or sear)? Is there any more preferable method to storing a 1911 than the manner in which I have described?

Thanks in advance.

 

[General Geoff]

springs do not wear from being under tension. Just leave the hammer fully cocked.

 

[Old Fuff]

springs do not wear from being under tension.

No, but over time if they are fully compressed they may take a set - especially if they are older (pre-World War Two) ones. I store pistols with the hammer either fully down, or at half-cock - which takes any pressure off of the firing pin spring. Others may do as they choose.

 

[rcmodel]

disassembled for long-term storage.

Now, that right there is a bad idea!
Put the dang thing back together before you, or someone else, loses a bunch of original parts.

Then, let the hammer fully down against the slide for storage.
(GI mil-spec way of storing them.)

That precludes an accidental drop or hammer impact from damaging the sear as might happen if left on half cock.

It also take all tension off all the springs if that is a concern.

rc

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

You don't want to pull the trigger while the hammer is cocked on a bare frame, but leaving it down surely cannot hurt anything. For that matter, why even disassemble it?

 

[robfromsc]

Now, that right there is a bad idea!
Put the dang thing back together before you, or someone else, loses a bunch of original parts.

Then, let the hammer fully down against the slide for storage.
(GI mil-spec way of storing them.)

That precludes an accidental drop or hammer impact from damaging the sear as might happen if left on half cock.

It also take all tension off all the springs if that is a concern.

rc

+1

simplify simplify