One in the chamber, hammer up: how?

[dalek]

Correct me if I am wrong but if you want to load a round in the chamber and then bring the hammer back up you rack the slide and then either

1) Bring the hammer back up manually and ever so slowly (which might be interesting depending on how far is the firing pin from the percussion cap at rest)

2) Set the safety on, which brings hammer back up, and then reset it.

I take option 2 is the recommended one, right?

[Curly1]

Using the safety will decock the hammer.

Try it unloaded.

[fully machined]

With the safety off-fire postion--rack the slide and chamber a round. Most of the time I cock the hammer on an empty chamber with loaded mag and then rack the slide. This makes the slide action a little easier and I can see the hammer cocked before racking the slide. A lot of old timers use this practice on their old stuff.

[snailman153624]

I wouldn't recommend racking the slide or cocking the hammer without the safety on unless you have it pointed in a safe direction. It's entirely too easy for a hammer to fall unexpectedly.

I'd turn the safety on, then rack the slide.

[fully machined]

If the safety "hammer drop" is engaged the hammer will follow the slide forward and then you will have to turn safety to fire and cock the hammer anyway, but with a round in the chamber. There is no hammer back safety on.

[snailman153624]

If the safety "hammer drop" is engaged the hammer will follow the slide forward and then you will have to turn safety to fire and cock the hammer anyway, but with a round in the chamber. There is no hammer back safety on.

I didn't mean to imply there was, but re-reading my post I could see how you would read it that way. My suggestion was to do exactly what you state; leave the safety on so there's no chance the hammer could fall and strike a chambered round.