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Club .45

M

Master Doug Huffman

Banned
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
Messages
2,381
Location
across Death's Door on Washington Island, Wisconsi
imported post

McX wrote:
which manufacturers, and models offer the 'safe decocking' thing, and is it safe to carry with one in the chamer, hammer down. if dropped any chances it will go off?
Click to expand...
My CCW is an H&K USPc .40. For about ten years I carried it concealed on daily 50 Km bicycle rides on the coast of SC, salty, sultry, humid. Every day the gun would have sweat running out of it. Everyday it would be field stripped, wiped and reassembled. I carried it Condition Two, hammer down with a chambered round and safety off.

On reassembly the slide is locked back, cocking the external spurless hammer. Insert the magazine and release the slide to battery, that chambers a round - the hammer is still cocked. Drop the magazine so that if the hammer bar fails in the next step there won't be yet another round chambered. Decock, dropping the hammer to the bar, with the gun aimed safely, the lever spring returns to Fire. Replace the round for a full magazine and reinsert the magazine. The gun is ready to go.

Ten years is 3,650 times it didn't go off on decock.

The H&K USP torture tests are quite notorious and easily found on the web.
 
deepdiver

deepdiver

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Apr 2, 2007
Messages
5,820
Location
Southeast, Missouri, USA
imported post

McX wrote:
interesting information, and damn nice pics too! got a question, which manufacturers, and models offer the 'safe decocking' thing, and is it safe to carry with one in the chamer, hammer down. if dropped any chances it will go off? I'm not keen on that back grip safety, but i suppose it's something one can get used to, any thoughts or experiences on that aspect?
i was also wondering, in the .45 category, could anyone list manufacturers from lowest price/quality, to highest/price quality in order of 'occurance', so i can get a feel for if i'm in the eonomy isle, or uptown? i have a thing for the classic 1911 style design at present, but am open to ideas, and thoughts.
Click to expand...
The "classic 1911 style" has a back strap safety... tested, tried and true passive safety.

Re: decockers - the decocker is a mechanical design that allows you to drop the hammer without using the trigger. To the best of my knowledge, all modern decocking semi-autos have some sort of physical block of the firing pin which is only deactivated by the trigger. The decocker works by releasing the sear and dropping the hammer WITHOUT deactivating the firing pin block/catch as you are not pulling the trigger. By definition it is a "safe decocking thing".

So then yes, it is safe to carry a modern sidearm equipped with a decocker loaded with the hammer down as that is the point of the decocker. The decocker equipped pistols of which I am familiar are all DA/SA.
 
M

McX

Guest
imported post

thank you all so much for the information. there is alot to learn about the .45 for me! thank you also for sharing your pics! the pic of the p220 stainless appeals to me most so far, resembles the 1911, but also looks more current, and up to date. so who is the manufacturer on the p220? commonly available at gun stores? price i should pay in your opinion? looks like they reside in the 'grand' range. i will presume retention holsters are available for this model also?
had to edit to ask one last question; do all .45's come with a thumb slide release?
 
M

McX

Guest
imported post

found a guns.com type site, and saw this beauty, maybe?
moz-screenshot-1.jpg
 
C

cscitney87

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
1,250
Location
Lakewood, Colorado, USA
imported post

The funniest thing about a .45 cal..

For people that Do NOT know guns; when they ask you what you are carrying- they are ALWAYS like "Oh Whoa a .45 Darn man whoa whoa" or something like it's literally the most craziest kind of gun out there.

"You got a .45?!!!" lol it's funny compared to telling people you have a 9. They're like 'Oh a nine... yeah..'
 
deepdiver

deepdiver

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Apr 2, 2007
Messages
5,820
Location
Southeast, Missouri, USA
imported post

McX wrote:
thank you all so much for the information. there is alot to learn about the .45 for me! thank you also for sharing your pics! the pic of the p220 stainless appeals to me most so far, resembles the 1911, but also looks more current, and up to date. so who is the manufacturer on the p220? commonly available at gun stores? price i should pay in your opinion? looks like they reside in the 'grand' range. i will presume retention holsters are available for this model also?
had to edit to ask one last question; do all .45's come with a thumb slide release?
Click to expand...
The P220 is a Sig Sauer and yes, it is commonly available. That is the stainless model and is the higher end of that model. The basic model is black frame and slide. And yes, numerous retention holster choices.

"thumb slide release" - do you mean a slide stop/lock?
 
marshaul

marshaul

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
11,188
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia
imported post

cscitney87 wrote:
The funniest thing about a .45 cal.. 

For people that Do NOT know guns; when they ask you what you are carrying- they are ALWAYS like "Oh Whoa a .45 Darn man whoa whoa" or something like it's literally the most craziest kind of gun out there.

"You got a .45?!!!"   lol it's funny compared to telling people you have a 9.  They're like 'Oh a nine... yeah..'
Click to expand...
lol, you know there's actually something to that.

I was "the guy with the .45" at my local Five Guys in Virginia for quite a while. I can't see being remembered by caliber in any other case. :lol:
 
M

McX

Guest
imported post

ok, it was a nice day, so out to 6 mile i went. drooled over the gun cases, saw one i liked in steel, but then settled on a springfield xd45, at 580. i went for the double safety- trigger and rear, so that will allow me to carry condition 1-ish. double stacker, nice. plastic gun so i will be accused by my generation of selling out. size was good, they had bigger, but then i'm back into hipoint size again, and i wouldn't mind slimming down a bit. now to save for it. nicely noted price of ammo hasn't gone up much. will i shoot the .45?- yes when the time comes. i'll rent one to get my feel of it.

didn't seem to have a decocker, so i'm hoping i can go offline, just by racking the slide, mag out, and she'll spit it out for me, with no touch on the trigger. is this so?

guy at the counter just didn't seem to get the idea of carrying for self defense, he mentioned he carried one when hunting bear somewhere. i told him mine would be for defending against urban bears. i don't think he caught that either.

i looked at the glocks, but they didn't do anything for me, saw a beratta, but only in 9. saw our opencarry pamphlets are still there.
 
M

McX

Guest
imported post

for those of us in the 'married' category; how will i justify my purchase? simple, got my shop gun, home gun, now i need a car and carry gun.

plus i will make mention here; there is a conspiracy afoot in this country to deprive us of 'hammer' guns!
 
M

McX

Guest
imported post

i talk too much, but now i have serious question. the 45 will be my car and carry gun. when not employed it will reside in my car, carried in an approved manner. summers are hot. will my ammo be ok cooking away in the trunk, or behind the seat in the pickup? extreme heat, and or vibration concern?
 
P

protias

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
7,308
Location
SE, WI
imported post

McX wrote:
for those of us in the 'married' category; how will i justify my purchase? simple, got my shop gun, home gun, now i need a car and carry gun.

plus i will make mention here; there is a conspiracy afoot in this country to deprive us of 'hammer' guns!
Click to expand...
Just get yourself a wheel gun my friend. ;)

You'll enjoy your XD. :monkey
 
1245A Defender

1245A Defender

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
4,365
Location
north mason county, Washington, USA
imported post

there is no conspiricy against hammer guns!!
im shoppin for a 45 also
i like hammeres,, decockers,, and safetys!!
the FNP 45 USG has all three of my wants
you can darry cocked and locked,, or decocked,, safety off ready for a double action first shot,,
or decocked safety on!!
its drop safe with internal safety
comes with a 15 and 2 14 round mags, finnish options, i found 1 on the web NIB for 579$
you better due you research and shop around so you get what you really want!
 
M

marrero jeff

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2010
Messages
222
Location
marrero, Louisiana, USA
imported post

MCX, leaving your ammo in your car wont cause any problems as far as setting it off. However, if you intend to do that, i would swap itout once a year since that isnt the ideal way to keep ammo. And yes, you can simply take out to magazine, and rack the slide to extract to round in the XD45
 
V

vmaxanarchist

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Mar 23, 2007
Messages
121
Location
naperville, il, ,
imported post

McX wrote:
interesting information, and damn nice pics too! got a question, which manufacturers, and models offer the 'safe decocking' thing, and is it safe to carry with one in the chamer, hammer down. if dropped any chances it will go off? I'm not keen on that back grip safety, but i suppose it's something one can get used to, any thoughts or experiences on that aspect?
i was also wondering, in the .45 category, could anyone list manufacturers from lowest price/quality, to highest/price quality in order of 'occurance', so i can get a feel for if i'm in the eonomy isle, or uptown? i have a thing for the classic 1911 style design at present, but am open to ideas, and thoughts.
Click to expand...
Check out the paraordinace LDA series of guns. They are 1911 styled guns that are double action only. So, no need for a decocker. It has so many redundant safeties that it is almost a overkill.
 
4angrybadgers

4angrybadgers

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2009
Messages
411
Location
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA
imported post

McX wrote:
i talk too much, but now i have serious question. the 45 will be my car and carry gun. when not employed it will reside in my car, carried in an approved manner. summers are hot. will my ammo be ok cooking away in the trunk, or behind the seat in the pickup? extreme heat, and or vibration concern?
Click to expand...
I leave my XD40 subcompact in my car while I'm out of the car - at work, in the mall, etc. (but not at home, then it comes inside). Summers here can hit triple digits with the heat index above 115 some days. Never had any issues with ammo or the pistol in the heat. I think the rounds currently loaded have been in there for 9+ months - I'll probably put them downrange in the next few months.

I should clarify that it does rest in a compartment with a lid that slides closed, so it's not directly exposed to the sunlight, just the ambient heat. My car is a royal blue color, so it can get really darn hot inside when that sun hits it. :(
 
M

McX

Guest
imported post

i'm still saving, but fixated on the 1911, fall back to an xd. now i have to think about ammo. are there 'grain' variants on .45 ammo? i'm sure there's jacketed, hollows, and so on. i wouldn't mind a 'grain' boost. i think i would still be in the innocent of instigation in a higher speed round?
 
M

marrero jeff

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2010
Messages
222
Location
marrero, Louisiana, USA
imported post

yes there are different grain sizes for .45s. the most popular are 185,200,and 230. obviously the 185 will go around 50-75 fps faster than the 230 grain but not being as large wont cause as big of a wound (for fmj). However, expanding ammunition has solved this problem so any of those grain sizes in a HP will make someone very unhappy when it hits them.
 
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