What supportive advice would you give to someone who is thinking about / new to carrying about carrying with one in the chamber?
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I’m not prepared to pull right now but am carrying just for the practice. I’m still acclimating. But I do plan to chamber one once my defense ammo comes in soon.
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Modern handguns have trigger blocks, and other redundant safeties. If they are worried, get a gun with a manual safety. They don’t have to use it once they are comfortable, except on 1911 style pistols of course. Disengaging a safety takes a lot less time than chambering a round. In a heated moment, fine motor skills are dulled in favor of a fight or flight response. You may not have the manual dexterity to chamber a round, or you might cause a stovepipe, or drop the weapon. Practicing disengagement of a safety while drawing is an easy thing for muscle memory.
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The best way I’ve heard it put, do you put your seatbelt on right before the crash?
If someone isn’t comfortable with a round in the chamber they just need more training and range time. I walked my wife step by step of all the things is take for the gun to fire. Once she saw everything that would have to “accidentally” happen for a round to go off she was much more comfortable.
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Always one in the chamber. I carry Glock’s, so no worries about an accidental discharge.
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That’s the same example I use @Sheepdog556! You don’t have time in a car accident to put a seatbelt on and you won’t have time in a self-defense incident (in most cases) to chamber a round.
@KillJoy, I practiced carrying at home with one in the chamber for a while before I felt comfortable carrying outside of the home. It isn’t the easiest thing to do when you’re not confident in it. Carrying at home helped me build my confidence and stop the urge to adjust the gun while I was carrying it.
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Not fidgeting with the gun is a hard habit to break when you first start carrying
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I love seeing new carriers out in the stores. SOOO easy to spot.
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New carriers are easy for us to spot, but I wonder do non-carriers even notice, @Phil-G45?
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Not at all. Most people dont realize they are not alone on this planet. Lol
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@Dawn. I’m not worried about carrying with one in the chamber anymore. It’s just that I only have FMJ right now and don’t want to fire threw a bad guy and accidentally hit an innocent bistander.
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I’m new to the world of concealed carry but def feel like @Sheepdog556 and @Dawn say you dont put your seatbelts on just before the accident. I have hunted for years and feel safe carrying there loaded so the transition was easy
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I always carry a PLUS one in the chamber. Gives me an extra round so instead of 7 I have 8. Or instead of 8 I have 9. I find carrying one in the chamber becomes more important with single stack than double stack but overall I just recommend carrying one in the chamber no matter what because it gives you that extra round. But as far as carrying WITH A round in the chamber, well it’s simple: it saves you time in a deadly situation. Do you really want to be facing death and realize you have to load a round in the chamber before you can shoot your assailant? I don’t. I carry with one in the chamber without a safety on (for my Security 9) for that very reason. It eliminates 2 whole steps completely.
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That begs a question. How safe would it be for me to keep the safety off for a Taurus PT111 G2? It has a trigger safety and is holstered.
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I don’t think most people are aware of the behavior of new carriers. It’s more noticeable to fellow carriers.
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If you are not locked and loaded, then why are you carrying? If you don’t feel safe carrying with one in the pipe, then you may need to look into a different gun. In my opinion, you need to be ready to rock an a blink of an eye, you may only have a very short window to neutralize. This is where you training comes in. Use a timer, know what your capable of doing. Then there’s the moral issue,“Can you bring yourself to take a life?” Before you decide to carry, you really need to answer these questions. There’s a percentage of poeple that get shot with their own gun because it gets taken from them. I don’t know what that percentage is, but it does exist. Be smart, be safe, and if your not absolutely confident in your skill set, then maybe you shouldn’t be carrying, there’s no shame in that. God bless.
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After growing up shooting revolvers and then spending a career in the Army carrying a Beretta M9, I also felt uncomfortable carrying a striker fire with a chambered round, but I really don’t like the extra step of disengaging the safety. Over time I have become comfortable with the striker, but I finally got a DA/SA CZ as my carry gun. Now I carry a chambered round with the long trigger pull and no longer worry about those concerns. I know many people don’t like that first DA trigger pull, but with practice it can become second nature. and I really prefer it.
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That’s one of the awesome things about firearms, there’s one that will work for you, right @Mark? Even with the right gun, training with your gun until you’re comfortable with it cannot be replaced!
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I agree, training is key and dry fire is free.
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Just called the manufacturer on my PT111 G2. They said it was not part of a recall. I asked if I could carry it safely with the manual safety off. He said absolutely and described 3 built in safeties other than the manual safety. Works for me. I loaded my selfdefense rounds and chambered one. Ready to go.
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