krathis, many new 1911 users go through a short period where the "cocked hammer" makes them nervous. As with many things in life, a little knowledge and experience will soon change the way you look at "cocked and locked".
Fortunately for you, you already have the best 1911 in terms of safety of carry - in many ways the safest pistol available, period. All the Series 80 Colts (and Para Ord, too) are as safe as you can make a practical firearm. The original 1911 itself was actually quite safe, if everything was in good repair, not worn, and parts were properly made of good material, hardness, etc. But, as you have observed, carrying "cocked and locked" still made a lot of people nervous - notably the US Army, who forbade the practice and mandated carry with an empty chamber. This unfortunate (and mistaken) perception also prevented the 1911 from becoming the dominant handgun in US police work and general civilian use that it could have been fifty years ago through today. Police chiefs avoided letting their officers carry the 1911 for obvious reasons - they didn't understand it, and it might make the public nervous. I know - I had a Chief who made me carry my first Series 70 for six months "cocked and locked" but chamber empty before I convinced him the hammer wasn't going to let go on it's own! I had to carry it in a holster with a block strap before he finally relented.
Colt's first design for a "firing pin safety" to counter all this concern was patented in 1937 as the "Schwartz Lock", and a couple of thousand guns were produced with the device just before World War II intervened. The military saw no need for making the gun safer - just carry it with the chamber empty, recruit! Besides, millions of weapons were needed, and anything not absolutely essential was sidelined "for the duration" to speed production. The "Schwartz Lock" is now reappearing in the Kimber "Series II" 1911s. It is slightly inferior to the Series 80 in that just gripping the gun deactivates it, where the Series 80 does not deactivate until near the end of your trigger squeeze. "Safe until you mean it."
Rest assured that your new Defender - (assuming proper assembly and factory tolerances of course) can NOT fire unless you:
1.) Take off the thumb safety.
2.) Depress the grip safety by gripping the piece.
3.) Pull the trigger all the way to sear release.
You should note that there are NO modern handgun designs of any consequence that do not incorporate some kind of firing pin safety. Colt was a little too far ahead of it's time on this one - but we didn't use to use seat belts or smoke detectors either!
Choose a holster that blocks all access to the trigger, and one with a hammer block strap if that helps it "feel better". Put all your live ammo in another room and practice presentations for 15 minutes two or three times a week, wiping the safety, off, etc, from the leather to gain that instinctive "muscle memory" that makes a properly trained 1911 user so quick and deadly, and this will ad to your comfort level. But nothing else you can use is any safer than a Series 80 Colt. And cocked and locked makes you safer another way - you'll hit where you aim, with the first shot - unlike the DAO's "difficult to shoot accurately" triggers.
Warmly, Col. Colt
"Beware of Counterfeits and Patent Infringements"
