Ria 1911 accidental discharge

[slohunter]

Learn to rack the slide quickly, YOU don't need to carry with one in the spout!

[Sergio Natali]

At the range in the years I've seen two similar AD done with Glocks but never with a 1911.
I think you've been very lucky.

[Hawkmoon]

You could also consider buying a used Para-Ordnance LDA pistol. It handles just like a 1911, but there's no hammer to snag on anything.

[TexasRedneck]

Bottom line - carrying C2 (round in chamber, hammer down) is begging for the hammer to be pulled back far enough so that when released, it has enough energy to strike the primer with enough force to cause it to fire. The 1911 was designed to be carried C1 - cocked and locked. When carried in that fashion, you have to:
1) Release the safety
2) Depress the grip safety
3) Pull the trigger

Ask yourself which method is really the safest. In over 30 years carrying a 1911 in a C1 condition, I've NEVER had an AD/ND. Learn your weapon before you carry it!

[jjfitch]

"Contrary to popular belief, the half-cock notch on the hammer of the 1911 is not a carry location. Rather, it is a passive safety to keep the hammer from striking the firing pin should the single-action notch on the hammer or the sear-engagement surfaces fail to maintain their intended relationship."

If you carried hammer down on a live round with the expectation of catching the half cock notch in and emergency you have a defective firearm and should not be carried until it is accessed and repaired by a qualified 1911 mechanic!

If your claim is that the firearm 's hammer was pulled back far enough to discharge, the safety notch would have prevented discharge unless defective!

I have done tests on 1911's with the hammer half cock/safety notch and was unable to get the 1911 I was testing to discharge from the slipping off the notch. This was part of an investigation into a non-injury negligent discharge. The claim was that the firearm discharged when the hammer slipped off the safety notch. Neither the 1911 in question or a test sample fired from this position!

Smiles,

[Hawkmoon]

"Contrary to popular belief, the half-cock notch on the hammer of the 1911 is not a carry location. Rather, it is a passive safety to keep the hammer from striking the firing pin should the single-action notch on the hammer or the sear-engagement surfaces fail to maintain their intended relationship."

The passage above is in quotation marks, but I don't see it in any of the posts in this discussion thread. It would be helpful to everyone if, when quoting someone/something, you identify who or what source you are quoting.

If you carried hammer down on a live round with the expectation of catching the half cock notch in and emergency you have a defective firearm and should not be carried until it is accessed and repaired by a qualified 1911 mechanic!

If your claim is that the firearm 's hammer was pulled back far enough to discharge, the safety notch would have prevented discharge unless defective!

I have done tests on 1911's with the hammer half cock/safety notch and was unable to get the 1911 I was testing to discharge from the slipping off the notch. This was part of an investigation into a non-injury negligent discharge. The claim was that the firearm discharged when the hammer slipped off the safety notch. Neither the 1911 in question or a test sample fired from this position!

I respectfully submit that the fact your testing didn't reproduce a condition that resulted in firing doesn't mean that another gun, with another set of springs, and different ammunition, couldn't fire. Remember, for years it was accepted that a 1911 "couldn't" fire when dropped on the muzzle because one person's testing "proved" it. And then along came Walt Kuleck and Drake Oldham, who proved (with YouTube video to document it) that, indeed, a 1911 can and probably will fire if dropped on the muzzle.

The OPs pistol may be defective, but I think it is premature to declare it as such. It seems more appropriate to suggest that it be checked by a gunsmith, but the fact that he carried it with the expectation that the half-cock notch would catch the hammer if it slipped off full cock is in no way suggestive of a defective pistol. He was carrying hammer down, so there is nothing about these two incidents to suggest that the hammer slipped off full-cock and missed the half-cock position.

[jjfitch]

The quote is from another forum in depth thread on the subject!

The rest of the post is just my opinion and like everything else on the internet worth what you seek!

Smiles,

[Anglin82]

None of my "1911's"- so far 6... would allow the hammer to fall past half cock unless the trigger was pulled. On the rare occasions when I did have to carry/handle them loaded, hammer "down"- it was at 'half cock. I was instructed that was "Condition 2"? Am I missing something?

[CrashClint]

You could also install a lighter hammer (main) spring. I think Rock Island uses a standard 23-pound hammer spring, so you could try a 19-pound spring along with the lighter firing pin and heavier firing pin spring. You can go even lighter on the hammer spring. But ... go in increments, because as you make all the fire control parts lighter, you will eventually get to where the ammo won't go off even when the hammer drops from the full-cock position. What you need to do is to thread the eye of the needle and find the sweet spot where you don't get a discharge from partial cock but you always get reliable ignition from full cock.

Personally, I would install a Wolff extra power firing pin spring and carry cocked and locked.

My RIA Rock came with a 23lb main spring. I installed a titanium firing pin with Wolf extra-power spring, a 19lb main spring, and did away with the nasty, huge ambidextrous safety that comes on those guns. I had the gun in a holster and was moving around, and I hear a click where the thumb safety disengaged. This happened a couple of times, so the factory thumb safety had to go.

[TexasRedneck]

My RIA Rock came with a 23lb main spring. I installed a titanium firing pin with Wolf extra-power spring, a 19lb main spring, and did away with the nasty, huge ambidextrous safety that comes on those guns. I had the gun in a holster and was moving around, and I hear a click where the thumb safety disengaged. This happened a couple of times, so the factory thumb safety had to go.

With all due respect....why not modify the holster?? Removing the safety would be a VERY poor choice, IMO.