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Originally Posted by dakota.potts
If it's got a safety I would load it, chamber a round, and then have the option to have it on safe or safety off but a round chambered either way?
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Yes. When engaged, the safety disconnects the trigger, preventing the hammer from falling.*
However, loading a traditional DA/SA or single-action pistol also cocks the hammer, and it is generally considered unsafe to carry a pistol in so-called "Condition 0"- hammer cocked, round in the chamber, safety off. Due to the short and light single-action trigger pull, this can result in an accidental discharge if something brushes against the trigger, particularly during holstering.
Most modern shooters favor carrying a traditional single-action pistol in "Condition 1"- hammer cocked, round in the chamber, safety
on.
Compared to most other modern DA/SA pistols, the CZ 75B is unusual because it does not incorporate a decocker, thereby allowing traditional Condition 1 carry, and it also has a half-cock notch, which allows a slightly shortened double-action pull. Some shooters like these features. (This includes me; I own a Beretta 84BB, one of the few other modern DA/SA pistols that works this way.) The main downside is that decocking must be done manually- with extreme caution! The other downsides are that the pistol is more complex to use than most other DA/SA designs, and there is a risk that the shooter may inadvertently forget to disengage the safety at the worst possible moment.
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Originally Posted by dakota.potts
With the decocker, I would load it, chamber a round, and then... the decocker would decock the hammer making the first shot a double action pull instead of single? Or does it prevent it from firing in any way?
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The decocker safely drops the hammer and does nothing else. It does not prevent the pistol from firing. Its sole function is to allow the shooter to more safely revert to double-action mode. The upside is that accidentally leaving the safety engaged is impossible. The downside is that there is no way to positively disable the pistol from firing without unloading it, although some shooters will argue that this is actually an
upside, because unloading is really the only 100% surefire way to prevent a pistol from firing under any circumstances, and forcing the shooter to do this prevents him/her from being lulled into unsafe habits.
As GM1967 mentioned earlier, many DA/SA pistols incorporate a decocker/
safety, which performs both functions simultaneously. The upside is that this is arguably the most safe design, as it allows foolproof decocking
and allows the shooter to disable the trigger, while still allowing safe double-action safety-off carry in most cases.* The downsides are that Condition 1 carry is impossible, and there is a risk of leaving the safety on.
*FOOTNOTES:
A handful of DA/SA pistols have safeties that disable the trigger in DA mode, but drop the hammer without firing if the trigger is pulled with the hammer cocked and the safety engaged. This mode of operation is quite uncommon; AFAIK the only centerfire pistol that works this way and is currently being sold on the US market by a major gunmaker is the Walther PK380. Notable historic examples are the Mauser HSc and the Star Models 28 and 30.
A few older DA/SA pistols with decocker/safeties do not have trigger-actuated firing pin blocks and are not considered 100% drop-safe with the decocker/safety disengaged. You should always consult the manual before attempting DA/safety-off carry with a pistol that has a decocker/safety.