Considering Concealed carrying 1911

1911 safe to carry, one in the chamber no thumb safety engaged?

  • Yes

    Votes: 10 15.4%
  • No

    Votes: 55 84.6%

  • Total voters
    65
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
Not a good idea. Carry cocked and locked. Now, as someone that carries a 1911 (less and less any more, however), I've had instances where I've had the safety get swept off. This is one of the downsides of an ambidexterous safety as it can be swept off if you bump into something throughout the day or can also get switched off by, say your seat belt. If you are not fully comfortable with the manual of arms for a 1911, DON'T CARRY ONE! Better option, get a gun that you ARE comfortable and proficient with chambered in the larger caliber desired be that .40 S&W, 10mm Auto, or .45 ACP.
 
Carrying long guns in bear country sounds practical. The facts are life is not a Disney movie. The Grizz is a master of stalking and is faster than a quarter horse.
The long gun is usually lost during the first charge. A handgun in a cross the chest rig is your last chance. The muzzle will burn hair in the last moments of your survival. It is not likely that you will be taking a target hold and stance while the bear charges slowly from 25 yds. :oops:
 
John Browning did not design the 1911 with a manual thumb safety. It was added at the demands on the military. I'm just sayin...

Safe? Yes. (Safe compared to what?)
Advisable? Probably not.
 
Yea, I have to join in on the band wagon that says, "why carry without the safety engaged?" Don't do that and engage the safety. I practice drawing and dropping the safety. It can become second nature with the pistol if you practice. I do have a 1911 on my carry permit although I prefer the G27 for size and weight balance.
 
It may be safe, but it may not, why not just use the safety? Personally, I use a G20 10mm when I'm in bear country (black bears in my neck of the woods though). I suggest something a tad hotter than .45ACP if you're counting on it as a bear stopper. Also, should probably use something solid as opposed to HP ammo, you want penetration in those instances.
 
I voted yes on the poll because of the wording (is it safe?). That is my opinion of course but when I carry my 1911 I do so in condition 1 (safety engaged). Once after hiking through heavy brush I drew the pistol and found it in condition 0 which kind of freaked me out until I realized (remembered) that I still have to squeeze the grip safety, put my finger on, and squeeze the trigger for it to go bang. Swiping the safety to the off position when drawing or after drawing is, imo pretty quick to learn. I personally get more skiddish with the Glock platform, or any other pistol with a short trigger stroke and no external safety. Not saying that they aren't fine firearms, or unsafe if the fallible human does his job, it's just me and my preference. Maybe that's weird, because revolvers and semis with long, hard (lawyer) triggers don't give me the willies.

As to a handgun for bear medicine, maybe something large like 45 LC in a Ruger platform with hot loads. 454 casull even better. 45/70 guide gun even more better (but I digress away from handguns)
 
  • Like
Reactions: vba
I hope that people who are packing the 1911 with the safety off because others have compared it to a Striker trigger have shot both and understand how different the 2 are from each other.
As for me I carry my 1911's safety on and holster my Striker pistols very carefully.
The whole bear thing has just gone beyond silly.
 
I have clocked running bears while chasing them with a patrol car. They can hit 35-40 mph for a short period of time. About 50 to 58 feet per second. 25 yards in 1.5 seconds. So he could have charged 50 yards while you were reading this.

Do NOT use a 45 auto.
That being said, I have worked around bears most of my adult life and spent a bunch of time around them as a kid. I have never been mauled because I avoided cornering them and let them know I was coming their way. What is between your ears is much more important than what you have in your holster. Brownie on muskeg.jpg
 
Well I don't have any bear experience but it seems every forum and media website were bears are brought up the general consensus is 45 acp is not a sufficient round for bear defense. Better than nothing, yes. But I'd definitely entertain more viable options in big bore magnum revolvers if I were going into bear country. 45 acp was made to bring down men, not big game. It's that simple. 1911 with the safety not engage with one in the pipe is safe depending on the user and holster. I don't know the technical conditions of carrying a 1911 so I'll just say how I've carried and seen others. When I carried 1911's I always carried cocked and locked and trained that way. I've known guys in the past that carry one in the pipe and hammer in half cocked or down position, which I don't understand because then you have to cock the hammer back while drawing which seems to take finer motor skills than just disengaging the safety. I've also known a few to carry cocked and unlocked with no problem because they had excellent holsters. Some of these striker fired guns these days have triggers that hardly have any take up and break clean at or under 5 lbs., the same as a average 1911 trigger. I've actually had 1911's with triggers that felt heavier than my sig p320 and the new Cz p10c. I think if you need to ask this question then the answer is absolutely not, please just use the safety the way the gun is now intended to be used since it's a single action handgun. I personally will always carry cocked and locked, condition 1 I think, when it come to the 1911 design.
 
For bear a 10mm with hot loaded FMJs would be the minimum I would carry (and why I originally bought a glock 20). 12 gauge with slugs preferred. As for the 1911 it was designed to carry cocked and locked with the safety engaged. Its super easy to train yourself to sweep the safety when drawing. Do it.
 
Absolutely NOT. You will kill somebody.

Carry condition one (locked & cocked with a round in the pipe) and train yourself to swipe the safety off either as you draw or as you extend to shoot.
 
In Montana bear country I wouldn't carry anything less than a .41 or .44 mag revolver at the very minimum. If I didn't have to hump a heavy pack I would also sling some type of big bore long gun or shotgun. A .45 ACP is kind of light for a Rocky Mountain bear. Make lots of noise - you REALLY don't want to surprise a bear - or find yourself between a sow and her cub. Tie a cowbell to your pack (you know can never have enough cowbell). Bring all of your friends with cowbells.
Sage advice about the bells. Works well in black bear country, too. I have no experience with grizzly's but black bears inhabit my area, the eastern Appalachians. I'd hesitate to try stopping one of them with a .45, I carried a .357 during my backpacking days in black bear country, and figured I'd be pretty lucky to survive the encounter of I had to shoot one. Banging your cookware, or hanging something noisy off your pack was the better bet to avoid trouble, they usually leave when they hear you coming. Doesn't necessarily work in camp, when you're quietly sitting next to your groceries, though.

Carrying your 1911 chambered without the safety on sets you up for AD if it gets dropped. The thumb safety blocks the sear, you can break the hammer spur with a drop before the safety will fail. bear-warning-sign.jpg
 
Anyone who decides to carry a 1911 should do a lot of dry practice with the gun. With no ammo in the gun you should practice drawing the gun while speaping the safety off during the draw. Leave your thumb ride on top of the safety because if your thumb is under the safety you can unintentionally engage the safety under recoil.

If you practice the draw a bunch of times every night for a month or so it will become positive muscle memory and you will do it without thinking. For those who say you should not disengage the safety unless you are going to fire I say you should not draw and aim your gun at someone unless you are going to fire. Redraw the gun sweating the safety off and keep your finger off the trigger. It has worked and worked very well for over 100 years...
 
Regarding "bells in bear country"...

You know, if Gary Larson was still writing "The Far Side" he'd have some kind of ice cream truck analogy for this. You know how the kids come running when they hear the sound of the ice cream truck coming down the street. He'd have the baby bear asking his mother if she'd go get him a snack. :)
 
Personally, I admire the reserve and patience of all who commented on this.
 
Also, is the 45. Acp a sufficient load to stop bear or other large animals given it has a good round in it? (Buffalo bore) etc. Finally if the 1911 can suffice for everyday carry

Haha, no. A .45 *may* annoy a bear cub enough not to bother you, but forget about the mama bear that will tear you in half for shooting her cub. You're looking at 10mm *at least* for stopping huge animals with any reliability. If you're dead set on a handgun, a .500 S&W revolver would do it probably. You might ask around the lodge or area you're camping in to see what the regulars use.

1) Carrying a 1911 without the safety engaged is like driving without the seat belt on. Its ok most of the time, but when the collision comes you will wish it was on. 2) No, in my opinion even the 230 grain 825 fps version is not a bear load. 3) Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Be smart and use all safety tools provided.

I used to feel like this, but I'm not smarter than JMB when it comes to guns, and he designed the 1911 to be safe unless the safety is off and the grip safety is squeezed. If both of those conditions aren't met, the trigger won't work. You can carry cocked and unlocked, but I never would.

(because I'd never carry a 1911 ;) )
 
I agree with the 10mm comments. While a .45 ACP with hard cast might be fine for Black Bear, for Brown Bear/Grizzly you'll need the velocity to get the necescary penetration. There are a couple of 10mm hardcase rounds pushing 1200 fps with 220 gr bullets. I know a guy who stopped a Brown Bear in AK with one. While I'd hate to have to kill one of those magnificent animals (and no I have nothing against hunting), the 10mm will do the job. One huge advantage of the semi autos is the ability to get off multiple rounds and keep them on target. My friend fired 7 rounds inside of 15 yards at a charging bear. There's no way most people are getting off 7 rounds in that amount of time acurately with a revolver.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top