Re-Thinking One in Chamber

[Jose_in_Dallas]

When I first started carrying over 20 years ago, I was apprehensive about doing it with a round in the chamber as well until I got a good holster and even then it took a while to feel comfortable with it. I have a friend of mine who doesn't carry with a round in the chamber because he pocket carries a Sig 938 and he's concerned about it accidentally going off. I came across this video not to long ago on YouTube that I shared with him and although he still doesn't carry with a round in the chamber, he's at least thinking about changing his practice of not doing so.



And for those of you who are concerned about a storing a gun with a round in the chamber because they have kids in the house, why won't you simply store it in a lock box of some kind?

Oh and I've carried Glocks on and off for over 20 years and never had a case of Glock leg

[Mxrdad]

Yeah, I've seen that video before, and even after seeing it I was still carrying un-chambered. I was still under the thinking I could still manage to rack it. But I'm happy to admit I was wrong, at least for my preference. I'm sure there are times where you WILL have time to rack it, but I'm not willing to risk it anymore. Now, it seems senseless NOT to carry one in the chamber. And its not like I was a novice with guns. I am just a novice at carrying one every day in public. But I quickly (I guess quickly, I have had my LTC for a few months now) learned that carrying in public is no different than any other time. I know I have enough experience to handle my firearm safely when chambered. In fact, that was one of the deciding factor. I thought ya know, even when I know its not chambered, I still treated it like it was, just like your supposed to do and didnt even come close to a ND.

Its quite the experience when you first get your LTC. All of a sudden I felt like every person within eyesight would see it and there would be some sort of issue with it. And that was even CC. Then I decided to open carry and thought for sure I would encounter peeps with a problem. So far, Nada. The only comment I had came when I walked into donut shop, there were 2 men sitting at table which put them at eye level with it. They of course saw it as I walked by and I heard one of them say, wow, look at that. I can only assume they meant me as there was nobody else in there except for workers behind the counter and I just kept along with my business. But that was it.

Didnt mean for it to turn into CC vs OC. Sorry. But yeah, I will gladly and confidently carry one in chamber from now on. And I aint exactly a spring chicken anymore either. My fighting days are a ways behind me now so I am sure I couldnt handle 2 attackers anymore. Luckily, the only time I had to deal with 2 at a time happened back in the good ol days when a guy took his rear woopin like a man. And I was in my prime so I could handle em. Not anymore. Chambered and ready if need be.

[C-dub]

I always do but a friend of mine never carries with one in the chamber and will never do otherwise.

He used to carry that way but put a round through his leg while holstering his weapon once. Luckily it didn't hit any bone, cartilage, or major blood vessels.

This is what's called Glock leg. It can be avoided by not carrying a Glock, or any other weapon without a manual safety. It may also be avoided by really paying attention when holstering.
Given the choice of not carrying with one in the chamber, or not carrying a Glock or similar clone. I think the carrying a safer gun might be advised.

Whoop there it is. I think I'll call it Gaston's Law. (The time it takes to mention "glock leg" in any discussion about shooting yourself in the leg whether it was a glock or not or without knowing what kind of handgun it was.)

[WTR]

I always do but a friend of mine never carries with one in the chamber and will never do otherwise.

He used to carry that way but put a round through his leg while holstering his weapon once. Luckily it didn't hit any bone, cartilage, or major blood vessels.

This is what's called Glock leg. It can be avoided by not carrying a Glock, or any other weapon without a manual safety. It may also be avoided by really paying attention when holstering.
Given the choice of not carrying with one in the chamber, or not carrying a Glock or similar clone. I think the carrying a safer gun might be advised.

Whoop there it is. I think I'll call it Gaston's Law. (The time it takes to mention "glock leg" in any discussion about shooting yourself in the leg whether it was a glock or not or without knowing what kind of handgun it was.)

Whether you like it or not, there is a reason for the stereo typical phase " Glock leg".

[TreyHouston]

Due to weight gain lately I use a alien gear OTW holster. I holster my weapon in my hands and then put the holster on my belt. I am sure to keep my hands away from the barrel and trigger and watch it go in every morning. This is been my practice for the last three months, works well. My firearms stays in my holster until the evening when I get back home. If I have to disarm I take the holster off my belt

[allisji]

When I first started carrying over 20 years ago, I was apprehensive about doing it with a round in the chamber as well until I got a good holster and even then it took a while to feel comfortable with it. I have a friend of mine who doesn't carry with a round in the chamber because he pocket carries a Sig 938 and he's concerned about it accidentally going off. I came across this video not to long ago on YouTube that I shared with him and although he still doesn't carry with a round in the chamber, he's at least thinking about changing his practice of not doing so.


And for those of you who are concerned about a storing a gun with a round in the chamber because they have kids in the house, why won't you simply store it in a lock box of some kind?

Oh and I've carried Glocks on and off for over 20 years and never had a case of Glock leg

This is exactly what I do.

[Wag2323]

If your friend does ever decide to carry the Springfield XD with one in the chamber again he can get into the habit of holstering the gun with his thumb on the back of the slide. This will disengage the grip safety.

[vjallen75]

When I first started carrying over 20 years ago, I was apprehensive about doing it with a round in the chamber as well until I got a good holster and even then it took a while to feel comfortable with it. I have a friend of mine who doesn't carry with a round in the chamber because he pocket carries a Sig 938 and he's concerned about it accidentally going off. I came across this video not to long ago on YouTube that I shared with him and although he still doesn't carry with a round in the chamber, he's at least thinking about changing his practice of not doing so.


And for those of you who are concerned about a storing a gun with a round in the chamber because they have kids in the house, why won't you simply store it in a lock box of some kind?

Oh and I've carried Glocks on and off for over 20 years and never had a case of Glock leg

This is exactly what I do.

A guy at a gun store I went to when shopping for my EDC said he always keeps his gun unchambered when he's home even when it's locked up just incase. After realizing you won't have time to chamber a round IF something was to happen, that same theory could be even more so at home. The only time I unchamber a round is when I clean my EDC, other than that it's always in +1.

[C-dub]

I always do but a friend of mine never carries with one in the chamber and will never do otherwise.

He used to carry that way but put a round through his leg while holstering his weapon once. Luckily it didn't hit any bone, cartilage, or major blood vessels.

This is what's called Glock leg. It can be avoided by not carrying a Glock, or any other weapon without a manual safety. It may also be avoided by really paying attention when holstering.
Given the choice of not carrying with one in the chamber, or not carrying a Glock or similar clone. I think the carrying a safer gun might be advised.

Whoop there it is. I think I'll call it Gaston's Law. (The time it takes to mention "glock leg" in any discussion about shooting yourself in the leg whether it was a glock or not or without knowing what kind of handgun it was.)

Whether you like it or not, there is a reason for the stereo typical phase " Glock leg".

Yeah, it's called carelessness and I know that some folks will never let term go away. Deservedly or not.

[allisji]

I always do but a friend of mine never carries with one in the chamber and will never do otherwise.

He used to carry that way but put a round through his leg while holstering his weapon once. Luckily it didn't hit any bone, cartilage, or major blood vessels.

This is what's called Glock leg. It can be avoided by not carrying a Glock, or any other weapon without a manual safety. It may also be avoided by really paying attention when holstering.
Given the choice of not carrying with one in the chamber, or not carrying a Glock or similar clone. I think the carrying a safer gun might be advised.

Whoop there it is. I think I'll call it Gaston's Law. (The time it takes to mention "glock leg" in any discussion about shooting yourself in the leg whether it was a glock or not or without knowing what kind of handgun it was.)

Whether you like it or not, there is a reason for the stereo typical phase " Glock leg".

Yeah, it's called carelessness and I know that some folks will never let term go away. Deservedly or not.

Well put. It has nothing to do with the Glock or the leg. If it did we would see a lot more police officers with a limp. I for one, don't carry a Glock, but many on this forum do everyday without shooting themselves in the leg. Oh yeah, the media seems to think that every pistol is a Glock, otherwise we might be talking about Hipoint leg.

[Liberty]

Yeah, it's called carelessness and I know that some folks will never let term go away. Deservedly or not.

Well put. It has nothing to do with the Glock or the leg. If it did we would see a lot more police officers with a limp. I for one, don't carry a Glock, but many on this forum do every day without shooting themselves in the leg. Oh yeah, the media seems to think that every pistol is a Glock otherwise, we might be talking about Hipoint leg.

Shooting oneself in the leg while holstering is known as glockleg. I happen to like the term as it serves as a reminder of the hazard. Some people might not like it but that is the name commonly used for shooting oneself in the leg while holstering. It's just not as likely to happen with a 1911 or a SA/DA with a manual safety. It's a characteristic of the Glock and many other Striker fired handguns that don't have manual safeties. The Glock can be handled safely, but it is irresponsible not to recognize the particular hazards associated with them or any other weapon.

[Mxrdad]

All of this talk about Glock-Leg just reinforces my decision to carry one in chamber. Both my EDC have thumb safety's and one of them has a grip/thumb safety. Now, since folks can carry ones without a thumb safety, I am even more confident now! Good stuff.

[C-dub]

Shooting ones self in the leg has probably happened with every handgun there has ever been. Carelessness is the chief #1 cause and the thing to keep in mind is to keep your finger off the trigger and keep the trigger guard clear. If you can't do that then maybe you should carry something different. Maybe that's why Mr. Browning invented the 1911, for careless people. With all those safety devices, how could a 1911 ever fire unless it was intended to be fired?

Yeah, it peeves me just a little. I've carried four different models of those extremely dangerous and twitchy Glocks for about 14 years now and even in those deadly Blackhawk Serpa holsters without an incident. And there's been alive round in the chamber the entire time except for when being cleaned.

[Liberty]

Lee Paige , the Drug Enforcement Administration Agent who shot himself in front of all those school children, also had 14 years carrying his Glock safely before he got his first case of Glockleg. He swore he was the only one safe enough to hold his Glock seconds before he shot himself.

I'm not saying that the Glock and it's ilk can't be a good and safe carry. But I get very concerned when people don't recognize the danger and risk. and mitigate it.

I carry in a Desantis nylon collapsible holster inside the waist at around 4:oo clock. Some would call it a dangerous carry. I address the danger by never holstering the gun while the holster is at my hip and carrying a handgun with a hammer and manual safety. I could carry a stiffer holster more towards that more towards my line of sight.

The same goes with lots of things about everyday carry. we need to look at all the pro's and con's on everything we do. Is my gun fast enough to get on sight? Can I shoot it accurately enough? Is it as concealable as I want? Is my handgun Secure enough?

Every carry is an engineering tradeoff. We need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our EDC. To fail to understand and recognize the issues of our carry is to set ourselves up for failure.

[oljames3]

...
The same goes with lots of things about everyday carry. we need to look at all the pro's and con's on everything we do. Is my gun fast enough to get on sight? Can I shoot it accurately enough? Is it as concealable as I want? Is my handgun Secure enough?

Every carry is an engineering tradeoff. We need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our EDC. To fail to understand and recognize the issues of our carry is to set ourselves up for failure.

My degree is in Engineering. I spent 34 years as a field artilleryman. I fly hobby rockets. Safety and risk analysis have become second nature to me.

Liberty is right. We should all understand that what and how we carry are individual decisions based on very personal and individual considerations. As with most things in life, it comes down to which risks we are willing to manage and which benefits matter most.

After careful consideration of my own circumstances and capabilities, my pistol has a round in the chamber unless I am cleaning it, I am practicing dry frying (snap caps), or the slide is out of battery. SA/DA, safety off. This best meets my need to employ my pistol effectively and safely.