Should chamber be cleared when putting gun away for the night?

[Valmet]

The few guns I keep out of the safes in the house are always loaded, chamber and all.

 

[max503]

Even Kamala Harris carries with a round in the chamber.

 

[bushmaster1313]

A friend in Pa. has problems with bears raiding his feeder (for squirrel's, turkeys and birds).

Turkeys are birds
They just look funny

 

[Echo40]

Repeated chambering of rounds tends to cause bullet setback, which depending on how hot of a round/load you carry could quickly become hazardous as it increases chamber pressure.

Personally, I see no valid reason to unload your weapon when you put it away at night, unless you've been sweating all over it all day and thus feel the need to clean it before bed, and even then I see no reason why not to rechamber a round afterwards.

I want my guns ready to go anytime, because bad guys typically don't have the courtesy to call you up and let you know that they're coming first.

 

[AJ]

Turkeys are birds
They just look funny

Puts out something different for the turkeys then the seed he puts in the hanging bird feeders.

Turkeys are sort of like the residents of PRNJ?

 

[Doug M.]

We had to carry our 1911's in Condition 3 with two five round mags when I served (Army MPC), carried in a flap holster no less. It was possible to draw and rack the slide pretty quickly, but nowhere near as fast as Condition 1 would have been. (Carrying 10 rounds was pretty stupid too.). It takes two hands to rack the slide, assuming you still have the use of both your hands. I don't mess with my EDC weapons, nothing more dangerous than an "unloaded" firearm.

*
I can no longer find the video, but there used be one by Dave Bolgiano (Lt. Col., JAG retired) teaching for the Army (at Carlisle Staff College IIRC) in which he said that the only entity more afraid of firearms is the U.S. military. He regularly commented on the poor training of most military personnel on use of force, too.

 

[RetCapt]

A friend in Pa. has problems with bears raiding his feeder (for squirrel's, turkeys and birds). The bears got use to him hollering at them and now ignore a shout. Then he used firecrackers and now those do not work. Next came bottle rockets and those are losing their fear factor unless he is able to hit one. The city limits end at his property line on one side, but he thinks gun fire will draw the local gendarmes (State Police). So he has resorted to bringin the feeders every night.

Same problems here. Bears go where food is easiest to obtain. So those who feed other animals are going to attract them. Those who store garbage outside will also get bear visits. Since we do neither we do not attract bears. Some of our neighbors do, but not us. We have had at least one bear roaming our tiny community all this year. Those with trail cams catch it all the time at night, and sometimes even during the day. It is not aggressive, but it does not flee in the presence of humans. That is different than wilderness bears. Sometimes when working my way up a trout stream, I have seen a bear doing the same thing. When they have become aware of my presence they have run off. Town bears do not. Deer and bear season just opened. Any bear that has lost its fear of humanity will be killed. The axiom that a fed bear is a dead bear is accurate.

Mountain lions differ. They are a protected species and cannot be hunted in Calif. Taking humans out of the equation means they have no apex predators to face. Given there is no population control, and given that each mountain lion needs and seeks its own exclusive hunting territory, the loss of available wilderness area has driven them into human habitation areas. Normally they are nocturnal and elusive, but some have spotted them during the day. A local drove by a neighbor's house the other day during the afternoon and spotted a mountain lion sleeping on the front porch of an occupied dwelling. The cat did not seem to be bothered by this. The jungle drums fortunately work well here, so everybody becomes aware of such sightings, and know to keep domestic animals inside at night.

One other critter, while not an apex predator, is still a problem; skunk. Some have killed them. I prefer to trap them and relocate them. Our Golden Retriever, Levi, is quite the hunter. His favorite game is skunk. He is currently 0-5 vs skunks, but he still thinks he can turn that around in the next bout.

In one instance Levi went after a skunk right at bedtime, his last time out for the night. He took a direct shot. So late on a chilly fall evening, we had a skunked dog. My wife was cleaning him off, outside obviously, and was less than happy with him. I wanted to contribute, but there is only so much room to work around the dog, and the smell is rank. So I took a photograph of her cleaning him up. It turned out extremely well. In my modest estimation I think it is an outstanding example of wilderness/civilization interface photojournalism. My bride, clearly never a journalism major in her youth, did not share my enthusiasm. Sometimes skill is just not recognized.

So besides a chambered round in the Glock, I keep a card and battery in at least one camera.

 

[benf1]

Bushmaster1313,
As usual, lots of great suggestions. Fellow New Jerseyan here, been carrying since getting my permit this past January. My sons are men now, so no children unless folks come to visit and I lock everything up. I leave a round in the chamber at all times and put on/take off my holster with the gun in it. Probably overkill, but If I have to remove the round for any reason I have a 5 gal. bucket of sand in the garage. I will also re-chamber using a different round from the magazine.

 

[bushmaster1313]

Puts out something different for the turkeys then the seed he puts in the hanging bird feeders.

Turkeys are sort of like the residents of PRNJ?

Don't insult turkeys

 

[S-W4EVER]

My EDC (Glock 26) is always loaded with one in the chamber. That is for two legged predators, regardless of where.

For four legged predators I take a different approach. The Remington 870 in the bedroom is loaded, but not with a round in the chamber. I figure that if I have time to get to the 870 I have time to rack a round in...

I usually have a long gun nearby (at home and in the truck) and none of them have a round in the chamber. This was the protocol in the LE agencies I served in (you never know when another LEO is going to use your rifle or shotgun so they're all set up the same). It worked just fine for all those years and there's no reason for me to change now.

 

[Rudi]

Loaded chamber.

 

[jareds06]

Please share/explain your thought process on this. Inquiring minds want to know.

I don't carry many of my autos often, so after Beretta 92 day or Beretta Cheetah day is over, I will clear it and put it away. I carry my PX4, Mdl 36, and GP100 often, so they stay loaded. So does a Model 10 on the nightstand. I used to carry a 92FS a lot more and would keep it constantly loaded.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

When I get home I drop the magazine and eject the cartridge from the chamber THEN I wipe the gun with a soft cotton cloth that has had a couple drops of light machine oil worked into the cloth.

No cleaning the chamber or anything else. Just wipe the gun down with the cloth and reload.

Since I carry a plastic Shield when going out. Upon returning I just lay it somewhere for the next days ride.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Repeated re-chambering of the round will eventually cause the bullet to "set back" enough to dramatically affect pressure, and quite possibly to dangerous levels. Place the fully loaded pistol in a lock box, preferably one which allows rapid access using a code or whatever. Do not unload and re-chamber.

 

[Rudi]

Smart kid!

 

[djohns6]

There is no universal answer . Every situation is different .

 

[Model 15-4ever]

Most accidents occur when loading or unloading a firearm. The less of that the better.

 

[CH4]

No, you should not.

 

[mikerjf]

Always carry your gun in your hand with your finger on the trigger. In a real encounter, you won't have time to draw, let alone rack. Adrenaline causes you to lose small muscle coordination; you don't want to be fumbling with trying to get your finger inside the trigger guard while two thugs are shoving you or grabbing your arms. Having the gun in your hand also lets you control muzzle direction directly rather than depending on holster position/alignment - every firearms accidental injury is partly the result of muzzling something unintended, you don't want to delegate this to a piece of leather.

I could supply a meme to indisputably prove this, but then I'd have to spend a whole minute typing my opinion into the graphic.

 

[Smoke]

Unnecessary Administrative Handling leads to Negligent Discharges.