I found an interesting (new?) way to press check.

[Desertscout]

There is no sin in cocking the hammer first as long as your finger is OUT of the trigger guard and the muzzle is poiniting in a safe direction.

 

[BamBam-31]

I find it funny how sexy and cool we all find press checks to be. It's just a simple safety procedure, for crying out loud! Still, if some movie hero performs a stylin' press check, I get all giggly and suddenly feel the urge to point at the screen and say "Doooood!" to the unfortunate person sitting next to me.

 

[Desertscout]

It's just a simple safety procedure, for crying out loud!

No. Not necessarily. While on the range and certainly every time you load or unload the gun, you should perform a chamber check but there are also times when you may want to do it on the street to ensure that a round was chambered. Especially in low-light.
Administrative or not. Whatever the reason, it should be convenient and positive.

 

[BsChoy]

Funny, how people are trained this but in the leo world (at least where I am, NY) the press check is discouraged...your gun may not go back into battery and fail to fire.

 

[Desertscout]

Proper training eliminates that possibility. It's a shame that so many LEO's don't get the training that they really need.

 

[Powderman]

Hey, jl...

Good idea for the press check. To make it even easier, grasp the gun as shown--but instead of putting two fingers over the slide, wrap all of your fingers over it. Your index finger should be almost against the rear sight.

Now, simply try to make a fist.

This will cause the slide to retract about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch, and you can examine the chamber that way, if you wish.

 

[1911Tuner]

Battery

Quote:

>your gun may not go back into battery and fail to fire.<
*************

...pssst...

The heel of your hand is a forward assist. Bump the slide.

 

[default]

...pssst...

The heel of your hand is a forward assist. Bump the slide.

Dumb question...is that (manually bumping the slide forward) a generally reliable and safe way to fully rechamber a partially extracted round? That is, if after a press check the pistol appears to be completely in battery is it safe to assume the round is seated correctly in the chamber? Also, is that a 1911 thing only, or across the board for autoloaders? Thanks!

 

[1911Tuner]

re:

Default...not a dumb question at all. Note how the fingerpiece on the Garand
and M-14 op rod worked both ways...as a cocking piece AND a bolt forward assist...and was used in just that way. Bumping the slide after placing it into battery is a good habit to get into.
Doesn't cost anything...easy to do...and could well save your life.

 

[SAWBONES]

jlbraun, you've just described the method of chamber-checking that John Farnam has advocated and taught for years.

 

[Bix]

Farnam teaches a two-handed chamber check that is similar to what's shown in the original post. Support hand grips just in front of the trigger guard and helps to hold the action open whle pinky finger of the dominant hand dips in to feel for the presence of a round.

He also teaches the 'slide bump' prior to reholster.

EDIT: sorry, SAWBONES - you type faster than me!

 

[default]

Interesting, thanks for the info, 1911Tuner!

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Good idea for the press check. To make it even easier, grasp the gun as shown--but instead of putting two fingers over the slide, wrap all of your fingers over it. Your index finger should be almost against the rear sight.

That's how I do it on my glocks. Kinda stumbled onto it when I was looking for the fastest way to field strip (the other reason I do it besides a press check).

 

[BsChoy]

Desertscout,

LEO's (at least where I am) get great training, but its up to the departments to keep that training up and current. All the training in the world can't "eliminate" a weapon failure especially under stress. If you think you your training is fool proof, train some more. Nothing is foolproof especailly the human organism and its reactions under pressure. please don't take this an an attack by the way this is just something I have learned in my training and my point of view from my training.

 

[Srigs]

I use your grip to hold the slide in position while I remove the slide pin on my Smiths. Works great!

 

[alumltd]

I guess I'll have to call it the "octopus check", ha!

I really don't like to have a gun in an "out of control" position when it may be needed... but as long as there's no immediate requirement... what difference does it make, eh!

 

[Ryu]

I'm curious, where had you seen it before? I just found it by fiddling with the pistol.

Old trick. If you're really good you can do it with a gun in each hand after the draw and then drop to ready like the asian guy in the last matrix movie.

 

[albanian]

I found this way when I was having a hard time field stripping my Kahr K-9. It is a pain to line up unless you have compleat control. I used to use a wedge of plastic that I would jam between the chamber and the slide to keep it back at the right distance to remove the slide stop. After a while, I "discovered" the one handed method (you need three hands to field strip a Kahr until you know what you are doing) and it helped a lot.

After using the method the field strip Kahrs, I used it to field strip other pistols and then I started using it as a press check. There is not a more positive method of press checking a weapon that the one handed method. Any two handed method I have tried not only takes two hands but also is not as easy to control for me. Everyone is different but the one hand method seems most secure for me.

Don't feel bad, there have been several times when I thought I had invented something only to find that it was already invented or in use. There is nothin new under the sun so to speak.

 

[tantrix]

Been using that grip for almost 10 years now, but not for press checking. It's the one I use while pulling down the slide lock when field stripping my Glocks.

I've never press checked any of my guns. Never had to, they're always loaded.