Carry method?

[gigag04]

Carrying the USP cocked and locked is perfectly acceptable. The KISS theory dictates carrying it decocked and unlocked. Less stuff to do in a stress situation.

Decocked w safety off - is this acceptable for daily carry? I keep safety on, but if its unneccessary and potentially worse, i'll drop it off, and just leave hammer down. Squeze --> bang.

[Suckhow]

Since I got my CHL, i think im gonna carry my Kimber Ultra CDP II in a Galco IWB in the small of my back, cocked and locked, my Sip P229 OWB at 11 o Clock, my Wilson in a strong side shoulder harness cross draw, cocked and locked. My Colt OWB on my right hip OWB, my new Sig p232 on my right ankle, my Kimber Pro Carry, mexican under my belly - isreali style, and maybe i'll get a Seecamp to keep in my pocket as a backup gun.

Probably wear a bandolier to hold 3 mags for each weapon as well, alternating Tracers, Hollowpoints, and incendiary cartridges in each mag.

Still trying to figure out how to carry my HK's

[gigag04]

Since I got my CHL, i think im gonna carry my Kimber Ultra CDP II in a Galco IWB in the small of my back, cocked and locked, my Sip P229 OWB at 11 o Clock, my Wilson in a strong side shoulder harness cross draw, cocked and locked. My Colt OWB on my right hip OWB, my new Sig p232 on my right ankle, my Kimber Pro Carry, mexican under my belly - isreali style, and maybe i'll get a Seecamp to keep in my pocket as a backup gun.

Probably wear a bandolier to hold 3 mags for each weapon as well, alternating Tracers, Hollowpoints, and incendiary cartridges in each mag.

Still trying to figure out how to carry my HK's

this is hilarious.

and what would you go for first?

You remind me of the front lobby scene of the matrix.

Things to add:

an 18" pistol grip double barrell 12 ga, open carry (of course),

and a tazer.

HKs should go in a "daytimer" that you carry with you. This combined with the rest of you will make for a fun DPS stop ;)

-nick

[greyfox]

Glock 17 9mm JHP in the "pipe". I don't need a hammer........and I don't carry nails. When you need it..............you'll need it loaded!

[Morgan]

Beretta PX4 Storm, 1 in the pipe, mag full, no manual safety to speak of, gun is ready to draw and fire DA or roll the hammer back for SA if I have to drive a tack into someone. ;)

[fickman]

When I carry my Kimber 1911, it is off-body in a backpack (in the padded laptop area by itself), so I keep the chamber empty. I resign myself to the fact that if I am directly confronted, I won't be using this firearm anyway. . . at least not immediately. I know it has the grip safety, but I just don't like the idea of having it cocked and locked but semi-free-floating in the backpack.

When I carry one of my Smith & Wesson J-frame revolvers, they are loaded and ready to go. They have internal hammers, so they're DAO. . . point and shoot. There's only five shots, so point carefully.

When I carry my Sig P229, it is chambered and decocked. Point and shoot. If it's in the backpack, I still put it in the IWB holster I have so that the trigger is covered.

[jee]

Glock 26 Locked and Loaded

Crossbreed supertuck @ 4:00 with Safe-t-Bloc in trigger guard

Safe-T-Bloc automatically ejects when weapon is drawn from holster.

[YellowTJ]

Glock 19 one in the chamber ready to go

[jiannichan]

Glock 26

Whenever TxDPS finishes processing my license, 1 in the chamber and an extra magazine in my pocket in a Bare Asset holster. Thats how I carry around the house for the time being.

[bdickens]

Glock 19 IWB in a Comp-Tac Infidel w/ the shirt tucker strut. Loaded 15+1 w/ 124gr. +P Gold Dots. Extra magazine.

Carry everywhere that is legal to do so except at work where the physical realities of the job would make it painful to do so. Starting next week, though, I'm starting a new job with a defense contractor and that will be a moot point I'm sure.

[Supercat]

Point,,,,Pull,,,,Bang!!!!

Without on in the chamber its a club not a gun.

If I need to defend myself, all I need to remember is PULL the trigger.

[SlowDave]

Well, I guess I'm gonna be in the minority here, but just in case others are thinking they're the only one... S&W Sigma .40, full mag, empty chamber. Mostly in a belly band, but sometimes OWB if it's cold enough for a cover coat or fanny pack in front if in shorts and t-shirt.

Long-time hunter and just not comfortable with a gun needing only the trigger pulled to go off when it is at times, pointed in the direction of my own flesh. Maybe one day I'll wish I had carried it with one in the chamber, maybe not. To each his own.

My thoughts are that I can rack one about as quickly as I can get on target anyway, and the minimal time-savings of not having to rack the slide is not worth the increased risk of carrying loaded to me. To those who carry with one in the pipe, can you discuss (honestly and factually) what are the driving factors or scenarios you envision that make this most critical. I'm looking to be persuaded (or not), not for tag lines (like "if it's not loaded, it's a club not a gun"). I really don't see me drawing in a situation where speed is that critical as that's too fair of a fight for my tastes. I THINK I would wait for an opportunity where the odds for me to win the fight are a bit better. The risk of course is that better opportunity might not come and I might die while waiting for it. But I also might die trying to win in a fair fight, so...

Please, good non-emotional arguments, not hyperbole.

[Morgan]

My carry holster covers my trigger. My firearm has a pin block safety that disengages the pin until the hammer is pulled back, either single action or through a full double action trigger pull. My firearm is completely safe to carry in this manner. My firearm is a choice that's becoming more popular with L.E. It's designed to be carried this way, safely.

No hyperbole... just one less thing to worry about in a situation that, should it ever happen, will probably be a "Top 5 Most Stressful Event in My Life" situation. I don't believe that's hyperbole.

I can think of situations where racking the slide could be bad, like if you're hidden from a marauding gunman who could hear you do so. It's of course an extreme situation. To me, it's not the TIME it takes to rack the slide, it's the fudge factor of doing it when your adrenaline is spiking, your hands are shaking... what if I don't get full pull back and I jam? That kind of thing. As I said.... for me the analysis comes down to "I'm fully safe in doing so, and it's one less thing to worry about."

If you're in a fair fight, it means you weren't trying hard enough. I prefer to have egregious advantages over my opponent when the lives of myself and my loved ones and friends are on the line.

[mr.72]

I carry both the CW9 and the SW9VE loaded with a round in the chamber (usually I carry the Kahr). Trigger is the only safety.

Now, Mr. SlowDave, I will respond to your question regarding reasoning. I have a Sigma like yours (only 9mm) and my Kahr has the same type of operating principle (DAO, no safety, not cocked unless the trigger is pulled).

First of all, I will address the safety of the guns in question. These guns were designed to be carried this way. They have no external safety of any kind. They are perfectly safe in this condition as long as you are not pulling the trigger. In the case of a Sigma or a Kahr (NOT a Glock), the striker is not cocked back until you begin to pull the trigger. On a Glock, the striker gets cocked part-way on recoil so it's kind of "half cocked" all of the time while Kahr and Sigma are not cocked. This is truly DAO and is like carrying a hammer-actuated pistol with the hammer down. These guns have a long, deliberate, and rather heavy trigger pull. It would be exceedingly difficult to get the trigger to pull while the gun is being carried, and I think it would be absolutely impossible if the gun is carried in a decent holster that covers the trigger. The gun is holstered with no tension on the striker so even in the event of a malfunction, it will not fire. You have to pull the trigger all the way back to get it to fire, period.

[Now I will get on the soap box for just a minute. IMHO a Glock with a 3 lb competition trigger is not safe enough to carry this way. Other DAO-like pistols that are holstered with the striker under tension and with light triggers may also not be safe enough for my tastes to carry without a manual safety. IMHO the hard trigger of the Sigma is a good thing in this case.]

So the question is, what risk are you concerned about with carrying your Sigma chambered? Do you not trust your holster to keep things out of the trigger? Or are you concerned that you are going to have the pistol out of the holster for some reason, and you may have a ND while it's unholstered? Maybe you are concerned that the gun is going to wind up in someone else's hands and it seems that the fact that it is not chambered is an extra margin of safety in that case? I think it's important to understand this so you can find a way to either ease your mind, or upgrade your carrying conditions or habits so that you are confident that your gun is being carried safely.

OK, now from a practical matter, you asked if we could describe a situation where you wouldn't have time to rack the slide. Frankly when I run scenarios in my mind where I would ever have to use a gun, I can think of very few where I would have time to rack the slide on a pistol. If I have that much time, I have enough time to get away without shooting, in most cases. In fact, most circumstances where I think you would need a gun, I think you will be lucky to have enough time to draw. The very reason I am carrying a gun is because of these split second situations where escape is not an option and I only have seconds to defend my life. So I chose guns, holsters, and carry methods that are compatible with my philosophy: my gun needs to go bang as fast as I can get it drawn and pull the trigger.

Let's just look at what are the most common self-defense scenarios that may involve your use of a gun, which would include aggravated assault, robbery, or burglary. I think even though the statistics for aggravated assault show it is much more common than robbery, I think most CHL holders are probably not at as high a risk of aggravated assault as the general public mostly because we are aware of our circumstances and will be more likely (IMHO) to avoid a situation that would result in an assault. But anyway, in the case of aggravated assault or robbery, you are likely either being assaulted or at gunpoint by the time you know you are being assaulted or robbed. You probably will not have any warning. If you have warning, you are going to avoid it! These are the most common reasons you would need to use your gun and IMHO it is almost useless if you have to rack the slide. Maybe you are knocked to the ground, punched, or already at gunpoint. It's not "seconds count", but fractions of a second can be the difference. I don't think you will have time to rack the slide and you will be fortunate to have time to draw and fire.

In the case of burglary, well you are going to be involved in a burglary. Your active involvement in protecting yourself and your home from a burglary in progress will manifest if you are at home during the burglary, or if you walk in on the crime in progress. If you are at home, you may either be asleep or awake. If you are at home, and awake, then you will have time to rack the slide and load your gun. If you are at home and asleep, your first awareness that you are being burglarized may be when you are awakened at the point of a gun. Again, like a robbery, you will be lucky to even get to your gun in time. If you walk in on a burglary in progress, you may or may not have time to rack the slide on your gun, depending on whether you walk into the door aware that you've been burglarized or if you come into the house and look up and find a BG standing right in front of you.

So IMHO, the odds are not in your favor if you are expecting to have the time to rack the slide on your gun. In fact, I think the odds are not in your favor, period. Once you have become selected by the criminal as his next victim, then you are in trouble from that moment forward. Having a gun improves your odds. Having a gun that you cannot fire without racking the slide first, IMHO, only improves your odds by some very small amount.

I am sure Excaliber and others will step in and correct me where I am wrong. This topic gets discussed here and on other gun forums quite frequently, but I still think it is important to talk about. We all develop different opinions of what constitutes a safe carrying condition based on many factors, but I think we need to be aware of the potential impact of the effectiveness of the use of our guns when we may need to use them. In the end, the reason you carry a gun is to defend your life, your property, or the lives of others under the highest conditions of stress and risk. You are not going to be sitting in the living room of the BG with your gun on the coffee table when he walks in like Jimmy the Tulip. This is the reason I didn't buy a gun with a manual safety and why I wouldn't recommend one to a new shooter, since it's another thing you have to learn to do. I think pulling a gun, aiming and pulling the trigger are relatively natural things to do that you will do under stress with a minimum of practice or training, but turning off the safety or racking the slide are going to take far more training to become habit under all kinds of stress. Maybe if you are undergoing daily training like a LEO or military (or a mall ninja, DIY militiaman, etc.) you will make this a habit but for suburban guys like me, simple is best, IMHO.

[bdickens]

... S&W Sigma .40, full mag, empty chamber....My thoughts are that I can rack one about as quickly as I can get on target anyway, and the minimal time-savings of not having to rack the slide is not worth the increased risk of carrying loaded to me. To those who carry with one in the pipe, can you discuss (honestly and factually) what are the driving factors or scenarios you envision that make this most critical. I'm looking to be persuaded (or not), not for tag lines (like "if it's not loaded, it's a club not a gun"). I really don't see me drawing in a situation where speed is that critical as that's too fair of a fight for my tastes. I THINK I would wait for an opportunity where the odds for me to win the fight are a bit better. The risk of course is that better opportunity might not come and I might die while waiting for it. But I also might die trying to win in a fair fight, so...

Please, good non-emotional arguments, not hyperbole.

You might want to practice that with airsoft or simunitions in a force-on-force scenario. I have a feeling you will convince yourself of the need to carry your gun ready to go. That will be the best argument there is. You coule even try that along with the Tueller Drill.