Poll: While carrying, is your chamber clear or locked and loaded?

[slind]

the way i see it is that everyone I know who carries for a living and is either military,special forces or agents of some kind. all have a round in the chamber. but i know that when most get home from duty they just put them in the safe. keep em loaded for use the next day. i would choose to go out on patrol. ready. and if we keep that mind set. never knowing when the enemy will strike/every second counts. when I carry my glock i am extra careful when i holster it and lock it in my belt. i train a practice so I have muscle memory. the issue is I do not like only having a trigger safety. but the truth is also it may be the fastest way to protect yourself and eliminate a step to de activate the safety. but that's just from experience in all combat. even being in training you never know what may happen and you should be ready. the extra time it takes to chamber one and in a heated situation you may make a mistake and it leaves more room for something to go wrong. and at that time i think its best to just be ready. or just don't carry in the first place. look up front sight. they have some good training tips/

 

[SCannon]

Everyday I carry without one in the chamber. If I'm in a sketchy area I will chamber one before getting out of the truck.

If someone were to mug me I would go for my knife of use my hands. Much faster and very little chance of snagging on clothing when drawing from under a shirt.

 

[Spray-n-pray]

It's funny, this thread is so old that when I voted in the poll, I wasn't comfortable carrying with one in the chamber. Now I'm all about cocked and locked.



Condition one for life!

 

[cookie]

Not being a 1911 owner myself, I can't check it, but I understood when the hammer is down it is in direct contact with the firing pin. Force on the hammer could then fire the round, due to no disconnect-type thing, like a trigger safety. Is that correct? The person telling me this said cocked & locked is safer than hammer down & chambered.

The Deputy Sheriffs in this county if they carry a 1911 it is cocked and locked. They can really handle those pistols.

 

[misplacedtexan]

There are numerous studies and videos of exercises proving the studies theories about the one-in-the-chamber carry.

Hands down, if a guy is within 25 ft and wants to stab you you aren't going to stop him. Period. On the outer edge of the range you might put on in him IF you have one in the chamber, but that is being presumptuous. Don't believe me?

I currently can't find the one that supports the 25 ft distance, it was an older video (black/white) shot from over head. Anything inside 15 ft the cop was stabbed multiple time with no shots, beyond that cop was still stabbed and may have gotten a shot off. 25ft was the 'safe' line to shoot and not be stabbed.

 

[RBid]

misplacedtexan's post is loaded with truth. That video should have way more views than it does. What is easy to miss is that that little gal in the video has an obscene amount of firearms and tactical courses under her belt, including a lot of time spent learning from some very hardcore, "been there/done that" types of guys. Most people attempting the same thing would look even worse in that drill than she does.

 

[EGA Tanker]

It depends what I'm carrying, but in general chamber loaded, hammer forward, safety off for DA or DA/SA. I figure the double action pull is enough of a safety for a properly holstered weapon. If its a 1911/1991 condition 2, chamber loaded, hammer back, safety on. If it's a Glock, XD, etc chambered and ready. Basically when seconds count I'm saving all the seconds I can.

 

[PopsBdog]

I carry either a Taurus TCP or a Sig Sauer P290.
Both are Double Action only.
There is always one in the chamber.

 

[misplacedtexan]

If someone were to mug me I would go for my knife of use my hands. Much faster and very little chance of snagging on clothing when drawing from under a shirt.

While it is nice to employ less-lethal alternatives (I would only consider them for the legal reasons), have you ever been in a knife fight? I had the not-so-lucky chance to watch a friend who thought knives were the bees knees get into one with a bum/mugger. Neither of them 'walked' away. My friend got 50 some odd stitches, and I think the bum lost a finger.

NO ONE wins in a knife fight. Ever.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Believe it or not, with as big of a "loaded only" advocate as I am.. Ive found myself carrying with an empty chamber.. Just a strange observation over the last two weeks. Chambered from now on though.

 

[Thebastidge]

I personally keep a round in the chamber. My question is this though. If you carry, all day, everyday, is it going to wear out the striker spring to have it always in a "cocked" position. I have an XD and the striker pin is always back. If I always have my magazines loaded to full and have the pistol in the cocked position, will this wear out the springs or am I just too paranoid? I know I can replace the springs in the magazines and the striker spring, but just something I was thinking about.

Research strongly shows that metal fatigue happens from cycling through, not keeping a spring compressed. Plenty of cases where a firearm has been loaded and cocked for decades, pulled out of a drawer and fires as designed, as long as corrosion hasn't happened.

 

[U201491]

1911 design kimber ultra carry hot tube safety on cocked. Repetitive practice and the safety goes off as it clears the holster and body.
An example of not using the safety and relying only on the grip safety was a fortunate accident in a restaraunt in vancouver. I believe it was an off duty LE. He sat down in a booth and murphys law took over and his 45 discharged into the seat.
I say a fortunate accident, as no one was hit and the restaraunt was full of families and kids.
This happened about 20 yrs ago.
Maybe some on here will remember it. You can train yourself to thumb off that safety automatically without thinking about it and your finger not entering that guard until you have sight alignment without losing even a fraction of a second in response time. Its just repetition and time. Do it right. Start slow and speed will build itself over time.

 

[Certaindeaf]

5-6 chambers empty at all times.. can't be too safe!

 

[orygun]

Not being a 1911 owner myself, I can't check it, but I understood when the hammer is down it is in direct contact with the firing pin. Force on the hammer could then fire the round, due to no disconnect-type thing, like a trigger safety. Is that correct? The person telling me this said cocked & locked is safer than hammer down & chambered.

You could carry that way and it would be safe. The firing pin has to be driven forward with force to strike the primer. The firing pin is shorter than the distance from the hammer to the chamber. Usually if carrying with hammer down, it's in the safety notch (one click back from resting against the slide) which is a very deep cut in the hammer. Either one is safe.

This is an old thread. I haven't owned the gun I mentioned in my previous post for about 4 years!
But I still carry a 1911 daily and it's cocked and locked. For the last three years it's been in an IWB holster with no thumb break. It did take a while to feel comfortable carrying that way, but time has proven it's the only way to go (for me). If I'm carrying that gun when out in the toolies, I do change to an OWB holster with a thumb break.

One other thing, when John Browning designed the gun that would become the 1911, it had no thumb safety. He felt the grip safety was all that's needed, and added the thumb at the request of the Army. So, tread a little lightly on the fact that a 1911 was "designed" to have a thumb safety.

 

[jjackffrost]

if i want to carry a hammer i would carry a hammer.

 

[orygun]

if i want to carry a hammer i would carry a hammer.

That's the beauty of an all steel gun! When I run outta bullits I can use it as a hammer!

 

[U201491]

While it is nice to employ less-lethal alternatives (I would only consider them for the legal reasons), have you ever been in a knife fight? I had the not-so-lucky chance to watch a friend who thought knives were the bees knees get into one with a bum/mugger. Neither of them 'walked' away. My friend got 50 some odd stitches, and I think the bum lost a finger.

NO ONE wins in a knife fight. Ever.

It is the worst case scenario.
A man that knows the knife will leave you with cuts everywhere you don't want them, even if you are equally skilled. I have the scars.
Avoid it as a defense unless you can come in behind fast enough to inflict a kidney or stem penetration. The courts will also "field day you"

A face to face, you lose, even if you win.
It is a very last resort defense tool.

Offensive use has its place, but you better be proficient and expedient.

 

[sandman1212]

I always carry with one in the chamber on my 1911. I am more than comfortable with dual safeties, there is a very slim chance of both of them failing at the same time!
When reaction time truly counts, it will be a life saver!

 

[U201491]

I always carry with one in the chamber on my 1911. I am more than comfortable with dual safeties, there is a very slim chance of both of them failing at the same time!
When reaction time truly counts, it will be a life saver!

Yep, one of the most versatile handguns there is, and very safe.
Also many options in styles of thumb safeties as well as ambidextrous ones. So many options.

 

[Cuthbert Allgood]

While it is nice to employ less-lethal alternatives (I would only consider them for the legal reasons), have you ever been in a knife fight? I had the not-so-lucky chance to watch a friend who thought knives were the bees knees get into one with a bum/mugger. Neither of them 'walked' away. My friend got 50 some odd stitches, and I think the bum lost a finger.

NO ONE wins in a knife fight. Ever.

<broken link removed> .

As for the topic at hand, my pistol is always locked and loaded while I'm carrying.