Condition 1, 2, 3?

[KKE888]

May I know whether the terms condition 1, 2 and 3 are still in used? From where I can find their official definition as I can't find them out from the rule book? Thanks.

[Merlin Orr]

By me... Sounds like a tactical term denoting some kind of mental awareness (danger) thing......

[stingerjg]

i dont know what each one is exactly. Its the contition of how the gun is loaded, mostly used for carry situations. i think contition 1 is mag in gun, nothing in the chamber, hammer down. Contition 2 is mag in gun, round in chamber, hammer down. Contition 3 is mag in gun, chambered, hammer cocked, and safety applied. ie 'cocked and locked'

I could be wrong, but thats my interpitation of the Conditions.

[Crusher]

May I know whether the terms condition 1, 2 and 3 are still in used?

Used where ? In USPSA/IPSC?

As far as I can remember never. Maybe in some rogue course description as far as the "ready" condition of the firearm but never in the rulebook.

[AikiDale]

From http://www.sightm1911.com

The Conditions of Readiness:

The legendary guru of the combat 1911, Jeff Cooper, came up with the "Condition" system to define the state of readiness of the 1911-pattern pistol. The are:

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.

[Flexmoney]

They aren't used (or, shouldn't be) in USPSA/IPSC competitions.

[AikiDale]

I am not sure of this by anymeans, but I have a faint recollection of reading they are or were used as starting positions in some IPSC matches.

[Jim Norman]

THe main reason that we don't use the "Conditions" any more is that a lot of handguns are not capable of havein all of the conditions applied.

You cannot put a Glock in condition 1, there is no Thumb Safety. You cannot put the hammer down on a loaded chamber, there is no way to drop the hammer, and so on.

Also, when you consider the number of people that shoot that barely are aware of which end the bullet comes out, it is best put into very straight forward terms requiring no interpratation. IE., Gun Loaded, and Holstered, manual safety (if any) applied. rather than gun holstered in Condition 1.

Jim Norman

[dirtypool40]

They still use them internationally a lot. However they bypass what Cooper would call condition 2, of hammer down on a live round.

Condition 1; normal ready condition , cocked and locked for 1911s, hammer down on a live round for Sigs, Berettas et al. Glocks are always in an unsafe condition, but then that's just great marketing.

Condition 2; Mag inserted, nothing chambered. They do this a lot for table starts, or start where you are likely to sweep yourself. Another bad fix for dumb start positions / poor course design.

Condition 3; Empty gun, no mag, nothing chambered. The locals here use this (and condition 2) as a way to try and get open shooters to beat Standard guys. They'll put up a 16-19 round course and have a condition 3 start, so Standard has to reload and Open doesn't. Again, weak, dude, weak.

In fact down here they do so many non-holster, non-condition 1 starts we tease tehm that they either don't have holsters or never practice drawing and shooting a target from the holster.

Condition 4 & 5 are usually reserved for new guys running out of ideas at IDPA matches. Conition 4 is hiding the magazine under a photo of Wilson, Rauch or Gaston Glock somewhere in the bay. Condition 5 is where you throw a handful of mixed caliber reloads into a mud puddle along with your magazine parts. Assemble at the beep and engage....in tactical order.

[Merlin Orr]

Aahhhhh... Now I remember. I had a condition 5 "restart" between my 7th & 8th target in a recent match after a bobbled reload.

[dirtypool40]

been there, done that, got it on tape.

[DogmaDog]

Argh!

As used by the Marine Corps with the M16A2:

Condition 1: Mag inserted, bolt forward on a loaded chamber, ejection port cover closed, weapon on safe.

Condition 2: Does not apply to the M16A2 (they make us memorize and repeat this!)

Condition 3: Magazine inserted, bolt forward on an empty chamber, ejection port cover closed, weapon on safe.

Condition 4: Magazine removed, bolt forward on an empty chamber, ejection port cover closed, weapon on safe.

The conditions are applied to other weapons, also, and "Condition 2" does not apply to any weapon in general issue to Marines.

IMO, a bad idea to try to use condition codes in IPSC, as the diversity of understandings of their meanings shown here demonstrates.

DD