I don't get loaded chamber indicators

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mugsie

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These have to be what some lawyer thought was a litigation free solution to a non problem. My chambers are always loaded. A gun with an unloaded chamber is a stick or a paperweight. Guns in my safe all have a chamber flag inserted and very obvious. If it's holstered, or on my nightstand (fancy word for dresser), then there's a round chambered.

At night, in a dimly or unlit room, no one is checking a chamber indicator to see if a round is chambered. In an emergency situation no one is checking it. I see absolutely zero reason for a loaded chamber indicator.

However, I could be wrong. I was once, but then discovered I was mistaken! :)
Can any of you school me on this. I'd be interested in hearing (seeing) your thoughts.

Stay safe all....
 
On my Walthers you can feel it with your thumb if you want, light isn't necessary. I doubt lawyers were involved circa 1929. You could choose with/without at the time, I have a 1939 PPK with no indicator. If in Cali, though, it's because of politicians (though they do seem to all be lawyers...)

Some people's employers (or CO for servicemen) may mandate empty chamber carry, a LCI might seem useful then.
 
Loaded chamber indicators
Magazine safeties
"Smart" guns
Ballistic printing
... the list of things mandated by those who know little or nothing about a product is astoundingly long.
 
I think they are useless, but not because of any reasons involving dark rooms or emergency situations.
1) If you are smart enough to know what it it is and where to look for it, you are smart enough to just check the chamber.
2) Most of them are just ugly. Not aesthetically pleasing.
 
Considering that an awful lot - maybe a majority - of accidental shootings happen with guns that are "unloaded," maybe it's not such a bad thing to have an indicator. Unlike things like mag disconnects, which can mess with the trigger feel, I'm not really aware of a downside to them. Most of my guns don't have them, and that's not a problem IMO, but it doesn't seem like something to get worked up about.
 
I have a few guns with an LCI and frankly they are a 100% non-factor to me.

Are there times when one would like to know if the gun is loaded, sure, an LCI could be useful, but so can a chamber peep hole. As long as a "safety" device does not interfere with the function of a firearm, I guess I am OK with it.

I don't think the LCI is either good or bad, it's just there.

Magazine disconnects are another story, talk about dumb. Another two that are REALLY dumb are microstamping and "smart" guns.
 
They are there because some states require them. If suddenly they were not required by any states, chances are good they'd be dropped from all makers guns.
 
The loaded chamber indicator on say, a Glock, is just a little thing on the extractor.
No big deal one way or another.

If I was a Tactical trained Ninja Seal I could see where it could be handy to see if my
gun had a round in the chamber. You know, working in the dark all the time.

Come to think of it, I do set my gun down sometimes. When I pick it up it is convenient
to see that there is a round in the chamber without having to do a chamber check.
 
rskent said:
...When I pick it up it is convenient
to see that there is a round in the chamber without having to do a chamber check.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, that is the problem with these--you can get dependent on something that may break or on other handguns with just a port, not read it properly. I may be old fashioned but I will not depend on anything but my own chamber checking eyeballs.
 
I suspect that it started as a gimmick, some way to try to make one mfgr's product seem more appealing to the consumer. For me, I don't get to worked about it, either way. I know that when I pick up a firearm, I'm supposed to verify the chamber situation. Sure... i could see, that in a case if you have a gun stashed, or stored in a manner where it COULD be monkey'd with, then, yeah, it'd be nice to see if the round you put in the chamber was still there.... But that seems like movie type scenarios to me.

With regards to the comment about how folks (politicians) try to pass rules about things they know nothing about... Since they don't know anything about guns, and clearly don't have any common sense, they have to be told that something actually could be done (or see it in a movie) before they can dream up a way to mess with our firearm rights and require said goofy thing.

I know it's not what the OP asked, but I do DESPISE a 'mag safety'- just plain dumb.

PE
 
The earliest gun i know of with a LCI is the Walther PP. The idea was around way before states required them. Just another safety item that does nothing to distract from the function of the gun. Not a feature I look for in a gun but if it has one that's okay too. Many guns, like the Glock, use the extractor as a LCI.

Ugly? Useless? If you're spending time arguing the uselessness of a LCI you have a lot of time on your hands. We might as well duscuss which head is best on a grip screw slotted, phillips, crosstip, torx, hex?
 
Excluding the ginormous loaded chamber indicator on the Ruger SR pistols, please explain to me how knowing whether a round is chambered is bad? How does a loaded chamber indicator negatively affect the operation or reliability of the pistol?
 
I have too many guns to keep them all loaded. I have a couple in my safe loaded, and the rest not. While I generally know which are which, it is very handy to know if I have to pick one up in low light I can feel the chamber indicator and know if it's ready to go. I also like the indicator on my Ruger Mk III pistols, to make sure a round loaded when I release the bolt in competition and assume the low-ready postion. Necessary? No. Nice to have sometimes? Yes. Don't want one? Okay by me.
 
I have one gun with a loaded indicator on it. I have no problem with it. Not a big deal. If they are a help to someone, why not?
 
The LCI does NOT tell you the chamber is loaded with a live round.
 
Never had one until I bought a CZ PCR. To be honest I never thought much about it but I kinda like the one on the PCR, it's unobtrusive and takes nothing away from the pistols appearance.
Seen the ones on the Rugers, they kinda remind me of Bozos nose:neener:
 
Lawyer invention? Nope. Originally a government requirement? Nope.

Georg Luger put one on the Luger pistol (designed in 1898), a tab with the word "Geladen" which means Loaded in German.

The first Walther P38 pistols had a loaded chamber indicator in 1938, a button on top of the slide that popped up when a round was in the chamber. During WWII it was eliminated to speed up production.


Love it or hate it, some of the world's best gun designers invented it. Can't blame it on anyone else.
 
Just one of those things I never gave much thought to. None of my guns have the feature so I can't really comment and I know the gun on my nightstand is loaded.

Ron
 
I have two pistols with them. Guess neither one of those few thousandths protrusions have ever got in my way so non issue to me.

Most shooters aren't nearly as comfortable in their habits or their gun knowledge as most of us are.

If loaded chamber indicators create one more safe shooting "pro gun good guy", or prevent one accidental shooting from an inexperienced gun handler, I'm all for em.
 
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