Chamber a round or not

If you really want to stir the pot, tell them you carry a .22 in the small of your back with 4 manual safeties, because Glocks and 1911s are sissy guns.

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:face_with_raised_eyebrow:
Wow, I didn’t realize I should use plural form :grimacing:

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I will let someone with a better internet connection than mine track down the articles and videos but I can picture two off the top of my head and know I have come across at least a couple more. One was a shop owner during a robbery and the other was a father with his kid. Both were shot while trying to rack the slide on their handguns. I’m not against those that choose to carry without a round chambered for whatever reason. Just be aware that doing so limits your options on how and when you might be able to respond to certain threats.

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I like what you said. It’s all about threat assessments and risk tolerance. I don’t feel threatened in my neighborhood, but my neighbor might. I might adjust my preparedness level depending on where I’m going and what I’m doing, and other people might make different choices.

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I only did 4, there is more!

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There are examples, many, not hard to find

Objectively superior to have your carry gun fully ready to go. By unavoidable nature, you should expect to be behind the curve when using a carry gun for defense out and about in generally accessible areas

You may need to wait your turn, but that turn should be playable in a couple seconds with one hand

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That only proves, how important it is for gun owners…
… or how they are confused about it. :grimacing:

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One in the chamber and safety off. Why waste time dealing with the fine motor skills in a critical and stressful situation.

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That’s the other part of safety procedures.
Safety OFF… but when? All the time? During draw stroke?

And what if the safety gets accidentally shifted on before the draw without the person realizing it?

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So we came to the conclusion, which has been always the same → training. Lot of practice. Be effective and persistent with your every move.

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Worth noting, the original 1911 design only had a grip safety, not a thumb safety and was designed to carry cocked.

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That’s well said

I’ve recently shot a .380 with a grip safety, i didn’t hate it at all. I don’t mind having the flip lever safety either. Off or on. My Taurus doesn’t need a heavy finger pull the way my .375 mag does. Obviously without the hammer cocked on the 9mm its a heavier pull. I am just not in love with my sigma .380. I do love the size but it’s like hitting your hand with a rock pulling the trigger. Same with my son’s 10mm. I’d love a snub nose .375 but i could imagine the recoil, and reloading fast is a pain vs. Ejecting the mag and sliding one back in. Carrying 2 extra mags is easy better than a pocket full of shells. (Thank you, Rage Against the Machine)

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Worth everything.
Actually no thumb safety setup was in Colt 1907 and before US Army adopted this construction they requested thumb safety to be present.

As we can see now, in modern 1911 manufacturing, the grip safety is unnecessary, still keeping thumb lever in place.

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Because every time someone hands me a pistol without a thumb safety, I waste time trying to find it.
What works for you works for you. I know what works for me.

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Great point friend. If I understand you correctly, if one tries to rack that slide very slowly so as not to make that much noise, it has a high probability of jamming/locking up, requiring a clearing which gonna be noisy.

Careful out there. Test it out with snap caps, or on the range, keeping it pointed in a safe direction.

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Hey Shebe2266,

Your topic is still red hot. It’s a popular one. Not sure if all had seen this vid. Kevin from USCCA walks us through it. Again, if someone prefers not to chamber, then more power to him or her, they can always ease into it, slowly, or not. There are even ways to train oneself into it incrementally, we can write a whole chapter on that.

In the vid below; Yes, there were some things the defender did which in the eyes of the law and moral code, may have been or are wrong, still, I learned a lot from it.

Check it out :

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I would.

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At him? :rofl:

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