@William258
Welcome to the community
Train Hard and Stay Safe.
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And all very good reasons why many of us carry with one in the chamber.
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Ah, âsayingsâ. âYou get what you pay forâ, often true, often false. Hereâs a nice one though, that fits well in this discussion and is likely true all the time: âIncoming rounds have the right of way.â
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SayingsâŠ
It is not the bullet with my name on it I worry about⊠itâs the thousands of others that just say occupant.
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if some feel uncomfortable with one in the chamber it is still better to carry that way than not carry at all, i agree they must keep finger of the trigger muzzle pointed in a safe direction, most new to carrying really need to maintain the 4 safety rules, love being a member of a great family ,the uscca
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I have carried a little over 2 years now and plenty of time to reason it out. If I were in danger and was forced to use my weapon I would like to have that few seconds of racking the slide not be there. Just the sound of doing it would give early warning. I have in my mind now that there is always one on chambered no matter which weapon I carry and always will be.
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I actually agree with you mostly. Your premise of âhaving a gun with an empty chamber is better than no gunâ, is true, if not being chambered doesnât cause you to lose the fight. Iâve actually seen footage of a man grab a small pistol and rack it very quickly to stop a mugging. On the contrary, the delay of racking could also get you killed. Itâs only better for you if it doest get you killed.
That being said you have to be careful with drawing a gun with one in the pipe too.
The other wildly huge advantage of having one in the pipe is only need one hand to operate the pistol when itâs in this state. This is ideal for close quarters scenarios.
I do understand what your saying. It takes time to trust your gun.
I think carrying one in the pipe is like jumping into a cold pool. You could ease in, but really your just prolonging the discomfort. Jumping straight in, you are fully uncomfortable for a short period of time, and then you get over it.
One could spend months carrying an empty chamber, but still feel extremely uncomfortable when they do put one in the pipe. Where as one could just jump straight to that process and get over it quicker.
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IMO, itâs hard to ignore the simple fact that in a crisis, time is not your friend, and seconds count. Modern semi-automatic pistols are far safer than older ones, and a quality gun wonât go off unless the trigger is pulled. I will note that there are a couple of âname brandsâ that have had an issue with that, YouTube will have the info for you, but these are way far and away the exceptions, not the rule. My Beretta wonât go off unless the trigger is pulled, no matter if I drop it or kick it, hell, even if I throw it at someone (I donât recommend throwing your firearm at a foe unless itâs empty, and even then use a rock instead). It just wonât. Internal safety blocks and a positive trigger safety prevent impact from dropping the firing pin. The same is true about modern ammunition. Short of an actual fire, you have to hit the primer to fire the round.
Same thing with modern revolvers. They wonât go off unless you pull the trigger. In days of yore, impact would do it so often they would be carried with an empty chamber under the hammer, since they were single action and needed to be cocked anyway, but thatâs not necessary any more.
Do a bit of research before you buy - use multiple references, not just the first talking head you encounter. Buy new if you can. Put in the time at the range, and the time in front of the mirror (make DAMN sure weapon is unloaded, then check again). Get used to the feel of the weapon and you will see that it is not the gun that fires the round, itâs the person holding it. Practice trigger safety - keep your finger off the trigger until you have made the decision to shoot, then shoot without delay. Practice practice practice - the three most important words.
Welcome to the responsible armed citizen club.
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790 replies⊠well, whatâs one more? For me the essential point is not speed, but is that whatever I have to do I have to be able to do with one hand only. One of my hands could be disabled or needed for a life preserving task and so, not available for chambering a round.
Because it seems like carrying very concealed exposes the gun to a lot of torques and pressures simply from moving, sitting, driving, whatever, I was at times uncomfortable with a striker fired âsafety is on the triggerâ set up as in my Glock 17. Which pistol I greatly appreciate and do carry when my activities permit a bit more concealing clothing than at other times. At such times I can conceal outside the waistband comfortably, and carry the Glock. But for summer, or times when itâs more difficult to conceal a larger frame pistol, I needed something small but large enough to fit my hand, and that when holstered and undergoing lots of movement and pressures (even though IN a good quality holster) gave me a rock solid sense of personal safety from an unintentional discharge.
Went with the Springfield XDE, a smaller, flat pistol with an external hammer, that provides a little bit stiff but still very accurate double action first shot, and an external safety that disengages the trigger completely - as an option. Most of the time I carry with the safety off, uncocked, so itâs a draw and double action trigger squeeze to fire. At certain times depending on my activity I will carry with the safety on. In that case there is the mental / physical step to disengage the safety on drawing, but even if that step is missed, itâs a very fast correction, and all with one hand. (Faster still than racking the slide).
I always carry with a full magazine and one in the chamber, and an extra magazine. I never carry the XDE cocked and safed.
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Personally agree with all 3 points, especially the Israeli rack a round deal. If u arenât a professional soldier, u wonât train to that level, and if you are. sorry if youâre in Israel.
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I wonder if perhaps training your draw to always disengage the safety, or place your thumb on it and press to be sure, may be a good thing bc muscle memory i think is better than mentally trying to remember if safety is on or not. I carry a 1911 and practice defeating the rmthumb safety every draw is wat made me think of it in your case.
Take care
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Hmmmm
I think next time I go pheasant hunting Iâ'll keep an empty chamber as I walk.
Once I get to 90% effective with rack, aim, poof on pheasant I will move to timberdoodles.
Now this one could take a while. But once I get to 90% effective with rack, aim, poof on the Wiley Woodcock I will feel confident that the synaptic channels are well enough developed to add the process of drawing a pistol and betting my life on it.
So for anyone not picking up what I just laid down, if you wouldnât expect to be able to rack in time while open carrying on a bird hunt, what makes you think you can do it when a scary clown clears your bumper in the parking lot and is heading right at youâŠ
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Smiddy - Absolutely! I always practice with the thumb stroking the safety off on the draw (which also always and âautomaticallyâ confirms the safety is off and gun ready to fire) - so Iâll never miss that step in the midst of crisis. The muscle memory is essential, you will do what you practiced, if you practice a lot, and practice the same way (or at least the same subset of steps the same way). I wrote the âin that caseâ as someone may read the preceding sentence, think it a good idea, and then forget the necessity. I like your comment a lot - I wish Iâd addressed that right after that critical sentence. More to the point and more helpful too. Thank you.
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I think I almost always knew that I would carry one in the chamber. Read a lot of stuff about it before I ever had a pistol. If I am carrying on my hip I use a holster with a thumb break. Just another safety mechanism that is pushed through with practice. Knowing that the retention strap is between the hammer and firing pin makes me feel safer. I mainly carry a Kimber Ultra in a Barsony pocket holster. The Kimber is a sub-compact .45. In this configuration I have 1) Holster covers the trigger and guard completely, 2) holster must hook the pocket to allow the draw. 3) thumb safety. 4) grip safety. 5) Firing pin block. So, five safeties. Wouldnât know it by just looking at it. I donât know what else I could do to make it any safer.
Having to rack a round seems like a bridge too far. My off hand isnât strong enough to overcome the Kimber recoil spring so if I was carrying this way I would have to draw, then switch hands, then rack the slide, then switch back.
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Thanks Johnny!
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Welcome @Daniel228. I usually carry a Kimber Ultra +CDP, since the winter hit I carry a full size Norinco M1911A1. I love that Kimber though!
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Oh yeah! I have that one too! Rotate it with a Stainless Ultra Raptor II. Both of them are fine guns. Love the Custom Shop pistols.
Havenât been on the range since March. Staying home due to Corona Virus.
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