Question concerning cocked and locked?

H

Hank Smith

New member
I currently own a H&K 40C, great gun. Anyways I normally store it near my bed for home defense. This is usually stored decocked and locked. My question concerns storing cocked and locked, is there an undue stress on the trigger or the mechanism holding the trigger back? Is there anyway the pistol can go off besides pulling the trigger (i.e. the weapon dropping right on the trigger, sounds painful)? Any info would be greatly appreciated, while I like the double action, I much perfer the single action. Thanks.

Hank
 
Springs in Automatic pistols wear out due to recoil and being suddenly compressed and then released when actually using the gun. When stored in the cocked position springs in guns like the 1911 .45acp were found to function fine both in the gun and the magazine after 20 years of storage fully loaded and the pistol cocked.

When going to bed at night it is probably a good idea to even store the single action with the hammer down. When waking up and in a semi-dream state you sometimes need a second or two to wake up fully and if you have a cocked and locked weapon in your hand you may end up firing it before you want to. It is up to the indiviual but unless you are expecting that particular night to suddenly jump out of bed and fight and entire army swarming in through the doors and windows I would keep the pistol hammer down no matter what type of fire control mechanism it has.
 
HK's owner's manual says the USP compact is designed to be carried cocked and locked. The DA trigger can be thought of as a "bonus". The hammer spring isn't anywhere near the yield point when the weapon is cocked, so it can remain in this condition indefinitely. Obviously all safety precautions, no access to kids, etc. apply.

While any mechanical device is subject to failure or Mr. Murphy, the USP Compact is quite safe in this mode, and like a good 1911, there is no realistic possibility of it going "bang" unless you set the control lever to the firing mode and depress the trigger. The HK has an added measure of safety due to the blocked firing pin. Dropping it from a reasonable (or even an unreasonable) height won't make it go bang. (note, even a 1911 can theoretically discharge due to inertia on the firing pin in a muzzle-down drop- but I don't know anyone who tells me they have ever seen it happen)

The USP series has undergone a number of rigorous tests and is very reliable. It might look a little scary when cocked and locked, but it is safe as any other pistol, safer than most.
 
Archer is certainly correct that the HK USP has a firing pin block. The only way that puppy is going off is if you lower the safety and pull the trigger.

Regarding M1911s, I will differ slightly from Archer's post. He is correct that pre series 70 and series 70 M1911s do not have firing pin blocks and could conceivably fire if dropped on their muzzle from sufficient height. M1911s with series 80 lockwork and the new Kimber IIs have firing pin blocks and thus will not discharge even if dropped from a great height on their muzzle.

Personally, I prefer series 70 M1911s and am not concerned about them going off.

M1911
 
The US Navy tested 1911's to find the height that was required to have the inertia FP set off a primer. IIRC, it was something like 18 feet with the firearm landing on the muzzle. They had to build a special fixture to assure the pistol landed on the muzzle everytime. To help prevent any problems, an extra power FP spring would do it.
 
If your parts are worn out enough your H&K or 1911 could conceivably go off on its own. The wear would not only be on the sear but the safety, I think. Considering the kind of wear competition guns go through, I cannot believe that this wear would happen to any other kind of shooter.
 
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