Why the hammer spur on 1911s?

[sm]

Tamara , you are so right.
I get to play with the race guns from time to time, it is fun, neat and all that...

I accepted a long time ago 90 % of the basic stock guns are more accurate without me trying to shoot them.

That other 10% is smoothing the trigger, grips that fit, adjusting sights/Ammo POA/POI....training, practice, more trainig and practice...

I have fun tho'

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

Spurless hammers do have a function on those DA 1911s for carry, as the gun can have a bobbed gripsafety and be made shorter.

 

[1911Tuner]

Rooned hammer

Old Fuff said:

I already ruined a good hammer ( but then I was young and foolish).

I've got one here that's about halfway pre-ruined. Spur partially bobbed
and the hack made an attempt at jeweling it... Looks like he
used the end of a rotary file. Shame, too...It's a Colt hammer out of
an older 1991 A1. Not a thing wrong with it except cosmetic. I may be able to clean it up and have Ricky toss it in the bluing tank with some
other parts...Barter and trade'll work when the economy falls flat on its face.

Ah well. Onward....

Tuner

 

[zahc]

I did however get ordered off of some ranges because of what they saw as safety issues.

I'm curious what kind of issues they were worried about.

 

[Sean Smith]

I believe it's the Warp Speed kit...

Yep, no false modesty there! Light speed is for sissies!



Actually, I like the look of the spur as long as it doesn't bite me.

 

[Nightcrawler]

I hadn't thought of dry firing. It would indeed be a pain to have to rack the slide each time.

Though...that's what you have to do with a Glock, a Springfield XD, or any striker fired gun. *shrug*

I personally think a hammerless 1911 would look silly, unless they contoured the grip safety/beavertail area to give it the lines of an oversized M1903 or something. Then it could look pretty nice!

 

[Old Fuff]

Zahc:

We are talking about late 1959 to middle 1960. In those dark ages no one carried .45 pistols cocked & locked except the Texas Rangers and a recently retired Marine Corps Col. named Cooper.

Now when a very wet-behind-the-ears kid showed up with a pistol with the hammer spur cut off Range Officers (not to mention other elders) went through the roof because they felt that the hammer couldn't be safely lowered on an (hopefully) empty chamber unless the hammer had a spur. You will find that the bullseye crowd is very conservative and not receptive to anything that might compromise safety in the slightest degree.

For the record, the man who popularized carrying the pistol in Condition 1 (cocked & locked) is Jeff Cooper, and a friend of mine over many years, and frankly he thinks that cutting off the hammer spur - as opposed to shortening and re-shaping it - is an act of total idiocy because it eliminates some carry options that you might want to use sometime, and whatever advantage might be had can be better accomplished in other ways. I agree, but to each his own.

If it makes any difference (which I doubt) I usually carry the pistol cocked & locked on those occasions when I do pack one, and I haven’t found the hammer spur to get in my way, one way or another. I have also lowered the hammer on a loaded chamber on many occasions over the past half-century and not left any holes in anything I didn’t intend to.

 

[Nightcrawler]

I too disagree that lowering a hammer on a hot chamber is unsafe. It's the only way to decock my CZ-97B; and if I were to carry it, I'd have to carry it decocked, as it's safety isn't ambidextrious and I'm left handed. You just practice a lot, go slow, and keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.