Chambered or not?

[forrestinmathews]

I carry a M&PC .40


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Rack one in and top off the magazine. Enjoy the serenity that a loaded weapon provides. If it's kept in a sturdy holster that covers the trigger guard on both sides and not fooled around with, you're golden and should have no safety issues.

 

[MOONDAWG]

We all have only 1*, so each to their own.

Carrying an empty chamber pressumes two things...

1. You'll have time to chamber a round.

2. You'll have two hands available to chamber a round.

If you're "off hand" is busy fending off blows, holding a phone, holding a flash light ad nausem; you're gonna be outta luck.

 

[Bkreutz]

We all have only 1*, so each to their own.

Carrying an empty chamber pressumes two things...

1. You'll have time to chamber a round.

2. You'll have two hands available to chamber a round.

If you're "off hand" is busy fending off blows, holding a phone, holding a flash light ad nausem; you're gonna be outta luck.

If you're fending off blows when you realize you have to draw your weapon it ain't gonna matter if you have one in the chamber or not. You've already lost the "awareness" part of the battle.

 

[Smoke]

This argument has been around and around and around and around and around the internet. I've come to the conclusion that it's your gun and your life, you decide and you live with the consequences

 

[Capt.Jim]

This argument has been around and around and around and around and around the internet. I've come to the conclusion that it's your gun and your life, you decide and you live with the consequences

I agree... This subject is like beating a dead horse issue brought up all the time when a newcomer posts the question and UNFORTUNATELY ALWAYS turns into "how you should be carrying" instead of simply answering the question of "how do you carry, personally?" without adding any comment...

A semi-automatic handgun without a round in the chamber is NOT an "empty" gun... It still holds 8/10/15 or 17 rounds depending on your state laws and caliber and could fire within a matter of split second.

A gun with a round in the chamber does increase your chances under certain conditions and also adds some risks under certain conditions.

There has been many lives saved because there was a round in the chamber statement is as true as there has been many lives lost because there was a round in the chamber!

Carrying a gun on you is a BIG responsibility!

How to act with it begins when you decide to carry, not only when you're in a life threatening situation.

So, like some people indicated carry always and carry safely... That means whatever you have to do and be "SAFE".

Thank you for joining us with your decision to carry!

 

[dsink]

Carry Gun = Chambered
Chamber Empty = Paper weight.

 

[Capt.Jim]

Carry Gun = Chambered
Chamber Empty = Paper weight.

This post = Nonsense !

 

[flintsghost]

One of the little realized plus's of concealed carry is it's surreptitious nature. No one knows you have it. If you are in a business that is suddenly being robbed or in which something illegal happens you can choose whether to take action or not. You are probably not the target and the perpetrators don't know you are armed. In the even you suddenly feel in jeopardy or a family members life is threatened you can take action and it will be a surprise. The element of surprise can be the edge of victory in a confrontation.

You give that up if you decide to carry a 3 lb non aerodynamic brick, which is what a pistol without a round in the chamber is. In order to get into action you not only have to drawn but then you have to rack in the top round on the magazine which can't be done very quietly with the majority of the weapons today. If you try to do it slowly and quietly with many types of weapons you will be introducing a malfunction in a large majority of the cases. That's why people are taught not to ride the slide forward when loading a semi. To just rack it normally lets everyone know exactly what just happened and will probably draw fire.

I know that many people are products of their early military training where handguns are carried without rounds in the chamber. This is especially true if you trained with the 1911A1. MP's even carried the weapons with the magazine out and in their pouch and then had to load a mag and rack the slide if trouble occurred....at least on post stateside during the late 60's and early 70's.

As a former chief firearms instructor for a major state agency and for the state LEO academy I would not only argue against having no round in the chamber as a matter of general policy, but would state my opinion that if you want to carry a 3 lb non aerodynamic brick on your belt then you don't need nor should you be issued a concealed carry permit. My reasoning is that in your lengthy and loud deployment of your weapon, you are inviting people to shoot in your direction and it is highly likely that you will get yourself or someone else hurt or killed when and if you do. That action would also bring a tremendous liability upon you personally and also upon your instructor and certifying body. The only safe course is to keep the weapon holstered and do nothing. Hence no need for the weapon or permit.

 

[Poodle Soup]

Chambered. I dont need to be fumbling around with an attacker AND a slide.

 

[otasan56]

Always chambered - Glock 17.

 

[PatAz]

I always have one in the chamber of any handgun I carry now.

 

[redsox617]

by the time you rackaround your dead.The following is only me but - always hot, always the same weapon, always the same holster, practice with the load you carry, know your state and local laws- most inportant! have a good lawyer on speedial

 

[poordevil]

Any auto I carry is always with loaded chamber. The event with Zimmerman illustrates that one may not have time or opportunity. If you are knocked down with someone on top of you, doing their best to beat you severely, you better not HAVE to chamber a round. You need it to go right now.

 

[Houdini1953]

Does anyone carry a six shooter with five chambers loaded? Well what is the difference? An auto loader or semi auto is basically the same and six shooters or wheel gun have less safeties than any semi auto!

Maybe you should carry a revolver with five rounds or four if you carry a .38 Special or Police Revolver!

 

[bgrone]

EDC

I carry one of three 3rd gen Smiths all DA/SA one round in chamber, mag topped off decocker/safety on. Simple matter to flip decocker up with thumb when drawing.

 

[flintsghost]

Does anyone carry a six shooter with five chambers loaded? Well what is the difference? An auto loader or semi auto is basically the same and six shooters or wheel gun have less safeties than any semi auto!

Maybe you should carry a revolver with five rounds or four if you carry a .38 Special or Police Revolver!

Maybe you should think before you voice an opinion like that. With a semi you have to rack a round in to have it ready to fire and then squeeze the trigger. With a revolver, if you leave the chamber under the hammer empty (once popular with Colt SAA's in the old west) all you have to do is pull the trigger to fire a round. Or if you prefer single action, cock the hammer and the next round carrys up to fire. Therein lies the difference. Also Colt, S&W and Ruger revolvers all have hammer block safeties to prevent a round under the hammer from firing if the weapon is dropped or the hammer sustains a heavy blow. There isn't any good reason to walk around with a chamber empty for safety sake. There are lots of semi's carried today that don't have that kind of safety built in. For instance, any 1911 that is pre-series 80 ( except for the ultra rare versions from the 30's with the Schwartz safety) and any of the latest series 70 types built by people like nighthawk, wilson, baer, etc etc etc.

 

[Maze 686]

And every striker fired weapon needs the trigger pressed to fire a round. The pressing of the trigger cocks and releases the striker making it just as safe as any double action revolver.

Most guns have a trigger block safety.

If you follow the simple universal safety rules, then carrying a chambered weapon should not cause any harm except to a intended threat.
1. Treat every firearm as they are loaded.
2. Don't point the firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Don't place your finger on the trigger or in the trigger guard unless you plan on shooting.
4. Make sure of your target and what is beyond it.
5. (My Own Rule that I taught to officers.) Never catch a falling gun, you wouldn't catch a knife don't catch a gun.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

There are some guns and carry methods which bring into question whether chambering a round is really safe. Most of us know about those guns. The right answer, however, is not an empty chamber; the right answer is changing the gun, the carry method, or both.

 

[tops]

And every striker fired weapon needs the trigger pressed to fire a round. The pressing of the trigger cocks and releases the striker making it just as safe as any double action revolver.

If the trigger cocked the striker you could keep pulling the trigger and the gun would keep snapping (what you people now call second strike capabilities). Since the slide has to work to cock the gun the gun is cocked which is the same as carrying an external hammer gun cocked. When I read about a gun going off (ND or AD) it is usually a striker fired gun or external hammer gun that is being carried cocked (cocked and locked). That leads me to believe that it is not safe to carry a striker fired gun with one in the barrel or that people that carry that way are not safe. Larry

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

When I read about a gun going off (ND or AD) it is usually a striker fired gun or external hammer gun that is being carried cocked (cocked and locked). That leads me to believe that it is not safe to carry a striker fired gun with one in the barrel or that people that carry that way are not safe. Larry

I'm pretty sure that many (most?) modern striker-fired guns are safe to carry with one in the chamber - they simply can't go off without pulling the trigger. Of course, one must also look at whether one is holstering one of those safely. With an external-hammer gun, it is very easy to hold the hammer back while holstering; the hammerless, not so easy.