There is no reason for Condition 2. You gain nothing by lowering the hammer on a loaded round.
I'm convinced.
There is no reason for Condition 2. You gain nothing by lowering the hammer on a loaded round.
No boots. No friends. If you're shooting your foot while attempting to decock a 1911, you obviously have engaged the Darwinian law of natural selection.And how many times does he get it wrong before he reaches that level of proficiency? And how many boots, friends, TVs, and so on get shot in the process?
There is no reason for Condition 2. You gain nothing by lowering the hammer on a loaded round.
(the chances of shooting yourself in the foot are far greater than needing the weapon to defend yourself-
im not a professional gunslinger and im not going to pretend that i am
I carried condition 2 because:
It is JUST AS quick to bring the gun into action should the need arise. (Especially for a leftie without ambidextrous safeties.
And I've manually decocked numerous handguns without a safety problem. But I admit, you have to be smarter than the gun.
Because I have first hand experience carrying both ways, and I believe in thinking for myself and deciding for myself.
Quote:
There is no reason for Condition 2. You gain nothing by lowering the hammer on a loaded round.
I'm convinced.
It's been said a while ago, and this is pretty much it. Also, more safeties are inherent if the hammer is back (half-cock notch, thumb safety, etc).It's much easier to sweep the safety off than it is to cock the hammer
And some people STILL think that the 1911 is the only gun the hammer is ever lowered on a loaded round?
No, but I think that it does entail an unnecessary risk.And that it's just inherently dangerous and unsafe to do so?
I carried condition 2 because:
It is JUST AS quick to bring the gun into action should the need arise. (Especially for a leftie without ambidextrous safeties.
to carry the pistol in condition 2 you have to violate one of the rules "do not put your finger on the tigger till you ready to fire" I think this is all the reason one need to never try to use condition 2
You are saying that it's condition 1 or the person is WRONG.
And I am saying that I can draw the weapon, pull the hammer, aim, and fire; just as quickly as draw the weapon, turn off the safety, aim, and fire.
Maybe you can.........but again..........how do you know ?
I'm not sure you're getting what he's driving at. Perhaps you are, indeed, much faster than the rest of us would be cocking the hammer, and perhaps you are faster cocking the hammer than you are wiping the safety, because you have practiced thousands and thousands of draws from condition two, and this has been so thoroughly trained into your muscle memory that it's totally automatic for you now, and is also smooth and fast. But have you really spent an equal amount of time drawing and firing from condition one? Have you incorporated that into your muscle memory to an equal degree? Probably not, since you are an advocate of condition two, and clearly favor that method, and I would guess that you have devoted the bulk of your training time (in drawing from the holster) to that method.Because I've been shooting 1911A1 variations for more than 30 years. And I don't just take it to the range and practice plinking at a piece of paper or tin can. I've practices with it in the military; practiced in "Hot House" setups. Just as you are so sure that it can't be done, I am telling you that it can.
Condition Three. Chamber empty, hammer down. This requires you to manually cycle the slide before firing. To return the gun to its carry position after firing, you have to drop the magazine, empty the chamber, drop the hammer, reload and reinsert the magazine, all without shooting an innocent bystander. Condition Three is the slowest-into-action of any method of carrying a 1911 and, as such, is a dangerous concession to those whose nervous systems are conditioned to revolvers whose hammers are always at rest when not in use and which are not equipped with the operator-controlled safety systems of the 1911.
Condition Two. Chamber loaded, hammer down. This requires you to cock the hammer with your thumb before firing. It also requires you to very carefully pull the trigger and lower the hammer over a loaded chamber before returning the gun to its holster. The technique for manipulating a Condition Two carry is best practiced out in the country in a freshly plowed field, where the bullets will not ricochet off the pavement or the occasional rock every time you re-holster your gun.
Condition One. Cocked and locked. Chamber loaded, hammer cocked, thumb safety on. This requires you to snick the safety down before firing and snick it back up when you’re finished. Simple. And as safe as any mechanical safety can possibly make a gun, which is to say as safe as is consistent with practical readiness. Condition One is the fastest way to get your 1911 into action, the least prone to mistakes, and therefore the only way to go.
The Army manual says, "Do not lower the hammer on a loaded cartridge; the pistol is much safer cocked and locked." Remember, a large number of the people for whom that was intended were commissioned officers--people with college degrees.
If the 1911 wasn't designed to be decocked, why is there a spur on the hammer at all?