When you carry do you have a round in the chamber?


Baddog543

New member
I know that this had been asked before but I was wanting to know for safety sake if you carry with a round in the chamber, I have heard horror stories of people shooting themselves either holstering or drawing their weapon. I do not have a thumb safety on my pistol. I carry a Smith &Wesson M&P 40 pro and do not want to shoot myself in the leg. I am fairly new to carrying a pistol so your opinions are needed.
 

If you keep the handgun in the holster you won't have a problem of touching the trigger and causing a discharge.
Most everyone carries with a loaded chamber. ;-)
 
When I carry my Ruger LC9, I carry with the safety on and a round in the chamber. When I carry my S&W M&P40 which has no safety, I do not carry a round in the chamber.
 
I carry a Glock 26 and Sig Sauer P226 which doesnt have a safety of any kind and I always have 1 in the chamber . If you practice proper firearms safety then you will have no problems. Make sure when you draw or holster your firearm you have your trigger finger alongside the frame or on the slide as you do it.
If you have and don't have a round in the chamber you might as well not carry because your can't tell a work "time out I need to chamber a round to shoot you....ok proceed". If you haven't take a carry course .
Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

Good luck
 
always, every gun

I've got two guns that I use primarily as carry guns, and another two that I use for occasional competition and home defense. In all four cases, including the one with no safety (Ruger LCP) they sit with a round in the chamber. If you practice safe drawing habits (as in, don't put your finger on the trigger until the gun is pointed at the object you want to shoot) you shouldn't have to worry about it. On my Mil Pro I've programmed my fingers so that my index finger is on the "pad" above the trigger guard as I draw, my thumb flicks the safety on the way up and out, and as soon as the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction just a quick tightening of my index finger slips it off the "pad" and onto the trigger, where a continued tightening will eventually discharge a round. It's all in how you program your muscle memory prior to taking a shot.
 
I carry a Taurus 709 Slim that has redundant safety features including a manual safety lever. I always keep a round in the chamber when I carry and I always keep the manual safety on. I also have never touched the trigger on that pistol except when at the range firing it or when cleaning it. You have to understand firearm safety before you carry or you put yourself in danger. Without a round in the chamber while carrying, you might as well leave the weapon at home in a safe.
 
Train, train,train!!! Once you train yourself finger always off the trigger, when you holster and draw, you will not have any issues.
 
Most of the time no. As for people having these accidents while holstering and drawing their weapons...perhaps they shouldn't be practicing their quick draw and leave it holstered until they actually need it. lol
 
I started with no safety, empty chamber, super-easy slide. Absolutely did not want an accidental discharge (I carry in a bag). Once I tried all the different combos at the range, I settled on half-cock, loaded chamber, no safety. I found that the trigger pull was plenty heavy enough that an AD was highly unlikely.

It really depends on your gun's features, and the way you opt to carry it.
 
I carry a S&W MP.40Compact and with six pounds of force on the trigger for it to be able to fire. I never have my finger on the trigger anyway unless it is time for Target practice at the range or I am doing dry-fire. I carry with one in the chamber and like it has been said in many threads, that second or two to chamber it could be the difference between life and death. Just my opinion.
 
I carry a 40 cal glock all the time with one in the chamber I figure if I need my gun there is a good chance I won't have time to chamber one. Just practice drawing making sure not to touch the trigger till your ready to fire
 
Learning to carry a firearm safely has many important aspects which should not be overlooked. Carrying with a round in the chamber is safe and often the most reccomended practice as training to rack the slide on drawing requires extensive practice and requires both hands to employ your pistol a situation which cannot be guaranteed in a gunfight. There are one handed techniques for chambering a round but they slow, cumbersome and require cover to employ.

The importance of Training yourself in good gun handling habits as previously mentioned cannot be understated. The practice of keeping your finger off trigger and along the frame when handing a gun marks one of the major differences between a novice and someone with competance.

Second, a good holster of either high quality stiff leather or kydex will hold your weapon securely and allow for safe one handed re-holstering. This is another factor whose importance cannot be over stressed. Nylon holsters tend to lack stiffness colapse and may prevent safe reholstering of your gun. Even leather which is not thick enough may do the same. A scrap of cloth or leather entering the trigger guard can (and has) lead to unintended discharge.

Lastly consider your clothing, loose strings, shirt tails or other parts of your clothing may interfere with holstering as well.

Training yourself to be comfortable with a round in the chamber will take some practice and consideration of the issues I discussed above. Almost every pistol for self defense can be carried safely with a round in the chamber.
 
I carry several different firearms, depending on clothing and destination. Outdoors and woods vs. city and dense crowds. I always carry chamber loaded. Single action, DA, safety or no safeties. Unless you have an older SA revolver without the transfer bar or hammer block, there is no reason you cannot train yourself to safely carry chamber loaded.
 
"Ready" to defend yourself?

First of all, this is actually a non-issue if you are a revolver shooter.

If you are a semi-auto shooter - as far as I'm concerned, unless you have a round in the chamber, you are truly not ready to defend yourself or others.

Gunfights are over in seconds. You have milliseconds to react because action is faster than reaction - 99% of the time, since we are defensive shooters, we are in reaction mode.

You have to realize that since we are in reaction mode, you probably won't have time to efficiently rack a round into the chamber and then engage Mr. Bad Guy. The gunfight may be over (with you being the victim) by then!

My advice - whatever gun you have - carry a round in the chamber, get familiar with your equipment, practice regularly, and keep your frikkin' finger off the trigger until you are on target and ready to fire.

If you follow that, you will be just fine.
 
Baddog:
(I like your screen name... it was the last thing Gena Davis' uncle heard before she lit the fuse in 'Cutthroat Island'. Good movie.)
Anyhoo, I've been a 1911 fan since the 60's and always carry in Condition One: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety on. My philosophy is that if you need it, it better be ready to go.
As for safety concerns, I am reminded of the reply a famous Texas Ranger once made in response to a criticism that carrying his 1911 in Condition One was inherently dangerous:
'Maam, it if wasn't dangerous, I wouldn't be carrying it'.
Enough said.
 
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I'm a revolver fan, and carry a .357 Magnum. This includes a lot of time in the woods camping, hiking, backpacking, etc, so I'm protecting against both 2 and 4 legged predators, as well as those without any legs at all. So it goes without saying that there is one in all 7 chambers in the cylinder, and there is no safety. It's also got an external hammer, so it can be fired either SA/DA.

If I were to carry a semi-auto for personal protection, it would be my 9MM Beretta Px4 w/ decocking safety.. But I don't carry it as my conceal weapon because I generally feel, if I need to shoot somebody (or something), I am going to do it with sufficient force to ensure they're stopped, so see that part above about .357 Magnum again.
 
No point and money wasted on cwl if u don't have one in the chamber! If you posted it that means your not comfortable or practice enough to be confident.
 
Round in the chamber

I have a glock 22 40 cal.It is a great shooting pistol but being in the woods a lot I was vary hesitant caring a round in the chamber. I am sure you have heared of murphys law.I invested a little more cash had a hand safty put on it. They done a great job and it works great.Now a round in the chamber is no problem.

Bob from Wv.
 
The most reliable safety is the one between your ears

I always carry with a round in the chamber of my Glock 19. While doing armed security, I use a Blackhawk CQC Serpa II with a release which trains your finger to index properly. In EDC mode, I carry off the body in a Maxpedition Versipack, but with a trigger well insert from Lone Wolf products. Before you choose to carry without a round in the chamber, you might want to take a force on force class, or watch videos of those who have, to see how difficult it is to draw, rack the slide, and get your gun into action in a realistic situation. You might be surprised how quickly someone can cover a few feet to get at you (which is, yes, the chief drawback of carrying off the body), or how adrenaline can ruin your fine motor skill functions.
 

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