In chamber or no?

[Kythas]

At Front Sight, they mentioned that the average gun fight lasts 3 seconds.

Now, how long will it take you to rack that slide? 1 second? Two?

Do you really want to give your opponent that advantage?

[johnson0317]

To get a truer picture of the difference between "in chamber or no", the demonstrators should have instituted some controls into their experiment which would have provided the victim the same time to react in both instances. The demonstration is meaningless without these controls as the results can be manipulated to produce the desired result.

I can see why that confused you. Since every situation is different, he was able to close the difference and use his advantage in mass to overpower her. The only control she used was she could not move until she felt "threatened". If there were controls to even everything out, then she would actually have the advantage of knowing when to react. This was just a YouTuber who was trying to demonstrate rather than scientifically validate.

If I could add anything to the lesson she was trying to pass on it would be...never give up. If you give up, you are done.

RJ

[Pistoldoc]

Every time I read a thread on this topic I wonder if I should be draining the gasoline out of my car every night so it doesn't go off by itself ...

then I remember that I can prevent the "on switch" from activating and I stop worrying.

I don't know you, but I think that I love you! Awesome analogy.

[TexasCajun]

In a fight for your life situation, the less complicated the sequence of actions that I have to perform the better. I don't have a ccw yet, but all of the ones I'm considering will have no external safety and will be carried hot with a stacked mag. I wouldn't want to bet my life or the lives of my family on my manual dexterity. If you've seen me walk across an empty flat room, you'd see my point.

[HK_USP_45]

Round in the chamber, YES. Don't carry a weapon you are not comfortable with when loaded. I have the exact same gun, XDM 3.8" 45ACP, and I carry it with a full magazine and a round in the chamber. There's the trigger "safety" and a grip safety. Holster should fully cover the trigger.

I carried a Colt 45 (departmental issue), cocked and locked with a tripple lock holster, as a duty weapon for 10 years and never worried about it because I knew it was safe and I was safe in the way I handled it (practice and training). You don't have time on the street to draw and chamber and get a decent target in an emergency situation. In most cases the bad guy already has a plan and the initial advantage. You have your training. Your training has to be better than his plan.

[TexasCajun]

In most cases the bad guy already has a plan and the initial advantage. You have your training. Your training has to be better than his plan.

+1!!
The bad guy gets to pick the time & the place, so you start off in the hole.

[MOA]

"All guns are always loaded."

[WA1EMT]

I carry chambered, hammer down, safety on. There isn't one good reason that I can think of to have the chamber empty. If its for safety then you shouldn't be trusted with any gun.

[74novaman]

I carry chambered, hammer down, safety on. There isn't one good reason that I can think of to have the chamber empty. If its for safety then you shouldn't be trusted with any gun.

What kind of gun?

[emcee rib]

Any kind.

[HK_USP_45]

I agree with emcee to a point. Always one in the chamber.

When I carried the Colt 1911, 45 cal. as a duty weapon, it was cocked with the side safety on but that meant the hammer was back. You don't typically have time to chamber a round or to pull the hammer back on that gun and it won't shoot double action.

On my HK USP 45, side safety on and hammer down because it will fire double action.

XDM 3.8 45, when you chamber it cocks. There is no external hammer, de-cocker or side safety lever. The safety is built into the trigger and in the grip.

Three differnet semi-auto's, there different carry styles.

Basically, I don't want to add time to my needing a weapon to function. Moving a side safety to "off" can be learned through training as part of the draw from the holster. Pulling back a hammer or a slide is not something than can be easily incorporated into a draw from a holster without costing a second or more of time to having the weapon ready to use. I was used to carrying "wheel" guns. It took a lot of trips to the range to learn to draw the 1911 from a tripple lock holster and drop the side safety in a timely manner but I did. You can't replace training and practice.

[74novaman]

I agree with emcee to a point. Always one in the chamber.

When I carried the Colt 1911, 45 cal. as a duty weapon, it was cocked with the side safety on but that meant the hammer was back. You don't typically have time to chamber a round or to pull the hammer back on that gun and it won't shoot double action.

On my HK USP 45, side safety on and hammer down because it will fire double action.

XDM 3.8 45, when you chamber it cocks. There is no external hammer, de-cocker or side safety lever. The safety is built into the trigger and in the grip.

Three differnet semi-auto's, there different carry styles.

Basically, I don't want to add time to my needing a weapon to function. Moving a side safety to "off" can be learned through training as part of the draw from the holster. Pulling back a hammer or a slide is not something than can be easily incorporated into a draw from a holster without costing a second or more of time to having the weapon ready to use. I was used to carrying "wheel" guns. It took a lot of trips to the range to learn to draw the 1911 from a tripple lock holster and drop the side safety in a timely manner but I did. You can't replace training and practice.

Excellent post. Welcome to the forum.

[XDSConcealer]

I carry a XDS and it is chambered, holstered and ready to go. There is no way I'm giving a BG any sort of an advantage because the BG isn't affording me any.

I recently got my wife a M&P Shield for her CC and I told her I want her to wear it chambered with the safety off. She protested greatly with this and we went through the exercise similar to what was described here. We put an empty gun in the holster with the safety on and I told her to try and "shoot" me before I got to her. With almost every attempt I was able to grab her and in most cases, the gun, before she could disengage the safety and get into a position to fire.

In a life and death situation you have less than 2 seconds to react and respond. Why add extra steps like racking and disengaging safeties? If you have a good holster that covers the trigger completely and allows you to draw fast there shouldn't be an issue with an accidental fire.

[SRH78]

If I have to draw my handgun, I need it ready to fire right then. Also, it is possible that I will be actively finding off an attacker and won't be able to chamber a round. I always have a round in the chamber.

[ldb]

Always a round chambered, cocked and locked with the compact 1911. If I'm carrying the PPK/S, I carry it with a round chambered and the hammer down. I can fire it double action from there and the 13.4 pound trigger pull is all the safety I need. As other posters have pointed out, get a good holster that covers the trigger.