M1911 Conditions of Carry
You might not have a M1911 or even a .45 but it is a good idea to understand the conditions of carry.
Conditions of Carry 0 -4
- Condition 0 – A round is in the chamber, hammer is cocked, and the safety is off.
- Condition 1 – Also known as “cocked and locked,” means a round is in the chamber, the hammer is cocked, and the manual thumb safety on the side of the frame is applied.
- Condition 2 – A round is in the chamber and the hammer is down.
- Condition 3 – The chamber is empty and hammer is down with a charged magazine in the gun.
- Condition 4 – The chamber is empty, hammer is down and no magazine is in the gun.
Obviously you aren’t going to carry a gun in condition 4, that would be pretty useless. We have a good video for you which explains each of the positions and why you might want to carry in Conditions 3 or 1.
Make sure you watch to see why you don’t want to carry in Condition 2. Many people who are used to guns such as the Beretta M9 or Glock type guns will want to carry the M1911 in Condition 2. Don’t do it. It is far too easy to pop off a round trying to decock it.