Final function check

[apocalypse]

After countless nightmares about pulling my trigger and hearing nothing but a click, as many LEO's have, I have become extremely paranoid about this happening with whatever I'm carrying on duty. I don't know if anyone else does this but I thought I'd share.

After disassembly, cleaning, re-assembly, and the normal function checks, I do one more which assures me that when I pull the trigger, everything works and the firing pin strikes like it should. Cock the hammer and hold the pistol with the muzzle pointing straight up at the ceiling (making sure, of course, the gun is NOT loaded). Insert a pen(the Bic Stick pens work nicely) down the muzzle and pull the trigger. If the pen shoots out of the barrel straight up you will know that everything is A-OK. My Kimber shoots the pen out more than 2 feet. I then reload, put her back into my duty holster, and know that if I need to pull the trigger, it will go BANG!

Is there anything else you all do differently?

Thanks
Steve

[John]

You may want to make sure that your ceiling is not too low. Somewhere in here there is another thread on this subject, where an old friend shot a pensil into his ceiling. His wife didn't exacly welcome that.

[pa_guns]

Hi

One of the things I love about a 1911 is that it's pretty simple. There are relatively few things you can do that gives you a pistol that goes click but not bang.

I'm not knocking the double check everything approach. There's no such thing as being to careful about some stuff.

Bob

[nalioth]

I use an old-fashioned wood pencil to test firing pin function. Comes in handy at pawn shops.

Hi Y'all :)

[Hunter]

I do the same with a wooden pencil eraser to the firing pin. It is a good idea after any disassemble or as a periodic check. Remember to take care of what takes care of you.

[John]

Tom must have removed that picture, I found the thread but not the proof!

Yes a pensil with a rubber eraser works better! That's what I use.

[dogdollar]

Great tip, but I tried it and my pencil went about three hundred yards !! Does that mean my firing pin spring needs replacement ?

Oh wait, you said UNLOADED.....................

:butthead:

[apocalypse]

LOL, hopefully it didn't go 300 yards after going through your ceiling.

[apocalypse]

Hi

One of the things I love about a 1911 is that it's pretty simple. There are relatively few things you can do that gives you a pistol that goes click but not bang.

I'm not knocking the double check everything approach. There's no such thing as being to careful about some stuff.

Bob

I'm VERY anal when it comes to maintenance of my guns. I almost always detail strip any gun I've shot and want to make sure I got it right when it goes back together. With all the talk about the Kimber II's with the firing pin safety and the possibility of shearing off the top if you accidentally hold the grip safety while putting it back together, this just puts me at ease.

Thanks
Steve

[pa_guns]

Hi

The "self destruct" of a firing pin safety is something to be careful of. It's fairly hard to do though. You have to wack the slide pretty hard to get the parts to shear off. A more likely outcome is to simply get things all jammed up.

A more likely assembly issue is to have the sear spring get set on the sear wrong. It's not easy to do, but you can do it.

Bob

[Lazarus]

Steve,

I'm curious to know if all these nightmare stories involve a 1911? What was the problem?..I'm certain you will find lots of reasons. Here's a few: a) Gun has a snap cap in the chamber left over from dry firing, b) no round chambered, c) hammer was down on a single action gun, d) gun was used to qualify about 2 years ago and never cleaned, e) gun full of debris and lint (variation of never cleaned) f) finally and least likely, mechanical malfunction.

Making sure your gear is working is important for everyone who is carrying. I look at it like this: do I want to jump with a shute packed by someone else? Maybe, if I am totally ignorant about packing shutes.

Then you have to make allowances for personal judgement. I have decided that I will personally never own or carry a 1911 with a firing pin blocking "safety". In my judgement, the additional gimmickry is far more likely to malfunction and get you killed, than it is likely to prevent an A.D. Like I said, that's my personal conclusion. I don't have the same reservations when it comes to guns specifically designed with this function such as the Sig or Beretta semi's.

Beyond that, taking an interest in how your gun works and keeping it clean is great. The final undeniable test would be to fire a few rounds after re-assembly. That should settle any lingering doubts you may have. Finally, if you will allow me to make a suggestion, lose the habit of constantly press-checking your pistol. That habit is more likely to result in an AD than any one gun handling tick. Load pistol when going on duty. After it is physically on your person there is no need to play with the slide.

Keep Safe,
-Lazarus

[apocalypse]

Steve,

I'm curious to know if all these nightmare stories involve a 1911? What was the problem?..I'm certain you will find lots of reasons. Here's a few: a) Gun has a snap cap in the chamber left over from dry firing, b) no round chambered, c) hammer was down on a single action gun, d) gun was used to qualify about 2 years ago and never cleaned, e) gun full of debris and lint (variation of never cleaned) f) finally and least likely, mechanical malfunction.

Making sure your gear is working is important for everyone who is carrying. I look at it like this: do I want to jump with a shute packed by someone else? Maybe, if I am totally ignorant about packing shutes.

Then you have to make allowances for personal judgement. I have decided that I will personally never own or carry a 1911 with a firing pin blocking "safety". In my judgement, the additional gimmickry is far more likely to malfunction and get you killed, than it is likely to prevent an A.D. Like I said, that's my personal conclusion. I don't have the same reservations when it comes to guns specifically designed with this function such as the Sig or Beretta semi's.

Beyond that, taking an interest in how your gun works and keeping it clean is great. The final undeniable test would be to fire a few rounds after re-assembly. That should settle any lingering doubts you may have. Finally, if you will allow me to make a suggestion, lose the habit of constantly press-checking your pistol. That habit is more likely to result in an AD than any one gun handling tick. Load pistol when going on duty. After it is physically on your person there is no need to play with the slide.

Keep Safe,
-Lazarus

Lazarus, the "nightmares" I'm referring to are actual nightmares, dreams that I've had (as well as many other LEO's I've talked to) about pulling the trigger and nothing happens, or the bullet falls out the front of the barrel. A very prevelant one for me is that the grip of the gun is too big for my hands and I can't pull the trigger. Funny because I'm 6'2" and 260 lbs and work out every day. While I've never experienced any of these in real life, I always triple and quadruple check my equipment to make sure I won't have any operator induced errors. Thanks for your concern though.

Steve

[Deacon Aegis]

Steve, the nightmare could be worse... you could be reaching for your trusty 1911 and find when you draw a Berretta 92F in your hand... hehe

[apocalypse]

Steve, the nightmare could be worse... you could be reaching for your trusty 1911 and find when you draw a Berretta 92F in your hand... hehe

LOL, one of my guys still carries a 92F. I try to talk him out of it but he swears by Beretta.

[Texas Boy86]

Man if hes gonna stick with Beretta he could atleast do himself a favor and get a 96 so ur shootin 40SW and not 9mm. Id rather have the biggest caliber i can control than a small caliber multiple shot to kill gun. I love berettas too but honestly unless i was in a jam, sorry for the bad pun, I wouldnt use a 92f for anything other than paper punching. For combat and concealment nothin comes close to a 1911 in .45APC except maybe a Desert Eagle in .50AE IF you could conceal it LOL!

[Lazarus]

I know this is slightly off the subject, but I owned and used a model 96G for some years. While it worked great most of the time, there are some important reasons why the design is unsuited to the .40 S&W round. This Beretta design was specifically a 9mm parabellum auto and was tested and qualified by the military as such.

-Lazarus

[pa_guns]

Hi

I've owned a couple of Desert Eagles over the years. They are interesting pistols.

Somehow I don't think I would want one in a dangerous situation except for the "scare factor". There are a number of other options out there that can put lead on target a *lot* faster.

Bob

[Texas Boy86]

O yeah i was kinda joking bout the Desert eagle being all powerful and yeah I could put many more holes in something with a 1911 than a DE in a hurry. I ve been told DE recoils bout like a .44 mag. All in all the 1911 is the holy grail of handguns, it will do anything you ask of it. The tighter fit they are the more likely they are to malfunction until they are broken in. But after there broken in..........theres no stopping it, EVER!

[AF First Sergeant]

Lazarus, the "nightmares" I'm referring to are actual nightmares, dreams that I've had (as well as many other LEO's I've talked to) about pulling the trigger and nothing happens, or the bullet falls out the front of the barrel. A very prevelant one for me is that the grip of the gun is too big for my hands and I can't pull the trigger. Funny because I'm 6'2" and 260 lbs and work out every day. While I've never experienced any of these in real life, I always triple and quadruple check my equipment to make sure I won't have any operator induced errors. Thanks for your concern though.

Steve

Take care of and have accountability for your equipment, as stated. As for the dream thing, seek help professionally. I'm not saying this to be a wiseenheimer. Seriously, get some help on that one.

[pa_guns]

As for the dream thing, seek help professionally. I'm not saying this to be a wiseenheimer. Seriously, get some help on that one.

Hi

+1 on that - it works, I know.

Bob

[Hawkmoon]

A more likely assembly issue is to have the sear spring get set on the sear wrong. It's not easy to do, but you can do it.
I respectfully disagree, Sir. It isn't at all difficult.

In fact, it's very easy to do ...

[pa_guns]

Hi

Ok, maybe I just haven't done it *yet*.

Bob

[berkbw]

I respectfully disagree, Sir. It isn't at all difficult.

In fact, it's very easy to do ...

Oh, yes

b-

[apocalypse]

Take care of and have accountability for your equipment, as stated. As for the dream thing, seek help professionally. I'm not saying this to be a wiseenheimer. Seriously, get some help on that one.


You could literally be giving bad advice to tens of thousands of LEO's throughout the world. Ask any, if you know them personally, if they've had this dream and I guarentee you'll be surprised at how many have.

As for myself, I've gone through many psychological exams throughout my career... First one 17 years ago to get the job, next one 10 years ago to get into the Emergency Services Team, and the last one 6 years ago to complete the promotional exams before I was promoted to sergeant. I'm obviously still around, not in a straight jacket in a rubber room, and doing VERY well in the job that I still LOVE doing!

Steve

[Chessbum]

After disassembly, cleaning, re-assembly, and the normal function checks, I do one more which assures me that when I pull the trigger, everything works and the firing pin strikes like it should. Cock the hammer and hold the pistol with the muzzle pointing straight up at the ceiling (making sure, of course, the gun is NOT loaded). Insert a pen(the Bic Stick pens work nicely) down the muzzle and pull the trigger. If the pen shoots out of the barrel straight up you will know that everything is A-OK. My Kimber shoots the pen out more than 2 feet. I then reload, put her back into my duty holster, and know that if I need to pull the trigger, it will go BANG!

Getting back to the original topic...

Thank you for the useful tip as I always wondered the same thing and never knew if it would work or not until I fired it once. Tried the pencil thing and yes it flew out about two feet so my Kimber Custom II is still trustworthy to carry in my mind...

[apocalypse]

Getting back to the original topic...

Thank you for the useful tip as I always wondered the same thing and never knew if it would work or not until I fired it once. Tried the pencil thing and yes it flew out about two feet so my Kimber Custom II is still trustworthy to carry in my mind...[/QUOTE]

I'm glad my tip was helpful. I've also found that doing this puts my mind at ease because I know that if I need it, it will work!

Steve

[Dirt]

Apocalypse, It happens very seldom but I do have the same dreams. Mine don't really involve my 1911's, but rather an old HK that I still own (who knows why). I come across a situation, my trigger gets 'squishy' and nothing happens. In my dreams I never get shot though.

Over the last number of years I've pretty much stuck to my 1911's. I have a lot more confidence in these and the dreams seem to be getting better.

Have you ever had a reliability problem? Sometimes I wonder if even 'failure drills' don't get buried somewhere in that 'grey matter', By the way, that's probably a good thing.

For the record, I'm not in LE, but I think your dreams probably are more common than thought.

[lustgarden]

Lazarus, the "nightmares" I'm referring to are actual nightmares

For what its worth I used to have this dream quite often. I am trying to load an AR-15 mag but the rounds just keep falling out. I even insert the mag and try to charge the weapon but nothing happens.
These dreams have to be normal. I would not worry about it.