Because these little pistols did not have a half-cock notch or ledge on the hammer prior to about 1922, and there was no way to manually lower the hammer, many users carried the chamber empty and would sling-shot the slide during a draw. They also couldn't simply drop a magazine because of the way the magazine latch was designed and located. If during an "incident" they ran dry they'd pull out the magazine, insert a fresh one (if that had one) and then sling-shot the slide. More often then not, if they did any shooting at all it would be over before the first magazine was empty.
All of this would likely drive someone in the "modern technique" school of thinking up the wall, but it never bothered the Old Fuff when on occasion he armed himself with a Colt's Hammerless Pocket Pistol. I also knew an individual that was an officer in the U.K.'s SAS, who had been there and done that - and he wasn't worried either. The "model M" as he called it, was one of his favorites.
When you chose to carry some older guns compromises have to be made with modern thinking. I like the pistol well enough too do that.
The real lesson to be learned is: No matter what you carry, know how it works and understand all of the strong and weak points.
