imported post
Earlier today, another OCer looked at the cocked hammer on my 1911 and was visibly concerned. I related an AD I had experienced trying to decock with one in the tube. I erroneously thought this was a safer way to carry. Now, I know better. Decocking a 1911 is incredibly dangerous.
Fortunately, the round did not go off as I was lowering the hammer. If it had, my thumb would have suffered a nasty injury. In a still unexplained event, after setting the handgun on the table, pointed downrange, with nothing in which a hole would cause a problem in front of it, the gun fired.
Once again, a decocked 1911, with one in the tube, sitting on a table, not being touched, fired--with three witnesses looking on.
The best theory I have heard, after being told numerous times that the event was impossible, was that, while lowering the hammer, the firing pin struck the round sufficiently to fire the weapon. However, a delayed firing (they have been known to happen) may have fortuitously saved my thumb.
I will never ever decock a 1911 with one in the tube again. If a 1911 is not decocked, prudence demands setting the safety.
The discharge of my 1911 is a perfect illustration of the benefit of multiple safety devices and practices. When one fails, another one stops any holage from occurring.
So, to answer the question: One in the tube, cocked, and locked.
)
