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heres a dumb question.....

i keep my pistol loaded with one in the tube and on safety for two reasons.

1. in the heat of the moment , time is of the essence.
2. my wife struggles a little to chamber the initial round. i taught her that if she has the need to defend herself while im not home, flip off the safety, point ,fire.

here is the question..is it bad to have the gun always cocked for extended periods of time ?
the only reason i was wondering is because i was reading an article by Kimber. they stated that due to "liability issues"
it is not recommended to keep it "cocked and locked"
i know this may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer . but i also know there are some VERY knowledgeable folks here
who may have opinions on this.

am i worried about nothing ?

is it bad to have the gun always cocked for extended periods of time ?

I can speak factually and plainly for the handguns that I am most knowledgable, 1911's.

No. You can leave them cocked and locked virtually forever. Ones have been found left in condition 1 for 50+ years, and still functioned flawlessly.
My 1911's are always in condition 1 when I carry them, or they are in my nightstand.
They were designed to be carried that way.

I'm pretty sure 99% of other modern handguns are the same way.

Their "liability issues" are probably more related to accidental discharge then weapon malfunction, since a SA Handgun cannot as easilly 'accidentally go off' without the hammer cocked.

dicion wrote: Their "liability issues" are probably more related to accidental discharge then weapon malfunction, since a SA Handgun cannot as easilly 'accidentally go off' without the hammer cocked.

that makes sense...

IMO, it would depend on what kind of pistol you have. If 1911, I could see that could raise a doubt. I had one when I was a kid, and always carried cocked and locked and never had any problems. Of course I was always on foot or on horseback. I thought about it constantly though.

I now own a Ruger P95, a DA/SA pistol and I am completely confident in carrying one in the chamber as the trigger is essentially blocked. Not like a P-38 where the hammer is physically blocked by a metal bar. But rather the firing pin receeds into the firing pin chamber and is blocked by solid metal bars on either side of the f.p. In the few times I've worn it holstered(at the firing range, as I'm not licensed as of yet), I've kept the safety on just because I thought it was the right thing to do, even in DA mode. But that's just me. Does that make sense?

Hope that helps a 'lil.

There's no reason that it should cause issues to the gun. For the most part if you are gettin gout once a month to the range it isn't going to get stuck in that position for long. I like to clean my carry piece quite often anyways so it would never stay cocked for too long.

even though i always keep it cocked, i do hit the range every 3 to 4 weeks. also every week or two i remove mag and the chambered round just to check that everything is functioning properly.

Just watch out for bullet setback

dicion wrote:Just watch out for bullet setback

after reading about bullet setback on this forum, which i was previously unaware of ,i now make sure to rotate the "dischambered" round to the bottom of the mag.

I see no problem with carrying cocked and locked if the gun has a safety. I prefer DA/SA because I don't operate the safety as quickly as I like, so I'm practice. Once I get proficient with the safety, I won't mind carrying cocked and locked. The only danger I see is if the safety gets knocked off by accident while the gun is holstered. A holster should protect from doing that.

Cocked & locked. Kimber may consider it a liability.
LT considers a 1911 in any other condition a LIABILITY.

My .02cents & some think it worth about half that.

longtooth wrote:Cocked & locked. Kimber may consider it a liability.
LT considers a 1911 in any other condition a LIABILITY.

My .02cents & some think it worth about half that.

LT, i sure like the way you see things.

LT, me and you, we see eye-to-eye on a lot of things 'round here it seems

I think thats a good thing, btw

I've had a similar concern with keeping my Taurus 24/7 Pro chambered all the time, wondering if the spring will wear out or something. But all I found in the manual were two seemingly contradictory statements, something like:

1) Keeping the weapon loaded may lead to an accidental discharge, resulting in injury or death

2) Keeping the weapon unloaded may render it useless in an emergency, resulting in injury or death.

Talk about covering your bases!

dicion wrote:LT, me and you, we see eye-to-eye on a lot of things 'round here it seems

I think thats a good thing, btw

Thank you & I like the way you post on many subjects too.

ClarkLZeuss wrote:I've had a similar concern with keeping my Taurus 24/7 Pro chambered all the time, wondering if the spring will wear out or something. But all I found in the manual were two seemingly contradictory statements, something like:

1) Keeping the weapon loaded may lead to an accidental discharge, resulting in injury or death

2) Keeping the weapon unloaded may render it useless in an emergency, resulting in injury or death.

Talk about covering your bases!

1)
2)

Seems like I saw the same 2 in a Springer book too.