[jay gatsby]

I have been asking myself this question and I would like your input, please.

If you hear a noise in your house and you are resigned to checking it out with pistol in hand (double action pistol as that is what I have) do you cock the hammer and leave your finger out of the trigger guard or leave the hammer down and keep your finger out of the trigger guard or something else as you investigate.

I am refering to a situation where you are sure that "somthing is up" like you hear stange voices or crashing sounds or even the dog is going ape.

I am a noob so your insight is greatly appreciated.

 

[BCurry1]

I carry a Glock, no hammer to cock.

 

[MattInFla]

With a DA/SA pistol, I generally do not cock the hammer, but rather shoot the first round DA.

Of course, these days the pistol in the rapid access safe is the 1911, and there is no choice there. It's either cocked and locked, or it's a really expensive, way too short club.

Matt

 

[ron8903]

Glock also,no cock.

 

[Kid1911]

1911, always cocked and locked

 

[Fragman]

I don't

I don't cock. In that kind of situation, I prefer the more deliberate pull required for the first shot. Thats just me though. I don't see that it is wrong to cock your weapon if thats what you prefer.

As long as your finger is outside of the trigger guard, cocked or not, it isn't going to go off if you trip on something in the dark.

 

[lameduck]

I'm a pretty new shooter and haven't really got the hang of transitioning from that long heavy first pull to the single action subsequent pulls. Either the first or second shot goes way off the the mark unless I shift the position of my finger on the trigger (further out toward the pad for SA shot) after the first pull, which takes a fraction of a second to do. I solved the problem by relying on single action guns, so if I had a DA/SA setup and knew there was poo about to contact the fan rotors, I'd cock it. Finger outside the trigger guard ALWAYS no matter what kind of gun until it's pointed at the target. And in the case of noises in the house I'm not sure I'd go try to clear the house, I might just bunker up somewhere between the apparent source of the noise and any other residents of the house, call 911 and wait to pick off anybody that came too close to me or people I wanted to protect. This is assuming I knew the noisemker was a BG not, say, a roomate or teenage offspring or whoever coming home late or stomping around in the kitchen making a midnight snack, etc.

 

[wc3d]

I agree...

As long as your finger is outside of the trigger guard, cocked or not, it isn't going to go off if you trip on something in the dark.

In this type of situation I would be armed with either my 1911(cocked & locked) or a Glock ("safe action", no hammer to cock) either way, keep your finger outside of the trigger guard until absolutely necessary.

 

[Blackhawk6]

Three thoughts...

#1. If I am sure "something is up" then I am not going to check the house. I'll call 911.

#2. I can only presume you are doing this in an effort to increase speed or accuracy. Any benefit to speed is going to be negligible to non-existant. I know some people's accuracy goes to pot when shooting DA at speed but this is an issue best resolved by training.

#3. Even with a strict adherence to Rule #2 (Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on the target), deliberately cocking a DA strikes me as a bad idea. Too much potential for a ND with little or nothing to gain.

 

[AirForceShooter]

All my guns have hammers. Wheelies and auto's.
When I hear "That" sound it's hammer back and finger ON the trigger.
My finger is my safety.
If you don't approve , sorry.

AFS

 

[P95Carry]

As I practice DA first shots that is what it will always be - even with good finger-off-trigger discipline. I would recommend the same - and if things really ''happen'' and you have to shoot then you will not notice that longer pull and poundage a lot anyways.

Plus - get yourself plenty of practice with DA pulls - it helps a lot.

 

[KC135]

Mostly revolver guy--and always shoot revolvers 'trigger cocking'.

 

[Red Stick]

Bedroom pistol are Ruger P-98DC DA auto. No cocking done. Bedroom Shotgun is Rem 870. If I'm sure something is up I rack the slide, hand it to my lady and tell her to make the 7 rounds of 000 buckshot count. Then I get the AR-15 from the closet which has a 30 round mag loaded with 20 rounds of .223 ball. I cock that and Dial 911. Anyone hearing that and wanting to stick around for the hell we are capable of inflicting is one bad dude.

 

[sarhog]

finger ON the trigger.
My finger is my safety.
If you don't approve , sorry.

AFS

For the benefit of the newer shooters reading this post, I would like to point out that AirForceShooter is not recommending this method (at least I would hope not), but rather sharing it with the forum as a data point.
As a foundation for the beginning stages of your training, the 4 universal gun handling rules are just that, universal. They should IMO, be followed at all times.

AFS,
No need to apologize, it's a free country.:smile:
Good luck. :smile:

 

[Todd]

I own an XD. No hammer.

 

[FastDraw]

I normally have a Glock very close by. If the gun were a DA/SA I would definitely cock the hammer AND keep my finger OFF the trigger.

 

[Bud White]

If i was using a pistol that i could cock i carry a 1911 so cocked and locked .. i wouldn't Cock one

 

[one eyed fatman]

XD's also. I don't wanna waste my time cocking something.

 

[craig45]

if something like that occured here, i couldn't cock the hammer.

mossberg 500's don't have external hammers.:image035:

 

[Baby Hulk]

I don't cook :frown: , I use the microwave.

Sorry...cocked & locked.