1911 'clearing' etiquette... drop hammer or ride it forward??

[FTF]

I've always been told and have always practiced that to clear a 1911 pistol, you drop the magazine, lock the slide back, capture the round (if there was one) in the chamber, visually inspect the chamber for a round, ride slide forward and then PULL THE TRIGGER (in a safe direction) to drop the hammer.

I use this method when I check in my piece at a few local gunshops or to hand it over to people I know at the range, and I always get looked at like I'm crazy. Of course, I hand the pistol over with the slide locked back, but it's always handed back that way for me to clear. It seems like the general consensus is that I should grasp the hammer and lower it slowly as I pull the trigger... like this somehow makes it more "safer" when I've already done the requisite checks... and as if 'lowering the hammer slowly' somehow makes it safer? I'm confident when I perform this check and I can't see how riding the hammer can do anything but damage my expensive pistol.

Am I in the right here, or should I just make them feel "safer" by thumbing the hammer down while clearing? Am I the only one that is annoyed by this practice? I see it ALL THE TIME by people I think know their business behind the counters. Maybe it just 'looks' safer.

By 'thumbing' I mean grasping the hammer with your thumb and forefinger and slowly lowering it as you pull the trigger.

 

[rockstar.esq]

So in essence what you are asking is if you appear somehow gauche for dry firing a 1911? Additionally you are inferring that manually decocking your pistol is likely to damage it.

Should I fully understand your question, I guess I'd say that I consider dry firing without a snap cap to be potentially hazardous to your gun. Sure you'll read hundreds of posters who've "fired" millions of dry fire shots at the TV. Then you'll read a post like mine where I tell you that I broke my firing pin return spring by dry firing. After the postage and the hastle I'm sure that snap caps are several orders of magnitude cheaper than repairing your gun. The time spent without it notwithstanding. So to summarize, I'd say dry firing should be done with snap caps or not at all.

Manually decocking your pistol if horribly flubbed will amount to dry firing provided the chamber is empty (bang if it's not). I genuinely can't think of a SINGLE reason why you'd think that manually decocking your 1911 would damage it. Every single exposed hammer firearm I've ever encountered was constructed to allow manual decocking EVEN when said firearm had a decocking lever! Point of fact, transfer bars allow the hammer to be lowered on a loaded chamber provided the trigger is used to release the hammer then is removed before the hammer completely falls. Granted 1911's don't have transfer bars but they also don't have decockers.

As a final thought pertaining to the reaction you're getting. The motion of pointing a firearm at the ground (as opposed to downrange) and pulling the trigger puts most safety concious shooters on high alert. Doing this in a gunshop is A) dry firing which isn't cool with a lot of folks in retail and B) looks like you're going to shoot the wall or ceiling or whatever. If you must test the trigger put your off hand thumb between the hammer and the slide. You'll get the feel of the trigger (and the hammer ) without dry firing.

 

[Car Knocker]

Then you'll read a post like mine where I tell you that I broke my firing pin return spring by dry firing. After the postage and the hastle I'm sure that snap caps are several orders of magnitude cheaper than repairing your gun.

Why was getting a firing pin spring for a 1911 such a hassle?

 

[SoCalShooter]

Whenever I make my 1911 safe I always drop the mag, then rack the slide back to the locked position and hand the weapon off with an open chamber. I always use two fingers when decocking the hammer. I am a little confused by your post though, it sounds ok but it does not seem to register with my brain.

 

[FTF]

Sorry that it doesn't register with your brain

I guess the thing is that some people use their thumb and forefinger to lower the hammer to a 'decocked' position with a 1911... I prefer to just pull the trigger and let it fall. I'm absolutely sure that I have cleared the weapon and checked it accordingly... so whatever method I use to drop the hammer shouldn't matter.

I guess my confusion lies in the fact that if people are so ready to accept the "thumb and finger lowering method" as safer than the "pulling the trigger method", that means all the dangers I hear about lowering the hammer slowly on a loaded 1911 are without basis. If it was dangerous, one would not clear a weapon that way (lowering hammer), because it could conceivably fire a round off since we treat all weapons as loaded...

See what I'm getting at? Since we treat all weapons as loaded, each method should be essentially the same, unless slowly lowering the hammer on a 1911 with a round in the chamber ensures there will never be an AD/ND, which we all should know is bogus. There is no real difference between slowly lowering and quickly lowering the hammer if you assume the weapon is loaded... no difference in principle I guess... except that thumbing the hammer forward may give you more likiehood of actually carrying a live round in the chamber and discharging it later accidentally.

 

[johnny blaze]

I was always taught to remove the mag, and lock the slide back, and inspect the chamber for a round. This makes it safe for all when handing to someone else.
When closing the slide, I usually ride the slide foward, and then ride the hammer foward also.
I believe that doing this makes all around you feel much safer. It should not damage your pistol to ride the hammer down.
I was in the military and had just returned from a stake out patrol. It was time for inspection of everyones firearm. One soldier removed the clip, locked the slide back, slammed the slide foward and pulled the trigger. There was a round in the chamber that did not exit the firearm previously. The 45 acp hit the concrete floor and angled up into another soldiers lower leg. The round went up and shattered the soldiers knee, continuing up and exiting just below his hip.
The soldier that was shot was put into a cast for the next 6 months.
That is one reason hearing the slide go foward and seeing someone pointing the weapon at the floor pulling the trigger makes me really jumpy.

 

[swampgator]

No clearing barrel?

It was time for inspection of everyones firearm. One soldier removed the clip, locked the slide back, slammed the slide foward and pulled the trigger. There was a round in the chamber that did not exit the firearm previously. The 45 acp hit the concrete floor and angled up into another soldiers lower leg. The round went up and shattered the soldiers knee, continuing up and exiting just below his hip.

Lemme see you cleared weapons without using a clearing barrel? Never saw that when I was in. Saw several rounds get DC'd into the barrel due to worn extractors. Or clearing with mag not dropped out of well. Real nice after a long road shift to hear a "BANG" inside the PMO.

 

[Jim Watson]

Since I am a competitive shooter - IDPA and IPSC - I am REQUIRED by rule to dryfire the hammer down at the command Unload and Show Clear. Of course both I and the range safety officer have looked in the magazine well and chamber to be sure the gun is empty. But the purpose of the dryfire is, in case we both missed a last round, to have it fire while under control and pointed downrange. So I have the habit and routinely dryfire all hammers down when checking or unloading a gun.

 

[1911Tuner]

re:

One...If the gun is in battery, it's not clear. Drop the magazine, rack the slide...visually inspect the chamber, and leave the slide locked back. Clear.

Two...Even though dry-firing won't destroy the gun, it does carry the risk of "ringing" the firing pin, sinch the pin moves much farther forward than it would if a round or snap-cap is in the chamber, depending on the length/strength of the firing pin spring. The FP spring in Series 80 Colts are typically shorter and softer than design standard.

Three...Lowering the hammer on an empty gun isn't any harder on the sear and hammer hooks than firing or dry-firing, assuming that you don't release the trigger too early and let the hammer nick the half-cock notch on the way down...and even then, you'd almost have to let the hammer get away from you in order to damage the sear. I prefer to lower the hammer in private, and I much prefer to transfer a pistol from one hand to another in the "Clear" mode so that the last thing that I look at...and the first thing that the next handler sees is an empty chamber. Everybody feels better about the gun passing hands in a crowd.

Clearing the gun and dry-firing it while pointed in a safe direction shows one and all that it's indeed unloaded...which is usually required at matches and after an MP's tour of duty...and is a good thing. The small amount of dry-firing during these events won't do it any harm, and even if it does, a new firing pin every 2-3 years is much less costly than a gunshot wound.

 

[DragonFire]

I'm absolutely sure that I have cleared the weapon and checked it accordingly

Lots of AD/ND have happened because people were absolutely sure their guns were empty.

There is no real difference between slowly lowering and quickly lowering the hammer if you assume the weapon is loaded

There's a big difference between pulling the trigger and decocking the gun. If the gun is loaded, pulling the trigger will always cause it to fire, while decocking it should not cause it to fire unless you flub the decocking. A loaded and decocked gun is still dangerous since the gun could still be fired accidentally, but some other action (i.e. recocking the hammer, dropping the firearm etc.) has to take place before the gun will fire.

If nothing else, it's the perception of what you're doing. Decocking the gun slowly just appears to be more cautious and safer.

 

[GoRon]

I do the same as Jim Watson.

Even at home by myself I will lock the slide back, inspect that the gun is empty, ride the slide forward, keeping the gun pointed in safe direction I pull the trigger.

I figure I am safe if I keep my procedure the same under all circumstances whether at the range, club or home.

 

[Wes Janson]

I am not a 1911 tuner, but..

I recall hearing several times that riding the hammer down, slowly, could in theory do some small amount of damage to the hammer/sear engagement on a match trigger job. And I also have a hard time seeing dry-firing causing wear or damage on a 1911. Dunno about Series 80s, but it just seems like a really remote thing to worry about on a standard 1911. I think it probable that I would notice the wear long before it would become an issue.

Then again, I'm a noob.

 

[XavierBreath]

I only know what I was taught. FWIW, here's my perspective.

I ride the slide down on an empty chamber. Releasing it from slide lock and letting it slam shut is hard on the barrel lugs, the slide stop pin, and the slide itself. The .45ACP round cushions the slide as it closes. Without that cushion, the metal starts to fatigue, and will eventually peen or fail.

I dry fire to lower the hammer. Tuner is probably correct about the firing pin, although I have not seen this damage on my own pistols. He may also be correct about the sear and hammer hooks, but..... A trigger job at Clarks runs about $150. Your gun is tied up for a couple of weeks to a month in the que. An Ed Brown firing pin costs six bucks from Brownell's. You can replace it yourself without even having to remove the slide. You pay your money, you take your choices. I keep a couple of spare firing pins in my spares box anyway, so I'll risk the firing pin.

Personally, I think the ideas about riding the hammer down begun at the gun counter, with salesmen trying to protect the looks of new guns.

 

[Top Gun Supply]

I also clear the weapon the same way and drop the hammer by pulling the trigger. If I am in a gun shop or handling somebody elses gun, I always ask first before dry firing.

 

[Ed from Maine]

Jim Watson +1

what Jim Watson said. I am a plate shooter, clearing, then pointing at ground, dry firing, and then holstering, is only approved method at my club. I figure if it is good enough for club range rules, it is good enough outside too.

 

[1911Tuner]

Good 'Nuff

Quote:

>what Jim Watson said. I am a plate shooter, clearing, then pointing at ground, dry firing, and then holstering, is only approved method at my club. I figure if it is good enough for club range rules, it is good enough outside too.<
***************

I guess...but to me there's a bit of difference between pulling a trigger in the great outdoors with dirt backstops and hearing protection and all, and performing an action that is intended to fire the gun...inside a dwelling. Not a good habit to get into, IMO. I usually clear the weapon and lower the hammer, regardless of where I am. If I participated in the matches, I'd observe match rules...but I'd still apply the technique that best suites the location. Sometimes habits...even seemingly good habits...jump up and bite us on the hocks when we least expect it. For pulling the trigger in-house, I suggest a bullet trap. A 2-foot stack of newspapers will do. If the gun fires, your ears will still ring, but at least you won't shoot the dog.

 

[gandog56]

I don't have the problem because nobody touches my guns except me or my smith. And he ALWAYS checks them for a live round first.

 

[progunner1957]

Here's what I do:

1 - Remove magazine.

2 - Lock slide open.

3 - Remove chambered round, set it aside with magazine.

4 - Check chamber with fingertip and then visually.

5 - Lower slide into battery slowly by hand (do not use slide release and let it slam closed on an empty chamber!!)

6 - Aim 1911 in a safe direction.

7 - Dry fire to lower hammer.