How Often Do You Unload ?

Was at the range today and there were two young ladies being given private instruction on shooting. They were full of very good questions and were drilling the instructor for their moneys worth.

One of the questions was how often did the instructor unload his CC weapon. He replied every night when he arrived home as he had a weapon he used for home defense . He then put his CC weapon in his gun safe . Reloading it in the morning before leaving his home .

Driving home I thought about the questions they had asked and that one kept coming to mind.

I never unload, well not exactly true . When going to the range for practice I use a different mag and leave my home defense JHP in the mag they are in, but I do shoot the round that is chambered topping off after practice when reloading for CC. I then shoot my home defense mag about every 3-4 months and reload with fresh ammo. But between those times my CC weapon stays loaded with one chambered, Condition 1 I believe its called . And is always in a holster that has a complete trigger guard covering all of the trigger opening. If its not on my body its never more then 2-3 feet from me at all times, day or night !

How often do you unload, or don't you ?? Which one ?

I never unload my CC gun. Really not a good idea as loading and unloading can be rather dangerous from a safety standpoint.

Whitwabit:

I rarely carry a semi-auto for self defense anymore as the arthritis in my hands makes clearance drills slow and painful at best. My usual EDC consists of a pair of J-frame revolvers: a Model 38-1 and a Model 638-1 almost exclusively carried in a pair of DeSantis Nemesis pocket holsters. Sometimes, when my arthritis really flares up badly, I'll carry a Model 432PD chambered in .32 H&R Magnum, and a Seecamp in .32ACP. The Seecamp is a last ditch, very close quarters pistol (it doesn't have any sights on it).

As far as my revolvers go, I unload and reload them every time prior to holstering and carrying them. This is so I can inspect each round to make sure they look okay, and that the cylinder release and ejector rod are operating smoothly and properly. I place them in the safe fully loaded once I have returned home.

Regards,

Dave

Never, for the same reasons as Paul. Statistically, accidents, especially with semi-autos, happen while someone is manipulating the mechanism of the gun, so from that standpoint you are just inviting trouble when unloading unnecessarily. Back when I carried 1911's cocked and locked, I used to lower the hammer on a loaded chamber; in hindsight, I'm not comfortable with that idea any more either, and am glad that I switched back to mainly revolvers almost 20 years ago.

I clean & lube my main carry gun (Shield 40) and then load up with my favorite carry ammo & keep it like that until I either take it to the range or the first of each month when I unload it, break it down & give it a quick wipedown & relube.

Right now I only have one gun, my carry 642. The only time I unload it is when I'm cleaning it or engaging in dry-fire practice. I do quite a bit of dry fire practice, sometimes a minute or two of drawing practice or a full 20-30 minute session with reloading, awkward positions, etc. This is also part of my regular function check to make sure the chambers are clean and dry, the bore is clear, the extractor rod and cylinder release latch are tight, the firing pin works the way it's supposed to, etc.

It was trickier when I had a Glock 23 because I was (possibly overly) concerned about bullet setback in rounds being chambered. I pulled the slide all the way back and released it to chamber a round. Whenever I cleared the chamber the ejected round would get placed in a designated 50-round box. When the box got full of ejected cartridges I'd shoot the ammo in the box, which usually happened every few months because of dry-fire practice and removing the JHP so I could shoot my practice loads at the range.

That's one of the things I appreciate about revolvers: No setback issues. I can load/unload the gun as often as I want (in accordance with safety rules, of course).

For bottomfeeders = When it's on my body , the chamber is loaded. When it's not , it isn't .

No good all encompasing reason , but after decades of habit it is my engrained manual of arms. Same way that I always carry a SA revolver with empty chamber under hammer , even though I have a mix of transfer bar and old school guns. Uniformity of manual of arms.

But I understand the reasoning of leaving semi's loaded. If it works for you interms of manual of arms for specific gun and your methods of storing gun when off person, I won't talk you out of the practice.

The only time my EDC Sig P290 RS is unloaded is when I'm cleaning the little devil;otherwise, I always keep one in the chamber. My HD bedside handgun is a Glock 19 that remains unchambered, unless I'm carrying it holstered on my person.

I've spent many, many years hunting and shooting with pump and lever rifles and shotguns with the exposed hammer. I've carried those weapons on open chamber, empty full chamber closed, and with the use of the half, no, and full cocked so much that it is nothing. I have lowered hammers on full chambers so many times its nothing to me at all. I can't think of a time I've had a negligent discharge over laying the hammer down once. To operate a hammer and empty a chamber is so second nature I don't have any fear of it. I see no danger in it. I disarm my Browning Hi Power and 1911 all the time, and consider unloading the guns as a natural part of their operation.

So no, I can't agree that unloading an auto loading handgun to be a dangerous action. I will strongly agree there are some problems with doing it daily, namely that their will be eventual bullet pushback into the casing if the same round is rechambered over and over again, something I personally have seen and have experienced problems with, including a big problem I had with UMC 230 hollow points in .45 ACP with my 1911 and with my Thompson carbine. Although cycling the magazine often with constant reloads does help prevent magazine set, it also creates magazine wear, ever so slightly, and if you reload the chamber every day, you will manually cycle the weapon hundreds of times per year, adding some minor amount of wear to the pistol itself and its replaceable springs and parts.

I do, however, feel that for a weapon that isn't fired regularly, the obvious problem is a round stuck in chamber long enough corroding and having issues. As suggested by others, its good to unload the weapon by firing it or manually unloading it and making sure to keep track of rounds that have already been chambered. Rounds that have been loaded previous and unloaded should be placed for practice, as Continental suggests. I myself have simply gotten into the habit of leaving the carry round in the chamber and shooting it every week, even if that means following it up with a magazine of non hollow points, as it forces you to practice, as well as keep a newer, fresher round in the chamber for the following week.

Old men like Wild Bill shot their cap and ball revolvers daily to clear them of old loads. Not only did this practice keep fresh, reliable loads in constant use, but also made such men into proficient shots with constant practice. Its with this that I somewhat question the whole question that OP started this thread with, because if someone is shooting their carry weapon often enough in practice, there would be no need to constantly unload and reload the weapon, something otherwise mostly kept loaded, always in the state of readiness for potential threat, which is always. The same could be said of magazine set in some ways, not an issue if the weapon is being trained with often enough. It just seems odd to unload a combat auto pistol for the sake of reloading it, the more I think about it.

Again, as stated previous, its one reason why break action rifles, shotguns, and revolvers have another small advantage to them. Checking cylinders and open chambers is safe, easy, and does not damage the ammunition in question, something that can't be said as true with the auto loader.

I only unload when I take one of my carry guns to the range to practice and then clean. For each gun that means probably once every other month or so. And since I empty the full mag and the one in the chamber prior to going to the range, when I am done with practice and cleaning and re-load the same rounds it will likely be a different one of the rounds that ends up in the chamber. Maybe once every several months I fire the self defense ammo that is kept in the gun, replacing with new self defense ammo (as opposed to the cheaper ammo I shoot at the range).

The above only applies to the semi-auto carry gun (which I have now reduced from the three I used to rotate through to a single one, a Ruger LC9s). For my 642, my most commonly carried gun, I will remove the 5 +p rounds when I go the range, then re-load the same five after practice and cleaning.

While we're on the subject, I'll mention that normally at the range I fire between 50 and 100 rounds from my carry gun, then clean it afterwards. If I fire fewer, lets say just 10 rounds or so, I don't bother cleaning but just reload it with the self defense ammo. I know some folks will fully clean a gun if even one round is fired, and I used to be that way, but as I've gotten older I guess I have become a little less diligent about cleaning a gun that really is not in need of cleaning.

The only times I remove unfired cartridges is when I load snap caps for dry fire practice and when I pack my gun for airplane travel.

My Glock 23 is kept I the safe unloaded b/c it's never carried anymore (Gen II was my service weapon). However my M&P .380 is kept in the safe loaded, in a pocket holster w/a sticky note indicating "LOADED" It is carried from time to time and loading, unloading then reloading can be dangerous. When opening the safe the sticky note is facing me so I always know the condition of the weapon.

My 442 is never unloaded b/c it's on my person. If it is switched out for the M&P .380 (mode of dress dictates) the same sticky note goes from one pocket holster to the other in the same manner for the same reason.

I clean and lube my CCW every 3-4 weeks; BG380 pocket carry. This is the only time I unload. If I EVER get to shoot again (been months), I'll pop these Hornady CDs I've been carrying and load fresh.

Unless I'm cleaning it the only way I unload my carry gun is through the barrel and down range. Even if I have a HD only gun I still wouldn't unload my carry gun

Yesterday, I was in my front room safe.
That's a little of everything safe with a few guns.
There are loaded guns- a 649 and a 66 2 inch laying on a shelf.
I couldn't remember how long the 66 had been loaded, so I reloaded it with 6 rounds of fresh 38 +P.

I've never seen any advantage to unloading a duty or concealed carry pistol on a nightly basis, even if you have a different home defense weapon.

Folks will argue that if you can't safely unload and reload your weapon, you've got issues, but on the other hand a large percentage of ADs happen when someone is going through those loading and unloading evolutions, and if there is no real reason to load or unload, then it makes sense to just not do it.

As mentioned above, with semi-auto pistols you have the potential for set back of the bullet in the case, and while that is rarely the case with a single chambering cycle, repeated re-chambering increases the risk of set back eventually occurring.

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For people who unload and reload their semi-auto pistols on a regular basis it is important that they test their carry round for susceptibly to set back, and that they rotate the top rounds in the magazine to ensure the re-chambering spread over all the rounds in the magazine, and that they eventually expend the rounds after they have been re-chambered some number of times less than the number of times where set back problems have been observed.

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Personally, I am a big believer in the value of actually shooting your carry weapon with your carry ammo on a regular basis.

When I carry a semi-auto pistol, I load it and leave it loaded until I either clean it or shoot it with practice ammo. That means I'll unload the self defense ammo once or twice a week and after a few months with all of the rounds in the magazines being chambered a few times, I'll expend them all in live fire practice/testing. That ensures that 1) the ammo still works as expected, 2) the pistol is still reliable with the self defense ammo, and that 3) the recoil impulse and point of impact of my practice rounds do in fact accurately reflect the recoil impulse and point of impact of my self defense rounds.

When I carry a revolver, I also leave it loaded unless I am shooting it with practice ammo or cleaning it. And, even though set back is a non issue in a revolver, I will still expend my self defense ammo every few months in live fire practice/testing as I do with a semi-auto.

Once per week. As I load +1 I take the rounds which were alternately chambered for the week and put them in the bottom of the mag. When their turn comes around again I shoot that mag off at the weekly outdoor range session and start with fresh ammo.

I carry a J frame revolver and it is never unloaded. Further, it is the only firearm in my safe that is loaded. Jawge

Thanks for the many responses .

Safety is the most often cited reason and is the reason I don't unload either. I'm lucky in that I can step out my back door and unload my weapon by firing it at a steel target set up in back yard (house in country).

Although unloading should be able to be accomplished without any safety risks it is where many ND's happen even with experienced shooters. There was an incident here near where I live a few years ago . Thank fully the weapon was pointed toward the floor and the only casualty was the water heater in the basement . The gentleman it happened to was a long time hunter and shooter. So it can happen even to some of the most experienced of shooters. Just a few seconds of inattention to details and an accident can happen !

Carry condition 1, in drawer condition 2. Plenty of practice.