What not to do with a 1911

S

skeeter

New member
Can anyone add to this list of things not to do with a 1911 pistol? What I have listed is supportes and suggested by pistol greats such as Bill Wilson;

1. Never chamber a round by inserting it directly into the chamber. It should be fed through the magazine so as not to harm/over-ride the extractor.

2. Never let the slide slam home with no round in the chamber. Close it by hand at a slower rate so as not to damage extractor or trigger group.

3. Never let the hammer drop when slide is off the frame.

4. Never loan a 1911 to Janet Reno.(Wilson never said this it is my idea) :)
5. ?
 
Never let your friends "ease" the hammer down...just pull the trigger, @*%# it!

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Frontsight!
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"Put a rifle in the hands of a Subject, and he immediately becomes a Citizen." -- Jeff Cooper
 
The way I learned it was that letting the slide slam home on an empty chamber damages the extractor.

RJ

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"Never turn your back on the crew."
 
Never use the slide release; rack the slide all the way to the rear, and then let it go. Notice that when the slide is locked, it isn't quite as far back on the rails as when you pull it all the way back. Pulling all the way back insures complete compression of the recoil spring, and therefore maximum "stripping" power on the return stroke.

Letting the slide slam on an empty chamber: can result in buggering of the trigger/sear/hammer engagements, causing a rough and/or heavy trigger pull; can also result in extractor damage.

If one MUST let the slide slam empty, make sure the chamber IS empty, and then hold the trigger to the rear while letting the slide drop. This will hold the trigger group together and minimize buggering. It won't do anything to alleviate extractor damage, though. Best thing to do is avoid it. Ease the slide closed on empty, and then drop hammer by pulling trigger; slam only on a round from the magazine.

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Shoot straight & make big holes, regards, Richard at The Shottist's Center
 
I think if you go to the SM&A web site at www.colt380.com, you can find the answer about allowing the slide to slam home on an empty chamber. I seem to recall the phrase was "Zippy the Pinhead"... :)
 
I can personally confirm #2. I used to drop the slide on my Para P12 while doing dry fire practice. Eventually, the hammer refused to cock. Not good!

Justin

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Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
 
#7: Don't let your Glocker friends shoot it, because they'll suddenly become disappointed in their Tactical Tupperware. :D

(Happened to me this weekend, BTW).
 
Never, never, never use your pistol to hammer nails... ;)

Never carry in C2

I would disagree with Richard (Mr. 45King). IMHO, the preferred method to release the slide is to drop the slide stop, not "slingshot" the slide, ALWAYS!

Every tactical trainer I ever had the pleasure and good fortune to work with and trina under never slingshoted the slide. Practicall any of the top notch IPSC/IDPA shooters will drop their slides on reloads with the slide release.

All the "Ranches" will have you ramming home the slide, and finding the slide release with the left thumb (for righties) to finish the proceedure.

To imply that one should "Never" use the slide release is completely inconsistent with the design. If this method were not supported, then the little pad on the release would simply not exist. It would remain flat, thereby mandating that one slingshot the slide. Also, FWIW, the extra travel is present to facilitate the locking of the slide. If there was just enough travel to engage it, it would not reliably engage. Having an extra margin of travel ensures the slide locks back when it's necessary.

Thanks, but I think I will continue to use what was first taught to me nearly 30 years ago.
 
jaydee: There are two schools of thought about closing the slide after doing a reload. One school of thought recommends using the slide stop, typically with your left thumb. They recommend it because it is a bit faster than the slingshot method. Ayoob, among others, recommends using the slide stop.

John Farnam recommends using the slingshot method. He feels slingshot is better because it does not require fine motor control. Under stress, your fine motor control tends to go away, so you might miss the slide stop. Harder to miss slingshoting the slide. Farnam also likes the slingshot method because it works with all guns, whereas the slide stop varies in location from gun to gun. For example, on Sigs the slide stop is the lever furthest to the rear.

I think both viewpoints have some merit. Personally I use slide stop.

Jared
 
It's true, Farnhams preferred method has it's merits, but to say NEVER is somewhat inappropriate...

The differences between a high stressed situation, and a typical or competition type application is also worth consideration.

The real issue is that basic tactics, and handling should be well rehearsed, and practiced ad-naseum, and when faced with a high stress situation, muscle memory, and discipline overcomes panic, and provides the means to complete the work.

As to an "All guns" what works method in crisis, one only hopes that they will never be faced with a situation where they need to figure out how to make something work when the need arises and someone is shooting at you. With the variations of safeties, and levers form gun to gun, it isn't the best time to need to figure it out. Again, practice, and discipline overcome much of the problem...

Stay safe, and shoot well... ;)
 
We've had this same discussion at "The Smithy".

I've been doing everything wrong for fifty years. Never hurt a Gummint Model so far. I don't see the "how" of all this alleged damage, as compared to the relative violence of the monkey-motions of actual shooting.

My pet carry critter is a 1980 LW Cmdr. Same three-pound trigger now as in 1980...

FWIW, Art
 
Add to the list...

Don't rack the slide over and over and over on a fine 1911 with a fine trigger job. Has an adverse effect on the sear/trigger engagement surfaces.

Yah, I had never heard this either. Havoc,Brian Bilby and Steve Clark over at www.1911forums.com passed this on.

YMMV...
 
Why would racking the slide on an empty 1911 do any more harm than the gun going through its normal cycle? I've heard that pulling the trigger with the safety on will somehow, though never explained, damage the fire control parts. The dropping the hammer on the pistol without a slide I can understand, but...

I can't believe that all these thing could be true for a pistol that served the military, who expects their men to do anything and everything (many the wrong thing) to all weapons systems, for as long as it did. Are these just wives tales or is the 1911 that delicate?

Why is it that my CZ-75, P226, and Makarov don't have these problems?

[This message has been edited by Destructo6 (edited May 24, 2000).]
 
Hey Destructo6 - That's what I said!!!

Check the full explanation -
http://www.1911forum.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000023.html


Makes sense after a bit. It's not the same military weapon we are thinking of that is affected. It's the finely tuned $1500 1911 with a trigger pull of 3 to 4 lbs that has a problem with it... In other breeds I think we call it inbreeding... (grin)

In re-reading the post, I see that I gave credit to Brian Bilby and Steve Clark - Neither of them posted to this issue. Ooops...
 
Right Coinneach, that's why 1911's and their various offspring come and go through my collection, but the Glocks just seem to accumulate... :)

#8 Never get a catalog from a 1911 parts house like Wilson's with the intention that you'll just modify your 1911 "a little bit".

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"..but never ever Fear. Fear is for the enemy. Fear and Bullets."
10mm: It's not the size of the Dawg in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!
 
RedCrosse, remember, it's working the metal that causes fatigue. IOW, forever. :)

Tamara... you're an exceptional sort of person, so of *course* you'd be an exception to the "Ah, so *that's* what I was missing!" rule. :D
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Frontsight!:
Never let your friends "ease" the hammer down...just pull the trigger, @*%# it!
[/quote]

Why??? Is it because of the danger if there is a loaded round or because of potential damage or accelerated wear or because you're not supposed to carry in condition 2 or all of the above? :confused:
 
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