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

[deen_ad]

I carry a 1911 in Condition One as it was designed to be carried.

Same with my Kimbers.

If Zimmerman hadn't had one in the chamber he might not be here.

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

I carry loaded however I think it's better to have a firearm available than not one at all. If carrying unchambered is the only way you'll leave the house with your firearm why not?

Someone brought up a point that if Zimmerman wasn't chambered during the struggle etc...... I guess un-chambered is O.K. if you're concerned about someone trying to grab it from your holster before you can, like in a struggle/fight or surprise grab. I don't think it's so black and white.

 

[cookie]

Round in chambered or a full cylinder. Just like the Cops do.

 

[corsar66]

I have one in the chamber on my Nano, this video make me change my view about it!

Please look at this video (shared also on this forum by ATCclears)

<broken link removed>

 

[oknow]

I have one in the chamber on my Nano, this video make me change my view about it!

Please look at this video (shared also on this forum by ATCclears)

<broken link removed>

:huh:

 

[Botte Hork]

Great video, maybe corsar556 could be more clear by saying he didn't carry chambered before. Pincus brings a very convincing argument in this video for people who needed convincing.

 

[corsar66]

Thank you Horke! forgot to mention that!

 

[Botte Hork]

Oops, 66, not 556.

I guess it's clear what type of firearm has been on my mind lately.

 

[DedPyro]

I keep my Makarov 380 with a clear tube. But my preferred carry is the P345 and that has a chambered round.

Brutus Out

Isn't the Makarov a DA/SA with a decocker? I think it'd be safer carrying loaded with it in DA mode rather than empty.

 

[DedPyro]

I have one in the chamber on my Nano, this video make me change my view about it!

Please look at this video (shared also on this forum by ATCclears)

<broken link removed>

So after getting my girlfriend her CHL we went looking for pistols. We went to months of gun shows, rented guns to shoot, shot mine and borrowed others from friends. She tried everything and finally fell in love with an EMP 9mm 3" 1911. Before we bought it I told her that with it being a 1911, she had to be comfortable carrying cocked and locked. She suggested that maybe she'd just keep the chamber unloaded until she was comfortable. I told her that she might as well just carry a small club. I told her that if she wasn't ready to carry loaded then that's fine but that she needs to carry around the house first until she gets used to it. In public it needs to be loaded or it's worthless. She wasn't 100% convinced until I showed her this...
Should You Carry A Round In The Chamber? - YouTube
ENJOY!!!

 

[etrain16]

Full mag, round in the chamber. Striker fired, no safety on this model (M&P 9c)

 

[oknow]

So after getting my girlfriend her CHL we went looking for pistols. We went to months of gun shows, rented guns to shoot, shot mine and borrowed others from friends. She tried everything and finally fell in love with an EMP 9mm 3" 1911. Before we bought it I told her that with it being a 1911, she had to be comfortable carrying cocked and locked. She suggested that maybe she'd just keep the chamber unloaded until she was comfortable. I told her that she might as well just carry a small club. I told her that if she wasn't ready to carry loaded then that's fine but that she needs to carry around the house first until she gets used to it. In public it needs to be loaded or it's worthless. She wasn't 100% convinced until I showed her this...
Should You Carry A Round In The Chamber? - YouTube
ENJOY!!!

that is a very good way to get people to understand why to carry with a round in the chamber.

 

[DedPyro]

Note on this.

If it is legal to carry either way, could not a Lawyer in a shooting ask why you took time to load and chamber when perhaps you could have fled maybe called for help, hid.?

If I am loaded, chambered and ready ( like I am always no matter what I CC,) then it is one choice left and that is defend a life threat.
I try and think what dick head lawyers would do to firearm holders, one could even say if you took time to load and chamber you premeditated the act to shoot when there may have been other options?
I do not want questions when I pulled my weapon if that occurs it will be one choice and no time for anything else.

SW !

I agree. You need to be able to convince a jury if, Flying Spaghetti Monster forbid, you have to use your weapon to defend yourself. I think if you carry unloaded, you do not really believe you're ever going to need it. I hope I don't need it, but I've had a pistol in my face before I carried. I couldn't have hoped to even draw before I was looking at a little punk waving a Beretta at me. There is NO way that I would have been able to chamber a round too.
Don't forget that you don't get to pick when this may happen. I thought it was just some whiny little prick running his mouth. Well it was but he wanted to MAKE SURE we knew What if you're lucky enough to not be in his line of sight. Don't you think throwing the slide back to slam a round into the chamber might make some noise? Prepare for everything. Drawing a pistol in self defense to me should either be very reactionary (i.e. the video I posted) or very planned (i.e. defense of others or home invasion). Prepare for both and load it up.
NDs usually only happen when people have poor dry-fire/practice/cleaning habits or don't look while reholstering. My girlfriend laughs when I check my chamber 5 or 6 times while teaching something. Mystery bullets do magically appear in your chamber. Luckily, outside of cleaning and practice I always keep mine loaded so it's never a mystery

 

[DedPyro]

that is a very good way to get people to understand why to carry with a round in the chamber.

Thanks. I hope it helps others increase their chances. I wouldn't want to take the risk. There is no shame in just walking around your house for a few months with an empty pipe, cocked and locked, even practice drawing (a lot) until you convince yourself it's not going to go off. I'm having my girlfriend do that with a snap cap in the pipe. That way you build the good habit of loading it, placing it on safe and then holstering it. At first I was carrying a 1911 in condition 2 (hammer down). Figured I could pull the hammer back quicker than chambering a round. I was also 21 and living in the ghetto of Phoenix so I didn't take much time to follow my own advice of getting used to it around the house first. I learned that if you're going to do it, do it right.

You don't get to choose the circumstances of the situation. The bad guy chooses for you. The best you can do is be aware and as prepared as possible.
Should You Carry A Round In The Chamber? - YouTube

 

[Botte Hork]

At first I was carrying a 1911 in condition 2 (hammer down). Figured I could pull the hammer back quicker than chambering a round.

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.

 

[solv3nt]

Flying Spaghetti Monster forbid

I grew up with the guy that started the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

 

[Botte Hork]

I grew up with the guy that started the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

As long as Spaghetti has been around, there have been little monsters that make it fly.





*Yes, I know the meaning behind FSM.

 

[phathom]

PF9 - One in the chamber, full mag
P22 - One in the chamber, full mag, safety on, hammer down

When I carried a G19 - One in the chamber, full mag

 

[DedPyro]

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.

Currently it is common for firearms manufacturers to test a weapon by dropping it on the hammer with the hammer forward. With older guns, especially single action revolvers, that may be the case. This type of thinking had a base in truth at one time. I know when the SAA was in popular use, it was common to carry it with the hammer down on an empty chamber. A 90 year old 1911 might suffer from the same problem but you are unlikely to find that is the case in current 1911s and even recent ones before grip safeties. Mine is from the 70's and of poor quality and I tested it with a rubber dead blow with no malfuction. I never said I was smart at 21 With that said, mechanical devices do fail so it once again comes down to personal comfort. I agree that NOW I would only carry a 1911 cocked and locked and believe it is a better system with less risk of failure or ND. Disengaging that safety doesn't even take any thought anymore, it's become part of my grip. I do think it's more likely, in current production, to allow the hammer to slip out of your grip and ND than to have it strike the firing pin while resting. Just my opinion.

 

[DedPyro]

I grew up with the guy that started the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

That's fantastic. I was hoping at least one person would catch that Makes as much sense as my imaginary creator is better than your imaginary creator. ALLALALALLALLALALA!!!