To GLOCK CCWers

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Crunker1337

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Do you carry with a round chambered or not?

I'm sure that GLOCKs are great carry guns, but the lack of any external safety devices is a bit worrisome to me.
If you carried with a round chambered, a small accident might kill you or another innocent person.
But without a round chambered, you have to take precious time to rack the slide-time you may not have in a self-defense situation especially in very tight quarters.

What are your thoughts on the issue?
 
The safety is between your ears. I am proficient and comfortable with Glocks. It wont go off if your booger hooks are not on the bang switch. A Glock may not be for everyone, but an unloaded gun is worthless.
 
OK

I carry my glock with the bullet chambered and ready to fire. My brother`n`law is a police officer and has served in two different cities. He carries his just like I do. All of the cops that he has worked with for the past 5 years carry Glocks and they all carry them chambered.

You can slam the gun against the wall, throw it in the mud,hit it with a hammer,jump fences,etc,etc. and you are safe. It would take a super freak accident to make this gun fire without the trigger being purposely pulled and then I don`t know if it would. Cops and Gov`t cops including spooks carry chambered and ready so I don`t think that they would do this if there was even the slightest chance of an accident. Do you?;)
 
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WELL now in that Waco TX video you can clearly see an ATF agent (who I assume/hope was well-trained with firearms) shoot himself in the foot with a 9mm GLOCK... that's kind of why I thought of the topic.

I'm guessing that the heavier trigger pull of GLOCKs and DA revolvers would decrease the likelyhood of accidentally pulling the trigger... thanks for the reassurance guys.
 
I dont carry as its illegal. However I would not carry a Glock with a round chambered because I wouldn't carry a Glock. ;)

I would carry an HK LEM or a Sig DAK with a chambered round. I think Glocks, HK LEM, Sig DAK, and all the other numerous types of DAO guns without safeties are perfectly safe. I would suggest making sure the triggerguard is covered and thats it. Just be conscious and train yourself to keep your finger off of the trigger.
 
Crunker, I haven't seen a video of an ATF agent in Waco, Texas, shoot himself in the foot with a 9mm Glock.

Are you sure that you're not talking about ATF agent Lee Paige in Florida who shot himself in the foot with a .40 Glock? The video of that episode has circulated widely.

If so, the reasons why Lee Paige shot himself are that he violated every rule of gun safety and seems not have had even the foggiest notion of how a semi automatic pistol worked. The make and model of the handgun had nothing to do with what he did to himself.

I don't have the time or interest to list every safety violation Paige committed. Here are a few.

Paige tried to clear the pistol with its loaded magazine inserted. The result was that he chambered a round. (From the video it doesn't look as if he had carried the pistol into the room with a round chambered.) Then he removed the magazine, which left the round chambered.

Then he pointed the gun at his foot. It is not a good idea to point the muzzle of a gun at anything one doesn't want to destroy.

And then he pulled the trigger. It is not a good idea to pull the trigger of a gun if it's not on target.

There are some lessons to be learned from Mr. Paige: don't play with a loaded gun, don't point it at your foot, don't pull the trigger while it's pointed at your foot, don't put your finger on the trigger unless the gun is pointed in a safe direction, don't put your finger on the trigger unless you have checked to see whether the gun is loaded or unloaded, don't be arrogant, don't be an idiot, and don't take employment with an agency that allows its employees to think that they are superior to other people.

If you violate any of those rules you will, sure as the most certain sure, shoot yourself in the foot. It makes no difference what gun you have, what carry condition you use, and possibly whether you even have a gun. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy doesn't carry a gun and doesn't know anything about them but she shoots herself in the foot whenever she opens her mouth.

There is as yet no cure for stupid.
 
IMO, the glocks are no different than a revolver in the "Dangers" of carry.
Click to expand...

I've always disagreed with that analogy due to a standard Glock having a 5.5lb trigger pull and a typical revolver having a 10-12lb DA trigger pull. It is far easier to accidentally discharge a Glock than a revolver.

WELL now in that Waco TX video you can clearly see an ATF agent (who I assume/hope was well-trained with firearms) shoot himself in the foot with a 9mm GLOCK...
Click to expand...

What Waco, TX, video are you referring to? Can you post a link? Do you mean the DEA agent (Lee Paige) who shot himself in front of a room full of kids in Florida?

If you're referring to the Paige video, he screwed up in all sorts of ways. As he picked the gun up, he said, "Empty weapon," and locked the slide back. He then lectured the kids about the dangers of playing with guns including the infamous statement, "I'm the only one in this room professional enough... to carry a Glock 40." As he was speaking, he dropped the slide. Then he went to put the gun into his holster and it fired into his leg. He screwed up big time by not realizing that the gun had a loaded magazine when he picked it up and he had loaded the chamber when he dropped the slide. The video is so blurry I can't tell if he intentionally pulled the trigger or if it snagged on his holster strap, but he clearly thought it was unloaded and wasn't paying any attention to the gun at all as he was speaking.

The moral is, a Glock with a round chambered is perfectly safe if you're paying attention to what you're doing and not talking to a room full of people while your handling it. Also, in a CCW situation, you should never have any reason to draw your weapon from your holster unless you're in a threatening situation. Keep your finger off the trigger and the gun in it's holster unless you really need it and you've got nothing to worry about. The compact Glocks are excellent CCW guns and I would not hesitate to carry one with a round chambered.
 
Carry with a round chambered is the only way to carry. That DEA reference with him shooting himself in the foot is due to bad training. If he didn't have his finger on the trigger he wouldn't have shot himself. It wasn't the gun's fault, it was the operator's.
 
Do you carry with a round chambered or not?

I'm sure that GLOCKs are great carry guns, but the lack of any external safety devices is a bit worrisome to me.
If you carried with a round chambered, a small accident might kill you or another innocent person.
But without a round chambered, you have to take precious time to rack the slide-time you may not have in a self-defense situation especially in very tight quarters.

What are your thoughts on the issue?
Click to expand...

Yes, I carry with a round chambered.
Why does it worry you? I carried a revolver long before the Austrian "Plastic Pistola" and I never had an external safety on any of my revolvers.
An auto-pistol with an empty chamber is an unloaded brick to me, good for beating someone with, but not much else.

Biker
 
I've always disagreed with that analogy due to a standard Glock having a 5.5lb trigger pull and a typical revolver having a 10-12lb DA trigger pull. It is far easier to accidentally discharge a Glock than a revolver.
Click to expand...

10-12 pounds is if you are lucky. Lots of revolvers these days have 14+ pound trigger pulls. Mine are 8-10.

Biker
 
I once made the mistake of forgetting to load my shotgun while deer hunting. I carried it around all day like that. It was perfectly safe. It never went off.

But late that afternoon, when a buck walked out of the edge of the field, the "CLICK" of the FP falling on the empty chamber was about the loudest sound I ever heard.

What makes you think you'd even remember to chamber a round if you really, REALLY need to?
 
Of course. I carry a firearm not a club. You still have to pull the trigger for it to fire, you know. The one precaution you should consider when owning a glock is an open top holster, one that doesn't have a retaining strap that could gt caught on the trigger when reholstering.
 
An auto-pistol with an empty chamber is an unloaded brick to me, good for beating someone with, but not much else.
Click to expand...

Well, that may be pressing the point a bit finely, don't you think? An auto without a round chambered is still a pistol that will take about a quarter second more to make ready, whereas a brick will always just be a brick.

Personally, I've never been in a quick draw scenario where that fraction of second makes a difference. I can certainly understand why someone would choose to not carry with a round chambered, as long as they state that it's a personal preference due to opinion and not due to the mechanical unreliability of any certain type of gun.

For the record, if I'm carrying, when legal, it's with a round in the chamber. It just makes me feel more comfortable.
 
If your Glock is in a holster, nothing can touch the trigger, hence it will NOT go off. Also, there is ZERO chance that sliding a Glock into a holster at an angle will activate the trigger, as the front trigger guard is ~greater than twice as wide as the trigger itself. The trigger pull on a stock Glock is actually a lot heavier than one would think. Before the trigger (activates?) the striker on the Glock, there is also a brief stopping of the trigger, kind of like firing DA with a revolver- there's a brief moment before the hammer falls or in a Glock's case, the striker, strikes. So you have like a one-pound leeway even in the WORST possible scenarios. There's also the trigger safety

I currently carry a revolver, but have look extensively at the Glock. Up until a couple months ago, I had the exact same fears that you did. The trouble is, it's hard to get an objective opinions on Glocks because of all the Glock fans championing the things. You basically have to investigate it for yourself.

Some people will probably say to get an XD with the grip safety because it's like a Glock with an additional safety feature, however, if you were to sit down with an IWB holster and depress the safety, then, unlike the Glock, there is a much larger trigger at risk for being depressed. In addition, the front of the trigger guard is not (in my recollection) as wide as the Glock's.
 
I've carried my Glock with one in the pipe since day one. If you're worried about the pistol discharging, then carry in a quality holster that covers the trigger and keep your fingers out of the trigger guard. Of course, that goes for all guns. ;)

I also carry two other guns, when my G19 is too big for the occasion. A semi-auto with DA/SA plus a slide mounted safety, and a 2" snub-nose .38 revolver with a enclosed hammer. Of the three pistols in my carry rotation, I prefer the Glock, partially due to the reasons why people think that the design is "unsafe". I like the fact that I don't have to deactivate any external safeties and that the trigger pull is light. Mechanical safeties don't compensate for poor gun handling and unsafe behavior. Unless you break one of the Four Rules, the Glock will be as safe as any other mechanically sound firearm.
 
The Prince is correct. Carrying chambered WITH THE TRIGGER COVERED in a holster is the way to go. Any gun carried without trigger protected is at risk for ND. If it still bothers you put in a NY trigger which will up the trigger pull weight.

Mexican carry, unprotected pocket carry, all are asking for trouble eventually.

TMpick: a quarter second? I doubt it. And unless you are very well practiced with the one handed slide racking trick, you can't be sure you'll have two hands free to rack slide when you need that gun RIGHT NOW. I'm with Biker and Prince on this one.

Of course, you can always use a trigger b;lock such as the Saf-T Block if you want, then you have extra insurance on your loaded chamber.
 
TMpick: a quarter second? I doubt it. And unless you are very well practiced with the one handed slide racking trick, you can't be sure you'll have two hands free to rack slide when you need that gun RIGHT NOW. I'm with Biker and Prince on this one.
Click to expand...

Like I said, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Have you ever practiced drawing from a concealed holster and manually racking the slide before acquiring your target? I have, and under a timer, so I know what racking the slide adds to my time. I'm no quick draw artist, and it takes me longer to get my tucked shirt clear of my gun than it does to rack the slide. That's me, though.

Part of my problem in these threads is that I always see people imagining worst case scenarios, and then running with them. "What if you've been shot in the arm and can't rack the slide?" Well, I say if you've been shot in the arm because you haven't been paying attention to what's been happening around you, then it's a damn lucky thing you didn't get shot in the head, instead. It's like people know the answer they want to hear, and come up with the scenarios that best fit their opinion on the matter. It's all just a little too Hollywood for me.
 
My glock is in a holster I do not see how it can accidentally discharge in the holster. If its out of the holster its because I want it to discharge.
 
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