Decocking a 1911

[five.five-six]

Carrying in condition 3 is ridiculous.

because you have a pistol that can go off at any time, you can't set the safety and you have to cock the hammer or rack the slide to shoot it

[bohoki]

i do not see the purpose of having a lowered hammer on a live round ever

but when i lower my hammer i often just pull the trigger but i do this other thing where i pull the hammer back further and it will activate the grip safety, pull the trigger and lower the hammer slowly

[vmwerks]

So I just picked up my Kimber tonight from jail - the manual says NOT to decock the gun by holding the hammer and lowering slowly.

It recommmends that I dry fire it, otherwise I could damage the sear?

Doesn't make sense to me, can someone explain? I've always been told to never dry fire a gun.

Mark

Dry firing will not hurt the gun - what forces do you think are in play when you actually fire a live round?

[Lead Waster]

if you "decock" your 1911 by slowly lowering the hammer, as it was not meant to do, just think about where your hands are when your thumb slips and ADs on you, probable trip to the hospital and months of PT

Wow, I never even thought about that! The recoiling slide will take a chunk out!

When I picked up my CZ from the kitchen table FFL, he ran through the "demonstration" and said that if you MUST decock, then don't just use your thumb to decock, instead pinch the hammer (the CZ has a skeleton like hammer with a hole through it) with forefinger and thumb so you have better control and less possibility of slipping. But an AD in that position would take a nice chunk out of both fingers!

[desertmedic]

You could always look at this. Intersting concept....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs3kl2cTkGI

[Cali-Shooter]

I would never decock a loaded 1911. I hesitate to even decock an unloaded one. I'd rather make sure the gun is empty and proceed to dry fire it in a safe direction.

If you must decock a 1911, make sure it is unloaded first. And always keep the muzzle at a safe direction. What I hate about decocking the hammer on a 1911, is if you lose your grip on the hammer, you've got an AD/ND on your hands.

[InGrAM]

You could always look at this. Intersting concept....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs3kl2cTkGI

Beat me to it.

http://www.cylinder-slide.com/SFScustommod.shtml

http://www.cylinder-slide.com/index.php?app=ccp0&ns=prodshow&ref=CS0116

I would never use one of these systems but they are cute.