I am *begging* you, stop carrying on an empty chamber.

[BehindBlueI's]

Does anybody check their EDC chamber and magazine for loaded rounds before leaving the house on a daily basis?

I ask this question because I switch back and fourth between pistols due to concealment requirements. I recently made a trip to the east coast and was going to be in MD part of the time. I took along my LCP with pocket holster to deep conceal. I had a spare mag on my off side in a mag pouch loaded with SD ammo. We were going to the pool at our friends house so I took the LCP out of my pocket and went to unload it before storing it until we got back from the pool. They had small grandchildren in the house so I was going to put the gun in my suite case and the ammo and magazine in my backpack.

I was shocked and felt stupid that I had grabbed my wifes LCP before we left Indiana four, yes FOUR days earlier. It was UNLOADED. No round in the chamber nor the magazine. I had been carrying an unloaded gun for four days. I did have a spare mag on my off side that would have been inserted after a misfire, tap rack, misfire then mag change, rack, fire. I was sick at my stomach that I had been so careless.


I'm hoping that I'm the only person that has done this stupid practice of not checking their EDC. I have now started to check my EDC or any gun I plan on carrying before it goes in the holster, even if I put it in the safe loaded before going too bed and strapping it back on the next morning.

I press check before holstering. I did something very similar once and thought I'd lost my magazine until I realized I didn't have one in the chamber either. I had been reloading and emptied it to make sure my OAL was good and it was feeding ok then forgot to load back up before leaving the house. That "Gosh, that was stupid" moment and the churning in my gut have stuck with me and I've always done the press check since. (Well, not on revolvers, of course).

 

[BehindBlueI's]

It sounds like someone does too much loading and unloading. If one of my guns has the magazine inserted then there is one in the chamber, always, everytime. No magazine? Then I check it.

I load and unload almost daily. If you don't, dry fire gets a lot more exciting but the dry wall bill gets old quick.

 

[rhino]

It sounds like someone does too much loading and unloading. If one of my guns has the magazine inserted then there is one in the chamber, always, everytime. No magazine? Then I check it.

I don't unload my carry guns. I still check them when they have been out of my possession/sight even though I expect them to be loaded because I have the opportunity.

Louis Awerbuck always advised us to check even though we "knew" they were loaded. People who didn't heed his advice were often embarrassed because what they thought they knew wasn't what was real. He had one story of a cop who he advised to check his weapon when he returned to the line. The guy said, "It didn't unload itself in the shi**er." Then on the first drill he got a "click" instead of a bang. He knew it was loaded, but he was wrong.

If you have the opportunity to check it, check it.

 

[lovemachine]

I don't unload my carry guns. I still check them when they have been out of my possession/sight even though I expect them to be loaded because I have the opportunity.

Louis Awerbuck always advised us to check even though we "knew" they were loaded. People who didn't heed his advice were often embarrassed because what they thought they knew wasn't what was real. He had one story of a cop who he advised to check his weapon when he returned to the line. The guy said, "It didn't unload itself in the shi**er." Then on the first drill he got a "click" instead of a bang. He knew it was loaded, but he was wrong.

If you have the opportunity to check it, check it.

Sheriff Campbell said the same thing. Taught us to ever so slightly open the slide, and press the tip of your finger inside to feel the brass casing that should be chambered.

 

[rhino]

Sheriff Campbell said the same thing. Taught us to ever so slightly open the slide, and press the tip of your finger inside to feel the brass casing that should be chambered.

Yep. John Farnam also recommends checking with your finger to verify the weapon is loaded (and to verify that the magazine is charged as well). I do that when I can't see what I'm doing (like in the dark) and sometimes to do both a visual and a tactile check.

 

[bwframe]

Sheriff Campbell said the same thing. Taught us to ever so slightly open the slide, and press the tip of your finger inside to feel the brass casing that should be chambered.

Hand positions on this? Which finger are you chamber checking with?

I've been carrying/dry firing the G43 BUG into my mix on the homestead.
I'm trying to get used to the tiny "little girl" gun, without setting off any unintentional rounds.

 

[rhino]

Hand positions on this? Which finger are you chamber checking with?

I've been carrying/dry firing the G43 BUG into my mix on the homestead.

Usually pinky finger. I'll show you soon.

 

[lovemachine]

Hand positions on this? Which finger are you chamber checking with?

I've been carrying/dry firing the G43 BUG into my mix on the homestead.
I'm trying to get used to the tiny "little girl" gun, without setting off any unintentional rounds.

Wait, you bought a Glock???

 

[bwframe]

Wait, you bought a Glock???

Shooter521 "made me" shoot his G43 and it sucked me right in.

 

[Cameramonkey]

At least you had your gun. I made a quick run to Walmart one day to grab something for Mrs Monkey. I walked up to my "shelf of stuff", (which includes my pistol safe) slid on the paddle holster, grabbed the wallet, keys, etc. and then the wife asked me a question so I went to talk to her. On the way out I grabbed the keys and headed to the store.

About the time I turned into the lot, I got to thinking "man, this holster is might comfy today. I must have really found the sweet spot where it rides the best."

Then I probed the top of the pistol with my elbow. No wonder. The holster was empty. I got distracted and never grabbed the gun on the way out.

 

[foszoe]

Did you leave the pistol safe open?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Did you leave the pistol safe open?

Nope. Never got that far. I was literally reaching for the keypad when she called for me.

 

[Gluemanz28]

Murphy's law has a way of catching us all at one point or another. Checking to make sure a gun is safety cleared before handing it to another person or working on it is really not that different than making sure it is combat ready if needed before inserting into my holster for carrying from now on.

Others can do as they wish but the sick at my stomach feeling is still very fresh to me and has changed my daily pattern.

 

[88E30M50]

I'd love to say that I have had the discipline to do a press check before holstering each time, but I've been lax on that. I keep my guns loaded if they are out of storage and have a bad habit of assuming they are still loaded most of the time when I holster them. I'd say that I have only been doing a chamber check about 50% of the time, but I'm going to work on getting that to be 100%. To date, I've never carried an unloaded gun when I thought it was loaded, but I did make it to the store once with an empty holster. I'll stick a full size 1911 in the console once in a while to save messing up the seats of my truck and forgot to reholster before heading into the store.

 

[Birds Away]

I don't unload my carry guns. I still check them when they have been out of my possession/sight even though I expect them to be loaded because I have the opportunity.

Louis Awerbuck always advised us to check even though we "knew" they were loaded. People who didn't heed his advice were often embarrassed because what they thought they knew wasn't what was real. He had one story of a cop who he advised to check his weapon when he returned to the line. The guy said, "It didn't unload itself in the shi**er." Then on the first drill he got a "click" instead of a bang. He knew it was loaded, but he was wrong.

If you have the opportunity to check it, check it.

Ok, although I can't imagine it unloading itself, I will start checking.

 

[JettaKnight]

At least you had your gun. I made a quick run to Walmart one day to grab something for Mrs Monkey. I walked up to my "shelf of stuff", (which includes my pistol safe) slid on the paddle holster, grabbed the wallet, keys, etc. and then the wife asked me a question so I went to talk to her. On the way out I grabbed the keys and headed to the store.

About the time I turned into the lot, I got to thinking "man, this holster is might comfy today. I must have really found the sweet spot where it rides the best."

Then I probed the top of the pistol with my elbow. No wonder. The holster was empty. I got distracted and never grabbed the gun on the way out.

OK, I'm glad I'm not the only one that does this on occasions (several).



This whole thread is dumb because INGO told me, "rule #1: A gun is always loaded." Ergo, it's not possible to have an empty chamber. Ever.

 

[roscott]

It's weird how the habits get you. I began the *awful* habit of "dropping the hammer" on my guns before I would put them away. (You know, so the hammer spring wouldn't get worn out or something.)
Then one day I went to load up my carry gun, and got all loaded up, put my finger on the trigger and was about to "drop the hammer" on a live round, which would been a big surprise for the apartment below mine. Fortunately I learned without an incident, but I know the sick-to-your stomach feeling.

 

[Hookeye]

Never carried an empty gun. Never had an empty holster either.
If it's on my hip it's ready to go.

 

[cbhausen]

My carry pistol stays in the holster unless I'm shooting it or cleaning it. I have developed the habit of using my thumb on the bottom of the grip to verify the mag is in the well but honestly I've never done a press check. When I'm 99.999% certain there is still a round in the chamber (and seeing/feeling a mag in the well) the extra manipulation seems more likely to result in an ND than find the pistol somehow unloaded, no matter how unlikely either outcome seems. YMMV.

 

[cedartop]

Ok, although I can't imagine it unloading itself, I will start checking.

All gun handling begins and ends with a chamber check.