Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Do you carry with a round in the chamber?

Does it bother me? Not at all.

When I go to the airport I go unarmed as I don't want to leave a weapon in the car at the parking lot, especially since I valet park. Then I spend the next few days wandering around cities in the US and other countries with, if I'm lucky, a thumb-open folding knife. (Donated another one to the TSA last week.) This is my first full week home since September, so most of the time I have no option to carry a firearm at all. When I'm out and about while at home I'm usually with my wife, who carries a .38 Ruger LCR (read "DA revolver in Condition Two"). The most likely time for a 'situation' when I'm out by myself is when I'm walking between my car and a business, which is almost always in broad daylight and very, very rarely in areas where I have a concern about getting jumped. When I do have such a concern, I go to Condition One or Two, depending on the weapon I'm carrying. (One of my semi's has no safety, making Condition One very unsafe for carry, and two have hammer-drop safeties and are thus incapable of Condition One.) As I stated in a previous post though, the times I've put a semi in Condition One in the 15-16 years I've had my carry license has been very limited - once or twice a year on average. When I carry a revolver it is in Condition Two all the time.

I can point to a large number of instances where an AD/ND occurred because a handgun was being transitioned to/from Condition One or was in Condition One and a momentary lapse in proper handling caused a discharge. I can also point to situations where firearm safeties have inadvertently moved to the "Fire" position after catching on clothing or brush and hammer-drop safeties have caused discharges when used. (My Walther PPK/s was recalled because of that problem.) I trust an empty chamber far more than I trust a mechanical safety and a light semi-auto trigger.

You cannot point to ANY instance where a firearm in Condition Three has discharged because it is physically impossible. Just sayin'.

Somehow I've lived 66 years without needing a firearm in Condition Zero, which is really the Condition of most importance. But yes, some firearm instructors do preach awareness and avoidance as a means of reducing risk - and rightfully so. If I was a city dweller, I'd probably carry Condition One all the time. But I'm not, and don't. While some people carry at home, I do not - although we have house guns (DA revolvers) that are readily available. And as I sit here at my desk my .40 Shield is an arm's length away - in Condition Three.

I'm sitting here reading this with a 9mm Shield in an IWB kydex holster with a 147 gr Federal HST +p round in the chamber. If I need it, it will go bang as soon as I draw the gun and pull the trigger. Yet the kydex holster completely blocks the trigger rendering it just as safe as an empty chamber.

I don't see why it's so important for people to "win" this discussion. CH seems quite aware of the risks involved with his carry choice. It's his call, let him live with it and move on.

I've carried all sorts of handguns in the past, almost, forty years. I've carried double action revolvers, traditional double actions autos with decockers, double-action-only semi-autos, traditional single action autos, and striker-fired auto pistols. Not one time was I required (in order to carry concealed in a ready condition) to put any faith in fine motor coordination to control the hammer down in order not to accidentally fire the weapon. If you have been in that situation, then I contend you were doing something very wrong.

Awareness and avoidance does not get thrown out the window when one realizes the need to always carry chambered.

I know firsthand that there simply is not enough time to go from condition three to zero in a deadly force event.

Choose the platform and action which you can put into action RIGHT NOW but yet feel confident in its safety while carried. It really is that simple.

It's not about winning. It's certainly not about changing CH's mind. But I do agree that after his last response, there is no further point in it.

What exactly is "a double action revolver - Condition Two"?

This.

A six shot, loaded with five, cylinder aligned for carry where the first trigger pull is akin to flippin' a safety! HA!

What would WBH do?

Who?

Wild Bill Hickock

The fact that one fears an AD/ND more than having a useless weapon is very, very telling.

Damn... Who'd a thunk of something so stupid with a modern double action revolver? Just... damn!

Way I see it,...if you ever need a firearm, you're going to need it right damn now. And the truth is, you're still going to stand a good chance of getting shot before you can get it out.

If you don't have a round in the chamber you're going to get shot more than once before you can get it into action.

More evidence that this fella would be better off without a gun at all...entirely too scared of them.

While we're at it, who is the "Big Brother" that CH keeps referring to? It appears to be a specific person, not the .gov as most of us think of when we hear "big brother".

Not that I really care, mostly just following this thread for the entertainment.

Just a minute - I don't think CH ever stated that. I was the one that mentioned the idea of carrying a revolver with the empty chamber first-out as a comparison to what he does with a pistol. I don't know what he means by "cond 2" for a revolver, but I wouldn't assume that was it.

I thought there was no question that he was referring to an older brother.

I've been wondering that, too.