Carry safe method 22 autos

[country gent]

Maybe go to a holster with a flap and keep the safety covered from being brushed off. Or just chamber a round when you get to the area.

[rintinglen]

As the old saying goes, you do you. But I find it amazing that 1911 shooters will carry cocked and locked and decry other firearms as unsafe when carried in similar fashion.

I currently have 5 Woodsman pistols of varying age and wear, (if I count the Huntsman) and have had 2 others previously and I have never had a safety on any of them disengage without conscious effort on my part. I have used them extensively, the Target Model I have now is on it's second recoil spring since I got it and I know it has fired over a case of CCI Standard Velocity 22 lr as well has a bunch of the Federal Auto Match stuff. I have carried them frequently and have once fallen down a hill side while wearing one in an old Heiser holster. A practice, by the way, that I do not recommend; it scuffs the holster, scratches the gun and leaves a plethora of scrapes and bruises.

An empty chamber is safer, but in a properly fitting holster, I would have no qualms about carrying it cocked and locked. In fact, my 4 1/2 inch 1st model is one of my favorite woods walking guns and I do carry it cocked and locked, since it would be my "EDC" at that moment.

The one with the stag grips and the Match Target I have fired extensively, the older one with the walnut grips not so much.

One thing I do recommend strongly if you do have an old one is that you replace the recoil spring with a new one of Wolff Spring Manufacture. You don't know how many rounds that it has fired before you got it. Also, if the Main spring housing has a cross pattern checkering, it is rated for standard Velocity. High velocity guns have 12 straight, horizontal lines cut on the main spring housing. Guns made after 1933 are rated for High Speed (basically serial number Ser. No. 83790, and up were high speed.) So, all post WWII guns are factory set up for high speed ammo.

However some older guns were converted to high speed standard by replacing the recoil spring and the main spring housing, and some with slightly higher serial numbers were built with left-over, older, standard velocity parts. Colt was selling the conversion parts as a a kit back in the 1930's but WW II put an end to that.

[Eddie Southgate]

I carry my pre woodsman locked and loaded just the same as my 1911's and have never had any issue . I will say though , if you are concerned that the safety might accidentally become disengaged you would be well advised to follow Outpost75's advice and be 100% safe. You would do well to also follow Rintinglen's advice on the mainspring replacement for an older model. It's pretty cheap and easily done.

[45workhorse]

45workhorse - do not recall any documented incidents of any problems with their methods - iirc the U.S. military also carried the 1911 with an empty chamber by regulations -

Very true!
Even with that stupid 9mm they went to! Not a fan of that pistol!
My opinion!
I carried one for a few years in duty status!

But I bet they probably put more just a few mags down range in training! Which is my point! If you train that away, good deal.

It all boils down to training, that is the point I was trying to get at, training!


If remember correctly they presented the weapon side ways and then racked the slide, then rotated up for firing, but I could be wrong, I have slept since then.

We carried a round chambered (M16) at Naval weapons station in goose creek, till a Msgt put a round between two fingers, with a 1911! After that no more magazines in weapons! And we were guarding 'special weapons'!

It took on an average 12-15 seconds to load and make ready! That is a long time, if you need to engage a target!

I have carried a 1911 for the last 12+ years as Deputy Sheriff, cocked and locked. In that line of work, there is no time to to chamber a round! When you need it, you need it now!

That is my thought proces, 20 years as a Marine and 12 + as LEO!

Civilians carry the way you, are comfortable with, but if someone snatches your door open trying to carjack you, because you didn't lock the door, you are behind the power curve!

Just my ramblings and my mind set!

[45workhorse]

Mootpoint
Sorry did not mean to hijack this thread!

[Bigslug]

Know thy weapon and thy holster.

If you're paranoid about the safety disengaging inadvertently, then find a holster in which that is not a concern, and be proactive (not mindless) about operating that safety.

As to the design of the Woodsman itself, in studying the schematic, I see it appears to be running a similar hammer/sear system to the 1911 in which there is a half-cock notch to act as a brake to impede hammer fall in the event contact fails on the full cock notch without the trigger being pulled. In looking at photos of the thumb safety itself, it seems to be operating exactly like the 1911 as well. It has a lobe designed to physically lock the sear into the hammer when engaged. None of this is surprising when you consider that it's a Browning design that originated right after the 1911 began its march to world pistol design conquest.

So, no concerns from me on running one cocked and locked if the operator is squared away in the head and on the holster. That said, concerns over these issues are why DA revolvers still exist.

[Rapier]

I do not have a Colt, only the newer versions of the 1911 frame and safety as in the Browning Buckmark Silhouette and Ruger 22/45 Lite. They both have a 1911 frame angles and a positive safety. Now the Ruger has all Voq guts.

Both have dot sights and shoot thumb tacks at 25.

[gloob]

I wouldn't even carry my Ruger mk with one chambered.

I think we give the 1911 a pass because of 2 world wars, and because of good retention holsters. I don't even care that the non-80's will dropfire muzzle down, because that's just a hole in the ground and a potentially costly legal issue.

A striker or firing block can get stuck and fail, but at least you tried.

[schutzen-jager]

45workhorse
[ But I bet they probably put more just a few mags down range in training! Which is my point! If you train that away, good deal. ]

my recently retired son in law federal air marshal trained with them both in Israel + Sig Academy on several occasions + they always bet all other participants in speed + accuracy -

[45workhorse]

Heck at my age I am happy to get two shots off from the holster, and hit center mass in under two seconds!
I need to shoot more!
Shot timers will make you very humble!

I like a mustard based bbq sauce,when I eat humble pie!

I would not take that bet!

[rintinglen]

I have spent the last 14 months experimenting with a variety of pistols of prewar design, including a couple that compelled me for safety's sake to use the chamber empty method. It adds about 3/4's of a second to the time required to discharge your first shot--which is a bit more than the time it takes to fire two shots. While hunting, or target shooting, I have no problem with carrying an empty chamber, but Bill Jordan's advice about second place winners is pertinent and dipositive if you are talking about carrying a weapon for life saving purposes.