One in the pipe - do you do it?

[RX8er]

Age old argument. But does this settle it?

Would this guy have been prepared to use his .45 when a guy runs up to the window and shoots him in the arm? If I were seated in my car I don't know that I could have gotten to my gun in time with or without one in the pipe. I know all of the arguments but when one considers that for 69 years I was unarmed, now partially armed with one not in the chamber and better armed with one in the chamber I have still not come to a final conclusion as to how I will carry in the future. As a newbie though I do not carry one in the chamber and I need to work my comfort level to one in the chamber. I have a Bodyguard 380 which requires a very hefty (massive) trigger pull so that is not the issue. I know that everyone on this forum says they carry locked and loaded but I wonder if they just say that or really do it. I know with more training the comfort level will change. Just not there yet. And I admit it.

Of course it doesn't. But, it just strengthens the argument to carry your firearm in the ready state. I would hazard to say that there are more stories of wishing they were ready to discharge than those that had an accident and say they should not have been.

Being in the ready to discharge state just gives us good guys a little more of an edge. Sometimes, 2 seconds is the difference between life and death.


Oh, and I don't think "everyone" here says they carry one chambered. Just a couple posts above yours are ones reporting that they do not. I take everyone for their word if they say they do. And yes, I keep one chambered too.

[The Annoyed Man]

I know that everyone on this forum says they carry locked and loaded but I wonder if they just say that or really do it.

100% sure they really do carry with one in the chamber.

Absolutely. There is no reason not to carry with one in the pipe, and plenty of affirmative reasons for doing so. My carry guns have included three guns that could be carried cocked and locked: a H&K USPc .40 (SA/DA with a decocker/safety), and 3 different 1911's in .45 ACP. My striker-fired pistols with external safeties include a M&P 45 with thumb safety, and a XD(m) 45 Compact with a grip safety. My striker fired pistols without an external safety include a Kahr CW45, a Glock 19, and a Kahr PM9. ALL of those guns are carried with one in the pipe. There's no reason not to. Guns don't "just go off" in the holster (you are using a holster, aren't you?).....particularly if the holster covers the trigger, as it should.

And, look at it this way.... any potential assailant who gets inside of 21 feet of you has a good chance of hurting you—even if you have a round in the chamber. If you don't have one in the chamber, then add the time that it takes to chamber a round, and now it is a virtual certainty that you will be the victim of any assailant who gets inside of 21 feet of you. He may kick your butt, take your gun, rack the slide, and shoot you with it..............all because you had a psychological hurdle to overcome before you could carry with a gun that was actually ready to be deployed. If it were safer, that's how police would carry their guns. They don't. That should be instructive.

[nightmare69]

I know that everyone on this forum says they carry locked and loaded but I wonder if they just say that or really do it.

100% sure they really do carry with one in the chamber.

My Sig has a loooong trigger, that is its only safety. You would have to really screw up in order to accidentally discharge it. That is why Im not worried about carrying loaded.

[RAM4171]

My safety is between my ears
My wife won't even handle a pistol with an active safety. She is a revolver girl though
That said all guns are always loaded, right?
So they are in our house.

[Pacifist]

All of my defense weapons---pistols, revolvers, and long guns alike---are kept in such a condition that I need do only one thing for them to go "bang," pull the trigger.

[chuck j]

Good move , me also .

[Robert*PPS]

I researched this very topic on this forum while waiting for my plastic. after reading all the arguments and counter agruments, i carry one in the pipe and always holstered. perfectly comfortable with it too.

[gthaustex]

Absolutely. One in the chamber, spare mag loaded to capacity less one. Glock 17 usually, or some other depending on my mode of dress. Trigger covered by a holster and it is perfectly safe. As TAM said above, all the LEOs you see carrying striker fired guns with no external safeties (Glock, M&P, etc.) are carrying with one in the chamber. The discharges you hear about are operator error, not a safety issue with the firearm.

[cb1000rider]

Would this guy have been prepared to use his .45 when a guy runs up to the window and shoots him in the arm? If I were seated in my car I don't know that I could have gotten to my gun in time with or without one in the pipe. I know all of the arguments but when one considers that for 69 years I was unarmed, now partially armed with one not in the chamber and better armed with one in the chamber I have still not come to a final conclusion as to how I will carry in the future. As a newbie though I do not carry one in the chamber and I need to work my comfort level to one in the chamber. I have a Bodyguard 380 which requires a very hefty (massive) trigger pull so that is not the issue. I know that everyone on this forum says they carry locked and loaded but I wonder if they just say that or really do it. I know with more training the comfort level will change. Just not there yet. And I admit it.

I completely agree with you.. I think having one in the chamber wouldn't have changed the initial outcome. This goes one of two ways:
1) The guy gets shot anyway, because he can't react as quickly to a guy pulling a gun and shooting, regardless of the "ready" condition of his firearm. It was fairly well established to be my a self-defense instructor that an assailant with a knife can kill you if he's within about 6 feet unless your gun is already drawn.
2) If the guy pulls on individuals walking up to his car, he's going to have an entirely different set of problems.

The only difference to me is that he might have had a better chance at killing his attacker. As the attacker got caught, I'd just as soon avoid the legal hassle associated with killing him. Besides, the threat was over if he was walking away, even after he shot.

I don't carry with one in the pipe... Scold me.

[K.Mooneyham]

Ruger SR9c...one in the chamber, slide-lock thumb safety on. If I owned a Sig, I would carry confidently with no safety, though. It is always carried in a holster when on my person, or in my very nondescript soft-side case when I have to leave it in the vehicle.

[TexasCajun]

Count me as one of the "one in the pipe" crowd. And I don't care if anyone believes me. I know I do & God forbid I have to use my gun, the attacker would know that it's true.

One other reason to carry a full load is that it gives you an extra round (17+1 in most full-size 9mm, 15+1 in most full-size .40 s&w, 8+1 in most full-size .45 acp). Why give up any advantage of you don't have to.

YouTube unintentional discharge, non intentional discharge, accidental discharge, etc. The overwhelming majority involve putting a finger or some other object on the trigger. I've spent hours on the site and have yet to see an incident where a discharge happened without trigger contact.

Also, I tend toward semi-autos without external safeties.

And last, I have no delusions about my abilities in a high stress situation. Adding a slide-rack to my equation is a recipe for disaster. I'm not willing to put me or my family at that kind of risk.

[Moby]

Of course there's one in the pipe. dah

[chasfm11]

Count me as one of the "one in the pipe" crowd. And I don't care if anyone believes me. I know I do & God forbid I have to use my gun, the attacker would know that it's true.

One other reason to carry a full load is that it gives you an extra round (17+1 in most full-size 9mm, 15+1 in most full-size .40 s&w, 8+1 in most full-size .45 acp). Why give up any advantage of you don't have to.

YouTube unintentional discharge, non intentional discharge, accidental discharge, etc. The overwhelming majority involve putting a finger or some other object on the trigger. I've spent hours on the site and have yet to see an incident where a discharge happened without trigger contact.

Also, I tend toward semi-autos without external safeties.

And last, I have no delusions about my abilities in a high stress situation. Adding a slide-rack to my equation is a recipe for disaster. I'm not willing to put me or my family at that kind of risk.

Confession time: I didn't carry chambered for the first couple of months after I did start carrying.

My excuses:
1. I didn't get my CHL to carry daily. I got it because I wanted to be able to take a pistol along in our RV. I didn't start carrying daily for a couple of months.
2. For the first number of weeks after I started carrying daily, it seemed that I was disarming every time that I turned around, multiple times a day. At first, I didn't practice re-holstering at home. It was nerve wracking putting the gun back into the holster in public (I used a towel to cover the operation) I was worried about what to do with the gun when I left it in the car and more worried about getting it back on me.
3. I'm a fumble fingers. I often drop tools when I'm trying to use them. I was afraid that I would do the same thing with the gun and instinctively try to grab it on the way down.
4. I was dry firing a lot in the beginning, trying to get over the long trigger on the Sig. That mean that I was loading and unloading the gun a lot, too.

I did a lot of reading and soul searching. I knew that carrying with one in the pipe was necessary. Finally, I just picked a day, chambered a round and never looked back. I've figured things out so that I rarely have to disarm now. I bought another holster and keep it with me in the car. If I do have to disarm, I move the gun from the holster on me to the spare one so that the trigger is only uncovered or a second or two. The extra holster has a retention strap so I'm not worried about the gun falling out or my getting my fingers where they shouldn't be . I've taught myself to block out all distractions as soon as I have to move the pistol so that I'm concentrating only on that movement. I hope that will continue to allow me to keep my fingers only where they are supposed to be.

Several "almost" situations have confirmed for me how quickly something bad can happen and that it comes from nowhere even though I go to great lengths to stay out of condition white. My reaction time is not what it once was and I cannot afford to give away any more time in responding to a threat. I can rack the slide fairly fast in my malfunction drills but I don't want to depend on my ability to do that to get my first shot off in an emergency.

[race4beer]

Count me as one of the "one in the pipe" crowd. And I don't care if anyone believes me. I know I do & God forbid I have to use my gun, the attacker would know that it's true.

One other reason to carry a full load is that it gives you an extra round (17+1 in most full-size 9mm, 15+1 in most full-size .40 s&w, 8+1 in most full-size .45 acp). Why give up any advantage of you don't have to.

YouTube unintentional discharge, non intentional discharge, accidental discharge, etc. The overwhelming majority involve putting a finger or some other object on the trigger. I've spent hours on the site and have yet to see an incident where a discharge happened without trigger contact.

Also, I tend toward semi-autos without external safeties.

And last, I have no delusions about my abilities in a high stress situation. Adding a slide-rack to my equation is a recipe for disaster. I'm not willing to put me or my family at that kind of risk.

This is another good reason for me - where I carry a P3AT and a PT740 (both 6+1) that +1 is very comforting..

[Oldgringo]

"One in the pipe - do you do it?"

Yes, yes I do.