Posted on 11/10/2017 8:25:47 AM PST by TNoldman
I am now a supporter of a Round in the Chamber on my carry 1911 ACP. (I always carry a Hand Gun away from home).
Here is my story from just a couple of days ago. "My Wife and I were taking our 7 yo Granddaughter to a Roller Skating place. I realized we would be near a not-so-good part of town so I decided to carry my 1911 ACP."
To be better prepared I decided to rack the slide to load a round! What happened next was chilling.
The round didn't quite load - it jammed. Now I had a round part way into the chamber but not gripped by the ejector. I had a SS $700. brick.
If I can carelessly rack the slide in the comfort of my home what might happen in a stressed situation?
A lesson well learned for me.
My experience mirrors your.
I have owned maybe a couple of dozen M1911s in the last 52 years. I have had 5 Argentine made ones, a Llama, 2 Stars, and the rest all various Colts.
There must be a little bit to all these stories of them jamming but I can’t have been the only person to have 100% perfect service.
When I was 18, I let the hammer slip while lowering it. The hammer struck with enough force to fire. I still have a little scar on the tip of my thumb to remind me not to do that again.
This is anecdotal and a bit of braggadocio but I am 58 years old and started reloading when I was 14. I have loaded so many rounds I would not even hazard a guess as to the number but I have only had three fail-to-fires in all my years of reloading and when I checked the round it had to be due to bad primers. The primers were seated perfectly and the firing pin punch was the standard size and depth. I still remember they were all CCI brand.
I met one guy who was a bit of a novice at reloading and his rounds were refusing to fire. I took a look and he had not set his press to seat the primers so even though they looked sort of OK they were not seated all the way.
I have had several commercial rounds fail-to-fire- and I had one that would not chamber as the base was too wide.
You may have the early non-full-metal-lined Glock mags. They’ve upgraded the design several times since then. Old mags like that have a premium in ban states.
You make some good points. I actually trust my reloads more than I trust new ammo. Everything has been checked, sized and assembled by me and not someone or some machine from who knows where.
Doing that on the Mustang defeats the drop safety and firing pin safety. If your Mustang falls from hip height and lands on the hammer, the round can go off as there is nothing to stop the hammer from transmitting the force to the firing pin on which it rests and nothing locking the firing pin in place.
For this design, either cocked and locked or hammer down on an empty chamber is ‘safe’. What you are doing is not.
I was told way too many years ago that using the slide lock to load would place the round into Battery properly but it created wear on the flat part of the notch on the slide. Over the course of many years it could lead to the slide not being able to lock open.
I started shooting revolvers and when I then started to use semi-autos I was always told to manually pull the slide back off the lock and then release. I have been doing that since I was 14 years old.
Or, put another way - you are carrying in an even more unsafe way than if a Glock’s trigger safeties didn’t work. Glocks don’t have a hammer to hit if dropped.
“NEVER ease the slide down on a round.”
Let it slam - HARD!
Interesting that we just don’t want to do that on our 1911 prized baby.
But that is how was designed and it’s expected way to function, and it is they way it functions while it is being fired.
So... Let it slam - HARD!
No it’s a performance center model. No lock.
My Dad brought me up "in the NRA" and taught me as a youngster that if there was not a round chambered, you had a rock in the holster and you might never get the chance to turn it into a weapon if SHTF...I remember all his lessons over the years...
Interesting that soldiers in combat zones don’t “battle carry” but CCW do.
“This is the reason a lot of “old timers” carry revolvers. Wheel guns don’t “jam””
That is just wrong, some of the worst jams I have ever had was with revolvers.
I don’t practice with my self-defense loads. Too expensive.
I practice with fmj. And not very often, rarely, will I fire self-defense loads, just to make sure they will still reliably feed and fire.
So, I have noticed that after cleaning and then repeatedly rechambering the same self-defense round (maybe 3-4 times), then that round will start to become seated deeper into the brass, and needs to be tossed out.
I think it would take a lifetime to wear that notch but there is another part which will eventually loosen. The staked tunnel which holds the spring for the safety release and the slide release will eventually loosen.
IMO that is the only weakness in the design. The Star models actually have a superior system.
It’s not that way. A 1911 Colt is purely single action. Once the shooter has chambered a round, he must manually cock the hammer. Once it fires,the slide recoil, extracts the spent round, chambers a new one, and cocks the hammer. The 1911 does not cock its hammer when the shooter pulls the trigger. OTOH an unlocked Beretta, Model 92 or Model 96, with a live round in the chamber cocks and fires on the first trigger pull the same way a DA revolver does. I fired a 1911 while in the Army and own a Model 96.
Auto spell complaint: my Kindle nanny initially changed every form of “cock” that I used to “click” or “clock.”
Manually pulling the slide all the way back, then releasing it, is mechanically the same action and also works.
What doesn't work is to "ride the slide" forward. The slide/bolt needs to close under its own spring tension at full speed.
There’s a name for those that do not carry a round chambered
Deceased
I feel the same way you do about Glocks and unintentional discharges—I’m fanatically attached to the idea of keeping all my body parts and feel the same way about other law abiding people and their dogs and cats. Hence, it’s a Beretta Model 96 for me with a live round chambered, safety off, and not cocked. That way it’s the same as a DA revolver.
Do you know if the latest upgrade Glock mag would fit my model 22?
“premium” Is it because of capacity or are they actually desired for design.
One other thing, I only load 12 rounds because of how much flex the magazine has with so much spring pressure.
I don’t like these magazines.
I have been thinking of checking out some 1911s. Heh.
Are you familiar with that gun? I’m not saying you are incorrect, but I’m pretty sure the book says that if the safety is on, the pin will not move... That’s why I do it. If you are certain, I may have to rethink things.
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