I seriously doubt that most folks who don't care for the 1911 are afraid of the words "cocked and locked".
….Editorially and humbly, I apologize to Keith. But with some experience in pistol wearing too, I disagree with him. Naming no names, I have seen slide safeties on auto pistols fails, whether by mechanical failure or by being released by holster friction, rubbing against clothing, or by unintentional thumb pressure: and the grip safety on the 45 Colt is released when you grasp the butt, whether you intend to fire or not. I’ve carried autos fully loaded too; but I won’t recommend it. What may be relatively safe for a man with a lifetime of gun-handling experience is not necessarily safe at all for the average person.
Forgive me, Elmer. Next time I have ideas of my own to print, I’ll do it under my own byline.- EBM
Why can't some of these companies find a way of improving the design?
Well if it's an accident waiting to happen, I have to say that almost a full hundred years of service do not seem to have brought to light many accidental discharges from this cause. And even if the safety does just come off (and in twenty years of carrying 1911s around, I've never managed to make any of mine do it), the grip still has to be grasped, and the trigger still has to be pressed to drop the hammer.Well I am.
When I pulled this M1911 out of my waistband, only to find that the safety had been bumped off, I decided that getting shot in the butt was not a good idea. And since then, I have looked at cocked and locked as an accident waiting to happen.
You do know he is talking about all semi-auto pistols here. A group that would currently include Sigs, Glocks, H&Ks, XDs, Berettas, S&W M&Ps, etc....., not just the 1911 or other single action. Times change as do attitudes. Most would think nothing of carrying a semi-auto (any semi-auto) with a round in the chamber these days.Keith wrote an article claiming the safest way to carry a M1911 was cocked and locked. The Editor changed the text in Keith's article to “carried with the chambers empty”. Keith must have been mad about the misquote. The Editor later wrote this.
Guns April 1960, “Apologies to Keith”
Quote:
….Editorially and humbly, I apologize to Keith. But with some experience in pistol wearing too, I disagree with him. Naming no names, I have seen slide safeties on auto pistols fails, whether by mechanical failure or by being released by holster friction, rubbing against clothing, or by unintentional thumb pressure: and the grip safety on the 45 Colt is released when you grasp the butt, whether you intend to fire or not. I’ve carried autos fully loaded too; but I won’t recommend it. What may be relatively safe for a man with a lifetime of gun-handling experience is not necessarily safe at all for the average person.
Forgive me, Elmer. Next time I have ideas of my own to print, I’ll do it under my own byline.- EBM
Folks that claim zero malfunctions must have all gotten Wednesday builds, when everyone was in the groove. It would be nice to follow a pistol through production and say "I want that one"
You do know he is talking about all semi-auto pistols here. A group that would currently include Sigs, Glocks, H&Ks, XDs, Berettas, S&W M&Ps, etc....., not just the 1911 or other single action. Times change as do attitudes. Most would think nothing of carrying a semi-auto (any semi-auto) with a round in the chamber these days
No, he wasn't talking about the 1911, he was talking about auto pistols in general, because that's the word he used. If he had meant the the 1911, he would have said, "I've carried 1911s (or forty-fives, or government models, or some other name that clearly specifies 1911s) fully loaded too, not "I’ve carried autos fully loaded too..." And he would also have said "I have seen safeties on 1911s fail..." not "I have seen slide safeties on auto pistols fail." He had two opportunities to name the 1911 specifically, if he wanted to single it out, and he didn't either time. He was pretty clearly referring to autoloaders generally.I think he was talking about the M1911. In the 50's to the 60's, you had the P38, Luger, a S&W autopistol, and the M1911. Even 70's vintage semi's, such as my P-9, are a lot safer to carry with a round in the chamber than any M1911.
- It's heavy,
- It has a low magazine capacity for its size and weight,
- I don't like a manual safety that I must disengage in order to fire a pistol,
- It is a big and bulky pistol,
- The tiny stock military sights suck.
1911s fall into the same category as Case knives, Zippo lighters, and Harley-Davidsons: they are over-priced, outdated pieces of American nostalgia that have been replaced by simpler, more reliable designs and only survive today because half their products are "collectors items." If you can't sell something worth using, sell it as a collector's item (like baseball cards and stamps).
There have been lots of other antiquated designs that fell by the wayside (Broomhandler Mauser) but the 1911 only survived because of people willing to dump money into keeping it alive. It has created its own sub-market dedicated to making the gun actually work. Custom pistolsmiths can practically stay in business fixing 1911s but a Glock armorer who had to fix factory pistols would go broke (except maybe for the G36).
Shooting sports like IPSC create seperate divisions for 1911 style pistols, for no good reason. I know competetive shooters who use $2100 1911s for competition because they like the style and looks, but will be the first to tell you they don't actually carry one. I have personally shot only 2 1911 pistols that didn't malfunction, out of 10 or so that I've tried. I have my doubts that if I'd fired more than a mag through the two that worked that they'd still be trouble-free.
I think the 1911 was pretty good for its day, somewhat of a mechanical marvel. So were the model "T" Ford and Lindbergh's airplane. There's a reason you don't see any modern car companies producing model "T" Fords though, or any originals on the road as daily drivers.