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

I tend to think he was a bit brain damaged to begin with.

Evidently some folks missed this.

I'm not saying carrying cold the way to go. I'm saying that the worn out old "it's too slow", "paperweight / safety scissors" arguments aren't a reason to carry hot.

I'm not a proponent of hot or cold in this conversation. I'm a proponent for critical thinking.

In Israel it�s the law that guns are carried without a round in the chamber. So they have devised tactics that work very well for that type of carry.

Clearly it�s always better to carry with a round chambered, but to say that Condition 3 is worthless, is a HUGE stretch. Our military carried that way for a good 80 years�yet many people still were killed with .45 caliber holes in them. So apparently someone figured out how to use their safety scissors.

And from the inception of the 1911 until around the mid �70�s, Condition 2 was the most common mode of carry for civilians. Again, clearly Condition 1 is preferred, but it�s also clear that Condition 2 can work.

I started to read all the responses, and I was really amazed with all the responses.

To surmise: If you are carrying for self defense, you need one in the chamber for a semi-auto. On a double action revolver, you can keep the hammer down on an empty chamber if you like because it will chamber a round as you cock it with your thumb or trigger.

Any other opinions are asinine, and this thread can be locked now.

hot chamber. always. CCW or hunting.

always and would carry two in the chamber if possible

This. I always unload at the vehicle as required by my states law while hunting of course. Before my kids were grown I ALWAYS cleared the chamber before I took a handgun off of my person. When I picked it up again to carry it, I loaded a round and press checked. I think this is a good habit. Just like leaving the "wire".

I agree with Blue that this is not a cut-and-dried issue. What about off-body carry? Like a "man purse" in the truck?

I agree in principal with Doc and his Olde English Rott rondevous. I dare say that someone who's been to the Rogers Shooting School won't have an issue getting a round chambered strong-hand only though. The guy in the video below is shooting (to slide lock) and reloading with his right/dominant hand ONLY

Try to keep up with the old man:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwNgMQlF1vI

Exactly

I re-read all the posts and I think I see what Blue is trying to do. I believe he is attempting to get us to think about why we do things.

Here goes. I carry with a round in the chamber because I have had occasion to draw my weapon multiple times. Sometimes, maybe even most, there has been ample warning with time to chamber a round. There have however been many times when the presentation was very quick.

In the quick presentation scenarios I was glad to be ready that much faster. Also, anything extra added under stress is one more chance to mess up. I just can not think of a single reason to NOT have a round I the chamber.

It should be noted my experience is as an on-duty LEO so it is not exactly the same as CCW.

-Z

Yes, always.

L.W.

While I understand the argument for Condition 1, I disagree with your suggestion that anyone who doesn't carry that way is naive or an idiot. I carry empty chamber and safety off which means I have the same manual of arms for all of my carry weapons, a good thing IMHO because some are safety up and others are safety down to fire. If I was going to carry otherwise it would probably be Condition 2, which still allows the same manual of arms if the safeties are left disengaged, albeit at somewhat higher chance of an AD.

Everyone has to judge for themselves the merits of the various carry methods. It is hardly naive or idiotic to weigh the options and choose something other than Condition 1 based on a person's individual situation. Big Brother carries Condition 1 and has done so for many years. His 280Z also had a hole in the floor on the passenger side because of a thumb slip while lowering the hammer on a 1911. I choose Condition 3 because I estimate the probability of my need for a quick draw and shoot just slightly higher than my chances of winning the lottery jackpot - and I don't buy lottery tickets.

One thing I've learned over the years is that Murphy will have his way. Safeties fail, people screw up, schit happens. Condition 3 is 100% safe regardless of the condition of the safety or the mental condition of the shooter. Yes, it takes marginally longer to make a weapon in Condition 3 ready to fire; yes, it generally takes two hands to do so quickly and reliably. On the other hand, nothing prevents a person from going to Condition 1 or Condition 0 early on if something sets off their alarms.

Walking down the streets of Denver after dark I'd probably go to Condition 1, but I don't do that kind of thing. Walking down the road in my area I rarely even carry at all. Situations vary, as does the appropriate response.

Yep. Do whatever floats your boat. I have no issue with "I always carry hot". I do have an issue with "I DON'T carry cold because blah blah blah", when "blah blah blah" is just a bunch of cliches and speculation.

We need thinkers that are shooters and shooters that are thinkers. Shooters are usually easier to find than thinkers, IME.

If you are ever going to have an AD, it will be carrying a 1911 in Condition 2 (Hammer down on a live round). You have 2 chances to go bang if you let the hammer slip, one letting it down, and 2 cocking it. I personally carry condition 1, and if I couldn't do that, it would be Condition 3.

ADs are not all created equal.

In going to Condition 2, one is hopefully pointing the gun in a safe direction, outside the home or car, something that is not a problem for people like me that live in the country or keep a bucket of sand in their garage. Do it once, carry all day, then unload at day's end, again pointing the gun in a safe direction. An AD would not be welcome but wouldn't present much danger, either.

By contrast, Condition 1 requires working safeties all the time. I've seen safeties fail on loaded rifles (the infamous Remington M700 Fire-On-Release safety issue) and my S&W manufactured PPK/S was subject to a factory recall due to a problem with the hammer-drop safety causing ADs when activated on a loaded chamber. How many LE types have shot themselves in the leg or foot while holstering their gun with a round in the chamber? An Aurora cop was killed some years back in a training session because someone else's gun was loaded in the chamber (inappropriately, to be sure, but loaded nevertheless).

Like Condition 2, going to and from Condition 1 presents two opportunities for an AD. Condition 1 also presents a constant and much higher possibility of an AD due to failed safeties, safeties inadvertently being pushed off, mishandling, mental lapses, whatever. In the many hundreds of times I've had a concealed firearm with me I've never once needed to go to Condition 1 or 2. That is many hundreds of times X 2 that an opportunity for an AD has been avoided. The one time I would have gone to Condition 1 my only weapon was a folding defensive knife - but I had plenty of time to make it - or a firearm - ready.

By the way, someone mentioned hunting with an empty chamber and suggested it is the only sensible way. It is not my way, at least not most of the time, and in 30 years of hunting Colorado's big game I can't think of a single instance where an empty chamber cost me an animal. The arguments for an empty chamber while hunting are pretty much the same as for carrying in Condition 3. Both are perfectly rational depending on a person's individual situation.

Carrying in condition 1,2,or 3 is obviously a personal choice with the 1st being the most popular. I think the choice of weapon is also a determining factor as illustrated in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6h4kgxNzY4

In Condition 1 you have 2 safeties in play all the time (thumb safety and grip safety) and of course the most important safety of all, your finger. Keep it off the trigger till your sights are on the target. I've shot IPSC for years with a 1911, (as well as being around numerous other people shooting 1911's) and have yet to see an AD because of a safety. Pulling the trigger before they were ready yes, but not the safety. If you are scared of carrying a 1911 cocked and locked, then I would seriously choose one of the various pull, point, shoot type pistols, of course realizing that they will be cocked and locked also with a round in the chamber.

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Carrying any handgun for serious social purposed that cannot/should not be carried with a round in the chamber seems like a poor choice to me. YMMV.

Not necessarily.

Well we can split hairs on this design or that design, but I think most people understand what I was trying to say. Personally speaking, if I'm going to carry a gun, it is going to be ready for immediate action, and in my mind at least, that means one in the chamber!