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

I thought of that, but he capitalizes it, like Orwell.

Maybe I'm wrong about that, but I capitalize Dad and Mom too, when talking about my own. I can't recall ever writing about my brothers, but I would logically default to "dad" if I was writing it with the "my" qualifier. I think this is way off any point of this thread anyway....

Was a "tongue in cheek" response... for laughs!

Until you draw and find the barrel still pointed at your leg.

Condition Two is considered loaded chamber, loaded magazine, hammer down. Pretty well describes the way I carry a revolver. On the old Colts and others they carried hammer down on an empty chamber for safety reasons. I'd consider that Condition Three.

Condition Two is hammer down on a loaded chamber with a loaded mag in place. Hammer down on a fully loaded revolver pretty well meets that description.

Unless you are from a different planet or something.

I agree that pulling the trigger on a loaded DA revolver is akin to flipping the safety on a Condition One semi. The difference with my handguns is the trigger pull - the revolvers are heavy, the semis are light. Big difference.

Big Brother is exactly that. He's been carrying for 30-40 years in Condition One and gives me the same crap people here do about carrying in Condition Three..

I have no intention of changing. Deal with it.

Chit... here in the Ozarks we just call that "Condition Two double action revolver"... a loaded gun.

'Condition Two' is more descriptive than 'loaded gun' as it indicates the hammer position as well as chamber status. A revolver with a loaded cylinder and the hammer cocked is very different than one with the hammer down. But perhaps you haven't noticed.

Come on guys. These threads get dumb enough without assigning the conditions of readiness, for semi-automatic pistols, to revolvers.

I would notice a cocked hammer on a revolver. And since a basic gun safety rule is to always consider a gun loaded until you know different I would consider a handgun, cocked or uncocked, loaded until I knew differently. If someone made up a name to describe its status, I'd still consider the gun loaded until I knew different. I'd also question if they knew what the hell they were talking about since that term is applied to semi automatic pistols and not revolvers and I'd be very cautious around them if they were handling a firearm. In fact, I might discourage that until they had some formal training and experience.

I do not carry a concealed handgun because I think it's cool, or because I especially like to, or because everyone else is............I carry one in order to protect me and my family from potential harm, and I consider it an absolute requirement that I be able to get it into action as quickly as possible. In a gunfight, the winner is probably going to be the one who shoots first, providing of course, that he knows how to shoot. That is why I always carry with a round in the chamber. If one is carrying a semi-auto without a round in the chamber, there is always that possibility that if they have to rack the slide in order to chamber a round, they might be unable to do so. That's a chance I'm unwilling to take.

I shoot competitions that DQ you for sweeping yourself, haven't been DQ'd yet nor have I had an ND. Finger is out of the trigger guard till gun is on target. Still safer than having to put a round in the chamber when you need it. I know competitions are won by split seconds, I bet gun fights are too.

Still more scared of the gun than the bad guy, and lacking any faith whatsoever in your own training and skills.

Of course they are.

Absolutely carry with a round in the chamber.
Of my three choices for pocket carry, two are revolvers anyway. A 357 magnum and a 44 Special.
My third is a Ruger LCP2, 6 in the magazine, one in the chamber.

We live in a rural, very low crime area, but one just never knows what's around the corner.

While I'm fully aware that Col. Cooper's modal conditions are typically applied to semi-auto handguns, their basic definitions can be applied equally well to rifles and revolvers as there is nothing in those definitions to prevent doing so. The critical components of those definitions are chamber full or empty, hammer cocked or not, magazine in place or not, magazine loaded or not. A revolver's cylinder can be loaded or not, striker fired and bolt-action weapons can be cocked or not and it really doesn't matter if the magazine is tubular, stacked, rotary or detachable or whether the firearm is a single-shot with no magazine at all.

Does attaching a buttstock to a semi-auto pistol change the modes of readiness that are possible? No. Does a longer barrel affect the modes? No. Does changing from an autoloader to a lever or bolt-action really change the possible modes of readiness that are possible? No. Is there a significant difference in the various states of readiness that are possible with a pistol-gripped AR with a rifle length barrel and a semi-auto, striker-fired pistol with a safety and a 3" barrel? No. Or the High Standard Model C .22 Short pistol and Remington Model 24 .22 Short semi-auto rifle I've been shooting for the last 60 years? No.

How would you define the possible states for a single-shot, breech-loaded pistol built on a 1911 frame? Or a bolt action pistol built on a 1911 frame? Or an auto-loader carbine built on a 1911 frame? All of these exist.

I didn't make up a name, I just recognize that Cooper's definitions apply more or less equally well to a wider variety of firearms than just the 1911 pistols he favored.

Coyote Hunter,
Seriously, you seem like a good guy with good intentions. You'll do what you want to do because no amount of discussion can sway what you believe is the right way to handle a self defense firearm. Most of the people responding to you recognize your fear of a negligent discharge is only because of your insistence of carrying with an empty chamber. The constant manipulation of the firearm increases your risk. Most ccw folks recognize the very real possible immediate need for a self defense weapon because we have no crystal ball warning of eminent threats. So, we charge the gun and then quit monkeying with it. Safer because we aren't constantly manipulating the weapon and safer in case we need the gun in an emergency to save our life or the life of others. I agree with the poster that stated you fear handling your firearm. I could be wrong. Regardless you carry on as you think best and a sincere best wishes.

If I understand correctly, Condition One = fully charged, cocked, safety on. Condition Two = fully charged, not cocked,safety on. No safety on a revolver, so I would say the terms don't apply to all firearms. What am I missing? Not being argumentative, genuinely curious.

I skipped the entire thread knowing it contained a bunch of posts from a bunch of "experts" telling a bunch of others that they are stupid for doing things the way they personally prefer, to answer the question posed in the title. Yes, always.