What To Do With the Chambered Round At Night?

[Kind of Blued]

I'm curious of your habits/routine when you unholster at night. I'm trying to decide what my routine will be when I begin carrying soon.

Do you clear your chamber every night or leave a round chambered, if so, for how long?

I understand that constantly chambering and unchambering a round can be hard on it. Is it ok to do this as long as the round looks fine externally?

I've considered setting aside the rounds that I have cycled a few times for the next time I visit the range. Allows me to shoot a mag or so of my carry ammo every once in a while, also lets me know how long its been since I went to the range.,

I'm thinking I'll have to clear the chamber at night as I'm sometimes awoken on Saturdays by youngsters. I've also been told I do some weird stuff in my sleep... Address these issues as well if you'd like.

 

[The Ruckus]

Although clearing a round from the chamber over time can cause bullet set back I don't think this will ever happen after just a few times. Police officers constantly clear and re-chamber the same ammunition, and rarely does it have negative effects. However, if you are that worried about what you do with your firearms in your sleep, than get a safe, this way you can keep a round in the chamber, if you think you can get the gun out of the safe in your sleep than uh...

 

[Rob G]

Can't comment much on "weird stuff in my sleep," but I would generally recommend leaving it chambered for two reasons.

1. Nothing sucks worse than pointing your gun at an intruder at 3 AM and hearing "click" 'cause you forgot the chamber was empty.

2. When it comes to youngsters I wouldn't store it any differently loaded chamber then I would empty so that shouldn't really impact your decision much. What I mean is either way you want to keep it where they can't play with it so it won't really matter what condition you leave it in.

my $.02

 

[Kind of Blued]

However, if you are that worried about what you do with your firearms in your sleep, than get a safe, this way you can keep a round in the chamber, if you think you can get the gun out of the safe in your sleep than uh...

YIKES!

My point was that I'd use my carry gun as a HD gun as well, so I'd like it to be accessible without being a danger to chirrens or my sleepwalking-evil-intentioned murderous self. I'm quite cheery in consciousness however.

Anyway, I DO need a safe soon, but grabbing the pistol from the drawer or under the mattress and racking the slide would still be faster than the safe if I needed it at night.

I would REEEEALLY like one of those fingerprint activated single handgun safes though ($$$$$).

 

[fubb]

I keep mine holstered on the desk when I get home

 

[Treo]

mine stays holstered in the nightstand when I go to bed, I have been known to wake up W/ it in my hand when I have the odd bad night, but apparently even in my sleep I follow the 4 rules and my finger stays off the trigger.

 

[Ala Dan]

Leave Chambered

"The round ain't going anywhere unless it goes BOOM"~!

 

[1BLINDREF]

Responsible gun owners should have a safe to keep their guns in.

If you are concerned with what you might do in your sleep, leave the round in the chamber, put the gun in the safe.

 

[Walkalong]

Before kids: The gun was loaded, a round chambered, if an auto, it wasn't always, by my bed.

After kids: Locked in the gun safe.

Now: In a gun safe with an easy to get in digital lock. One in the bedroom and one in another room.

 

[XDKingslayer]

Leave it in the chamber. Period.

My routine is fairly simple. When I get home, the gun goes in the big safe. That's because that one isn't used for HD. The one for HD sits in the small safe bolted to the night stand.

All of my pistols are always loaded. Period. They are locked up in the safe, but they stay loaded.

 

[GunNut]

Before kids: Round in Chamber, gun in holster.

After kids: Round in Chamber, Gun in Holster, Gun always in my control/sight.

 

[Navy87Guy]

I think you need to consider how you're storing the gun and how you're going to access it when something goes "bump" in the middle of the night. Despite all our good training to keep our finger off the trigger, if you're reaching blindly into a safe and grabbing a loaded gun, you run a big risk of a negligent discharge. If you're storing it in a holster that keeps the trigger covered, and removing the whole thing, then I think keeping a round chambered is fine. There may be a little less sensitivity if your gun has an external safety or is a DA with a heavy trigger pull. I certainly wouldn't want to risk it with a striker-fired gun like a Glock or M&P.

Personally, I keep my guns in the safe unloaded, magazine inserted. The exception is my KelTec P32. That stays loaded because it's in a pocket holster, with the trigger covered.

Just my $0.02...

Jim

 

[LawBot5000]

I have kept rounds chambered for months at a time and they go bang just fine when I go to the range.

You run a low risk of accidental discharge if you have some additional safeguard- for example, leaving the safety on, having a DAO trigger, having no round chambered. It all depends what you think will take the least effort to get around in the dark. But the weapon should go from "mostly safe" to "ready" in a second. If it takes longer than that it might as well be disassembled.

And I use a saiga-12 as HD gun, P3AT as carry gun. Saiga is safed and loaded, P3AT is loaded and I simply don't pull the trigger unless I want it to go off.

 

[Hokkmike]

A great question. I want to be sure at night when I wake up and face a "situation" that I am fully awake. A shadow, noise, distraction might prompt me to react too quickly in a semi-concious state. The act of pulling a slide back takes only a second and will help give me a procedure to better insure that I am fully awake and know what I am doing. Yes. I know BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET and BE FULLY PREPARED TO SHOOT ANYTHING YOU AIM AT....
I have had people try to wake me and reacted defensively until I became aware of what was happening.... I just want to be careful.

 

[Technosavant]

Currently, I have no kids and I leave it chambered and holstered. Eventually I'll keep them in a locked location, but right now there's no real need to.

Regarding bullet setback, it can happen after just a few chamberings, but it is dependent on the type of gun (how much banging around on the feed ramp it gets) and the brand of ammo (the tightness of the crimp). I thiink it was Winchester White box that as few as 4 or 5 chamberings produced noticeable setback- holding that round up to an unchambered one for a visual inspection clearly showed setback.

If I must unchamber the round, after 2 or 3 times I rotate that round down in the magazine- the next time it goes into the chamber it will be likely going BANG (either in a SD situation or at the range). I don't obsess over setback, but then, I don't completely discount it either.

 

[Trebor]

The more you "fuss" with your gun, especially loading and unloading the chambered round, the greater the chance of an AD.

Just leave the darn thing chambered. Lock it up, if need be, but don't keep chambering/unchambering every day.

Bullet setback is a concern and can cause a problem with just a hanful of rechamberings. A lot depends on the caliber and pressure of the ammo.

You ever been in a police locker room? If you get a chance, look for the bullet holes. I guarantee there will be at least one, somewhere, caused by a careless cop who was "routinely" chambering or unchambering his duty gun.

 

[Chipperman]

I'm curious of your habits/routine when you unholster at night.

The gun stays in the holster.

 

[strat81]

I would REEEEALLY like one of those fingerprint activated single handgun safes though ($$$$$).

Why? So when you have bandaged fingers or severe dry skin it won't recognize you?

Get one with a mechanical Simplex lock or a digital box (but be religious about changing batteries).

No kids here yet, so my Glock stays chambered 24/7. Once kids arrive, I'll be getting a "drawer" lock box. All the other hardware is in a safe/RSC/locked big metal box.

The gun stays in the holster.

Good point. If it's loaded, it's holstered. Frankly, I'd rather not handle a loaded gun unless I'm at the range. I consider myself a safe person... just like all those folks who swore it was unloaded and put a slug in their TV, walls, ceilings, or loved ones.

 

[possum]

i leave it chambered, and normally do a press check before i "roll out"

 

[Baneblade]

Keep it in a holster and chambered.

Repeatedly chambering a round can and does cause it to compress, which can cause a KB. Our officers haven't blown up a duty Glock yet, but we do see fully compressed rounds during inspections.

 

[slzy]

leave chambered,other.P7

 

[The Bushmaster]

Did an experiment on two styles of 9mm X 19 cartridges. One was Federal Hydra-shoks with a cannelured case at the base of the bullet. The other was a Remington without the cannelure on the case...Over a period of 6 months the Remingtons showed a set back of .010". The Federals showed a set back of .001". I loaded and unloaded these rounds every night and morning. I also carried concealed every day during this experiment. I have settled on the case cannelured ammunition for carry as I unload most nights. I have two house guns so it's not needed for my carry gun to be loaded 24/7...As far as kids in the house. I have always had loaded guns in the house and not in a safe. It takes too long to do any kind of combination to get your gun when it is needed. To insure the kids wouldn't hurt themselves or someone else I started training them from 2 years old untill they left home for the world. Not even a close call...

If you must unload every night I would recommend the ammunition with the cannelure on the case. In most cases that is what the cannulure on the case is for...IM(not so)HO...

 

[romma]

I keep mine Chambered in the holster in my shoe next to the bed with my running shorts on top.

 

[fletcher]

The round always stays in the chamber unless I feel like I want to dry fire a little bit.

 

[Travis McGee]

My house gun is an XD9, and it has tactile and visible loaded chamber indicator. It also has a tactile and visible cocked firing pin indicator. Because of this, I have much more confidence in leaving a round chambered all the time. I never feel like I need to sneak a peak with a press-check of the slide to see if I have a hot round in the chamber. I know!