People who carry: Keep a round chambered at all times or chamber empty?

[Godfather911]

If your job dictates for you to carry a weapon on duty. Then there should be no question about having "one" in the chamber. There's a reason "why" you need that weapon..question should be:" Should I be doing this job if I don't feel comfortable having this weapon on me?" Not to sound like a smart**, but it's logical question some people should be "honest" with themselves about even if it doesn't pertain to a "job" also...
"Carrying" is a huge responsibility some take too lightly...build up to your "comfort zone"..

 

[novamind]

Loaded chamber, saftey on, daily carry,extra mag, no worries.

 

[cetme]

every time i see this thread come up i think about barney fife.....

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Or Inspector Clouseau

 

[Gunner3456]

Is this thread really still going? Well, I guess I might as well be post #285. :huh:

 

[EMP9596]

Is this thread really still going? Well, I guess I might as well be post #285. :huh:

Just let it run and maybe it will hopefully fade out?
Then a week/month later someone will start another twin to it.

History does have the habit of repeating itself.

 

[lamrith]

The Energizer carry thread...

Just a tough call for many to make that step of carrying thier gun locked n loaded. Better to have one long thread with all the info than one a month right?

 

[EMP9596]

The Energizer carry thread...

Just a tough call for many to make that step of carrying thier gun locked n loaded. Better to have one long thread with all the info than one a month right?

There is a search option.

 

[MikeSettles]

Just HAD to carry this one into June '12!

My .02: If you need to defend yourself with a pistol, you are probably close enough to not have time to rack the slide. Accept it, deal with it, get used to one in the pipe - anything else is risk aversion.

Cheers!

 

[Ghostmaker]

I always find these threads interesting. I've been through a lot close situations (knives pulled on me, worked as a bouncer, bears encounters) in my life without a gun and still just don't feel the need to live with one in the chamber. But I also don't carry all the time. It's just the way I roll - if my time comes it will come regardless of how prepared I am.

Problem also with keeping one in the chamber is REMEMBERING that it's in there when you put the gun away each time. Of course, we always check, don't we ? But we forget nonetheless. Oh, I didn't rack one, yeah that's right. And you store everything separate if you have kids, but then you left one racked and spaced it( cuz of future Alzheimers tenedencies)..kids will be kids... but most can't rack a round, or know how to. If you keep the racking and unloading actions confined to the time when you use the gun, then then weaker, ignorant and unsuspecting cannot make it function IMO if they gain access to it..... as far as cocked and locked goes,packing heat in cougar, criminal and convict country is the exception.

 

[NoOne]

I guess I gotta disagree with Ghostmaker. I follow the customary safety rule, and presume that every gun is always loaded. Mine are either locked up in a vault, or if they need to be accessible, there is a reason for that, and that reason dictates that the firearm be loaded.

So, either the gun is locked in a vault because it isn't needed, or I have it on me, or next to me in the nightstand, and the chamber is always loaded. If it doesn't need to be in the vault, it needs to be loaded. If it needs to be out of the vault, it should be loaded.

Even though I don't have kids running around the house, I just don't think it is wise to leave firearms around where unauthorized people can get access to them. If you don't have a vault, run a cable lock through the action. Leaving guns around that may or may not be loaded, and may be forgotten about is just asking for a horrible accident.

 

[Ghostmaker]

This thread has gone crazy!! Honestly car rung cocked n locked seems like the best option. When I first started to carry I carried full mag n empty chamber then as I got more comfortable with having a gun on me an what not I started to carry it loaded. . I see no issue carrying loaded as long as u have a good quality weapon. If ur carrying a high point loaded I'm not sure u are smart enough to even own a gun...someone said in an earlier post.. asking about a loose safety or something.. y would u knowingly carry a fun with a faulty safety? This thread I think has lost its purpose. Carrying a loaded gun doesn't always give u they upper hand either u never know when a ninja may sneak up on u n just off u ..

Problem some of us have is DA/SA with no trigger safety and no grip safety..hence not safe ! Sure, the 10 pound DA pull and the holsters protection of the trigger should be enough...maybe on the set of 24, but they use blanks. Ask the Kimber brainiac what happens when you draw a cocked 1911 with the safety off. Knee be gone. After years of working and playing in the great outdoors, experience teaches that if you carry, a stick or projection will find your sidearm and stupid crap WILL happen..trip the thumb safety, depress the trigger...it IS possible. it' S'called Monday madness. Anything that can possible go wrong goes wrong. If I'm in a raft fishing and the gun goes off by some astronomical odds, it's through my ***, through the boat, through some poor fish happens to be in the wrong place, and I'm bleeding out as fish chum even if I have a life jacket.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

I carry a Usp .40 with the safety off and the chamber empty. I find I can rack the slide quicker on the draw, but like double tap said I've never had the hammer drop on its own

And what do you intend to do if either of your hands/arms are down for any reason?

What if you need to push your children, wife, bystander(s) aside?

Carry how ever you like but the best thing to do is to carry the way the weapon was intended to be carried.

Not having a round in the pipe is introducing a point of failure. If you short stroke you will think you have put a round in the pipe but you have not. If you are ever in a situation where you need your sidearm and need it now, you will not have time to rack your weapon. Your attacker will not notify you of thier intentions. You hear this often, "He came out of nowhere!" No, HE did not. YOU, did not see him.

Not having a round in the pipe is like leaving the advancing chamber empty on a revolver.

 

[NoOne]

At this point, I think most of the people who think a round in the chamber is safe, are disagreeing with those who can't stand the idea of a loaded firearm. It simply frightens them for whatever reason. The claim that "it is safer" is another way of saying that they are frightened of loaded firearms, therefore they feel safer with an unloaded one.

There is no way that anyone here will change minds on either side. It has reached a point where it reminds me of listening to people arguing about various religions. Everyone has an opinion, and no one will change the mind of the other person.

As all the information has been posted, reason now has little to do with an ongoing discussion of this issue. As is the case with gun control where some people are simply frightened of firearms, some people here are frightened of firearms with a loaded chamber. I believe we are now at the point where we are dealing with peoples feelings, and there is no logic that applies to feelings because they are so very individualistic. Anyone who is afraid of a loaded firearm, shouldn't carry one, and I'm OK with their right to carry with an empty chamber. I just find it interesting, and unnecessary it when people try to disguise fear of loaded firearms as a safety issue.

If some type of firearm mechanism causes fear because there is a round in the chamber, it might be worthwhile to look for a type that doesn't make them feel so fearful of the mechanism. If they are unable to feel safe with anything having a round in the chamber, or if a modern double action revolver with a loaded cylinder makes them feel unsafe, perhaps more training, or a re-examination of their relationship with firearms in general would be useful.

Of course, there are many unsafe things in modern life that we deal with. Firearms, gasoline, gas stoves, electricity, explosives, and many other things can be very dangerous without proper handling and/or training. But most of us still choose to deal with most of them.

The bottom line is that we will not get the anti-firearms people over their fear of firearms any more than we will get those who are afraid to carry a loaded chamber over their fears.

 

[MikeIsh]

LOL EMP your posts are great! I borrowed your dead horse picture, hope that's ok.

Keep posting, IMHO this type of thread like the "Which is best";caliber, pistol, make, carry method, will never die as every n00b who signs on has either a question or opinion.

Glad your here to keep it lively!

 

[EMP9596]

Small chime in here and I am going to use the word "consistant" a lot...

For one in the pipe or not, for safety to work, it has to be consistant, and the same way for training. Learn the firearms you are going to rely on and use them and train with them on a consistant schedule. Be consistant the way you handle and store them. How and where you clear them. I keep them always in the same order in the safe, same with the loaded mags. No lights or flashlight? I can put my hand on whichever firearm I need. Example my carry is a 1911... It goes the same place every night, placed for a right hand pickup with a spare mag on the left. House shotgun designated place, standing barrel down for a wrist pickup. I am 100% comfy with a cocked and locked 1911 but have formed a habit of a quick check of the safety before slideing in and out of a vehicle, and even do it out of habit when unarmed and nobody seems to notice. I have three 1911's they all have the same grips and it works for me. It's a common sense thing, but just remember you are doing the thinking for you and the firearm and to me that is muscle memory and you ain't gonna get it unless you practice and train.

Someone once told me:

If you ain't got common sense, or you have a temper, you got no business carrying a firearm.

Enough said,

mjd

 

[lv1986]

I carry a .357 so its always chambered, but i could draw and pull the trigger faster then having to rack the slide then pull the trigger so id say chambered.

 

[NoOne]

EMP9596,
Well said, and I agree with everything you said. Practice doesn't make perfect....perfect practice makes perfect. There is no more rational reason to fear a firearm with a loaded chamber than there is to fear a very sharp kitchen knife. The key to safety with both is the same: Proper training followed by perfect practice, consistency, and equipment that works properly.

Frankly, I am more afraid of the brakes going out on my vehicle than I am of my firearm going off by itself. 'Ya have to somehow manipulate a firearm to have an unintentional discharge. If you manipulate it improperly, something bad can happen.

Improperly steering your vehicle (improperly manipulating it) or improperly manipulating your firearm...neither one is likely to work out well.

 

[EMP9596]

Practice, Training, Honeing and Staying Familiar with your Skills Builds Confidence!

If you Do Not Use it, you will Lose it!

 

[Blitzkrieg]

IT lives !