Carry One In The Chamber

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holyroler

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I am new to carrying. I have a PPS 9mm....the new Walther thats super slim.

The only holster available is a balistic Nylon in pant.

I wonder how people carry their Semi's.

I am afraid to carry with one in the chamber...afraid somehow it'll end poorly.

Is the slide time equivalent to "death time?"

Thoughts?
 
You should carry one in the chamber or at least practice a lot at the range being able to draw and chamber a round in the same action. Carry everywhere you go that you can legally carry and you'll get more comfortable; then you can be less afraid of carrying a live round in the chamber
 
Most will recommend (including myself) that you carry with one in the chamber, realistically it would just take time to try to rack the slide (while your shaking) if you need to fire upon a bad guy, and time is something that you don't have on your side when you need to do this.

dry practice your presentation from holster at home, then practice at range, this will give you confidence on your draw as well.

There are no bad choices when it comes to tactics, there are just consequences. the consequences of carrying without one in the chamber is, it will take you significantly longer to get a shot off when every second counts. could you do it, possibly, would I personaly take the chance that I will have that time required to rack the slide and hope I wont mess it up... Nope, this is why I carry with one in the chamber. (also gives you one extra cartridge at your disposal which is a +)
 
Carry in the chamber or don't bother carrying. Get a holster that you feel comfortale with - something that covers the trigger guard fully and the gun won't fall out of.

If that doesn't help you feel comfortable with it get a different gun with an external safety or a DA trigger with a firmer pull - something you're not going to be paranoid about.

I hate to admit it, but I was never comfortabl carrying a striker gun. It is what it is. I've got a DA/SA now and I'm fine with it.

YMMV
 
holyroler said:
I am new to carrying. I have a PPS 9mm....the new Walther thats super slim.

The only holster available is a balistic Nylon in pant.

I wonder how people carry their Semi's.

I am afraid to carry with one in the chamber...afraid somehow it'll end poorly.

Is the slide time equivalent to "death time?"

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

with the 10+ pound trigger, or even a 3 to 4 pound, it's not gonna go off unless you pull it (i.e. a 1911 or DA / SA)

take it out and shoot it some more is my advice. you'll come to trust it.

good luck to you
 
Get a good holster (that holds the gun securely and covers the trigger guard) and carry a round in the pipe with confidence.

Also practice (unloaded, of course) handling the gun with your finger indexed along the frame/slide and not over the trigger. This is where your trigger
finger should be at all times that you're not actually in the process of firing the gun. If you develop safety habits and keep reinforcing them on yourself continually, you'll never have an ND.

-Mike
 
I was uneasy at first and only carried revolvers for a long while.

To get over it I carried with one in on my property constantly. If I had pants on there was a holster and a loaded gun in the waistband.

Eventually I stopped thinking about it and it became a normal comfortable thing just like the revolvers.

Something else that helped me was loading a snap cap in the chamber, cocking it, then tossing it all over the house and shaking and knocking into walls and doors with it, etc... After really messing with it trying to get the gun to 'fire' and seeing that it just wouldnt 'go off' really put my mind at ease.

Patience and practice.

There is the Israeli method of carry though that calls for an empty chamber.
 
holyroler said:
I am new to carrying. I have a PPS 9mm....the new Walther thats super slim.

The only holster available is a balistic Nylon in pant.

I wonder how people carry their Semi's.

I am afraid to carry with one in the chamber...afraid somehow it'll end poorly.

Is the slide time equivalent to "death time?"

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

If you carry, have one chambered.
You don't own a car without gas in the tank do you?


With that being said, if you are going to carry you NEED a good holster and having a generic non-fitted nylon one isn't going to cut it.

I would not carry my Glock in one of those. If I did, I would feel very uncomfortable with it falling out.
 
IMHO a carry gun without a round in the chamber is an unloaded gun. An unloaded gun is nothing more than a fancy, shiny club. Follow the advice of those posting above me.
 
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M1911 said:
Get a decent holster. Get some training. Then carry with one in the chamber. In that order.
Click to expand...

Exactly, TRAINING, don't think because you carry one in the chamber it makes you ready. Hell... carrying one in the chamber is the easy part, then what. What method do you use when your bring your weapon out of the holster, how do you aim, there's no sight alignment time in a gunfight or a spontaneous lethal situation. Your first sight of a weapon, do you move or do you draw.

In a stressful situation we default to our training, if you have no training what will you default to.
 
+1 with what everyone said but also TRAINING!!! Find good self defense firearms training and it will alleviate the fear of something ending badly. The Basic Pistol class is not enough to learn how to properly defend yourself.
 
Always have one in the chamber, if you don't feel comfortable about it then you need more training.
 
i always have one in the pipe. One morning when my mother stayed over to watch the kids, i was getting ready to leave and she asked me when i have my gun, do i keep it loaded when I carry. my answer..." if its not loaded its like carring a rock."
 
You can get this:
http://www.donhume.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_5&products_id=35

Or the one I have that is a CrossBreed. There are actually a fair amount of holsters out there for both IWB and out. It is always hard to find that stuff for new guns though. I like the CrossBreed, but I think I should have gone for the supertuck instead of the quickclip.

Also - I have a PPS and the trigger is about a million pounds. As you know, if you take off the backstrap it disables the action. You can always keep one in the chamber and keep the backstrap in your pocket until you need to shoot. LOL!!!
 
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Again, like most others i was sketched out at first. Then I realized as long as I follow proper gun safety there is nothing to worry about.

Just make sure you buy a quality gun and quality holster. Two of my friends have thier LTC and neither one of them carry one in the chamber. One just got his about a month ago, the other has had it for over a year.

My philosophy is that you cannot depend on having two hands available in a situation where you might need to use your ccw. I also think it is highly unlikely in an event you would be able to draw your weapon, chamber a round, and get a shot on target in the time allowed.

Not to mention chambering of a round in a stressful situation might make matters worse. You'll also be chambering a round so fast your chances of a ND are greatly increased since you are trying to do it so fast. Then there is the possibility that round could jam going into battery.

The list goes on. Bottom line is if your going to carry, be prepared. If your uncomfortable with your gun or holster get something. your comfortable with.

For me I have a great SA colt mustang pocketlite but being SA only I never got comfortable enough with it where I wanted to carry with one in the chamber cocked and locked in my pocket. I decided to buy a DAO pocket gun instead.

For me you can't beat an MTAC. Great quality made holster with great retention. I used to have a generic nylon pos and quickly realized it was cheap junk and not going to do the trick.
 
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THANK YOU

You folks rock!

Thanks so much for the advice.

I have a elite survival systems holster that i bought at 4 seasons. The clip is strong, the trigger guard is completely covered, and it doesn't seem that it would fall out. Its a snug fit. As far as holsters go...is this ok?

I think my main problem is that I'm new to carrying and afraid that something would 'magically' slip inside the trigger guard and pull back the eleventymillion pound trigger pull.

illogical i know.

training, walking around with a blast cap in the chamber and other suggestions are definitly what i need.

Simply amazing suggestions...thanks all.

Keep them coming...
 
Please get a PROPER leather or kydex holster for your gun. And even more importantly than that, get a PROPER belt.
 
holyroler said:
You folks rock!

Thanks so much for the advice.

I have a elite survival systems holster that i bought at 4 seasons. The clip is strong, the trigger guard is completely covered, and it doesn't seem that it would fall out. Its a snug fit. As far as holsters go...is this ok?

I think my main problem is that I'm new to carrying and afraid that something would 'magically' slip inside the trigger guard and pull back the eleventymillion pound trigger pull.

illogical i know.

training, walking around with a blast cap in the chamber and other suggestions are definitly what i need.

Simply amazing suggestions...thanks all.

Keep them coming...
Click to expand...

Ain't nothin' gonna get in there to pull the trigger if you have a good holster. Unlike my wife. I found her .357 rattlin' around in her purse with a lipstick in the trigger guard!
 
I was initially hesitant about carrying a round in the chamber when I got my M&P 9mm compact. I got a holster (don hume H710) which barely covered the trigger guard. Once I got my new paddle holster I ordered online, no more worries, everything was completely covered and now has a retention strap. My M&P wont fire without the mag in, so I chamber the round, holster and strap it in, and then put the mag in once its full...
 
Some of you guys are ultra paranoid.

Lock, load, and holster. Keep your finger and your shirt out of the trigger guard.
 
I carry a FS M&P9 in a cheap little uncle Mikes IWB and the only time I don't have a round chambered is when I am with the wife and my 16 month old son in the car or somewhere will he will be crawling all over me. My thought behind the vehicle thing is that you should have more than enough time to chamber a round while driving. Stopping a car takes more than a few seconds. Other than that, I am chambered.

I don't think twice about my little nylon $12 holster. You guys are going to make me paranoid with all this trigger guard holster talk. Am I too lax?
 
MXD said:
I carry a FS M&P9 in a cheap little uncle Mikes IWB and the only time I don't have a round chambered is when I am with the wife and my 16 month old son in the car or somewhere will he will be crawling all over me. My thought behind the vehicle thing is that you should have more than enough time to chamber a round while driving. Stopping a car takes more than a few seconds. Other than that, I am chambered.

I don't think twice about my little nylon $12 holster. You guys are going to make me paranoid with all this trigger guard holster talk. Am I too lax?
Click to expand...

Some of you guys are truly delusional if you think that you will always have the time and the right number of hands to chamber a round before a fight.

Now add driving a car to that mix....Are you freaking serious? [rolleyes]

Stop carrying a shit holster and get a real one. Then you won't have to worry about your kid setting off your pistol.

For Christ's sake.........
 
MXD said:
I don't think twice about my little nylon $12 holster. You guys are going to make me paranoid with all this trigger guard holster talk. Am I too lax?
Click to expand...

I've used cheap holsters before but do yourself a favor and buy a real one. They suck less.... a LOT less. You can probably get something 10 times
better and still stay well under $100.

Further, whats with all the chambering or unchambering? Pick one mode and stick with it- otherwise, you'll get caught with your pants down. And frankly, administrative fumbling of what you're talking about, is a huge pain in the ass. That "solution" you have would drive me batshit insane. [laugh]

-Mike
 
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