Empty chamber carry?

[LDB415]

No, thank you.

https://www.thearmorylife.com/i-carry-w ... e=hs_email

[Paladin]

To make sure I can still effectively employ this firearm should I need to, I train to jack the slide on the draw stroke. Now, before you start burning me in effigy or picketing my home with rude signage, appreciate that I have actually retrieved my carry gun twice for real. In both cases I got the firearm out and charged it without conscious thought in time to affect the outcome — and I was glad I had it and had trained appropriately.

For me, if there is even a remote possibility that there could be an issue, jacking the slide is my final layer of safety. Your mileage may vary, but this has worked for me.

The truth is that training is the biggest factor in who wins.

Most people don't carry wheel guns anymore, but with practice amazing things are possible:


Most people should focus on Safety, Marksmanship, Gun Handling, Mindset, Tactics, Force-on-Force and reach at least a USPSA Class C equivalent. Class B equivalent is better (see CSAT standards).

What I saw at TACCON 2023 proved to me that most people have no experience with Force-on-Force and are completely completely clueless with tactics. In the Experiential Learning Lab every guy (except me) believed that a chambered pistol with a kydex appendix holster will allow them to outdraw any threat. They were proven wrong, time and time again. Every guy got shot multiple times in the chest due to horrific "stand out in the open, draw, and deliver" tactics. The ladies and I were a whole lot more sophisticated in our response. Responses like deception, movement, and seeking cover worked a lot better.

OODA Loop and Patterns of Conflict are need to know information if you want to win a conflict.

[rtschl]

To each his own and what works best for each. But that little extra time could be costly. In the meme thread earlier this week.

[Paladin]

The video doesn't show the entire gunfight, but this homeowner having a loaded pistol in hand did not overcome his bad tactics:

Beloved Dallas A/C repairman shot while confronting burglar
Help find Dallas repairman's shooter

[eyedoc]

So, he carries a useless hammer in his pocket. Not very smart of him.

[Rafe]

Not only everything that Paladin noted, but any "writer" about firearms who keeps saying "jack the slide" has lost my attention, anyway.

[Jose_in_Dallas]

Pretty stupid IMO. Especially coming from someone writing for a gun website. There has been to many examples online showing people unable to rack the slide to load a round because hands are full or wrestling with the attacker. I pocket carry fairly frequently now a days and I carry with a round in the chamber and don't feel unsafe with it. Keep the trigger covered with a good holster and only have that one item in that pocket. I think it was Daryl Bolke who really sold me on pocket carry as you can see the threat and inconspicuously put your hand in the pocket and on the grip of the gun for a fast draw.

[Tex1961]

Two weekends ago one of my students asked about carrying with an empty chamber. We did the 21 foot game... He lost.. And I'm a 62 year old asthmatic with a bad back and arthritis

[Jose_in_Dallas]

Two weekends ago one of my students asked about carrying with an empty chamber. We did the 21 foot game... He lost.. And I'm a 62 year old asthmatic with a bad back and arthritis

Curious. Did his opinion change after that?

[03Lightningrocks]

Since I don't live in a cops and robbers movie, I always have and always will carry with one in the chamber. I love watching these movies and counting how many times they rack the slide in the same scene involving a single assailant. Usually at least two... LOL.

[Mel]

Since I don't live in a cops and robbers movie, I always have and always will carry with one in the chamber. I love watching these movies and counting how many times they rack the slide in the same scene involving a single assailant. Usually at least two... LOL.

In the movies, "racking the slide" is psychological. It means, "I'm getting serious now!"

[03Lightningrocks]

[Tex1961]

Two weekends ago one of my students asked about carrying with an empty chamber. We did the 21 foot game... He lost.. And I'm a 62 year old asthmatic with a bad back and arthritis

Curious. Did his opinion change after that?

Yeah. Quite quickly.

[Boxerrider]

Since I don't live in a cops and robbers movie, I always have and always will carry with one in the chamber. I love watching these movies and counting how many times they rack the slide in the same scene involving a single assailant. Usually at least two... LOL.

In the movies, "racking the slide" is psychological. It means, "I'm getting serious now!"

And if you make me get Really Serious, then I'll cock the hammer too!

[LDB415]

It may work with 21 feet and one person running while the other racks the slide. But what about when one draws a charged weapon against one drawing an uncharged weapon? Then 21 feet or 42 feet don't make any difference. No, I just don't believe there is ever a time when one has some sort of advantage by having an uncharged weapon.