1911's Are Meant to be Carried...

I got in a rather interesting discussion with an unfavored uncle today. We were talking about carrying 1911's. He's... well, he stated that he carries his "Mexican style" and does not carry a round in the chamber, and that it was not possibly to safely carry a 1911 with one in the chamber, cocked and locked, safety on.

I replied that every day for the last four years that I haven't carried a .357, I have carried my 1911, one in the chamber, cocked, safety on. He told me that was a good way to put a hole in my leg.

Now, to be honest, I have only heard people suggest carrying a 1911 cocked and locked, and I know carrying "Mexican" is stupid.

What say ye?

Cocked and locked.

Hither and yon. It's from this.

I carry mine in condition 2: One in the chamber, but the weapon isn't cocked and the safety is off. I'd have to pull back the hammer in order to get off the first round.

When I carry my Glocks, I carry them without one in the chamber. I weigh my potential need for speed (very slight) against safety.

Her name is Kerekes Éva Vica.

I don't carry a 1911. I carry a Sig Sauer.

One in the chamber, DAO, no safety.

Cocked and locked. If it's not cocked and locked, you're not carrying a gun. You're carrying a piss poor club. Sorry, chamber empty/hammer down may be the way Uncle Sam said to carry it. But, I learned a very, very long time ago that Uncle Sam ain't always right.

John Browning intended on the weapon being carried in Condition One. Jeff Cooper said "Condition One and Only." He coined the term "Cocked-n-Locked." He even went on to describe the poor souls forced to carry in Condition Two or Condition Three as wearing "Decorative Pistols."

I'm not an expert on carry by any means, but I don't see how anyone would CHOOSE to carry with no round in the chamber. If you were in a situation and you had to pull--even if it weren't a matter of absolute speed--just imagine how costly a fumble or some feed problem while racking the slide would be. If that first round is in the chamber, you'll always have that first shot that relies on nothing more than pulling the trigger (and, perhaps, disengaging a safety).

If (when) I'm able to carry, I'll probably carry a Glock or some smaller DAO pistol, but if I did carry a 1911, it would definitely be "cocked-and-locked." Drawing the piece and flicking the thumb safety off is a very quick, uncomplicated motion. And, in a stressful moment where my life may be at stake, I don't want any complications...

Ayup. For that matter, fuck an empty chamber, the .357 is loaded all the way around--even though it is from before the days of the trigger interrupt.

Cocked and locked. You won't put a hole in your leg unless you disengage the safety and pull the trigger while pointing it at yourself.

Condition one, baby. With a thumbreak holster. The retention strap covers the back of the slide under the hammer, thus your uncle's fears would be unfounded.

I agree with you 100%. I've carried mine in condition one ever since I've had it. I wish I had thought of the "Decorative Pistols" phrase to use against my uncle! :|

Frontline, your statement caused me to make a video. I have a question, which is posed in the short video.

[yt="Video Question about 1911 Safeties with Examples"]BzMDkfFbQj0[/yt]

I completely missed that. No, you can not engage the thumb safety with the hammer down on a 1911. If you can, something is wrong with your gun.

Tha isn't what we said. Round in chamber, hammer cocked!

We used to have a check cashing service that came to the office. Each and every one of them was armed with a personal weapon. One of them, one day, had a gorgeous stainless 1911, condition one, in a competition scabbard (the strapless kind that retained with only squeezing the gun). One of my coworkers was very freaked out by seeing it cocked. I pointed out that it was easy to see that the safety was on, so don't worry. Also, seeing that, did HE think anybody was going to try something?

You thumb the hammer down on a chambered round.

That takes balls. :|

It's one of the reasons I kept the spur hammer on my 1911A1 instead of replacing it with a Commander-style one.

When I used to have a 1911, and when I used to routinely carry, I always carried my 1911 in Condition One.

Well I don't carry a 1911. But if I did it would have one in the chamber and be ready to go if need be. Otherwise what's the point?

When I worked in LE we used Glocks, we would load the clip, then load the clip into the Glock, load one into the chamber then remove the clip and add one more round so we had a full clip and a loaded chamber. We did this for both our primary and backup sidearm.

That's what I do with my 1911, and every other firearm I use that has a magazine.

Everyone I use has a book.

How do you put the safety on though? Did you mod your 1911?

You have a gorund in your swamp? Sweet. All I have is frogs and snakes.

I don't try to cowboy that one-handed. I pinch the hammer between the forefinger and thumb of my free hand and ease it on down.