Does everyone carry with a round chambered?

[WebSnyper]

The idea to take a class or three is a good one. Make it your new years resolution. Memorize and diligently practice the four rules.

I'll argue with the well intentioned folks who say to not use the manual safety on your pistol. That is bad idea.

If your pistol has a manual safety, you should train to swipe the safety off as part of your drawstroke.

Ignoring or treating the manual safety as always off can be a fatal error if somehow the switch gets inadvertently gets switched on. I have seen this happen more than once in competition.

The smart move is to buy and train with a modern pistol that has all internal safeties. No manual safety means nothing to get turned the wrong way, nothing to forget to switch off in the heat of the gunfight.

I agree with this. Train the way you carry.

 

[Jon Smith]

Agreed, train the way you carry.
I sure do hate to give up my 1911 though.
Oh wait, I don't have to! LOL!
I do use a Springfield Armory XD for nightstand and car console. It too has a thumb safety.
I may carry extra from time to time, but always the 1911 in the same place.

 

[wcd]

Agreed, train the way you carry.
I sure do hate to give up my 1911 though.
Oh wait, I don't have to! LOL!
I do use a Springfield Armory XD for nightstand and car console. It too has a thumb safety.
I may carry extra from time to time, but always the 1911 in the same place.

Never really understood the flavor of the day edc? There is a lot to be said for consistency. While you may not be the coolest kid on the block with the latest and greatest xyz blaster, you will most likely be far more proficient and accurate when you make a choice to stick with one platform and train with it to the point where it becomes second nature.

 

[actaeon277]

Or...
carry the way you train.

 

[actaeon277]

 

[Trapper Jim]

Hard to put faith in this guy As he didn’t even Know how to load his magazine.l

 

[wcd]

Or...
carry the way you train.

Wouldn’t that make that you are going to shoot you self in the leg holster ok?

 

[actaeon277]

Wouldn’t that make that you are going to shoot you self in the leg holster ok?

You train to shoot yourself?

 

[wcd]

You train to shoot yourself?

well yes but so far an epic failure.

But seriously I just meant that really concentrating and being proficient with the right side arm would make the use of that holster acceptable.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I did also. I think, if dedicated to the 1911 platform, the "thumb shelf" safety can be mastered. The problem comes when folks try to use their "gun rotation."

If you are gonna carry a 1911, you have to ONLY shoot and practice with it. The switching around is what bites folks. I was a dedicated 1911 carrier, only got stung after using training Glocks in FOF classes.

Like you, I moved away from the manual safety guns. Everyone had fits, when I sold all of my 1911s.

It was literally my only self-loading pistol for maybe 6 years. I had a revolver as a backup. Square range, 100%, no problem. Getting beaten with a cane or jerked around by a guy a lot stronger than me, less so. Knocked on my ass and getting squished by same guy, less so. Pressure testing it really changed my opinion, and that's before I was injured. The grip safety was also sometimes an issue with a compromised grip.

Dead nuts accurate, easy to shoot well, lovely bull's eye sort of gun. Full o' sex appeal and storied history. Just not what I'd want if I was in a real entangled fight for my life again.

 

[Sylvain]

Are there places where people are required by law to carry with an empty chamber?

I think I remember being like that in California (shocking!) some years ago at least.
You could open carry, without a licence, only if your gun wasn't loaded (no round chambered).
And cops could stop someone to check if a round was chambered or not.

Maybe I'm mistaken but it sounds like something California would do ....

 

[pmbiker]

I carried a G19 for years and always felt funny about it. No external safety but a long and deliberate trigger pull....it was safe but I wasn't comfortable with it. Switched to a Shield .45 and the thumb safety gave me the peace of mind I needed. It's definitely important to practice drawing from the holster and swiping the safety off

 

[jake blue]

Are there places where people are required by law to carry with an empty chamber?

I think I remember being like that in California (shocking!) some years ago at least.
You could open carry, without a licence, only if your gun wasn't loaded (no round chambered).
And cops could stop someone to check if a round was chambered or not.

Maybe I'm mistaken but it sounds like something California would do ....

Perhaps at one time? As long as I've been carrying I haven't seen that stipulation. Duty to inform? Yes. List of places off limits? Yes. But I can almost not imagine a LEO actually wanting me to present a loaded weapon or handle my weapon - the liability alone not to mention the optics in this day and age. Usually with duty to inform they just want to know a weapon is present, not have me reaching for it.

 

[Sylvain]

Perhaps at one time? As long as I've been carrying I haven't seen that stipulation. Duty to inform? Yes. List of places off limits? Yes. But I can almost not imagine a LEO actually wanting me to present a loaded weapon or handle my weapon - the liability alone not to mention the optics in this day and age. Usually with duty to inform they just want to know a weapon is present, not have me reaching for it.

Apparently it was a thing in California in 2010, you could open carry as long as the gun was unloaded (empty chamber, no mag).
So cops had the right to show up, grab people's guns, and check if they were loaded or not.
I know it seems crazy (Remember it's California!) but yes cops used to handle people's guns in public.

 

[wtburnette]

Exactly it matters not to me what manner they elect to carry. Rather their actions will dictate an appropriate response. Most always it results in me shaking my head and moving on. Although I do often wonder what the guy with the too tight T shirt on that outlines his rolls and weapon is thinking?

Yep. When I put on a shirt, I test to make sure I can pull it up and get to my gun. If the shirt is too tight, it gets tucked in and I OC. If it's loose enough, I carry concealed. Same weapon in the same place with the same holster every time, but if you can't get to the gun quickly, you might as well not carry it IMO.

 

[1gunaholic]

I carried a G19 for years and always felt funny about it. No external safety but a long and deliberate trigger pull....it was safe but I wasn't comfortable with it. Switched to a Shield .45 and the thumb safety gave me the peace of mind I needed. It's definitely important to practice drawing from the holster and swiping the safety off

I carried a G17/19 for decades on duty starting in the mid 1980's when the Glocks made their way to the US. Prior to that, it was the ultra-reliable Python (I wish I'd kept).
I studied, carefully, the Glock mechanism and always felt comfortable with its internal safeties. Only thing I tried differently was calibers (Sig 357, 45 GAP, 10mm) since the Glock take-down was the same for all models.
No matter what you carry, make it an instinct about where and how you draw and shoot. If you do that, you'll be fine.

 

[jake blue]

Apparently it was a thing in California in 2010, you could open carry as long as the gun was unloaded (empty chamber, no mag).
So cops had the right to show up, grab people's guns, and check if they were loaded or not.
I know it seems crazy (Remember it's California!) but yes cops used to handle people's guns in public.

That IS crazy!

 

[COOPADUP]

That IS crazy!

Only is that nutty place called California.

 

[Sylvain]

That IS crazy!

They could stop someone, check their guns (even if the person refused the search like in this video).
How was it even legal or constitutional?

 

[jake blue]

They could stop someone, check their guns (even if the person refused the search like in this video).
How was it even legal or constitutional?

Well as you said, it IS California, they haven't been concerned about constitutionality for decades!