Half Cock

N

Nightcrawler

New member
Why does the 1911 (or at least some models) have a half-cock notch? I thought half-cock was for weapons like single action derringers, that, lacking a firing pin safety, can be discharged if the hammer is all the way down and somthing strikes it hard enough.

But the 1911 isn't supposed to be carried hammer down anyway. If that's the case, why the big serrated spur on the original hammer? I mean, the ORIGINAL M1911A1 lacked the longer beavertail and had the longer hammer spur, obviously meant for thumb manipulation.

It's my understanding that Series 80 1911s are safe to carry hammer down if you wish because of the trigger disconnect, whereas Series 70 and prior are not. Is this true?

Which type of lockwork do Springfield 1911A1s have?
 
It's NOT a half-cock notch, even though that's sort of where the hammer ends up.

It's the safety notch.

It's there to catch the hammer in case the sear breaks. It prevents the gun from going full auto.

There's a story that George Patton, during the incursion into Mexico, worked over his issue 1911 to the point where he finally ground off the safety notch in order to get the lightest, sweetest trigger pull possible.

While on the range one day the obvious happened. The sear face sheared off, and the gun went full auto on him.
 
In general, half-cock notches aren't meant to hold the hammer in the "down" position, even on guns that are meant to be carried that way. And of course, the 1911 isn't. I think the notch is there to "catch" the hammer if there's a catastrophic failure of another part responsible for keeping the hammer cocked.
 
Here's what my 1911's manual says:

"The hammer safety stop is a notch on the hammer which prevents it from falling fully forward in the event of a primary sear notch failure. It also prevents the hammer from hitting the firing pin should your fingers slip from the slide or hammer while cocking the pistol, provided the hammer has been moved past the stop. The safety stop is not a manual safety. Never under any circumstances use the safety stop as a 'half cock' position. This misuse can result in damage to the sear, and or unintentional discharge of the pistol. The safety stop position is an automatically engaging safety feature and should never be engaged by hand."
 
Nightcrawler:

You are correct that Series 70 are not safe to carry condition 2, but that Series 80 are. Personally, I don't understand why anyone would want to carry a 1911 in condition 2 -- if you want to carry condition 2, get a DA auto.

Springfields are series 70 lockwork. Colt Series 80 and ParaOrdnance are series 80 lockwork. Pretty much everything else is series 70.

M1911
 
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