Your father was correct: there is no inherently safe way to do that.badkarma56 wrote:Although my father owned a 1911 pistol, he always used to gripe about one missing safety feature on these weapons...there's no truly "safe" way to lower the hammer on a loaded 1911 chamber. Pulling the trigger, and "thumbing" the hammer down is not inherently safe and will bypass any passive safety features built into the pistol (e.g., firing pin block, safety intercept notch, etc.).
But what he left unsaid is, There is no valid reason to ever lower the hammer on a loaded 1911.
Yes, it is tough to do.I realize that the 1911 was designed to be carried in condition-1, but there are occasions with any single-action or double/single-action weapon where you'll want to safely lower that hammer on a "hot" chamber...pretty tough to do on a 1911.
Now, what are those occasions upon which one might wish to lower the hammer on a loaded 1911? The only occasion which comes to my mind is when the hammer is lowered by pulling the trigger, followed shortly afterwards by a loud and intentional bang.
I can't think of any other reason to lower the hammer on a loaded 1911.
Kevin