Re: In what condition do you carry your 1911

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Eod1

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Re: In what condition do you carry your 1911

I had seen this here back in 2008. Thought I would bring it back to see how you guys carry the 1911 now?
 
There is only 1 way to carry a 1911 and that is cocked and locked.Any other way and you might as well carry a hammer.
 
I only use one for matches and practice.
So it's cocked and locked with a full magazine and a round in the chamber for that.
Otherwise I keep a revolver handy.
 
The way John Browning designed it to be carried Loaded, Cocked and Locked. That is the only safe way to carry it as far as most people knowledgeable about 1911s do. I do carry a compact 1911 and when I do that's the way I carry. I've done so for decades with no issues or safety concerns at all. Then versus now is really not relevant the pistol was designed over a century ago and what worked then works now. Browning included the grip safety and manual safety for good reasons. ;)

I don't mean to be short but if carrying for self defense then doing it this way is not only safer but faster to the first shot as well. This debate reappears every now and then with basically the same conclusion. It's similar to the "should striker fired weapons have a manual safety question". :D
 
C&L'd

As the others have expressed, Browning designed the 1911 to be carried with a round in the chamber, the hammer in cocked position and the safety on.

This is an extremely safe way to carry a 1911 though non-gun folks will most likely view it as dangerous.
 
Like all my carry guns, loaded and ready. Carrying any other way goes against why you are carrying a gun to begin with.
 
I just researched John Brownings original 1911 or what u might call late 1910 ,but it did not have a thumb safety on it. The museum said it wasn't unroll the army wanted their caveralry to carry it did it get a thumb safety. Something about bolstering it while riding a horse. I'm confused......
 
Browning might have designed the pistol to be carried locked and cocked with a round chambered. But mostly certainly the bigger user of the pistol didn't have that in mind. Try putting a cocked 1911 in an army issued flap holster.

-TL
 
Minorcan said:
The way John Browning designed it to be carried Loaded, Cocked and Locked. That is the only safe way to carry it as far as most people knowledgeable about 1911s do. I do carry a compact 1911 and when I do that's the way I carry. I've done so for decades with no issues or safety concerns at all. Then versus now is really not relevant the pistol was designed over a century ago and what worked then works now. Browning included the grip safety and manual safety for good reasons.
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John Browning designed it the way the Ordnance Department wanted it. The original, penultimate 1910 prototype didn't have a thumb safety at all -- that was added because the Ordnance Department requested it.

The written manual for the M1911 called for it to be carried with an empty chamber, uncocked, at all times except when enemy action was "imminent." To say that Browning designed the M1911 to be carried cocked and locked is historically inaccurate.

I carry a 1911, and I carry it cocked and locked. IMHO, when carrying for self defense on the streets, when a threat can materialize at any moment, it's essentially the same as saying that "enemy action is [always] imminent." I'm not arguing against carrying that way. I'm just pointing out that it's a drastic oversimplification to assert that Browning designed it as he did because he thought that's the way it "should" be carried.
 
I'm just really interested in the 1911 now because my grandfather left me a 1911 from his time in WWII. I have been researching the gun for a while now and found a lot of old school info and new school info. Everything from early 1900's up to the Chicago wars and Mob wars to now. Now I came accessed a guy that made something called the Fitz Special. Anyone ever hurd of that?
 
What are the different conditions you can carry the 1911 in?
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Condition 0: Full mag in gun, chamber loaded, safety disengaged.
Condition 1: Full mag, loaded, safety engaged.
Condition 2: Full mag, loaded, hammer down.
Condition 3: Full mag, chamber empty, hammer down.
Condition 4: Gun is completely unloaded.

There are some oddball variations, like Condition 2 with the hammer at half-cock rather than fully lowered.
Or, the hammer could be cocked and the safety applied when the chamber is empty.

Arguments against anything but Condition 1 as a "ready condition" usually revolver around 2 needing an awkward hammer manipulation, and 3-4 needing two hands to get the gun into action.
Condition 0 appears to be dangerous, but with an active grip safety, the gun won't fire if something applies pressure to the trigger unless the grip safety is also depressed, unlike the modern pistols which will always fire any time the trigger is depressed, intentionally or not.
 
I've never heard of a Fitz 1911. Usually Fitz would be associated with revolvers and removing the trigger guard along with a couple of other modifications to make it easier to carry. Removing the trigger guard on any gun is a terrible idea. Shortening the barrel or altering the frame of a 1911 is not going to work out very well.

You can buy 1911's with a bobtail grip frame and shorter barrels. It would be cost prohibitive to do this to an existing gun.
 
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