I’ve always thought it looked like a great way to turn yourself into a eunich.
For a 1911 in good repair to go off like that, he had to have been doing a whole bunch of stuff wrong. If he had been carrying with a round in the chamber, the hammer cocked, and the thumb safety on, there would have had to have been several mechanical failures. The grip safety would still have been engaged and
, if the sear had failed, the half-cock notch should have caught the hammer. If he was carrying loaded chamber, cocked hammer, and thumb safety off (not recommended) the gun should still not have spontaneously discharged without him in some way manipulating the trigger and grip safety. If he was carrying loaded chamber, hammer down, a blow to the hammer could have fired the gun or the hammer being pulled back a bit and allowed to fall.
My money is absolutely on he was in some way fidgeting with the damn gun and managed to have a negligent discharge. Having it in his waistband was less the problem, IMO, than playing with it was.
Which is why not withstanding how many people love the classic ACP45, I prefer autoloaders that not are single-action only. They force you to chose between the following options:
[ul]
[li]carry unchambered, meaning you have to chamber a round and have one less round than you would have.[/li][li]carry “cocked and locked”, depending on the safeties to keep it from discharging.[/li][li]carry chambered with the hammer down- in S.A.O., all the risk and none of the readiness[/li][/ul]
I have a couple 1911’s, one of which was a duty gun for several years, in my accumulated auto pistols. They aren’t my favorites, despite having a lot to recommend them. For reasons I couldn’t begin to articulate, I prefer the 3rd generation S&W automatics over everything. I suspect it probably has something to do with them reminding me of my youth, but I digress. The modern 1911 in proper repair is as safe as any pistol is going to be. Pattons ND was from, IMO, playing with the gun. He’d likely have had similar mishaps with a Glock or S&W MP.
Thanks for the description.
Personally, I view this as a War Story, like the one Father told about McArthur’s radio operator on his private B-17 leaving the antenna reeled out and the radio being yanked through the fuselage upon landing in New Guinea. Nobody is that stupid.
If it is true, the guy could still move tanks like hell.
The story I heard about the revolvers is that his ammo never arrived, but he wore them anyway. 
And for the Argentines all I can offer is: We (the USA) tried to take Canada away from them and lost. Lighten up.
I’m not as knowledgeable about guns as many on this thread, but I read somewhere–can’t remember where–that in the Old West holsters were not that common, and guns were often carried in the waistband, sash (as mentioned), or in a pants or jacket pocket. Can anyone expand?
I believe someone already posted that Wild Bill Hickok carried two pistols in a sash.
My favorite non holster gunfight story is someone-Rocky Raccoon, perhaps-upon hearing that his opponent was waiting for him in the street at High Noon, leaned out the hotel window and shot the miscreant in the back with a Winchester, then returned to his poker game.
I read from Google that the tied down, metal lined holster was an invention of Hollywood.
Was it Doc Holiday who carried a shotgun at the OK corral?
Try lodging one between your temple and safety glasses frame sometime.
And ladies, if you go shooting, it’s best not to have exposed cleavage. :eek:
ISTR someone losing a testicle to Mexican carry last year, and another gentleman died when it clipped an artery. I suspect a lot of the folks who Mexican carry do so so that they can ditch the gun cleanly,as it’s harder to ditch the holster since it’s clipped to your belt. If you ditch the gun and the cops frisk you and find the holster, it’s a pretty damn good bet you had a gun too.
Handguns are for when you run into trouble unexpectedly. If you’re actually going into trouble, you take something bigger and better. If Doc Holiday did bring his shotgun he was a wise man. The only fair shootout is the one you win.
Best for them, maybe.
It was, but as I recall the shotgun wasn’t Holiday’s firearm of choice; it’s just what they happened to have on hand as Virgil Earp and his deputies went to confront the Clantons and McLaurys.
(bolding mine)
:nitpick:
(1) It’s ‘eunuch’. (Greek ‘eunouchos’, for guardian of the bed)
(2) I’ll concede that shooting off one of the ‘boys’ and surviving, is entirely possible. :eek:
(3) IMHO, getting both of 'em with only one shot, (without inflicting a fatal wound in the process) is nigh on impossible. :dubious:
(4) Hi Opal!
If anyone would like to experiment, I can submit several candidates.
For us Muricans that want to carry Mexican, it can be done with **relative **safety with the proper accessories…
I have one on my Kel-Tec P-32 and P3-AT. Sometimes one may just be wearing a bathing suit or shorts with no pocket, but want to drop in to a convenience store or similar and have some kind of protection…
They’re also good for clipping in the front pocket, holding the grip out just ready to draw. Why? ATMs and pumping gas come to mind.
+1 
Thanks for the link ducati, I’ll be recommending that site to a few friends. 
I love the clipdraw. It’s such a simple and useful idea that took people 100+ years to discover. I usually never carry with one in the chamber when using it. I don’t know what I think is going to be happening in my pants that could cause it to fire, but I’ve never been comfortable enough to keep one in the pipe. But I also have one on a P3-AT. Clip that thing in your pants and you can easily forget it’s there. I’ve nearly washed mine with the laundry a few times.
:smack:
Heh. Well, never underestimate the stupidity of people. (Like I’ve always said, I’m not against guns. Just stupid people with guns)
Gun barrels don’t burn people.
People burn people.