Re: In what condition do you carry your 1911

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Condition 1. When I got into shooting in 1981 was a little nervous about it. But I carried my Colt around EMPTY chamber with the hammer back both with safety on and without. This gave me enough confidence to just go condition 1.
 
In my research Fitz did do revolvers. However there is no evidence that i have found so far he did or did not do the 1911 program. He could have. Doing more deeper research on subject. Here is one that a Texas Ranger owned back in the day.
 

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A 1911 is my primary carry gun ( 5" barrel, all stainless, in 9mm so its 10 +1 )and ......cocked and locked...
 
Interesting comments all around but if form follows function then why have the three safeties; grip, half-cock and manual then why design it that way if it wasn't meant to carried loaded, cocked and locked? People far smarter than me recommend this form of carry and so do I. I don't plan on changing.
 
ammo.crafter said:
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.
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According to Browning's earlier designs, it was meant to be carried Condition Two (like their service revolvers) until fired. You would put it in Condition One when you stopped firing and reholstered prior to dismounting your horse. Once dismounted, you put it back into Condition Two. The US Army changed it to Condition Three carry. A bit later, Col. Jeff Cooper realized that most people carrying 1911's were not riding a horse into combat, so Condition One carry started to make more sense. The US military stuck with Condition Three carry even after they phased out the 1911.

Any of the three conditions will work if you're trained and well-practiced. Condition One is the fastest. Condition Two works almost as fast. Condition Three will keep you in good standing with your commanding officer.

Me? I'll just stick with my old service revolver and skip the nonsense.....

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I don't think Mr Browning meant for his designs to do anything but meet Army specs.
We have still pictures of him shooting guns of his own design but unfortunately no Youtube to show how he handled them.

An old article about the 1902 .38 said that if one wished to stop shooting before the gun was empty, he could lower the hammer, but "most people" would prefer to return the chambered round to the magazine because one could resume shooting by "a movement of the slide."

The "Modern Techinque" has used his design features to accomplish things the Army did not consider highly important.
 
Most people carry cocked & locked with one in the tube . I carry condition 2 fully loaded with one in the chamber hammer down , practice is more important in what ever condition you carry if you don't , you won't find the safety or the hammer. Most bad things happen in a split second , like a line drive to the face , how would you react.
 
Since Colt didn't provide for left-handed shooters when they added the thumb safety, I carry mine with one in the chamber, hammer down. I thumb the hammer back when I draw, like a single-action revolver.
 
Yep, well said. Isn't about time that folks accept that we carry semis with a round in the chamber and 1911s chambered, cocked and locked?

After all, some folks think the world is flat but the rest of us have moved on.
 
I came across some info on Col. Copper. He had his back strap safety pinned . What's up with that?
 
Take a look around at practical pistol competitions, and you'll see that half, or more, of the shooters "pin" their grip safety in the disengaged position, as the gun not discharging when you want it to - because you got an imperfect grip on the fast draw - is more dangerous than the possibility of the gun "going off" because the grip safety was disabled.

I'm still trying to figure out when the grip safety is actually performing a safety function; who pulls the trigger on a gun that they're not holding?
 
IMHO, the condition you carry the gun in depends a lot on the type of holster you carry the gun in, personally I'm not sure about carrying a 1911 AIWB but if somebody can show me a setup that works I'll stand corrected!
 
The grip safety was supposed to keep the pistol from discharging if it was cocked, but not locked, and dropped with the muzzle pointing up. If a 1911 landed in that manner, the trigger assembly could be carried through to hammer release by its own momentum.
 
I've been reading all these books that my Grandfather and Father left me on their death beds. Fairbairn & Sykes ( Shooting to Live )
The Gregg Method of Fire Control
Col. Rex Applegate (Kill or Get Killed
Bill Jordan's ( No Second Place Winner)
All theses books are signed too. So in reading these books. What happened. Now I read Col. Coppers books from the ( I believe ) 1950's and he was into point shooting but after he and Weaver started selling the modern technique stuff he stops talking about it. So I research who teaches the old ways and no one does anymore. I would really like to learn the old ways but without an instructor all I can do is try to teach myself from these books.
 
The only problem I have with condition two is that it requires you drop the hammer on a live round.
I understand lots of guys do this safely but for me and my incredibly old and shaky fingers I would prefer not to risk it.

Condition one for me and my Kimber.
 
Round in the chamber, hammer cocked, safety on; just the way that John Browning designed it to be carried.
Ive said it before and I'll say it again: youre not smarter than John Browning.
 
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