Secret Art of the Press Check?

[qwert65]

Is it common to do press checks? I've never heard of them. What is the benifit? wouldn't you know if your gun is loaded or just pull the slide back a little? I'm no gunfighter but usually i load my 1911 cock it saftey on and it stays that way.

Not being argumentative just curious sorry if I overlooked something really simple.

 

[Black Majik]

Is it common to do press checks? I've never heard of them. What is the benifit? wouldn't you know if your gun is loaded or just pull the slide back a little? I'm no gunfighter but usually i load my 1911 cock it saftey on and it stays that way.

Not being argumentative just curious sorry if I overlooked something really simple.

Same reason we check to ensure an unloaded gun is empty. To ensure the status of the gun.

Two loudest sounds you'll ever hear is a boom when you expect a click and a click when you expect a boom.

 

[Mandirigma]

wouldn't you know if your gun is loaded or just pull the slide back a little? I'm no gunfighter but usually i load my 1911 cock it saftey on and it stays that way.

Pretty much half there with the pulling the slide back a little. Instead of look, you feel. Press checking is a way to insure if the gun is loaded or not when you don't have ample light available.

Its just something that gets to be an ingrained habit. I notice I do it on all autoloaders that I handle. I'll press check my own handguns before I slip them into the holster, or before I put the holster on.

 

[Owen]

I have small hands.

I reach over the slide just like I'm going to rack it, pull back, and stick my pinky in the ejection port.

 

[qwert65]

oh ok see ya learn something every day!

 

[Dienekes]

Never saw much point to it, myself. If I felt the need to confirm a round in the chamber, a slingshot grip will open the slide enough to confirm the presence of brass. Futzing around needlessly with fingers near the muzzle and inside the trigger guard always seemed like asking for trouble.

I carried a LW Commander for a few years then had to use a DA revolver, In both cases I confirmed status in the morning when I got dressed, and left the thing alone until I returned home.

I'm a confirmed believer in Murphy but if the weapon is under your control 100% of the time and you don't fool around with it, it's likely to be in the same condition at the end of the day.

In other words, keep it simple.

 

[Shadow1198]

Here are a few good pictures I found to help visualize some of the press check methods mentioned by others:







I take no credit for these and give full credit to Massad Ayoob as well as whoever may have taken said pictures. Here's the corresponding article by Massad (and a good one too for beginners): Link

The last two are the ones mentioned by others, commonly seen done by Steven Segal, Al Pacino in HEAT, etc. No matter how right or wrong, I just thought I'd post these as I looked around and it seemed hard to find any pictures of various press check methods.

 

[jlbraun]

Shadow:

#1: Ineffective on SA/DA guns. When you pull back hard enough to see the round, you slip over the hammer and eject the round.

#2: Dangerous. Nuff said.

#3: Still dangerous, but ineffective on SA/DA guns and difficult with guns with no forward serrations OR slide-inside-frame guns like a CZ.

 

[Kind of Blued]

Shadow:

The problem that I, personally, see with all three of the techniques in all three of those photographs is the tension in the shooter's "trigger finger".

I may be in the minority, but I see pressing on the right side of the frame as a check is performed as dangerous. If your finger is sweaty and slips or slides downward, where is it going?

I tested it, and usually, it goes right onto the trigger.

Consequently, I usually keep my "trigger finger" stiff and pointed parallel to the gun, not applying any sideward pressure.

Does anyone have similar sentiments?

I guess I didn't realize we could discuss this issue to such length, but I guess the thread title is appropriate.

 

[plexreticle]

Keep your guns loaded and no press check is required.

If you want to make sure it's unloaded then clear it.

 

[Jim K]

I agree. A press check, like shooting with the gun sideways, is movie/TV nonsense that unfortunately has come to be accepted as something "cool" and even used by some real police.

When I was a LEO, the gun I was carrying was loaded. I didn't need to check anything. I knew my gun was loaded because it was ALWAYS loaded unless I was on a range or cleaning it. Let me say that again - ALWAYS LOADED.

If you carry a gun and have to do a "press check" or a cylinder "flip" to see if your gun is loaded, you have no business carrying a gun.

Jim

 

[jlbraun]

If you carry a gun and have to do a "press check" or a cylinder "flip" to see if your gun is loaded, you have no business carrying a gun.

Them's pretty strong words, there. Are you sure that's what you mean?

Doesn't it seem reasonable that it makes sense to spend literally one second of one's day to make sure that one's carry weapon is loaded before heading out the door? And without going through the motions of unloading it and loading it again, contributing to bullet setback?

Is my carry gun always loaded? Yep. Do I still press check it before I put it in the holster? Sure do. And not because it's "cool". It is simply the act of being mindful.

I do however think that the "cool" association we have with press checks is linked to the movies, but not for the reason we think. When a character press checks in the movies, it shows the audience that the character is mindful of their weapon, treats it as a tool rather than as a mystic aura projector, and has a prepared mindset.

 

[Hook686]

I find this humor intriging ... who ever came up with the concept of 'Press check' ? Seems silly to me. I'm with USMCDK, if you need to stick a finger in the chamber, just lock the slide to the rear. 'Press check' ... geesh some folks have too much time and money on their hands.

 

[jlbraun]

Hook,

Locking the slide to the rear does the exact opposite of what is intended by a press check - it ensures the gun is unloaded rather than loaded.

The intent of a press check is to quickly ensure a weapon is loaded.

 

[Shadow1198]

Obviously people didn't read my whole post , "No matter how right or wrong, I just thought I'd post these as I looked around and it seemed hard to find any pictures of various press check methods.". I just posted those up for informational purposes as some of those "unconventional" methods might be hard to visualize by some. I don't use any of those 3 methods BTW.

 

[RobertFBurnett]

Obviously people didn't read my whole post , "No matter how right or wrong, I just thought I'd post these as I looked around and it seemed hard to find any pictures of various press check methods.". I just posted those up for informational purposes as some of those "unconventional" methods might be hard to visualize by some.

I did Shadow, thanks for the pics and links!

RFB

 

[PPGMD]

A press check is not something that you do regularly, I only do it once a day, before holstering my gun and going about my business.

 

[combatantr2]

Try blowing wind thru the barrel

I have seen my brother blow wind thru the barrel of his 1911 to check if the chamber is loaded. Apparently if you blow wind thru the barrel this creates a sound. A loaded chamber sounds different from an empty chamber.

How to do this - barrel up - pointing upward, with the edge of the barrel just below the lower lip. Upper lip protruding forward creating a downward wind direction thru the barrel. Just make sure your finger is off the trigger, thumb blocking the hammer, safety on. > Totally unsafe and not recommended.

 

[USMCDK]

Quote:
Basically, hook thumb under the beavertail, wrap fingers around the top of the slide, make a fist and pull back against the rear sight.

Ah, yes... I believe that is known as the Marine Corps press check.

Okay I need to make a clarification here.

It just dawned on me that we in the USMC do what is known as a "BRASS Check" with the M16 and then hit the forward assist when on the range and we do the same thing on the 9mm range just without the forward assist part. :banghead: nuf said.

How ever my first post stands because the reason for the press/brass check was never originally posted, and is why I retorted in such a fashion.

In the Corps we are trained that you treat every EVERY weapon as if it were loaded, so when entering the chow hall or other buildings we skip the BS and just clear the weapon (in the proper manner mind you) stick barrel in clearing tank and click with hopefully no BANG!!!

 

[Hook686]

Today, 10:26 AM #39 jlbraun wrote:

Locking the slide to the rear does the exact opposite of what is intended by a press check - it ensures the gun is unloaded rather than loaded.

The intent of a press check is to quickly ensure a weapon is loaded.

hmmmmm and if I release the slide on a loaded magazine, is the chamber loaded ?

Rack the slide on a loaded magazine seems the best way to ensure the chamber has a round in it. If you forgot if the magazine is loaded or not, drop the magazine and insert a full one (easy to tell by touch) and then rack the slide.

I have a weak, partially paralyzed left support hand and this idea of 'Press check' is simply unrealistic from my viewpoint. See the picture by Volk:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=352407&highlight=handicap

A dealer requiring I do such a manuver will lose a customer.

 

[TestPilot]

Rack the slide on a loaded magazine seems the best way to ensure the chamber has a round in it. If you forgot if the magazine is loaded or not, drop the magazine and insert a full one (easy to tell by touch) and then rack the slide.

No. Seeing the round "in" the chamer is the best way to ensure the chamber has a round in it.

Even if the magazine is loaded, sometimes the slide slips over the top round, usually because the magazine is not fully inserted and locked in.