Newbie 1911 questions.

[mutt]

So I finally pulled the trigger and got myself a 1911. I really like it. I have some questions that don't seem to be answered in the user's manual:

1) How do you decock a 1911? Only safe way I can see is drop the mag, clear the chamber and then drop the hammer. Or am I missing something obvious? I'm used to pistols with external hammers having a decocking lever.

2) I noticed the hammer seems to have 3 positions. Down, 'barely cocked' and fully cocked. What is the 'barely cocked' position for?

3) With other pistols I'm used to just pressing down on the slide release with my thumb to load a round on a locked back slide. On a 1911 I can't reach the slide release with my thumb so I have to pull back on the slide with my left hand to chamber a round. Are my girly hands just too small or is this the normal way of loading a 1911?

4) Are the 10 round extended mags reliable or should I just stick with the 8 round mags?

Thanks in advance for the education.

[mcantar18c]

1. You don't. It stays cocked, you have a safety if you so choose to use it, there's no reason to decock it. Never understood why everybody likes decockers. If its a fighting gun, it should stay ready always, 100% of the time... if its a safe queen, it doesn't need to be cocked at all.

2. I don't know what the mechanical reason for the middle click is, but in WWII Soldiers/Marines would carry it in the half-cock position because pulling the hammer to full cock makes less noise than pushing the safety down.

3. You have girly hands. I do too, I usually just use the thumb on my support hand to push down on the slide release since its right there.

4. Depends on the manufacturer. There are some that are reliable, and others that are pure crap.

[Graves]

What 1911 did you get? Swapping an arched (if it has one) to a flat main spring housing and adding slim grips can help folks with small hands.

[mutt]

mcantar18c - Thanks for the info.

Graves - I got a RIA 1911A1 TAC. It already has a flat main spring housing. I figured the problem was I had small hands and don't mind pulling the slide back to load. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious. I guess I could try using the thumb of my support hard. I didn't even think of that since I'm so used to doing that motion with my shooting hand.

[rondog]

That's not a "slide release", it's a "slide stop". It's purpose is to lock the slide open after firing the last round. Using it as a release will cause wear to that part and to the notch in the slide. "Slingshotting", or pulling back on the rear of the slide and releasing it, is really the proper way to do it.

It's very easy to "decock" a 1911 IMO, although you'll find others who disagree. I use the thumb and first two fingers of my left hand to grab the hammer so that sumbitch can't get away, point the pistol in a safe direction, release the safety and pull the trigger, then gently lower the hammer while holding it in a death grip. I keep the second finger between the hammer and the firing pin to act as a cushion. Piece of cake. Practice it with the gun empty to get used to it. But, I rarely do this, no need to except for cleaning. Mine stays cocked and locked.

The "halfcock" position is only for a safety catch to stop the hammer if it should somehow get away from the full-cocked position. Never carry your 1911 in half-cock, it's totally useless that way. You'll still have to cock it to fire, so there's no advantage to it. Best way to carry one is cocked and locked, or Condition One, with the hammer cocked and the thumb safety engaged. Second is Condition Two, with a round in the pipe but the hammer uncocked and fully lowered. The pistol is just a club though, until you cock it. In an emergency, will you have time to cock it? Condition Three is an empty chamber and hammer uncocked, the Liberal way.

Stick with the 8 round mags, just buy more of 'em. You sure don't want to CCW a 1911 with an extended mag, it'll stick out like a sore thumb. The longer mags may be OK for range use, but don't whine if they fuck up on you.

FWIW - I have three RIA's and love 'em all. Mine all work just fine with Chip McCormick ShootingStar magazines, and the mags from RIA are fine too. I just don't care for the bumpers on them.

Oh, it's not a good idea to unload and then reload a 1911 often, unless you make sure there's a different round going into the barrel every time. When a round strips off the magazine and slams its little nose into the feed ramp repeatedly, it can push the bullet into the case, making it shorter. This is called "bullet setback", and can cause the round to create dangerously high pressures when fired.

[Mazin]

If your wanting to decock on a empty chamber you can use your thumb or just dry fire it. On a liaded chamber there is no reason to decock, thats why you use the safety. Get some slim grips, i have noticed the grips on ria's are beefy. Congrats btw and welcome to a more expensive world of hanguns!

[rondog]

Just NEVER try to decock it one-handed. That's begging for trouble. It ain't a revolver.

[mutt]

That's not a "slide release", it's a "slide stop". It's purpose is to lock the slide open after firing the last round. Using it as a release will cause wear to that part and to the notch in the slide.

Oh, that's good to know. Thanks for the pointer.

Congrats btw and welcome to a more expensive world of hanguns!

Thanks. First ARs and now 1911s. My bank account isn't going to like this =)

[BPTactical]

RonDog hit it perfectly.
Your slide stop IS NOT a slide release! You will end up munging up the notch in the slide if you continue to release the slide by thumbing down the stop.
BTW-NEVER let the slide slam closed on an empty chamber, you will ruin the nose of the sear and can create an unsafe trigger.
Although a 1911 has a "half cock" notch you don't want to let the hammer rest on it. Again you can ruin the nose of the sear and break a sear if you attempt to pull the trigger or put any pressure on the hammer.
If you are wanting to load a single round, do it from the magazine. Do not drop a round in the chamber and let the slide close. You will make the extractor none to happy if you do so as the extractor is forced over the rim, normally the rim slides up under the extractor.

[mutt]

Cool. Thanks for all the info guys.