De-cocking Hammer In Production

[tobydog]

I know that you can't use tools to clear a gun malfunction, but is it legal to de-cock the hammer using a tool before you holster? I have arthritis in both of my thumbs and fore finger joints, and some days my grip isn't what it should be. I was thinking of making a wire tool of sorts to slip through the hammer to assist in lowering it. My CZ 75 doesn't have a decocker, and I've seen various opinions about the half-cocked being legal anyway. A search here didn't come up with much. Opinions are appreciated, Thanks, Tobydog.

[BritinUSA]

I suggest you email your query to dnroi@uspsa.org. He should be able to give you an official ruling on your suggestion. Then you can post his response here so that anyone searching for the same thing can find it.

[tobydog]

That is something I hadn't thought of. Thank you for the suggestion, an email has been sent and I will post the response when I get one. Tobydog.

[splashdown]

The hammer has to be fully down, not in half cock position.

I'm not a CRO, but I would say that you could use your idea to lower the hammer at LAMR. It is 100% the shooters responsibility to make the gun ready and to do so in a safe manner. The rulebook says what you need to do, not how to do it. You will definitely want to explain your situation/method to the RM and RO before you do it.

In my quest to be a better RO, I would be interested in the response you get.

[tobydog]

This is the reply I got from John Amidon on what I wanted to know.

"What you are asking would be allowable, as long as the hammer is fully

decocked, not

half cocked, of course the same penalty of a DQ should the gun go off, would

apply, same

as if using your fingers to do this action. "

Built a prototype yesterday to try out. I was surprised how fast the hammer could drop if you didn't have good tension on the tool. Will have to try it at the range to see what it takes to make the gun go off. Carefully of course! Tobydog.

[Eager]

I was surprised how fast the hammer could drop if you didn't have good tension on the tool.

I use a CZ-85 Combat in Production and drop the hammer (with fingers). I once experimented with allowing the hammer to slip through my fingers to see where it would go off. It went off easier than I thought (the hammer was already slightly down) and it hurt my hand/fingers when the slide and hammer came back really fast. So watch out for that.

[RogerT]

It's probably best to make the tests with primed brass only, no powder or bullet needed.