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Liberty wrote: The fly in the ointment with a plan such as this is that Some safeties snick up to go off, and some down to go off. My 3 carry guns all work the same way snick up to fire. This is the main reason I will not own a 1911. If someone uses and trains with a 1911, and decides to carry a Beretta, any immediate call to use the available handgun could be a disaster.

This, actually, is an anti-safety argument I can understand. Up-to-fire, to me, would be a problem. If it's natural for a shooter, that's a fine thing. It's not for me.

I grip a 1911 with my thumb on top of the safety and it never moves from there. It's not an extra step to select "fire", it's an extra step to leave it in (cough) "safe" until the muzzle is downrange of my weak hand. That's the step I practice, the phase of the draw where I consciously don't take the gun off safe.

Taking the gun off safety is very natural to me, as long as it's down-to-fire and a nice comfortable thumb rest.

Up-to-fire, to my spinal cord, sounds like extra motion. When the hand is increasing its grip on the gun the thumb naturally wants to come down.

I get this anti-safety argument and I never figured I'd say that. I'm wired for down-to-fire with a method that requires no thumb choreography. Up-to-fire, or a slide mounted safety lever I couldn't ride all the time - not consistent with my wiring. I wouldn't carry a gun built that way because I'm not built, muscle memory-wise, in a compatible manner.

AndyC wrote:Slight correction - a 1911 thumb-safety only blocks the sear, it doesn't do anything to the hammer.

That's why I shouldn't play expert and I should heed my own advice about thoroughly learning how safety mechanisms work. Somebody told me the hammer was blocked a long time ago, and it seemed to make sense, given that cutout on the hammer.

But a quick Google search indicates that's not what that cutout is for. It's there to block the safety from being engaged when the hammer is down.

Thanks for the correction - I got to learn something new, and a good thing for me to remember. I've been under the impression my thumb safety did more than it actually does, and I'm not real happy I had that confusion.

You da Man!

Josias wrote: And I also second the notion of the gentlemen who holsters why gripping his 1911 between the hammer and firing pin. I know people that dont keep the thumb safety engaged on her pistols while holstered. Never understood this concept, but I know with practice drawing and disengaging the safety can be done instantly.

That's a good habit. Another one I like, when I carry a 1911, is to holster with my thumb under the safety, giving me assurance that thing is on.

I usually feed the gun into the holster with my index finger straight and my thumb under the safety, forcing it on. When it's time for that last little push to seat the gun is when I move my index finger under the hammer, still keeping my thumb under the safety.

Before I got too trusting about safety mechanisms, though, I would make sure I fully understood how they worked and how to inspect them to make sure they are doing what they should. A 1911 safety separately blocks the hammer and the sear, for example. There is a clearance between an internal face on the safety and a pad area on the back of the sear that's critical for full functionality.

And it should also be noted the four big rules don't mention safeties. I'd never carry a 1911 cocked-and-unlocked, but on the other hand, the safety doesn't buy a pass on anything.