Proper method to acheive "full magazine +1 in the chamber" status?

[mgregg85]

Probably 90% of the time I shoot at the range I will shoot with a full magazine and one in the chamber. I've never had a single jam or malfunction because of this. I've put maybe 2000 through my XD now, not that much but it's never hiccuped because of being fully loaded.

 

[Lonestar49]

Actually, there are only 3 of us.. lol

Quote: Wow! I am a little surprised by the number of people who have posted that don't carry a full mag +1. I personally can not agree with that for a few reasons, but # 1 if your carrying a single stack that really makes a difference in capacity and if you are that worried you should just carry a revolver, once again just my opinion.
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All of us? lol, there is only 3 of us vs the rest of the posters..

Well, some opinions are right, and some are wrong, and we all have to live with our decisions.

But if I pull any of my guns out, it's a good bet that the target is a BG, within 16ft of me, and I have (hopefully) the element of surprise and have a very confident feeling (10,000 rounds of practice) earned in accuracy. I'll get 2 in the BG COM, with 8 rounds left, maybe only 6 with the P220, or 5 with the Defender, 7 with the EMP 9mm, and still have enough for another BG, even if I need to use, next to all, for suppression and put in a back up clip.

Then if they want me, by then, I should be holed up well enough to make the 911 phone call and wait them out, after all, they now have to come and get me, and get thru some 12 more rounds, from one direction, and on a bad day, 1 extra bullet, as I said, is not gonna turn the tide IMO. It's shot placement/s fast, and SA, working as practiced, or else there will be a trail of BS behind me if I'm just fooling myself about what I have done to get to this point in my shooting skills. I know, and feel, the truth, and I can live with that.

I make it a point to stay away from war-zones as part of my ongoing SA, nor do I think in terms of a "gun fight".. I do not drive myself, put myself, in such crime ridden war zones, not in the last 40yrs, nor the next 30yrs, not one bullet fired in fear of my life, at any real BG's.

That's why I like the saying ~ Fate is the Hunter ~

Just don't put us few (3) in such a sinking boat.. lol Or in a jammed rudder incident, like the Bismark.. Who would have guessed? It "just happened" that moment, that day, that fight, and they went down because of a simple, unliklely, jam..

Revolver? 6 shots only, not in my opinion, DA pulls, slower to reload, IMHO.

We must agree there.. lol



LS

 

[OAKVILLE SHOOTER]

I do it pretty much the same, but slightly different. I lock the slide open, insert a magazine, release the slide, then drop the mag and top it off.

Been doing it this way for years in various guns. Haven't had any problems thus far.

 

[nwilliams]

I'm another one of those guys that doesn't top off my extra mags, I always leave them one short. When i prepare my gun for carry (M&P40) I do the following....

• Top off the mag with 14 rds of .40
• Pull back the slide and lock it
• Insert the mag
• Point the muzzle towards a wall corner
• Reach over the top with my left hand and rack the slide back and then follow it forward giving it a little extra momentum forward to make sure that top round gets stripped off the mag and the slide is fully closed.
• Finally holster

This is the way I was trained to do it by my instructors over the years, I never top off my carry mags, I never use the slide release to chamber a round. Personally I think 13 rounds of .40 is sufficient for me, I've had enough training to feel confident that 13 as opposed to 14 is enough to get the job done. I feel better having a little play in the mag spring so that in a tactical reload with a round still possibly in the chamber I don't have to worry about the mag not getting fully inserted or worry that slide won't strip the top round off.

Like I said this is the way I do it, not saying its the right way, just my way. I've personally never had an issue with fully loaded mags and for years I did carry them fully loaded and at the range loaded them fully. However over the past few years I've had some excellent training from some top notch instructors that have changed my way of thinking. I trust what they say, that's why I pay 'em the big bucks for their instruction.

HOWEVER....I will admit that when I carry my 1911 (very rarely) I do carry it with fully loaded mags, but I don't carry it +1 in the gun. My Colt has 8rd mags, I carry 8rds in the gun and two extra mags with 8 in each, this is the same with my Makarov that I often use for summer carry. However with hi-cap guns I always load the gun with a full mag and carry my spares -1.