# Something I oughta know, but don't: Were the .45 1911s single or double action? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-i-oughta-know-but-dont-were-the-45-1911s-single-or-double-action/265960 "2004-09-24T23:05:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-i-oughta-know-but-dont-were-the-45-1911s-single-or-double-action/265960/21 "2004-09-25T07:03:00Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > I don’t understand 😕 That’s how you are supposed to field strip most semi-auto pistols out there. Pull the slide about halfway backwards and remove the slide release pin. What did the instructor do different? You can do it in one motion while it is loaded, thus rendering it useless. I can’t think of any other weapon that can be negated so easily. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-i-oughta-know-but-dont-were-the-45-1911s-single-or-double-action/265960/22 "2004-09-25T13:23:37Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > I can’t think of any other weapon that can be negated so easily. I can. Your scary lookin’ switchblade or butterfly knife when I pull out my .40SW. 😃 Tripler “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, son. . .” ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-i-oughta-know-but-dont-were-the-45-1911s-single-or-double-action/265960/23 "2004-09-25T13:46:18Z")
Here is info from FAS to help clear up the OP’s confusion. It’s the first cite I’ve seen in this thread yet. ([M1911A1 info](http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m1911a1.htm)) > [@](#): > > It is a magazine-fed semiautomatic weapon, which fires one round each time the trigger is squeezed once the hammer is cocked by prior action of the slide or thumb. This design is referred to as “single action only.” Also, in response to this quote… > [@Padeye](#): > > The hammer is cocked when you rack the slide to load a round in the chamber and I am not aware of any SA auto where the hammer is ever supposed to be lowered on a live round. You should never have to manually cock the hammer. That’s a good point…but it still doesn’t mean that the 1911 isn’t a single-action pistol. It’s true that pulling the slide to chamber the first round will cock the hammer. But that may not be the only way you ever cock it. If you were lower the hammer to carry (which I’ve known some people to do because they didn’t like the fact that the safety required a cocked hammer), you would have to manually cock it before firing. Thus, it’s still important to know that it is single-action, because it works differently from a lot of more modern pistol designs that people may be used to. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-i-oughta-know-but-dont-were-the-45-1911s-single-or-double-action/265960/24 "2004-09-25T14:13:15Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > I can. Your scary lookin’ switchblade or butterfly knife when I pull out my .40SW. 😃 > > Tripler > “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, son. . .” Don’t count on that quite so easily. Have you ever done a Tueller drill? You may consider investing in a blue training gun and training knife. It can be a real eye opener. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-i-oughta-know-but-dont-were-the-45-1911s-single-or-double-action/265960/25 "2004-09-25T14:27:40Z")
**audiolover** , my point was that the 1911 is single action but it is not a normal mode of operation to have the hammer down on a live round and to cock it manually. I’m not saying it can’t be done. The rebounding firing pin and certainly the series 80 firing pin lock make it possible but it isn’t normal operation. Manually cocking the hammer on a 1911 is something I usually see as a movie gaffe. There was one in _Stand By Me_, where the protagonist fires then manually cocks the hammer for a second shot. I know it was done for dramatic effect but to me it just indicated a faulty gun. Most but not all semi-autos which are intended to be carried with the hammer down on a live round, condition 2 I think, have some kind of decocking lever. I’ve got an Tanfoglio Witness - a CZ-75 clone - which must be carried in decocked mode for certain competition. It must be done manually which always carries a greater risk of an accidental discharge if my thumb slips while my finger is still holding the trigger back. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-i-oughta-know-but-dont-were-the-45-1911s-single-or-double-action/265960/26 "2004-09-25T15:23:09Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > Don’t count on that quite so easily. Have you ever done a Tueller drill? You may consider investing in a blue training gun and training knife. It can be a real eye opener. Based on this post and the one that follows it, I have to ask: [side subject] You shoot with the IPSC. Do you have a link to their course of fire? I’d love to get into competitive shooting again. . . [/side subject] Tripler Man, I’ve missed the old Prescott, AZ days. . . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-i-oughta-know-but-dont-were-the-45-1911s-single-or-double-action/265960.md?page=1)