How do you carry your 1911's?

I have a question. If single action designs like the 1911 and High Power aren't "meant" to be carried hammer down, why bother with the thumb-cock-able hammer? Why not just bob the hammer and get it out of the way entirely, like that new dinky LDA from Para?
 
Nightcrawler, because if you bob the hammer, you lose the spur which aids in several manipulation drills. Do what you will to your weapon, it's a quasi-free country. I'll keep mine. My $.02.
 
What Dairycreek was saying may actually be a good suggestion. If you are uncomfortable with C1 carry, carry a 1911 cocked and locked without a round in the chamber. That will give you the chance to prove to yourself that the hammer isn't just going to drop unexpectedly on you. Now, I wouldn't necessarily carry that way outside your home (you might need it while you are out and about), bt try it while walking or sitting around the house. I'll admit that it took me a bit of time to get used to the idea, but now I'm just as comfortable carrying my Kimber in C1, as my USP in C2 (or C1 or C3 or whatever I want. I like USPs :D )
 
C&L baby, C&L

Do what others here have suggested. Enpty gun & mag. cycle the weapon. engage safety, reholster, then go about your buisness for a week or so. My bet is the safety WILL NOT disengage, unless you make the concious effort. when you're comfy w/ that, load and lock.
 
My reaction to others(confidants) reactions to my carrying my 1911 loaded (and locked) :

"Yeah it's loaded--otherwise it's an awfully expensive hammer!"
 
cocked and locked. if this carry mode makes you nervous, use a holster with a thumb break. a strap of material sits between the firing pin and hammer; so, even if the sear were to break somehow, the holster would prevent an accidental discharge.
 
The carry of a 1911 with the hammer down is perfectly safe as long as it is all the way down and not resting on the intersept notch.

It is the act of letting the hammer down that some people have problems with.

The 1911 has a rebounding firing pin. With the hammer down the firing pin is not touching the primer.

A blow to the hammer CAN NOT FIRE THE ROUND.

I already know some of you will not belive this so I invite you to put a primed case in your gun let the hammer down and see if you can get it to fire by a blow to the hammer.

I have proven this many times.

I would much rather have a hammer down 1911 fall on a concrete floor than a cocked and locked one.

When I carry a 1911 it is cocked and locked in most of the time.

I carry hammer down when I am riding a motorcycle or my ATV.
 
Cornbread2, do as you please--

It's your pistol, and your anatomy and your motorcycle.---

BUT--An anecdote might be interesting in this regard. Sorry, I can't quote the source. It was a first-person account, the guy signed his name. I can't personally vouch for him, but it SOUNDS plausible.

He was riding his m/c on desert roads with his .45 holstered, chambered, hammer down, under a light jacket. He met another vehicle and got to the right side of the road with brush whipping his right handle bar. Loud POP sounded and he felt a burning on his right hip. He stopped and discovered that his .45 had discharged in the holster. Bullet went out the open bottom, barely grazed his buttock cheek, and did some minor damage to the 'cycle. Of course, the empty had failed to eject fully.

Apparently a branch of the bush slapped the hammer spur hard enough to bring it back ALMOST to the "half cock" notch, but not catch on the sear. This is plenty of hammer fall to allow the mainspring energy to cause a strong enough hammer strike to send the firing pin to the primer. Said he found bark in hammer serrations. Happily, the angle was such that the bullet did little damage to either his sittin'-down place or his noble steed.

The frame tang is designed to protect the cocked hammer from any impact from the rear.

Drizzt and others suggest carrying an empty-chambered pistol, cocked and locked - - - I can understand this as a confidence-building exercise, but it sure cancels some of the benefit of going armed. Let's see--Draw, knock off safety, THEN slingshot the slide to chamber a round, acquire a shooting grip, take aim and fire?

As an alternative, let me suggest chamber empty, hammer cocked, safety OFF. Check pistol frequently. Hammer will stay back, even with thumb safety not locked. And, if the pistol is needed for defensive purposes, it cam be chambered without delay. Also, hammer back makes it easier to cycle the slide.:p

Best,
Johnny
 
Condition 2 on a 1911 is not a very smart thing to do regardless of the reasons. But I am not going to preach about it.

I store my 1911 in Condition 3. I'll even carry it like that when out and about. But when I am going out at night, (or to wash my car on a Sunday Morning) I'll jack the slide and run Condition 1.
 
I've thought about carrying in condition 5 -- pistol unloaded and uncocked, empty magazine, and recoil spring and plug removed to preserve tension. :p

But seriously, if carrying cocked and locked bothers you, you can either find a pistol whose manual of arms is more to your liking, or carry cocked and locked with nothing in the chamber for awhile until you can get comfortable that the safety doesn't get brushed off, the hammer doesn't fall, and that John M. Browning knew what he was doing. The 1911 was designed for condition 1 carry, anything else doesn't sit right with me. Just my 2 cents.

-Hal
 
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