How do you carry your striker fired pistol?

[jim243]

Are they as safe to carry as one with a hammer?

Safe to carry?, yes. Safe to use?, maybe not.

The problem is not in the holster or that it is a striker fired pistol, the problem is in the trigger and your trigger finger. Yes, everyone will tell you to keep your finger off the trigger (LOL), like that will ever happen. In a stress situation where you only have seconds to decide what to do, your trigger finger will by instint find it way to the trigger to be ready to shoot. Now, striker fire pistols without a safety will NOT give you that half second to change your mine about shooting. If you have to manually remove a safety before firing, it gives you that extra time on your sight picture and that what you think is a good shoot, is in fact a good shoot and not a mistake. (police departments are finding officers with Glocks shooting suspects with cell phones by mistake.)

Striker fire pistols have a lighter and shorter trigger pull than SAO or DA/SA pistols. The extra quarter of a second it takes to release the safety gives me the time to make sure that this is what I want to do. (No way to take a bullet back after the trigger has been pulled.)

The great sages that tell you to keep your finger off the trigger have never been in a gun fight and had less than three seconds to end the threat. (finger off the trigger just does not happen in real life.)

So are they safe to carry, yes. Are they safe to use, I DON'T THINK SO. But that's just my opinion.

Jim

 

[allaroundhunter]

Now, striker fire pistols without a safety will NOT give you that half second to change your mine about shooting. If you have to manually remove a safety before firing, it gives you that extra time on your sight picture and that what you think is a good shoot, is in fact a good shoot and not a mistake.

When I carry a handgun with a manual safety I disengage it as I unholster the weapon. I am unholstering because I feel threatened and I do not want to have to take an extra split second to disengage the safety later when that split second could mean life and death. That is also what most people who carry a weapon with a manual safety are trained to do. So, by that logic, the glock with a 5.5 lb trigger pull is actually safer than a 1911 with a 3.5-5 lb trigger pull.

I don't blame the gun for the officers shooting "suspects" who are merely pulling out cell phones.

 

[jim243]

I don't blame the gun for the officers shooting "suspects" who are merely pulling out cell phones.

I do, and so does our police chief, all have been fired. (both guns and officers)

So, by that logic, the glock with a 5.5 lb trigger pull is actually safer than a 1911 with a 3.5-5 lb trigger pull.

Actually, not. Most DAO or DA/SA have a trigger pull of 8 to 11 lbs trigger pull.

The picture below, my 1911 has a trigger pull of 1.5 lbs (set that way) but is safer than a Glock because it has both a manual safety and a pistol grip safety and because it's a Kimber it can not be fired without both safetys dis-engaged and the trigger pulled ALL THE WAY BACK, much safer than ones without these features.

Jim

 

[allaroundhunter]

....the best safety a gun can have is it's operator and what is between his/her ears. A 1911 is less prone to NDs while holstered or fidgeting around than a Glock due to its manual and grip safeties, but if an officer has to draw on a suspect, it is not the Glock that is more dangerous. The officer with the 1911 should have both the manual and grip safety disengaged as he draws and them what will stand between a shot is his trigger finger and a 3.5-5 lb trigger. The glock will have at least a 5.5 lb pull. For the 1911 to be safer, it is the officer that has to make it that way. Both guns will go bang when the trigger is pulled, and it will take less pressure for the 1911 to break the shot.

The 1911 can also be more dangerous to the operator. If he/she has not practiced enough, in a quick-reaction situation he/she could fail to disengage the manual safety and in turn be the one injured, or worse killed.

The picture below, my 1911 has a trigger pull of 1.5 lbs (set that way) but is safer than a Glock because it has both a manual safety and a pistol grip safety and because it's a Kimber it can not be fired without both safetys dis-engaged and the trigger pulled ALL THE WAY BACK, much safer than ones without these features.

A 1.5 lb trigger on a gun intended for carry? I would feel much safer with a Glock

 

[jim243]

....the best safety a gun can have is it's operator and what is between his/her ears.

Absolutely true, let's hope no one here has to try out our theories.

Good luck and good shooting.
Jim

A 1.5 lb trigger on a gun intended for carry? I would feel much safer with a Glock

Actually it is pretty safe till pointed down range (LOL). Only comes out when absolutly needed.

This is what I chose for a carry gun, yes I know no safety, but one long heavy trigger pull. About the sames as a revolver on first shot.

 

[mingansr]

FIVETWOSEVEN quoted my talk of the USA trigger on xd's.
then,

The trigger safety is to prevent the trigger from being pulled by inertia if the pistol was dropped. I'm not sure what kind of force it would take for that to happen but that's it's intention.

i understand, 527, but try to pull the trigger back with your fingernail as hard as you might, and unless you engage the first stage of the trigger first, your xd will not fire. a haphazard draw from a holster with your finger touching and even pulling back the main trigger (wider part of trigger) could happen, but it will not release the striker. tried as hard as i could, and it won't fire. to me, along with that grip safety, this makes it much safer to pull from any holster without releasing the striker. i just love that xd!

 

[pockets]

I am looking at getting a striker fired pistol. Never had one before...only pistols with hammers...other than my Buckmark.

The way this reads to me is that your Buckmark doesn't have a hammer? That is odd....part B5152465 is the hammer.

That said, I carry my striker-fired pistols the same way I carry my hammer-fired pistols....one in the chamber and a full magazine.

.

 

[mdauben]

If you have to manually remove a safety before firing, it gives you that extra time on your sight picture and that what you think is a good shoot, is in fact a good shoot and not a mistake.

I believe this is a false idea of security. When I carried a gun with a manual safety, I was trained to start sweeping the safety off as soon as the gun cleared the holster. By the time I had the gun up in front of my eyes and aquired a "sight picture" the safety was already off and the gun would fire if I pulled the trigger, just like a striker fired gun. If you are actually waiting until your gun is aimed and on-target and not flicking the safety off until your can stop and eveluate the threat, IMO you are just slowing your reaction time in emergencies.

 

[Inebriated]

Safariland 6377 OWB, Condition 1.

Can't CCW yet. When I can, it'll probably be IWB Condition 1.


No reason not to go with one in the pipe, unless you just aren't comfortable with it.

 

[ForumSurfer]

If you have to manually remove a safety before firing, it gives you that extra time on your sight picture and that what you think is a good shoot, is in fact a good shoot and not a mistake.

Not for me. I've always been taught the 4 count draw and my safety is off at step two, well before I ever see my sights.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

If you have to manually remove a safety before firing, it gives you that extra time on your sight picture and that what you think is a good shoot, is in fact a good shoot and not a mistake.

Sight picture from what I've read and researched doesn't really happen with handguns in combat.

 

[theQman23]

I love 1911's, carry a full size 5 inch under my shoulder in a galso just above my fat rolls and hammer back, safety on, that's fine. I also carry my G27 glock the exact same way sometimes, unless I need to wear a tight fitting T-shirt.

If it is hot out, and I put a T-shirt on, (all sized in L, but my body didn't get the memo so my body went through stimulus expansion and is now an X-L so all my Tshirts are tight,) I then will up the baby glock 40 down into a pocket on the side of my pants. Cabelas and other camping/hunting/outdoor stores sell cargo style pants that have pockets down the thigh. A baby glock, (or similiar small framed striker fired piece) can fit down in there tightly enough to not come out, loosely enough to be pulled and presented, and most importantly tightly enough not to rotate out of place. The reason most recommend against pocket carry is because when the piece rotates and you reach in to grab for it, you don't know where the trigger is. If the piece is stabilized in the pocket, and oriented a certain way, there is no fear of this happening.

When able to dress for it though, (3 out of 4 seasons of the year,) I absolutely prefer a strong side IWB or OWB hip holster. They simply offer the best compromise between trigger coverage, (crucial to ALL GUNS, not just hammerless designs), presentation, concealability, access, etc.

 

[mingansr]

hey, guys, check this holster out. i think i'll be able to c c my full size xd 40 with this

i refer you to the review by Tim Schmidt, USCCA. interesting

smartcarry.com/reviews.html

it'd be even easier with that holster if i had the new slim XDS in 40sw. IMO

 

[27hand]

striker fired pistols

I didn't respond about chamber conditions but do carry my self defense pistols with chambered rounds.

I personally believe that any gun is safe (barring mechanical deficiencies) if the person carrying has the training. Friends of mine have been carrying for many more years than I and yet will immediately put their finger on the trigger and not do a chamber check when handed a firearm.

Every one has their ideas about these matters
I have a couple Glock pistols I carry. While I have been taught by a few instructors not to make any modifications to carry guns, I did install NY1 triggers in each with a 3.5lb connector ( on the advice of yet another instructor). This actually increases the trigger pull to a tad over 6 lbs but results in a more distinct trigger reset.
I personally also think that if you had to present your pistol and actually shoot, you really won't be aware if it's a 1/2lb or 12 lbs as long as you train with what you have.

Manual safeties do not take longer to take off. I agree with forumsurfer on that. The safety is off during the draw stroke before the sights are on target.

 

[Byrd666]

How do you carry them safely in a holster, vehicle etc? With or without one in the chamber? Are they as safe to carry as one with a hammer?

I guess I am used to having to cock before I fire unless I shoot DA......

For now, the only striker fired pistol I own or carry is a Ruger SR9. I carry this in a custom made holster by - http://www.jeffreycustomleather.com/ConcealmeantHolsters2.html - it is the BG model with some enhancements for one handed use. I carry it with a round in the chamber and thumb safety engaged. Just as I would with my 1911 model EMP .40 or any hammer fired pistol. With the trigger safety alone I feel comfortable carrying loaded with a round in the chamber but, with the trigger and thumb safety, I almost feel over protected.

I'm not sure what "plastic" pistol you are looking at but, if it's a Glock or S & W M&P for instance, these are two of safest polymer pistols I know for carrying with a round in the chamber. NOT promoting the Glock but, try and find the last two episodes of TAC-TV and the Glock torture test. What they did to that piece of loaded "plastic" impressed me a lot. AND IT DIDN'T FIRE UNTIL THE TRIGGER WAS PULLED. You can't say much more about a safe pistol than that. And I HATE Glocks