Would you carry a gun you've never shot?

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smhbbag1

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I just did, and didn't really notice until after the fact. I bought a used Glock 22 a few weeks ago, and recently sold my carry gun. So I carried it instead.

But I just realized I had not even shot with it before. It's been thoroughly function-checked with dry-firing, and cycling snap caps. I've done drills drawing it from concealment, and getting used to the night sights and finding that front sight quickly.

Maybe it was stupid, but the odds seem pretty remote for a failure of a Glock that passes function check and visual inspection, has been used before by a friend of mine, and when I have plenty of experience with other Glocks with that exact trigger.

Thoughts?
 
Of course, now that I have realized I haven't shot it yet, the situation will be remedied quickly :)
 
No I would not carry a a gun I have not shot before, or that I have not test fired after any repairs or modification. I learned my lesson after having my 1991 80s series tuned up by a local gunsmith.

It was my carry piece and I didn't immeditatly test fire after picking it up, only funtion tested the new trigger and instead carryed it for almost a week, before I finally took it to the range. It would not fire since the smith forgot to reset the internal safety. He and I were both sufficently embarassed over the incident and I NEVER trust any gun until I test fire it.
 
No and the same goes for the ammo. I was shooting HPs at the range and I got an odd look. How can I reasonable carry ammo that might have cycling issues with the gun?
 
No. However,

...passes function check and visual inspection, [and] has been used before by a friend of mine.
Click to expand...

If you are absolutely confident in your ability to perform said inspection, and you trust said friend implicitly, then I could understand having a little more faith in the weapon than if you'd picked it up unproven from a random pawn shop.

I still wouldn't carry it without taking it to the range first though. ;)

R
 
Not only NO, but a thousand times NO! Contrary to the beliefs of some, not even Glocks are infallible.

I wouldn't trust my life or the lives of those around me to any firearm, handgun or rifle, that I wasn't completely familiar with and hadn't put at least 100, preferably many more rounds through it to ensure it's reliable function. After that, I'd only trust carrying it with the ammo that I, myself had proven reliable in it.

Maybe a bit overkill to some, but I'd rather expend a bit of extra effort early on than have my carry gun or ammo fail me when I needed it most. That's the way I was taught and that's the way I try to teach others.
 
Would you carry a gun you've never shot?
Click to expand...

Yes, I would carry it directly to the range to check it out. :)

To be a little less smart alecky... sure I would carry it for a couple of days.

Was the Glock new or new to you? If it had never been shot by anybody outside the factory I would be a little more nervous than if it was gently used by a previous owner.

Either way I would not be too concerned to rely on it for the few days it takes to try it out.
 
I wouldn't if I could avoid it. Heck, when I clean mine I run a magazine or two through it before I "trust" it's good to carry.
 
Only if it were direst of emergencies, as in I was at a friends' house and - for some reason sans my own carry piece - when the dreaded zombie attack starts and he thrusts a gun in my hand with the command, "Prepare to repel borders!"

In that case, I will fire whatever I have available and pray it works.

However, in reality land, there is an extremely high probability (99.99+%) that I would not do such a thing.

Q
 
Not by choice or practice. I can imagine situations where it might be necessary, but I certainly would not choose to do so if a tried-and-true alternative was available.
 
If I had to I would. So I guess that pretty much comes down to choosing between no gun and one I haven't shot yet, I would choose the unfired option.
 
NOPE!! I had a firearm once that would pass all the funtion tests and visual inspection except one. It fired the first round and failed to feed the second one. NOPE! I would not!
 
If I had to, that is, if I had no other gun available to me that I had fired and it was only going to be for a short time.

I understand that many law enforcement folks are forced to. For instance, Border Patrol have their personal side arms but draw their long arms out of a pool. I hate the thought of drawing an M4 (or any rifle) from a pool and not having zeroed it!
 
No. I generally like to have several hundred problem free rounds fired before I'll carry it. I test all the mags I'm going to use for carry also.

I do let J frames pass with fewer rounds!
 
I did once, for a very short period of time (less than a week).

Along with function, accuracy should also be a consideration. I once purchased a Detonics Mark I .45 for CCW. It was small, comfortable to carry, and could take standard 1911 mags. I took it to the range and found out the accuracy was terrible! At 15 feet it had a 6" to 10" group - my Rock Island 1911 Compact would do 1 1/2" to 2" at the same distance. I wouldn't trust this gun to hit the target in an emergency (remembering that accuracy of the shooter decreases as much as 50% in stress situations).

Always test a new carry weapon, with the ammo you are going to carry, for function and accuracy.
 
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