Shield 1.0 question re: carrying one in the chamber

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gunsrfun1

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An odd question I admit, but just checking to be sure, regarding my Shield 1.0 in 9mm: Is there any reliability issue to carrying a full mag (7 or 8 rounds), but also having one in the chamber? So basically, you load up a full mag, insert it, chamber a round, and then top off the mag? Then carry as such.
I know that this is common practice in many guns, but just wondering if the Shield in particular has any issue with it. I'm relatively new to this gun, so I just want to be sure from a reliability viewpoint.
Thanks
 
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Should not be but you should shoot it many times starting like that and you will know for sure. Anything you are going to carry you should be shooting a lot of practice rounds with anyway.
 
I know the manual for my full size MP states you can load a full mag w/ a round in the chamber; I’d assume the same for the Shields.
OP if you dont have a copy of the manual with yours, they can be downloaded from the SW site if that helps
 
Thanks all, and good point Ranger, the Shield manual on pp. 18-19 does say it's ok. I've read the manual previously, but had not recalled this.
But always good to know that it actually works as advertised, in "real life."
 
i'm about to take a ccw class, bet it takes 6 months for the license. but i read that people who are worried about accidents and have with safeties on their guns use the safety while holstering and holstering, then turn it off once it's securely on their person. i read that a lot of the accidents for ccw happen when something gets caught in the trigger guard during that time, like a neck tie, or a loop of thread or something. but then maybe it's also good to practice turning off the safety on draw, just in case you forget to turn off the safety after holstering.
 
Mine has no external safety. You need to make the decision of how YOU will Carry and train that way. I would not holster then remove safety, you want muscle memory to be the same each time you draw. Fight the way you train. Be Safe,
 
The external safety is for the event you make a mistake.
You are human, you will make mistakes.

Your muscles have no memory. You must teach your brain to control them.

Access the situation, then decide the appropriate response.

Situational awareness can prevent bad situations.
 
I guess with a lower capacity gun like the Shield some people would want that extra round, but it's usually pretty difficult to seat a mag with a round in the chamber.

I carry a Compact 9 and never worry about that extra round. I do carry with one in the chamber but I insert a full mag with the slide back, then release the slide. I don't then top off the mag. I can't imagine a scenario where 15 rounds isn't enough but one more would make a difference.
 
I carried my 1.0 "topped off" to 8+1 for about 3.5 years. Every so often (once or twice a year), I shot off my carry ammo and rotated. Never had any malfunctions.
 
gunsrfun1 said:
An odd question I admit, but just checking to be sure, regarding my Shield 1.0 in 9mm: Is there any reliability issue to carrying a full mag (7 or 8 rounds), but also having one in the chamber? So basically, you load up a full mag, insert it, chamber a round, and then top off the mag? Then carry as such.
I know that this is common practice in many guns, but just wondering if the Shield in particular has any issue with it. I'm relatively new to this gun, so I just want to be sure from a reliability viewpoint.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Not an odd question, everyone should show the respect you have for firearms safety. Practice with it unloaded, double check it before you do. Mine has a safety, all you could get at the time of purchase, but since I learned on a 1911 swiping the safety off is second nature. Practice is the answer. I carry a 1.0 with one in the chamber.
 
My 1.0 compact always has a round in the chamber. There are too many possible scenarios where you have only your strong hand to get to your gun. Your weak hand is immobilized by a strong guy holding you, has already been injured, big guy on top of you on the ground, etc, etc. Your weak hand might also be holding your kid or your wife who might be injured. Too many chances you have just one hand so there better be a round in the chamber.
 
<<Do it! If you have chamber a round for defense........YOU"RE DEAD.>>

I recall a statistic showing a significant number of successful home defense gun uses where the location of the firearm was "in another room", meaning they had to go and get it. Kind of makes you think that the 1/2 second to rack the slide might not always be fatal.

Out in public, many (maybe even a majority) of incidents stop when the victim produces a gun; i.e. no shots fired. Again, empty chamber not fatal. Heck, empty gun not even fatal.

I understand there are some situations where it could make a difference. But I'm thinking we're not looking at an inviolable concept here.
 
Hello... For years I used to work part-time on the weekends at a gun store. I once talked to a person who never carried a round in the chamber. he always thought he could rack a round as fast as he can pull it out of his holster.... As luck would have it he got mugged and the person trying to mug him hit him with a baseball bat. Ended up hitting him on the upper shoulder, Totally disabled his left hand... He pulled his gun with his right hand and pointed the gun at the mugger. mugger ran away. he lived to tell the tale. Mugger did not know he did not have a round in the chamber... He got lucky! fate would have it that he did not have to pull the trigger.... But he completely changed his mind about carrying chamber empty! If he would have needed to fire his gun at that moment. He would have been out of luck! imo.... I always carry one in the pipe.... Karma is a bitch you never know... And it's impossible to know every scenario that might happen to you...
 
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