Carry a Springfield XD cocked or uncocked?

[WestonSmith]

Some of you sound surprised by this post. How this conversation with these people actually happened is I was talking with one of my roommates, I have 5 of them, about my new XD handgun I just bought and how I was wanting to get a concealed firearms permit. I also mentioned to the roommate that I called the local police department and they said it even would be legal to have a cocked and loaded firearm in your place of residence without a permit. One of my other roommates overheard our conversation. He acted startled and was like \"You are not going to walk around with a loaded and cocked gun! That is just plain stupid! Police do not even do that! It is not that hard to just pull the slide back to cock a gun when you need it! I will give you $50 if police walk around with guns cocked with a round in the chamber! If I ever find someone who has a loaded and cocked gun, I will call the police even if they have a permit for it!\" I then said that I did not see much point in having a magazine in a gun if you are not going to pull the slide back. Then the roommate that I was first talking with said that most people who carry concealed usually have it cocked and locked with a round in the chamber. Because of this conversation, I was a little worried. When I was looking at different handguns, I intentionally looked for one that requires racking the slide instead of a double action first trigger pull, because I figured that it would help the accuracy of the first shot if I ever ever had to use a handgun. Then when the second roommate said not to have it cocked, I was hoping that I did not make a bad decision by buying a handgun that is not a double action for the first shot.

 

[Valkman]

It is not that hard to just pull the slide back to cock a gun when you need it!

Your friend is an idi- er, misinformed. He knows nothing about carrying yet he's going to regale you with his non-knowledge.

Fact: If it takes you two hands to get the gun into action you are screwing up. You may be fending off an attack also and a guy in Las Vegas got injured bad because he needed two hands to get his fanny pack open.

There's nothing illegal about cocked/locked and it's the ONLY way to carry. Yes cops do carry that way. With the grip safety (unlike a Glock) the gun will not fire until you want it to. I've carried this way since '93 and it's never gone off!

If I ever find someone who has a loaded and cocked gun, I will call the police even if they have a permit for it!

This guy really doesn't have a clue.

Ignore the XD hater - these are great guns. Yes the early ones had finish problems but that's been solved. No need to carry a 1940 .38 special because someone might call it "tactical" - carry what you want to carry.

 

[legion3]

WestonSmith - you need to collect your $50 from your roomate, I am a LEO and I carry it "locked and cocked"...in a Glock...with no safety

I sure hope your roomate doesn't call the cops on me...


BYW, the Israeli's train with no round in the chamber, they practice drawing and racking the slide... or they did when I was doing some training with them some years ago, but I think they still do.

That being said I know of no LEO's who carry their weapons with no round in the chamber...even when we carried Beretta 92's it was one in the chamber, safety off...pull and shoot...

Your roomate is wrong!

 

[Fish Miner]

The main reason I got my XD was for the indicator and the backstrap (and it feels way better then a Glock). My abilities and my wifes are different, I like that she can just look and feel if there is a round in, before she tries to drop the mag and rack the slide. The more comfort she feels the better off I am. I am at almost 1000 rounds and it gets better everytime I shoot.

 

[possum]

xDs, one of my first handguns. finish was not very good, i got it rid of it to get a glock. didnt like the way it looked like legos

Who cares what it looks like?

 

[Marshall]

Yes, I carry my XD-40 cocked and with a topped off mag. The only way to go.

 

[Coronach]

As I said via PM, your friend obviously knows nothing about guns. The XD is, actually, designed as a duty gun, and could be the very weapon carried by the police in your area (not exceptionally likely, as they have a fairly small marketshare, but possible nonetheless). Even if it is not, there is a very very very good chance they carry Glocks. If they do, your friend would be horrified to learn that the Glock is designed like the XD, and even lacks one of the XD's safety features. It is indeed carried with a round in the chamber.

Collect your $50, and put it towards a training course in how to use your new handgun. Take your friend if he's willing to learn something.

Mike

PS Oh, and no one- no one- carries a defensive gun without a chambered round. It is far too slow to get into action that way.

PPS Someone is about to say "except the Israelis", and they'd be correct...but that is a product of 1. using many different styles of autoloaders and having a need for a common manual of arms and 2. the fact that it is a military policy. Certainly no one, even the Israelis, think it is ideal.

 

[Grayrider]

Well said indeed, and yes my XD45 (when carried) has a round in the chamber. When I was a reserve police officer, my duty Colt Gold Cup had a round in the chamber, was cocked and locked at all times. My usual CCW pistol is a Kimber CDP Pro Carry, and it is kept C&L as well. The only guns I have ever been iffy about carrying that way are sub-compact pistols in DAO. Then I simply make sure the holster has good trigger coverage with a rigid material, and am very careful when holstering to make sure nothing contacts the trigger.

As for the extra "safety" features on the XD, I say why not? Nothing about them changes my safety procedures, but it is nice to have an extra check of the weapons status for those of us who are obsessive about making sure everything is as it should be. I find it reassuring to verify the weapon is ready to go at a glance. Of course seeing the hammer back on a 1911 is much the same.

John

 

[ZeSpectre]

WestonSmith...

One of my other roommates overheard our conversation. He acted startled and was like "You are not going to walk around with a loaded and cocked gun! That is just plain stupid! "

There is a great video out there on a simulated knife attack. The bad guy was (if I remember correctly) about 25 feet away and was almost always able to close and strike before the defender could draw and fire. Add the time needied to rack a slide and then engage and you are pretty much screwed.

Police do not even do that! It is not that hard to just pull the slide back to cock a gun when you need it! I will give you $50 if police walk around with guns cocked with a round in the chamber!

Didja collect your $50? When I was an LEO my gun always had a round in the chamber. Now that I carry concealed my carry weapon always has a round in the chamber.

If I ever find someone who has a loaded and cocked gun, I will call the police even if they have a permit for it!

You might want to educate that person about the penalties for filing a false report.

I was hoping that I did not make a bad decision by buying a handgun that is not a double action for the first shot.

I personally prefer a DAO trigger. That goes back to training and experience. It's what I learned on, it's what I'm programmed to be comfortable, so it's what I carry. I also have SA guns and like them a lot. About the only style I dislike is a DA/SA trigger because I can never get used to the different trigger pulls so my personal preference is all one or all the other.

There is nothing wrong with your decision and your decision to carry with a round in the chamber. No round in the chamber and you are basically carrying an unloaded gun which may be of no use in a split-second situation like THIS ONE.

 

[xd9fan]

.......mines bigger than yours......

 

[Euclidean]

Gentlemen/Ladies:

It is entirely possible to cock an XD without chambering a round. Simply cock the pistol with no magazine inserted and voila. While the possibility of a loaded chamber but an uncocked gun may be nil, having the XD cocked but not loaded is common. You have to put it in this condition to field strip it.

Now I am not saying that this feature is good bad or indifferent, nor should you rely on it, but the purpose of those external indicators is to show the user, clearly, what the status of the firearm is. If they weren't capable of showing the loaded or cocked status independent of the other, those devices wouldn't be doing their job. That's all these things do.

You must remember that this was designed to be a military service pistol. While the external indicators may seem superfluous to us, people operating under stress and fatigue might appreciate them more. While these features are certainly no replacement for competent gun handling, the ability to look at the pistol and instantly realize its status (namely that it's not loaded or cocked when you would like it to be) sure doesn't hurt anything.

They could take them both off of the XD and I wouldn't care one wit but they don't hurt a darn thing by being there.

I now own a Glock and the XD series. I honestly do not see why anyone should get so upset these guns are different or call either of them trash, because neither of them meet that descriptor even remotely.

For the record I carry the XD and the Glock pistols with a round in the chamber, cocked. There is absolutely no reason not to.

 

[BFIII12]

I have always been told that if a bad guy is within 21 ft., he can get to you before you can draw your weapon. They actually teach this at the Oklahoma C.L.E.E.T school for LEO's.

NO REASON TO NOT CARRY COCKED AND LOCKED!!!!!!!