Sensing that the mood was going to progress from foul to ugly, I decided to take a
hand. Remembering a trick an old time MP once showed me for cocking the M1911 in a
GI holster one handed, I decided to hold class to demonstrate the advantages of the
M1912 Holster.
Taking my pistol out of its regulation holster, I cleared the weapon in the approved
manner. For the un-anointed, this consists of removing the magazine and sticking it in
your belt. You then pull the slide to the rear, and look into the chamber to insure that the
pistol is, in fact, clear. You can then allow the slide to go forward, pull the trigger,
reinsert the magazine and re-holster your pistol. Since I was going to demonstrate the
"one handed cocking technique", I simply left the magazine in my belt, emptied the
chamber and pocketed the round I normally kept in the chamber.
I then demonstrated the "one handed cocking technique" by pushing the pistol into
the M1912 holster in such a fashion that the lower portion of the slide was resting on the
shelf normally forming the "stop" that the trigger guard rests upon when it is normally
placed in the holster. When the lower portion of the slide is pushed smartly down on the
"trigger guard shelf", the slide will remain motionless, and the receiver will go
downward. The barrel will protrude into the normal "slide channel" in the main portion of
the holster normally housing the entire slide of the M1911. The barrel protruding into the
slide channel allows the slide to go to the rear in relation to the receiver and forces the
slide to its rearmost position. If a loaded magazine is left in the weapon, and the force
causing the recoil spring to compress is relaxed, the slide will rapidly go back in battery
under spring tension, stripping the top round off the magazine. This action will result in
loading the pistol and leave the hammer in a cocked position.
If your adversary is in front of you, you can then level the pistol at the "blighter" and blaze away! Most efficient
and a very good trick to know if you are required to carry the M1911 in a GI Holster with
an empty chamber. As described, it is a safe practice, but if you get out of "sync", evil
things can happen! And thereby hangs a tale...