Safety on or off?

[SammyIamToday]

On the other hand, you NEVER lower the hammer of a 1911 pistol onto a chambered cartridge for ANY reason. Period.
The only reason to take a 1911 out of Condition One is to unload it which is done by dropping the mag, take the safety off (while keeping your damn finger off the trigger!), and rack it a couple of times while visually inspecting that the round has ejected and that the chamber is empty.
Then and only then do you lower the hammer down onto an EMPTY chamber. Period.
Of course, ALL of that is done while pointing it in a safe direction (like the cat).

This paragraph should be put into the manual of how to clear a 1911! It almost made me want to buy a 1911.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[CDH]

This paragraph should be put into the manual of how to clear a 1911! It almost made me want to buy a 1911.

Do it, Luke. Come over to the dark side. You can be one of us.

Oh and by the way, Luke, I am your father.

[arcticelf]

I cary either a 1911 (condition one) or a walther PPK/S with the safety set. I practice drawing both guns and can get the safety off on both as part of gripping the gun.

The real reason to use your manual safty is this: if you dont have the muscle memory to turn the safety off, the fight is over before you can figure out whats wrong with your gun. There is an issue of 'The Ayoob Files' that coveres this issue in more depth.

I also like the fireing pin to be blocked, and in the case of the Walther the only way to do this is by setting the safety. If it had a 1911 grip safety Id have the safety lever turned into a de-cocker.

Just my .02.

AE

[gwhall57]

When I carried my PT111 Millenium Pro, I carried a round in the chamber and the safety on. I also used a IWB holster. I trained to flip the safety as I was pulling the weapon.

Now I carry an XD 9 SC in an IWB holster. There is no manual safety, but two "built-in" safeties (trigger and grip) that prevent an AD. I still carry a round in the chamber.

[AirForceShooter]

I carry my 1911 with the safety off.
It's condition 0.
It's got a grip safety so it's just like a Glock.
Of course I've been doing this since before there were Glocks.

AFS

[gyro jock]

I practiced a lot with a 1911 at the indoor range. For a self defense drill, I would place the weapon on the table cocked and locked, and run the target out to 21 feet. I would then punch the controller to return the target, pick up the weapon, aim, sweep the safety off and fire at least five rounds into the kill zone before the target reached me. Lots of fun, and I thought I was doing pretty well.

So one day I had my daughter handle the target control. I grabbed the weapon, aimed, forgot to sweep the safety off, and before I could figure out why the weapon didn’t go bang, the target had stopped right in front of me. Had the target been a man with a knife I would have been sliced and diced.

My daughter looks at me and says “That’s why you should use a revolver, Dad.”

So now I do. I learned to shoot the revolver in double action mode. When I go through my self defense drill, I find myself almost as fast and almost as accurate as I was with the 1911. No longer have to worry about the damn safety.

I guess you could say I’m just following the KISS principle.

[afeazell21]

It is all personal preference, personally I like the safety to be on.

[PolarBear]

It is all personal preference, personally I like the safety to be on.

Why? What do you carry?

The 3 different guns I have for carry don't even have a safety. Sig226 (.357sig), Glock 23 (.40), and a Keltec P3AT (.380), all have no external safety to turn on or off. I also have hand guns with an external safety, like my Beretta 92FS (9mm). I do not carry them but I would have the safety off if I did.

I am not trying to start anything, just wondering if you have a reason.

[GeorgiaGlocker]

I carry nothing but Glocks and I am conditioned to keep my finger off the trigger.

[tanksoldier]

Always use every safety feature of your weapon. If it has an external safety then it was designed to be carried with the safety on.

If you dislike external safeties, get a gun, like a Sig, that doesn't have one and was designed to be carried without one.