Keeping one in the chamber?

[bclaus18]

So when I carry my 40c I always keep a round in the chamber, but when I'm not (i.e. I leave the pistol at home when I'm at work) should I unload the chamber? I heard somewhere that keeping the strain on the spring could damage it?

Just looking for some insight. Thanks.

 

[Spartikus]

So when I carry my 40c I always keep a round in the chamber, but when I'm not (i.e. I leave the pistol at home when I'm at work) should I unload the chamber? I heard somewhere that keeping the strain on the spring could damage it?

Just looking for some insight. Thanks.

I'm sure you'll get different opinions on this but those springs are designed to be under that load for long periods of time and should be just fine.

As for unloading it when you get home I think that raises a different topic. I used to keep a round chambered at all times until an incident happened so I have chosen to have a full magazine in the gun so all I have to do is rack a round in the chamber should something happen. There are lots of different thoughts here but this is what I have decided is best for me and my family.

 

[WR Moore]

A couple of items to consider here.

Firstly, ammunition isn't intended to be repeatedly chambered without being fired. Chambering the same round more than 3-5 times may cause bullet setback which can affect feeding and will affect pressure. This increase in pressure can have very negative results, especially in the .40. Destroyed weapons from overpressure have been documented. Real briefly, if you compare a never chambered round to your top round in the magazine and can see the previously chambered round is shorter, discard it.

If you're worried about the magazine spring, don't be. If you can't shake the worry, replace the mag springs every 5 years at the same time you replace the recoil spring assembly.

Finally, you may not have time to chamber a round and the action makes noise, which may not be a good thing. The action may also be perceived as a provocation or an act of aggression. If you're counting on racking the slide being impossible for a child, DON'T! Find a way to secure the weapon so that the child can't access it.

 

[clcdawg]

I am the same way. When I am at work and the gun is at home it does not have one in the chamber. I have a small child and even though the gun is out of reach I just feel better knowing there is not one in chamber. Any time gun is with me there is one in chamber.

 

[Titegroups]

I don't leave one chambered, I shoot enough racking a slide is done subconsciously.

 

[Chromedhearts]

The best way to answer that question is, don't take this wrong, decide for your self. Get some trigger time, a lot of it. Get some real training if you haven't already, and some range time, serious range time. Shoot a few hundred rounds each time. And spend some time thinking about your own particular situation, how and where it will be stored, who else in in the home, what are their levels of maturity, and state of mind. None of us can know what is best for another.

 

[chuck s]

I carry in Condition 1. Cocked and locked. The pistol remains that way as long as it's in a holster. Unless in a holster my pistols have an empty chamber.

Constant loading/unloading of the same cartridge can result in bullet setback from striking the feed ramp. If it gets too much it can cause overpressure but I doubt there are many cases of this causing a major problem other than the bullet strikes differently from where it was zeroed.

Some cartridges have a cannelured case to prevent bullet setback which can also happen during firing and recoil especially to the top few cartridges in the magazine. (Beretta says the top 5 in the M9.)

-- Chuck

 

[Fkimble]

There is also the possibility of the primer compound breaking up if chambered frequently then if will fail to fire. I would suggest moving a round to the "practice range" ammo box after it's been chambered a few times.

 

[dsink]

Most of my carry guns stay chamber empty, mag loaded expect my pocket 380 which stays loaded all the time due to it getting carried so much. When I carry, one goes in the chamber.

I have a personal rule. IF i put a handgun in my safe, loaded to any extent, then it goes in a holster. When I open my safe and see a handgun in a holster, I know it is loaded. It may only have the magazine loaded but it is loaded. Just a rule I use for myself.

 

[crracer_712]

I keep mine EDC loaded when I carry and when I stash it for the night at home.

My other pistols, stored in the range bag in their rugs generally just have a loaded mag in them, but not one in the chamber.

I don't have any tale tale signs to alert me to a loaded gun, I treat every gun as if it is loaded.

 

[bclaus18]

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[Houdini1953]

Leaving a round in the chamber is alright since in theory it is only chambered once, however I do not see anything wrong with re clambering a once chambered round.

For example I have a carry permit so all my guns are always loaded with one in the chamber there are no children to worry about my youngest daughter is 34 years old with her own family as well as my other daughters. When I go to the range I carry my carry pistol on my hip with a Blackhawk Serpa retention holster and when at the range I unload all my magazines with my personal defense ammunition into a plastic ammunition carrier and then load target ammunition after I am done shooting for the day I then reload all my magazines with my personal defense ammunition then rack the slide and fill up the weapons and then proceed back home or wherever I need to go next.

Sometimes I will fire my critical defense ammunition as I obtain more and feel no need to stockpile as I did a couple of years ago when finding ammunition for just about any caliber was difficult, now it is again kinda plentiful although I have noticed more new shooters and actually have to sign up at a waiting list at my favorite range, thus the reason I am a member at two ranges close by!

How you carry is your personal choice and it used to be that I just kept my weapon(s) in my console without a round in the chamber and then I came across a potentially deadly situation with an adversary who I thought had left the state and was possibly even dead but was not and was even in the same auto parts store as I was he was disturbed and did not really look at me and seemed mad at the clerk on the counter but I knew who he was and made my purchase and went straight to my vehicle and racked the slide on both my weapons and left the store. I have carried concealed ever since then with a weapon that only needs to have the trigger pulled instead of having to get to my weapon and then rack the slide which could cost me my life, nope that ain't gonna happen!

 

[GF1]

Cocked and locked. Don't pull the gun to scare, pull the gun to shoot. If you aren't sure, or have trouble with the idea, use something else besides a gun.

When you both alarm and acquaint an intruder with a gun (or sound of a gun), he will presume you will use it; that ups the ante in that being threatened with lethal force he may feel as if he must immediately fight or flee. You must be ready to fight a lethal fight.

To each his own, just consider these points. The only warning the perp will have with me is the little orange light coming on (and I'm not talking about a laser sight).

 

[Houdini1953]

Cocked and locked. Don't pull the gun to scare, pull the gun to shoot. If you aren't sure, or have trouble with the idea, use something else besides a gun.

When you both alarm and acquaint an intruder with a gun (or sound of a gun), he will presume you will use it; that ups the ante in that being threatened with lethal force he may feel as if he must immediately fight or flee. You must be ready to fight a lethal fight.

To each his own, just consider these points. The only warning the perp will have with me is the little orange light coming on (and I'm not talking about a laser sight).

With age comes wisdom and many new gun owners are overly cautious as I once was, but with experience and lots of range time and good equipment I know that my M&P will only fire if I pull that two stage cantilever trigger it is a striker fired weapon and the only stage that can make it fire is the pulling of that said trigger it is inherently safe to carry with a round in the chamber, heck you can throw the gun on the pavement or slide it across the room but in order for it to fire something has to purposefully pull the trigger.

I have six M&Ps and not a single one has ever gone off even fully loaded and one in the chamber unless I picked it up took it out of it's holster and then pulled the trigger...dropping an M&P will not make it go off and shoot or even using it as a hammer, but who would ever do that, you have to pull the trigger and that is a conscious decision you have to make and intend to hit a particular target for this weapon to go bang!

 

[bclaus18]

Thanks again for all the responses, but I was looking more for a response on whether or not the spring would be damaged due to the constant pressure it would be under with a round in the chamber. When the gun is out of my safe and on my hip I always keep one in the chamber. I have no youngsters to worry about.

 

[gruntdeputy]

the cause of the misfire was determined to be from the primer mix being knocked out o

This was posted here on the forum in March. It discusses what you are discussing here. Go to this link to read the entire training advisory:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-semi-auto-pistols/237337-danger.html
THE FOLLOWING TRAINING ADVISORY WAS FORWARDED FROM GWINETT COUNTY
POLICE DEPARTMENT
In September of this year a GCPD officer was involved in a situation which quickly became a use of deadly force incident. When the officer made the decision to use deadly force, the chambered round in his duty pistol did not fire. Fortunately, the officer used good tactics, remembered his training and cleared the malfunction, successfully ending the encounter.

The misfired round, which had a full firing pin strike, was collected and was later sent to the manufacturer for analysis. Their analysis showed the following: "…the cause of the misfire was determined to be from the primer mix being knocked out of the primer when the round was cycled through the firearm multiple times"…

I spent over 30-years in LE and have been shooting revolvers and semi-automatics for 40-years. To each his own… but I learned the hard way and I keep a round chambered. Find a better way to secure your weapons at home from the little ones, use a lock or a locking box… but leave a round in the chamber. You might be the master of racking the slide to chamber a round, (I thought that I was) but what if the round does not chamber as you are kicking in the door to face the fugitive? What if you are fighting one or more assailants when the time comes to draw your weapon? What if one of your hands is being restrained or you are fending off an attacker? What if there isn't just one "drunk" suspect but three ambushers with a plan to carjack you? All of these things happened to me and I am lucky to have survived them.

Best of wishes to you all. Hope for the best, plan for the worst and then plan for it to get much worse before it gets better. Expect that none of your plans work, that your assailant isn't going to be freighted off by the sight of you weapon or your laser or by the sound of the slide being cycled, that he will attack, attack, attack. You may only have the time to point & pull, not to make the weapon ready.
Frank

 

[madmikeb]

Put me down as another vote for condition one. I carry a 1911 and I have seen security video footage of someone trying to rack a slide in the heat of the moment and they were gunned down by armed robbers when they were unable to chamber a found. Carry guns aren't for show, they are to be used only when there is no other option and then every second counts.

 

[nicky4968]

Too bad the Beretta 86 (tip-up barrel) wasn't very popular. It would have satisfied the chambering/rechambering problem.
I have only owned two automatics (none at the present time). They were wonderful pistols, just not for me.