.45 ACP "Cocked and Locked"

crazyphil · Mar 25, 2017

I have always carried my .45 ACP loaded, cocked, and locked.
When not carrying, it has been my practice to unload it and
store it cocked and locked.
I have wondered if my practice causes any wear or weakening
of the spring? I haven't noticed any problem, just wondering.

LoboGunLeather · Mar 25, 2017

No problems that I am aware of. But I've only been using the 1911-style pistols for about 48 years or so. Loaded, cocked and locked, no question about condition anytime or any place; if you pick it up it is ready to do as John Moses Browning intended that it do.

Best regards.

Lee Barner · Mar 25, 2017

I doubt it. I've had one lt wt commander cocked and locked for many years and each time I shoot it, it functions just fine. it stays loaded in the night stand when i'm not carrying it. lee

jt3 · Mar 25, 2017

i have carried two different colts 45 pistols thru the years cocked and locked and i never had a problem. i personally think there would be no spring problems. if there was i would simply replace the spring.years ago i learned how to completely take apart my gov. model except the ejector and a few things like that because there was no reason unless you were replacing them.john

ronnie gore · Mar 25, 2017

cocked and locked

i carried a light weight commander for 30 years on the job cocked and locked all the time, never had a problem.
people used to notice my cocked and locked 45 and ask me if it wasn't dangerous to carry that way, i just replied "only if i pull it out".

gwpercle · Mar 25, 2017

I doubt it also , even so 1911 springs are easy to replace , get a pistol service pak from Wolff, replace them all and don't look back.
Gary

Arik · Mar 25, 2017

What's the difference? Gun doesn't know if it's stored or carried

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

mozeppa · Mar 25, 2017

the only 2 things that ever wears out any spring no matter what it is in or on is...

A. a defect or flaw in the spring.

B. exercising the spring...constant compression then relaxing of the spring.

leaving it static ....that is compressed 100% of the time...or static "not compressed" won't hurt it.

LoboGunLeather · Mar 25, 2017

By the way, I have a 1918 Colt production "Black Army" pistol that I acquired about 40 years ago complete with WW1 holster, belt, pouches, and 3 original two-tone magazines loaded with FA-18 ammo. All items still work flawlessly, despite apparently having been stored in loaded condition for about 60 years.

growr · Mar 25, 2017

The thought of it cocked and locked all that time is terrifying!!! Why it could just go off at any moment.........

Randy

PS. Just being sarcastic here...

Houlton · Mar 25, 2017

?

ronnie gore said:
i carried a light weight commander for 30 years on the job cocked and locked all the time, never had a problem.
people used to notice my cocked and locked 45 and ask me if it wasn't dangerous to carry that way, i just replied "only if i pull it out".

I was in court one day, had my jacket off and a person noticed my Commander cocked and locked. She asked me if that wasn't dangerous. I told her it most certainly was , that's why I carried it that way.

gdogs · Mar 25, 2017

I look at it this way, the spring is always under some tension. Is that tension weakening it? Probably, but not any significant amount. Likewise keeping the spring under more tension is also weakening it, and perhaps even exponentially. But weakening to the point of failure... highly unlikely. Repeated compression/decompression is what weakens springs. Don't worry about prolonged storage cocked and locked. But if it really bothers you then lower the hammer, doesn't make much difference in an unloaded firearm.

vortex360 · Mar 25, 2017

I store mine cocked and locked also because the 45 ACP rounds take a bit of wear on the casings when re-chambering the same round over and over again.

Rpg · Mar 25, 2017

Folks are nuts with worrying about springs.

Your 1911 can be cocked and locked for the rest of your life and the life of your beneficiary without adverse effect.

jimmyj · Mar 25, 2017

After my Father passed (15th Cavalry, B Troop) we found a number of GI M1911 magazines that had been fully loaded for 30 plus years. We took then out and fired them. Not one malfunction !

paragain · Mar 25, 2017

Springs are not damaged under or by compression, only by release and extension beyond design. No problem with cocked and locked.

ImprovedModel56Fan · Mar 25, 2017

crazyphil said:
I have always carried my .45 ACP loaded, cocked, and locked.
When not carrying, it has been my practice to unload it and
store it cocked and locked.
I have wondered it my practice causes any wear or weakening
of the spring? I haven't noticed any problem, just wondering.

I wouldn't worry about the gun, but I do wonder why you store an unloaded gun cocked.

??

Absalom · Mar 26, 2017

The only people who ARE potentially dangerous are the ones who want to "give the spring a break", and so when they get home and put the gun down, they take the safety off and lower the hammer onto a loaded chamber, and then re-cock and lock it when they holster the gun the next time.

That is the only risky maneuver you can do with a SA auto, because that hammer can slip out from under your thumb. I watched it happen to someone who had carried 1911's for decades and got careless. He missed his foot by a couple of inches.

BUFF · Mar 26, 2017

John Browning never intended for a 1911 to have the hammer manually lowered with a round in the chamber. People ignore this to their own peril. Do it enough times and, trust me, one of these days that hammer will get away from you. Cocked and locked or hammer down on an empty chamber.

crazyphil · Mar 26, 2017

Model520Fan said:
I wouldn't worry about the gun, but I do wonder why you store an unloaded gun cocked.

??

Safety does not lock with the hammer down. I like it locked.
Therefore always cocked and locked, loaded or unloaded.

.45 ACP "Cocked and Locked"

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