Would you carry concealed, but not chambered???

[AirPower]

I have a Sig P226 and Browning HP, but I'm not sure about having one chambered while I'm out and about. I will get my concealed license soon, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to carry it. Do people normally carry it with a round in the chamber? I'm thinking of carrying it with a loaded magazine but no round in the chamber.

I understand it'd take that extra 1-3 sec (not to mention both hands) to rack the slide and chamber/cock hammer, but is this time crucial? Would not having it chambered defeat the whole point of concealed carry? I would like some advice in this area, thanks.

 

[thefitzvh]

i'd say (and i'll probably take heat for it)

that you should do whatever you're comfortable with. If it makes you feel weird to have one in the pipe, then leave it out.

James

 

[arinvolvo]

in a word...NO.

And yes, i would venture to guess that everyone here at THR carries with one in the tube. Remember, your sig has a decocker....Decock the pistol and your gun will not fire unless the trigger is pulled...

I dont know what type of HP you have, so i cant comment.

But either way, the extra time it takes to rack the slide may prove to be detrimental in a self defense situation....and from what i have heard, about SD situations, some people barely have enough time to unholster their weapon, and are lucky if they are afforded the apportunity to find their front sight before pulling the trigger.

With that said...what are your reservations about carrying a LOADED weapon?...the type of weapon you describe is an unloaded one, with a full mag. Are you afraid of accidental discharge? My best suggestion to you is to get a quality holster that is made for your weapon...that is one of the best safety precautions you can take...a good quality holster will protect the trigger even in adverse situations, and render the gun unfireable until it is unsheathed.

imagine this scenario...a man has you at gunpoint, your back against the wall...nowhere to run...your wife by your side. you have offered him your wallet, he seems uninterested....he wants blood. A fender bender on a nearby street diverts the aggressors attention, he glances away....You take advantage of that moment, draw your weapon, rack the slide back, and are shot in the face by the BG.

Put one in the tube, put it in some leather, and dont worry about it going bang until you decide to pull the trigger.

 

[Ala Dan]

One up the pipe; why not?

What are you going to tell the perp; "hold it, I've
gotta put a round in the chamber"? Not me bud,
cuz I want to be ready to deliver a "punch out"
shot!

And, if you are looking at it from a safety stand
point; SIG'S are "triple safe", as they use
three passive safety's.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Marko Kloos]

I'd only ever carry with an empty chamber if I had to rely on a striker-fired gun like a Baby Browning.

Otherwise, chamber loaded.

 

[stans]

Lock and load before I would go out the door. That 1 to 3 seconds to chamber a round is actually enough time for Mr. Scumbag to make a tackle and maybe wrestle the gun away from you. What if you fumble the load? How many stab wounds does it take to kill? Personally, I usually carry a revolver fully loaded. For the times I carry a semi-auto, it is fully loaded, even if it is a single action, there is one in the pipe and the safety is on.

 

[dave3006]

I carry my Glock 27 in Smartcarry primarily. There is no way I will carry it with a round in the chamber. I am human. And, under stress or a struggle obtaining the weapon with a bad guy, an AD is the last thing I want in this area.

I sometimes carry in a Galco pocket holster and at 1:00 IWB. I chose to carry condition 3 in these places to keep things the same.

I can get my Glock, chamber a round and be on target in 1.60-1.8 seconds. That is fast. People complain that condition 3 requires two hands. A tuckable requires two hands. And, I bet it is slower than my Smartcarry.

 

[HankB]

I carry either a BHP or a G26 - in each case, the gun rides in a proper IWB holster.

I always have one chambered.

 

[SapperLeader]

I always carry loaded in chamber. I dont want to take the chance that I dont ahve two functioning hands, or the gun hangs up on the first round. Its perfectly safe, all my guns only fire when the trigger is pulled, just like their supposed too.
Heres a little excerise for you though. Get a quality holster for your carry gun, put the holster on, put a unloaded but cocked gun, (in da mode for the sig, and/or cocked and safety locked on with the hp) into the holster. Walk around your house with the gun on the whole time for a few days. After this, you will know where you like to carry the gun for comfort, and that your gun is not going to go off magically in your holster. Next step is to repeat excerise with the gun loaded with round in chamber. Walk around the house, get used to the slight increase in weight due to the rounds being present. Then you just have to wait on your permit and your ready to venture out into the cold world .

 

[Flashpoint]

I don't see a point in not having one in the pipe.

 

[keederdag]

I understand the point. I have carried CCW for about 10 yrs now (legally) and at first I had the same reservations. This is something you will grow more accustomed too over time. The Sig I would feel perfectly comfy with in any mode of carry (mexican...ect.) the HP...dunno, I dont like to carry SA guns with one in and the safety engaged; I have many times, but I do not like it. Usually only have jacked one in, when I think there is a possibility of a confrontation (armed). Everything else, including Glocks, I have no prob with. Why this is I dunno.

I live In AZ, so those are both guns that would be carried CCW fairly infrequently due to weather considerations. So I'm prolly not the best person to chime in on this anyhow.....but I did

 

[orangeninja]

always have a round in the chamber....a gun that won't work instantly is dangerous to your health.

 

[ksnecktieman]

I think a round chambered is the best way, but you have to be comfortable with your method. Better to have it and have a chance to load it, than to not have it at all. If you doubt your weapon try putting it in your holster empty, recheck EMPTY, with the hammer cocked and the safety on. then see if there is anything you can do to make it fire accidentally. bump it, drop it, shake it. Your safety is first.

Concider this. You just walked out of a restaurant with your wife/girlfriend, and in the parking lot there are three scummy looking guys near your car. If you draw your gun and rack the slide you are initiating violence. If you draw it and hold it discreetly behind your leg, or just put your hand on it, you are ready for anything, (if you have a round chambered) and if nothing develops no harm has been done.

good luck with your decision, no one else can make it for you.

 

[Soap]

ksnecktieman brings up a good scenario where having a loaded gun is advantageous. Another one could be that the BG tackles you from behind and then is on top of you, do you want to be able to instantly draw strong side with a loaded gun, or do you want to have to rack the slide while the BG is on top of you?

 

[foghornl]

Springfield 1911-A1, cocked & locked, one in the pipe.

 

[Chip Dixon]

carrying cocked and locked

I, personally, won't carry an unchambered SA and/or auto gun around. It makes it so you cannot use your gun to reliably avoid a violent encounter, in fact you're inviting to enter one. If you draw a gun and rack the slide, the other person is going to think you're about to fire. If you just draw it, they might not think that. If the other person is armed you're asking to give them time to shoot you. If they're close enough to you they could disarm you. I don't want to hear any of those "I can rack my slide in 1/2 a second" excuses. Whatever amount of time it takes you, it is definately enough time to get shot, stabbed, or tackled before you can get an accurate shot off.

And regarding the "I can't carry a chambered gun because I'm human" comment earlier, that's the worst excuse I ever heard. Give a real reason instead of playing to emotions. Ad hominem arguments are invalid.

I don't think anyone will be able to give a real good excuse for carrying an unchambered auto, unless their gun is a POS, or they're part of a raiding team with people backing them up with carbines and shotguns.

Best Regards,

Chip Dixon

 

[SAG0282]

I always carry with one in the chamber.....and have never had a problem. As others have noted, the SIG P226 is designed to be safely carried in this manner and really should be.

 

[444]

How you carry is up to you. I would like to just give you an example of something to think about. In law enforcement and CCW communities most people have heard of the Tueller Drill. What the Tueller Drill is, is an attempt to find out how close you can allow someone to get to you with a contact weapon (knife, bat....) before you have a reasonable justification for drawing your weapon and engaging. The first step in this process was to time a group of officers drawing their weapon. It was found in the original test that it took an average of 1.5 seconds to draw. Next they timed the group to see how far they could run in 1.5 seconds and it was found that they could cover and average of 21 feet in that time. A couple things to note here are that first of all this is a tie. The average officer would complete his draw just as the other guy got to him with the contact weapon. Another thing is that both parties in this drill knew what was coming and were prepared to react. Finally the person with the gun was not drawing from concealment although they may have been using a holster with some level of retention.
As a result of this drill it has become a standard that someone is justified in considering that an immenent threat of deadly force exists with a contact weapon if someone is within 21 feet of them.
21 feet is kind of far away when you think about having to draw a gun in a self defense application. Now add to this the process of having to rack your slide ?
Not me.
Try some drills like this yourself. Use your imagination. In many cases that I can envision where I might need to use my personal defense weapon, I probably won't even have time to complete the draw stroke. The bad guy would be so close that I would have to fire from a close retention position. See how fast you can draw and rack your slide and compare that to how fast someone can stop you from doing so. Imagine senarios where you can only use one hand because you are using the other hand to keep the bad guy away from you or you are trying to keep his weapon from pointing at you or you are trying to keep from getting stabbed.

From a practical standpoint think about how your handgun fires. The trigger has to be pressed to the rear. How is this going to happen inside your holster ? How many people have you ever heard of having a gun discharge in the holster ?

 

[cratz2]

Yeah... I would recommend you do whatever you feel is best for you. You shouldn't be afraid of your gun at any time.

Having said that, there have been lots of people that have carried SIGs, Glocks and Berettas with a round loaded in the chamber and I'd be very surprised if any significant number of those rounds have 'just gone off' with nothing touching the trigger.

While I've been around them my entire shooting career, I can understand why many folks would have reservations about BHPs and 1911s being carried cocked and locked.

 

[444]

"I can understand why many folks would have reservations about BHPs and 1911s being carried cocked and locked."

Personally, I cannot. First of all, the 1911 cannot discharge without pressing the trigger to the rear. How is this going to happen with a holstered gun ? Second, before the gun can discharge the trigger has to be pressed to the rear AND the grip safety has to be depressed. Even is somehow, some hook like device got into your holster and found the trigger, the gun would still not fire unless the grip safety was also depressed at the same time. Finally, in order for the weapon to discharge the trigger has to be pressed to the rear, AND the grip safety has to be depressed at the same time AND the thumb safety has to be swept off. Without all three of these things occuring at the same time, the weapon will not fire.

 

[borodin]

I never have on in the pipe

But thats just me. As was said before, do what YOU want to do. I have carried 1911's, glocks, and everything in between. I just dont feel comfortable having one in the chamber.

But each to his own. This arguement draws as much love/hate as gun choices in general.

I would think where you live and work would go into the decision. In a high crime area I might reconsider and carry one in the chamber and even a backup gun. Who knows.

 

[Edward429451]

Nope. One up the pipe.

Sidenote to Dave, Have you considered that 1.6 to 1.8 secs to on target is being done on a stress free range with two hands and no one charging/tackling you or your wife/GF? Can you still do 1.8 with a knife waving in your face? The scumbag will have the element of suprise and you may need your 2nd hand!

Not beating up on you and carry as you wish, but I'm of the mind to plan for the worst. Maybe a DAO is the way to go for a Smartcarry? (I wonder if QBG's gunshop incident would've allowed for enough time to chamber a round? I'm thinking no.)

Just thoughts.

 

[lawson4]

I carry a BHP cocked and locked. The time it takes to rack the slide (if you remember to in the heat of the moment) may cost you more than just time.
When I carry my HP-DA it too has one in the pipe for the same reason.

Rick

 

[cratz2]

Don't get me wrong 444, I have no problem carrying a cocked and locked 1911 and have done so for a not inconsiderable amount of time. I just mean that if someone is brand new to carrying and/or guns in general, I can see why a cocked and locked single action 1911 might be 1% more seemingly dangerous than a DA SIG... That's all.

Heck, there are plenty of police and military agencies that, at one point or another, disallowed cocked and locked with a loaded chamber among trained grunts...

My primary point was that the carrier, at least initially, should do whatever makes him or her feel comfortable with the gun being carried. There should be no negative feelings about the weapon with which you may have to defend your life. With time will come comfort and confidence but during that build up time, whatever makes the carried feel the most comfortable. I feel the same way about cartridge selection. If you think that a 40S&W or a 45ACP is devastatingly more potent a selection than a 9mm, then carry a 40 or a 45. If you feel that a 40 caliber Glock might explode the next time you pull the trigger, carry something else. But you must have complete and total confidence in your carry gun. Otherwise, you might hesitate when you don't want to hesitate.

 

[dave3006]

I have no problem carrying condition 1 with IWB or a good pocket holster. However, there is no way I am carrying with a round in the chamber with Smartcarry. No thanks.

The point that racking your slide is aggressive is kind of silly. Just displaying a gun is aggressive racking or no racking. And, I don't use my gun to scare people.