Also while not certain cant Series 70 and older 1911's drop fire if not on half cock ?
I went through a whole thing on this, a couple rather zealous 1911 fans in another subforum thought I was knocking their baby.
You
can drop-fire a Series 70, but it takes some real bloody effort to do so. If the gun is in Condition One (round chambered, hammer cocked), you would need:
--a non-functioning half-cock notch, for any one of a couple reasons
--the thumb safety to be off, fit extremely poorly, or a plunger that was boogered all to hell and wasn't able to keep the thumb safety engaged
The sear doesn't even have to
catch the hammer. Just snagging the half-cock notch on the way down is enough to retard the hammer sufficiently to prevent the gun from firing.
In Condition Two (round chambered, hammer down), well...I don't even know how that would work.
What about the inertial firing pin? Ned Christiansen did a test of that theory, using an empty primed case, a worst-case steel firing pin, a weak firing pin return spring, and a rig built to drop the gun squarely muzzle-down. If I remember correctly, at the longest drop they were able to test from (8 or 11 feet, one of the two...they were limited by the ceiling) the primer got a tiny dimple in it.
So basically, any 1911 that's in good working order, and passes a competent function and safety check, is nigh-impossible to drop fire. I actually think your best bet for making such a thing happen would be to use a heavy, garbage trigger (good luck actually finding a trigger this bad), and a very light trigger pull. And even then, both the thumb safety and grip safety would collude against your sabotage.
Long story short, the Series 80 is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Really well-made Series 80 pistols aren't naturally any worse than an equivalent Series 70, but it's just extra parts, imo.
crazyphil said:
Wyatt Earp was playing poker one night in Tombstone. He was
leaning back on the back two chair legs with the two front ones
off the floor. His revolver fell out of the holster, the hammer
hit the floor, and the gun fired. Scared Hell out of folks.
If a negligent discharge could happen to Wyatt Earp, one could
probably happen to any of us.
Well, it could happen to any of us carrying a 19th-century single-action revolver.
I doubt it could happen with a modern design.
There have also been a few snarky and lazy responses – none of which (thus far) have offered any useful input. I suppose those respondents, with their sophomoric responses, are intending to demonstrate their superior knowledge and tactical insight regarding this situation. But, in truth, they have offered nothing at all - they've just upped their post count and little else.
Well, for one thing, if you need it, you're going to need it in a hurry.
For another, you may need your off-hand for something else. Fending off a blow, sacrificing it to a slash, pushing away an attacker, pushing a loved one behind you, holding a door shut, dialing a cell phone. In fact, there was an article in
The Blue Press describing a situation where a guy died trying to hold a door shut while getting his empty-chamber pistol ready. Took his hand away to chamber a round, lost control of the door, guy pushed in and shot him.
Now--if you don't want to carry a striker-fired pistol
sans external safety with a round in the chamber, that's fine! We all have different levels of comfort with different firearm actions. Don't do stuff you're not comfortable doing.
One thing you can do is study, and perhaps take a class, to attain that level of comfort. Digging into the guts of how different guns work is interesting*.
Alternatively--carry something else! We're awash in high-quality, small-size defensive handguns. Everything from shrunken 1911-pattern pistols like the Springfield EMP, to S&W J-frames with superb .38 and .357 defensive ammo, to DA/SA automatics like the Sig (or even a 'classic' S&W DA/SA!).
*Digging into how to make them work well, perfecting trigger pulls and smoothing actions and the like, is a dark path to oblivion.
) and decided the odds favor me dropping, or otherwise fumbling, an auto with a possible ND. An ND could mean losing my CCP and also might result in firearms loss, jail time, lawsuit, the works. Doubtful but possible. I've decided to balance that very real possibility up against the slimmest of chances of being jumped by some (used to be able to say thug).
) I would ask everyone to keep in mind that the majority of the public is likely not carrying and they seem to be surviving just fine! That said, the discourse has been interesting and I've enjoyed the videos … 
