1911 Carry

[BobbyQuickdraw]

So those who carry 1911s, what condition do you carry in? I came across this article online Cocked & Locked and thought all the condition one people would enjoy it, it has a good tone to it.

I'm purchasing a 1911 soon and just wanted to get a feel for how people are carrying them.

For those that have dropped the hammer on a live round (Condition 2), how do you do it? Any special technique you use? I've not had to drop a hammer on a live round yet - my DAs have either had decockers or I've used DAOs.

 

[steelyblue]

I don't carry, but I keep it loaded in the house with the hammer down. I can pull the hammer back as I raise it.

 

[Henry Bowman]

I carry C&L - Condition 1. I have never considered carrying in any other condition. I prefer a thumb safety (over a Glock, for example) but do not want to have to perform any other functions to make it ready to fire.

 

[DogBonz]

When I did cary

I carried in condition one. That is how the thing was meant to be carried, so who am I to argue with JMB?

 

[bigred82]

It would make little sense to me to carry a 1911 in any other way than C&L. The 1911 was made to be carried in this way. Carrying it in any other way than C&L would make as much sense as carrying a striker-fired handgun without a round chambered.

Strikers and DA/SA pistols are meant to be carried chambered and ready to go when you pull the trigger. The 1911 is meant to be carried chambered, cocked, and locked. Why do anything else.

 

[Essex County]

Cocked and Locked is the only carry mode that makes sense to me. Essex

 

[Cougfan2]

I carry my 1911 cocked and locked. I currently use a Blackhawk CQB holster with the Serpa retention system. Great for C&L carry.

 

[BobbyQuickdraw]

I think Cocked & Locked is the way to go and it was designed for that, but the reason it comes up is because it 'looks' dangerous. Many people, even many shooters, who see a gun hammer cocked think "uhoh boom time."

So it just takes time to adjust.

Now, living in California I wont be able to carry for the foreseeable future, but if I were to keep the 1911 ready for home defense, should it still be stored Cocked & Locked or does that put some stress on various parts of the weapon?

As an HD gun, there probably would be more time to prepare the gun, so keeping even unloaded could be an option for some.

 

[CWL]

As an HD gun, there probably would be more time to prepare the gun, so keeping even unloaded could be an option for some.

So you wake up in the middle of the night and there's a stranger standing in front of your bed, you have time and mental preparedness to rack the slide?

If it is a defense gun, keep it ready for defense. Cocked & locked. If you just cannot do this, then either get a Paraordnance LDA style of M1911, or get another design on gun that fires double-action.

 

[DFW1911]

Condition One: give it some time and you'll get used to it, so much so you'll start wishing other manufacturers would use the same system.

Take care,
DFW1911

 

[Black Majik]

Condition 1 as well.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

C1 is the only method that makes sense with this design, if you want it safe* yet instantly ready for action.

* A relative term when talking about something dangerous.

 

[Mac45]

John Moses was WAY smarter than me.
I carry locked and cocked.

 

[steelyblue]

I would carry cocked and locked if I carried. Qickdraw, if you want to carry with the hammer down, all you have to do is rack the slide, pull the hammer back while pulling the trigger and SLOWLY let the trigger down. Make sure you do it in a safe direction and practice at a gun range until you are proficient. I've never known anyone to slip, but there is always a first. I keep it this way in the house because I have a five year old girl. I also keep it holstered in a fairly tight fobus holster(snapped in). I have practiced enough that I can aquisition the weapon and have it fired at an intruder in under a second. That is to say if they get through the alarm system without us hearing it!

 

[littlelefty]

after getting over the initial "ominous" look of condition 1, it's really the only way to carry and be prepared for an emergency. The other option in my mind would be if I were toting my 1911 around somewhere where I only wanted it not immediately ready, in which case I would go condition "whatever" (4 is it?) where the magazine is inserted but there is no round in the chamber.

As for lowering the hammer on a live round, I never have, but I have lowered the hammer after racking the slide to verify empty. For that I use thumb and index finger on either side of the hammer of one hand while squeezing the trigger with the other (AND pointing the muzzle in a safe and away direction). Placing your index finger in front of the hammer will also work, that way you know the hammer will not hit the firing pin, and it won't hurt either.

 

[Rexster]

I think letting the hammer down to carry in Condition Two is just too perilous, and cocking that hammer when the weapon is needed is too clumsy. While my one remaining 1911 is in long-term hibernation, as I use DA auto as a duty pistol and personal carry, and sixguns for backup and personal carry, the 1911 was a major part of my like from 1983 to 2002. I learned handgunning with a 1911, and continue to believe Condition One is the best way from a safety standpoint when the pistol must be in a state of readiness. For me, a 1911 should be in Condition One or Three, and Two should be tossed onto the trash heap of history, and considered to be a quaint old tradition that people followed before mankind collectively learned better.

 

[willbrink]

I carry it the way it was designed to be carried.

 

[AndyC]

Condition 1

 

[GCW5]

Cocked & Locked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mpmarty]

Condition 1 makes the most sense. That said, I make sure the mechanicals are in proper shape. This week I've had one brand new 1911 that you could put on safe, press the trigger and watch the safety snap down and the hammer fall. Now THAT'S SCARY!! The pistol is now on its way to the manufacturer.

 

[Geo.Az]

C & L


ps. .... a real happening ( I was there ) about 10 years ago at a mg shoot a person with a 1911 loaded - chambered round but hammer down on his hip went under a tent guide wire. the wire cought on the hammer and the gun went off - right through his calf missing bone and blood vessels. all my 1911s holsters have a flap that keeps this from happening.

 

[1911Tuner]

I carry it the way it was designed to be carried

It would make little sense to me to carry a 1911 in any other way than C&L. The 1911 was made to be carried in this way.

condition one. That is how the thing was meant to be carried, so who am I to argue with JMB?

The notion of carrying in Condition One is a fairly recent thing. That the gun CAN carried that way doesn't mean that it was MEANT to be carried that way...only that it can be. "When action is imininent." or so the field manulas stated.

It was designed to be carried in any condition that the individual wants to carry it. Just like the slidestop...the checkering/serrations on the hammer were put there for a reason.

As far as JMB...I would think that he didn't much care one way or another, as long as he got paid for the work, and was...in all liklihood...sick of the whole affair and happy to be done with it.

That said...Cocked and Locked is by far the best way to carry the gun for possible emergencies and speed into action. It's as safe to carry in that mode as any potentially lethal and loaded weapon can be. Safer than decocking the hammer on a hot chamber...but that can be accompished in complete safety if care is used, and the move is well-practiced dry...and without having the sky fall or the San Andreas Faultline going postal, I might add.

The gun was carried by thousands of people in C-2 and C-3 for several decades before it became the standard to carry Cocked and Locked.
C-1 is the best way...but it's not the only way.

 

[orionengnr]

Search is your friend.
If you did a search for "Cocked & Locked", or "Condition 1", etc, you'd be reading well into next week.

 

[BobbyQuickdraw]

Thanks for all the responses. Looks like I'll definitely lean towards cocked and locked, though I will practice letting the hammer down.

My only experience letting the hammer down was like 15 years ago with one of my father's lever action rifles. Since then, I've been all decockers and DAOs, so I'll definitely need the practice before I do it for real.

 

[aji]

Condition 1. It was designed that way.