Beretta Jetfire - Cocked & Locked or Hammer Down?

R

Racingsnake

New member
just got a really neat holster for my Jetfire from Ken Null. Horse hide and very slim for IWB.

Do you guys carry cocked & locked with the 950b or do you prefer hammer down and the 950 version that had no thumb safety?
 
I have had a 950 with no thumb safety for several years. I always carried it loaded with the hammer down, so that the hammer would have to be pulled back before it would fire at all. I never had a problem with that, and I never had to worry about the single action trigger being accidentally activated. I think that is the best way to carry it because the slide is so tiny, it would be very hard to rack (much less pop the tip up barrel and load one) before firing. I think even if I had the thumb safety version, I would still carry it loaded with the hammer down and safety off.
 
I have a Tomcat on .32 acp. I carry mine safety off, half cocked. Bill, why do you recommend hammer down? I thought the half-cock was there as a safety to prevent the gun from going off if it fell and hit the hammer.
 
Hammer down and sitting on a piece of match stick. The matchstick will sit to one side of the firing pin and this way will keep pressure off the rebound spring and firing pin spring.
 
These guns have inertial firing pins. They are shorter than the hole in the slide. With the hammer fully down, the pin doesn't protrude from the breech face and the gun can't fire. The half cock notch is there to catch the hammer if it slips while you are cocking the gun.
Carrying on half cock is dangerous. If the hammer is hit, the notch can break and allow the gun to fire.
Putting a piece of match stick under the hammer can tie up the gun or cause it not to fire. The gun is perfectly safe with the hammer fully down.
 
Except that you are compressing a spring that you need to work. The Match stick piece drops out of the works as soon as the hammer is pulled back.
 
I've carried a 950BS for about 25 years now and have always carried it on half cock with safety on, my way of thinking was that even if the safety was brushed off in my pocket it was still reasonably safe. If it happened to be my primary gun, and I felt threatened or unsure I've cocked the gun and put the safety back on.
 
I guess I am the exception here. I carry mine in my pocket fully cocked with the safety on. I have arthritis in my fingers. If I carried it with the hammer down I would need to use both hands to cock the hammer. That would cause a lot of delay if I needed to get into action fast.
 
Wow! There is a lot of misinformation here. The Beretta guns should be carried hammer fully down. This is the safest way to carry them. They can't fire if dropped or if the hammer is struck.
They CAN fire if dropped or struck while on half cock.
The US Berettas with a safety can be carried cocked with the safety on.

Hartcreek- I have no idea what you are talking about-and you certainly don't. Putting a piece of anything in the firing pin area is dangerous.
The firing pin spring only lets the pin protrude if the hammer is back.

All of you guys who think half cock is safer than hammer down, try this:
Put the hammer fully down, open the barrel. Notice that the firing pin does not protrude though the breech face. The pin needs to be hit by the hammer, and inertia carries it out far enough to strike the primer. With the hammer down, nothing can make the gun fire. If you have the gun on half cock, the firing pin protrudes from the rear of the slide. Anything hitting the hammer with enough force to break the half cock notch can also have enough force to power the pin into a primer.
 
Bill DeShivs,

Thanks for the clarification! I'm not sure I feel comfortable carrying cocked and locked on that little gun. The safety is pretty small and there may be difficulty disengaging the safety in a poop hits the fan scenario.
 
stephen426-
There is absolutely no need to carry a Tomcat or Bobcat cocked. They are DA/SA guns and are perfectly safe hammer down, safety off.
As a matter of fact- the safeties are on these guns only because the corporate lawyers think they are a good idea.
 
Keep yappin Bill and you will show how much you do not know. I carry my Star Model B the same way and as soon as the hammer is pulled back the tiny piece of match stick falls clear of the action. You go ahead and be a fool and compress that spring so it can more easily let the firing pin contact a primer when the gun is dropped.
 
Compressing springs does not harm them. How many springs have you made? I have made thousands.
Having a piece of matchstick fall into your action is not a good thing at all. Where else could it fall? It's not going to jump up and out, is it?
Dropping a gun is not likely to cause a discharge. You would have to drop it directly on the muzzle from a considerable height-higher than you are tall.
This is how much I don't know.
:rolleyes:
 
hartcreek: do you also carry with your magazine empty, so as not to compress the spring? You never know, it may not feed properly if it's been "over compressed", right?
 
I would put a leather thong attached to my holster before a matchstick, I'd be worried that moisture or something else could make the match stick in place. This might work for some, but doesn't seem like a cure all.
 
Regarding the spring, Bill is spot on here. The common knowledge is that springs do not wear because of compression (or lack of compression). They wear out because of use. That is, multiple cycles of compression and then expansion.

Fly
 
I have a 950 no safety and manual says hammer down . I have later 950 with safety .Still hammer down .Safety really to small. Now one more
I have a model 20 Just think 950 DA/SA that the best of both . Same basic size and a nice DA trigger. Not like the bigger 21A and their terrible DA trigger. Tomcat even worst.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top