Carry mode: Keep a round chambered or no? Why or why not?

[jws360]

Hello, all-

Got a new PM9 that went through 200 rounds or so with only 1 minor hiccup around round 30 or so. Cleaned & reassembled with the helpful guides here.

Now that it is arguably more reliable I am trying to decide whether to carry with a round in the chamber or leave the mag full and chamber a round only if needed.

I have 2 lines of thought:

1) Leaving a round un-chambered lessens the risk if someone unfamiliar with it has access. While I keep things locked up & my kids are old enough to know better, I often have a fear of leaving a weapon around in a "just pull the trigger to fire" mode. I figure that if I'm ever in a situation where I don't have time to rack the slide I'm in deeper crap than I thought.

2) Keep a round chambered for maximum readiness, not that I have any specific threats in an otherwise ordinary daily life.

What do people here do and why?

Thanks!

JWS360

[Barth]

Carry mode: Keep a round chambered or no? YES
Why or why not? I Want to Live

[Planedude]

If your going to carry the gun, yes please chamber a round. If your storing the firearm and are worried in the least a young one might find it, leave it unloaded.
Magazine and gun in seperate spots is safer...
The safest thing though would be to train the kids to leave the gun alone and how to make one safe. Once or twice a year I would bring my Daughter and Son into the safe room and we would go over making safe each type of firearms and place them on the bed. My Daughter HATED doing that, but she will be the first to show you how to safe any type of gun you handed her.

[HenryinFlorida]

The time it takes to chamber a round will get you killed. I always carry with a round chambered. That is why a lot of the modern guns have a long trigger pull. That gives you your safety net, but still allows you to respond quickly when necessary.

When your not carrying your gun it's different, especially if you have children around.

[jocko]

when kids are around, it is a new ballgame, I don't care how much u think ur train ur kids with guns etc, They just don't know and maybe ur kid might not do something stupid but if a friend is with them then again it is a whole new game U are not allowed one mistake either... Kids around keep it locked in a safe or unload and lock the slide open, better safe than sorry. U would never forgive urself if anthing happened to ur child or a neighbors child due to u having a loaded gun around. Just don't do it,

I would not carry an unloaded gun though. My kids are allgine so my home has loaded guns everywhere.

[Wolffire99]

Chances are if you're life is threatened in an attack you will be involved in a physical altercation (think G. Zimmerman being pinned down). If you don't have a round chambered you might as well carry a rock.

[rholmes69]

I have a 6 yr old girl and a 1yr old boy. Started getting the girl handling firearms (started with plastic, moved to paintball, pellet to heavy caliber) by age 3-4. Use to practice hiding toy guns around the house, yard etc, to enforce "if you see one, find an adult". I always carry with one chambered and treat even the toys like they are loaded and deadly. It drives the point home with the children. Nothing is left laying loose in the house (state law says they must be locked up) and I don't sleep with one "under the pillow" (bedside safe instead). To further press the issue, while guns are certainly cool, I never "show them off" to guests unless it is at the range. Become "psychotic" about the handling practices and it becomes second nature. You will never have to fear a ND when you always treat your weapons with the respect they deserve and carry in manner that absolutely prevents anything getting in the trigger housing.

I honestly see no reason what so ever to carry a pistol on you for self defense purposes unless the chamber is loaded. That second needed to chamber is literally the difference between life and death sometimes. If you think that you are good enough to chamber a round while under attack, there are COUNTLESS videos with proof that people aren't. I would never want to be the guy in one of those vids...

[scoose]

Always carry with a round chambered. The time to chamber a round could cost you your life. IMHO if you are carrying without a round chambered you MAY be better off leaving your weapon at home.

[ripley16]

Welcome to the forum. A small pistol without a round in the chamber is blunt instrument, only slightly more useful than your fist.

When I drive my car I make sure the gas tank is empty... no chance of fire.
When I use a knife, I leave the sheath on...just in case.
When I ride my bike I always have the brake on, so I can't go too fast.

Point being, if you want to have a gun handy, carry a gun for protection, rely on a gun to keep you or your kids alive, then have the gun ready to do so.


I often have a fear of leaving a weapon around ...
Then don't. Who does? If you have kids then buy a small safe to keep your loaded carry gun in while at home, so they have zero access to it.

[Replay13]

For once I agree with most everyone :eek: :D When you carry keep one in the chamber, and keep it in a holster that protects the trigger. Safe and ready to use if needed. If you ever do need it, you probably won't have time to rack it.

I'll also agree about keeping a pistol unloaded if you have kids. Even tho that wasn't the case for me. I worked swing shift all my life so a safe room made some sense for me. If someone was beating the door down everyone was to run to the back bedroom and lock that door. In there is a loaded pistol and if they broke down that door it was time to start shooting. Kids are all gone now and I still have the safe room with a loaded XDm .40 with 17 rounds and a spare mag with 16 more. The pistol safe makes more sense then what I did.

[Longitude Zero]

Leaving the chamber empty on a carry weapon is just plain loco. Anybody who makes that seriously dangerous mistake is holding nothing more than a short handled club. If a person feels unsafe with a round in the chamber of a carry weapon they probably have NO business with a weapon in the first place.

As to kids there are ways to secure a weapon away from them and it still be ready for virtually instant use. You cannot child proof a gun so thru education you gun proof your children.

[pitandkahr]

Always carry with a round chambered. The time to chamber a round could cost you your life. IMHO if you are carrying without a round chambered you MAY be better off leaving your weapon at home.

x2 I keep a round chambered at all times for family and personal protection and I have a gun safe at home for kid knucklehead protection... LOL

[aKahrt_and_p2KT]

My thought is that you should always treat a gun like it has a rounded loaded even if it doesn't so keeping one in the chamber does not give you any larger risk if you are responsible in handing your gun. I always keep one chambered now and I always know where my gun is.

[jws360]

Thanks to all for the interesting discussion here. Convinced me to keep one in the chamber.

I was being a bit cautious with kids, but see no reason why I can't unload upon arriving home and rechamber in the morning. For home defense a trusty Rem. 870 is my preferred tool in any event.

Didn't think I'd get so many replies, but again thanks to all!

Great board and people here.

[muggsy]

It takes an attacker about 2.5 seconds to close from 21 feet. That gives you about 1.5 seconds to draw and fire. An assailant won't wait for you to chamber a round. Survival is a mind set.

[QuercusMax]

So the consensus is to always have a round in the chamber, to be ready instantly.

But I don't want to leave it that way all the time, so I need to eject the chambered round when I want to make sure the gun is unloaded. I also know that I don't want to chamber and unchamber a round very much, to avoid "bullet setback."

There are various strategies for dealing with this, such as cycling your rounds, firing them off from time to time, etc.

So for everyone who always keeps a round in the chamber, how do you deal with this?

[ripley16]

I was being a bit cautious with kids, but see no reason why I can't unload upon arriving home and rechamber in the morning.

IMHO, this is also a dangerous practice. The more times you handle the pistol, the more chances there are of an event. Removing the gun and holster together, locking it away in a safe place, is I believe, the safest way to handle an "always loaded" pistol. Loading and unloading, 365 days a year, twice a day, is a fair amount of handling. I just leave the gun as is, in a holster, holster and gun go into a safe over night. Simple and safe.

[HenryinFlorida]

So the consensus is to always have a round in the chamber, to be ready instantly.

But I don't want to leave it that way all the time, so I need to eject the chambered round when I want to make sure the gun is unloaded. I also know that I don't want to chamber and unchamber a round very much, to avoid "bullet setback."

There are various strategies for dealing with this, such as cycling your rounds, firing them off from time to time, etc.

So for everyone who always keeps a round in the chamber, how do you deal with this?

I keep rotating the bullets whenever I clear the chamber.

[kb2wji]

Round chambered!!! I understand your concern about bullet setback. If you are in a situation where you load / unload your weapon daily, there are things you can do. Use a Sharpie to put a dot on the ejected round. Rotate the rounds in the magazine. Once each round has 4 or 5 dots on it, shoot that ammo and replace it with new. It only requires a couple extra boxes of SD ammo per year, but you should be using your carry ammo regularly anyway to be 110% sure its 110% reliable. If I havent mentioned...round chambered!!

[Replay13]

I also know that I don't want to chamber and unchamber a round very much, to avoid "bullet setback."


I reload so getting more ammo cheap is not a problem for me. Others here will say never carry reloads for carry ammo, but thats my choice. I'll hopefully be alive to deal with that if the time ever comes.

I would suggest cycling the same round and keep an eye on it and shoot it if it starts to set back any. Then start over, easier to keep an eye on one round.

Also if you just put one round in the magazine it will hand cycle slow and you should be able to load it that way several times without any setback, way more then you think. A set of 6" calipers makes it easy to check rounds with minimal expense.

[bonjorno2]

always one in the pipe!

[JFootin]

IMHO, this is also a dangerous practice. The more times you handle the pistol, the more chances there are of an event. Removing the gun and holster together, locking it away in a safe place, is I believe, the safest way to handle an "always loaded" pistol. Loading and unloading, 365 days a year, twice a day, is a fair amount of handling. I just leave the gun as is, in a holster, holster and gun go into a safe over night. Simple and safe.

+1. A small gun lock box can be purchased for the cost of a carton of cigs and will solve the problem of keeping it loaded, yet safe with children around.

[gm412]

What kind of safe do you use by the bed. I was going to get one that read your finger prints but the guy at the gun shop said they are slow to open and hard to open under pressure.

[Planedude]

My son in law has a pistol lockbox, just large enough for his Glock 22, a tactical light and one spare mag. It has plastic finger groves top but has a four buttons at the figer tips. You set the pressing order as your code (PIN#) and when pressed right the spring loaded door flys open. My Son-in-law has practiced this to the point of having open in aprox 4 seconds. The house is alarmed so he figures to have that much time to ready himself. the little strong box is screwd to the side of a nightstand.
An excelent ideal for the carry gun that comes home at night. I bought that one for him a Cabelas for Christmas. It was less than $75 bucks IIRC and I have seen them on sale cheaper.
Peace.

[ParabellumJ]

Always keep a round in the chamber when carrying. Always use a holster that covers the trigger guard. Always keep the gun locked up at home. Always carry it and hope you never have to use it.

[knkali]

for those who want to carry your gun in condition 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRdZ3hZ8y-w

[tv_racin_fan]

So the consensus is to always have a round in the chamber, to be ready instantly.

But I don't want to leave it that way all the time, so I need to eject the chambered round when I want to make sure the gun is unloaded. I also know that I don't want to chamber and unchamber a round very much, to avoid "bullet setback."

There are various strategies for dealing with this, such as cycling your rounds, firing them off from time to time, etc.

So for everyone who always keeps a round in the chamber, how do you deal with this?

I feel the rim of the round I have been chambering and rechambering. After about ten times the rim is chewed up enough to feel it. I know from testing that the rim is chewed up enough to notice long before any setback has occured. I take any round that is noticably chewed up by the extractor and put it to the side for range fodder.

[ripley16]

...or just keep on nightstand...

I respectfully disagree. If you have children in the house, hiding a gun in a drawer or under something is not a foolproof plan. If there are kids, as the dad, you owe it to them to keep a loaded gun away from them and a horrible accident. Kids are curious about everything. A responsible gun owner stores loaded guns in a locked safe of whatever sort fits your needs. This is my opinion, but "better safe than sorry" is truely a good theme in this particular area.

EDIT;
The posting I quoted and responded to seems to have disappeared, but the reply and thought remains.

[Barth]

I respectfully disagree. If you have children in the house, hiding a gun in a drawer or under something is not a foolproof plan. If there are kids, as the dad, you owe it to them to keep a loaded gun away from them and a horrible accident. Kids are curious about everything. A responsible gun owner stores loaded guns in a locked safe of whatever sort fits your needs. This is my opinion, but "better safe than sorry" is truely a good theme in this particular area.

My guns are either;
A) Physically on my person.
B) Literally locked away.

There is no Option C
You can't be too safe with a handgun

[paperpuncher]

I just bought my first Kahr PM 45. Had a problem with the ejected casings coming right in my face partially due to the fact that I'm left handed. Called Clayton Covel and within 24 hrs it was back in your shop and the ejector was being customized by one of the techs. That is FANTASTIC customer service, and Clayton is a true asset to Kahr!!! Can't wait to get it back and start shooting again. JM


I don't mean this question to be derogatory in any manner, but how long have you been carrying?

I ask because when I first started carrying it took me roughly 2 months before gaining enough confidence in myself to carry with one in the pipe.

It's silly to not carry in that manner, but don't do it until your comfortable.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Docbbc]

I'm a new carrier, I kept a snap cap in the pipe initially as I carried, transported, holstered, chambered, etc. I didn't take longer than a month or so to trust the gun, (K9) and keep a live one chambered.

[PYROhafe]

Dont have my cwp yet, but i carry around the house, and keep it in the car with me. At first I was a little nervous, but after about an hour of sitting and standing and other random/intentional movements around the house, I realized it was "safe" to carry a round chambered in a proper (pj)holster. So now I keep one chambered, and when i get my cwp, and can carry 24/7 (yeah i might carry to bed) ill just keep it that way.

[jlottmc]

Leaving the chamber empty on a carry weapon is just plain loco. Anybody who makes that seriously dangerous mistake is holding nothing more than a short handled club. If a person feels unsafe with a round in the chamber of a carry weapon they probably have NO business with a weapon in the first place.

As to kids there are ways to secure a weapon away from them and it still be ready for virtually instant use. You cannot child proof a gun so thru education you gun proof your children.


I need read no farther, he nailed it.

[Barth]

Dont have my cwp yet, but i carry around the house, and keep it in the car with me. At first I was a little nervous, but after about an hour of sitting and standing and other random/intentional movements around the house, I realized it was "safe" to carry a round chambered in a proper (pj)holster. So now I keep one chambered, and when i get my cwp, and can carry 24/7 (yeah i might carry to bed) ill just keep it that way.

I sleep better with a loaded pistol near my pillow.
Lately that gun is a S&W 640-1 DAO 357 revolver.
With a nice green glowing Big Dot on the nose as my night light - LOL!

[Ken_K]

Keep a round in the chamber when your carrying and keep the pistol in a safe when your not.

[Yogi 117]

I sleep better with a loaded pistol near my pillow.
Lately that gun is a S&W 640-1 DAO 357 revolver.
With a nice green glowing Big Dot on the nose as my night light - LOL!
+1 on the .357 by the pillow! For me, it's my Ruger GP-100 loaded with Speer Gold Dots, with 2 speed loaders & flashlight also near.

And yes, the G26 and/or LCP always has one chambered, carrying or not. And I do carry at home, gives me that warm & fuzzy feeling. :)

[Barth]

+1 on the .357 by the pillow! For me, it's my Ruger GP-100 loaded with Speer Gold Dots, with 2 speed loaders & flashlight also near.

And yes, the G26 and/or LCP always has one chambered, carrying or not. And I do carry at home, gives me that warm & fuzzy feeling. :)

LOL!
Mines loaded with Winchester PDX1 357 Bonded Defenders.
And I have a 460 lumen SureFire.

Although I've got two speed strips my plan is a NY reload.
Little sister S&W 342 ti with Speer GDHP 135 gr 38 +P Short Barrel.

After that the heavy artillery opens up...

[Popeye]

First let me say I carry one in the chamber. I have no kids living at home though. When My Granddaughter comes over I unchamber the round put the gun up high and out of site. This is what I'm comfortable with and what works for me. I'm not going to try to tell you what you should or should not do. IMO you have to think things out and do the things that work for you and your situation. There is no right or wrong in any of this, it's all about choice and what works best for you. JM.02

[Yogi 117]

LOL!
Mines loaded with Winchester PDX1 357 Bonded Defenders.
And I have a 460 lumen SureFire.

Although I've got two speed strips my plan is a NY reload.
Little sister S&W 342 ti with Speer GDHP 135 gr 38 +P Short Barrel.

After that the heavy artillery opens up...
Another lol! I also have the NY reload, as my G26 & LCP (both loaded with Gold Dots) are also nearby. Over prepared? Hope I never find out! :)

[Klascojoe]

Carrying my pistol unloaded. That would make me feel a lot less safe than loaded. I can see myself scared sheetless fumbling with a slide while being attacked, and that don't sound good. As far as someone else having a accident? They would have to take it from me to do that because it is always in my holster on my side as it is now. At night it goes on the bedstand and the shotty comes out of the safe,also with one in the chamber. All my guns are locked up when not in use, thats the best way to keep it safe.

[jzorn]

I don't carry with a round chambered yet, I'm waiting for my new crossbreed holster first. Should be another week or so.