Carrying With One Loaded In Chamber (Question?)

[kde71450]

New to guns and new to carry. Have just yesterday been comfortable enough to start carrying with a load in chamber. it has been said that these loads should be recycled (Separated from your regular carry ammo, and shot at range with your range ammo) BUT How long can i keep the load in the chamber (24 hours , couple of days, weeks, months?) I really don't know!

[daniel2002p]

What I think you have been reading is that the bullet should not be racked into the chamber more than a few times to prevent bullet setback which could be pretty dangerous. I am pretty sure you can leave it in there for every (mine has been in the chamber for about 3 months now), just make sure that you check it before racking it back in to make sure that the bullet has not settled into the casing more than the rest of the bullets.

--Daniel

[Zen]

What Daniel said...

Also, if you're not comfortable with carrying a round in the chamber, I think it is best for you to get more range time and comfort with the pistol of choice. You must feel confident and competent in your pistol, but also in your ability to carry and deploy it.

If you have DAO or DA/SA pistol, that's fairly straightforward.

If you have a SAO, then you have a 5 options, but really only two choices when it comes to personal defense.

Condition 4: Chamber empty, no magazine, hammer down - Not recommended for personal defense
Condition 3: Chamber empty, full magazine in place, hammer down - Not recommended for personal defense
Condition 2: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down
Condition 1: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety on
Condition 0: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety off - Not recommended safety reasons

I just recently bought my first SAO pistol. Though I have been around firearms for a very long time, I was new to this type of pistol. I practiced with snap caps, carrying, drawing, deploying (move safety off and firing), and decocking. Decocking the loaded pistol is not that difficult, but I believe should definitely be practiced and done with clear focus on the task.

Understanding how your safety (if any) works, will also give you some confidence.

[couzin]

What I think you have been reading is that the bullet should not be racked into the chamber more than a few times to prevent bullet setback which could be pretty dangerous. I am pretty sure you can leave it in there for every (mine has been in the chamber for about 3 months now), just make sure that you check it before racking it back in to make sure that the bullet has not settled into the casing more than the rest of the bullets.

--Daniel

Yep - this. Remember - an unloaded gun is just a rock...!

[fickman]

What Daniel said...

Also, if you're not comfortable with carrying a round in the chamber, I think it is best for you to get more range time and comfort with the pistol of choice. You must feel confident and competent in your pistol, but also in your ability to carry and deploy it.

If you have DAO or DA/SA pistol, that's fairly straightforward.

If you have a SAO, then you have a 5 options, but really only two choices when it comes to personal defense.

Condition 4: Chamber empty, no magazine, hammer down - Not recommended for personal defense
Condition 3: Chamber empty, full magazine in place, hammer down - Not recommended for personal defense
Condition 2: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down
Condition 1: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety on
Condition 0: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety off - Not recommended safety reasons

I just recently bought my first SAO pistol. Though I have been around firearms for a very long time, I was new to this type of pistol. I practiced with snap caps, carrying, drawing, deploying (move safety off and firing), and decocking. Decocking the loaded pistol is not that difficult, but I believe should definitely be practiced and done with clear focus on the task.

Understanding how your safety (if any) works, will also give you some confidence.

Condition 2: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down
IMO, not recommended because very few single actions have a de-cocker. . . and a LOT of things can go wrong manually de-cocking a chambered firearm.

[texanjoker]

I have carried chambered due to work for two plus decades. When I worked at a large dept they gave us new ammo every 6 months.

[carlson1]

I have carried chambered due to work for two plus decades. When I worked at a large dept they gave us new ammo every 6 months.

They give my son is giving new duty ammo every month. They expect them to shoot "duty ammo" through their service pistol every month. They have to log in at the range monthly.

[Dave2]

What Daniel said...

Also, if you're not comfortable with carrying a round in the chamber, I think it is best for you to get more range time and comfort with the pistol of choice. You must feel confident and competent in your pistol, but also in your ability to carry and deploy it.

If you have DAO or DA/SA pistol, that's fairly straightforward.

If you have a SAO, then you have a 5 options, but really only two choices when it comes to personal defense.

Condition 4: Chamber empty, no magazine, hammer down - Not recommended for personal defense
Condition 3: Chamber empty, full magazine in place, hammer down - Not recommended for personal defense
Condition 2: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down
Condition 1: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety on
Condition 0: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety off - Not recommended safety reasons

I just recently bought my first SAO pistol. Though I have been around firearms for a very long time, I was new to this type of pistol. I practiced with snap caps, carrying, drawing, deploying (move safety off and firing), and decocking. Decocking the loaded pistol is not that difficult, but I believe should definitely be practiced and done with clear focus on the task.

Understanding how your safety (if any) works, will also give you some confidence.

Condition 2: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down
IMO, not recommended because very few single actions have a de-cocker. . . and a LOT of things can go wrong manually de-cocking a chambered firearm.

IIRC, some 1911s and some revolvers don't have a mechanism to prevent a dropped hammer from moving the firing pin, which in turn means the gun actually can go off by hitting it just right if the hammer is down and a round is chambered.

[texanjoker]

I have carried chambered due to work for two plus decades. When I worked at a large dept they gave us new ammo every 6 months.

They give my son is giving new duty ammo every month. They expect them to shoot "duty ammo" through their service pistol every month. They have to log in at the range monthly.

I wish... in CA we qualified quarterly. We did get practice ammo every month I now work in TX and we qual yearly and get no practice ammo

I still shoot each month, but not all do.

[Fawbis]

New to guns and new to carry. Have just yesterday been comfortable enough to start carrying with a load in chamber. it has been said that these loads should be recycled (Separated from your regular carry ammo, and shot at range with your range ammo) BUT How long can i keep the load in the chamber (24 hours , couple of days, weeks, months?) I really don't know!

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[tacticool]

Condition 2: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down

At the risk of adding to the dog pile, this is not recommended for personal defense or any other reason with a traditional single action like a 1911 or BHP. As already mentioned, it's unnecessarily risky to put it into this state and it's no safer than cocked&locked if dropped, etc. When you need to put it into Condition 0 to shoot, there's a risk of ND when thumbing the hammer. Even worse, it's slower than racking the slide from Condition 3 for most shooters, because we have thousands (if not millions) of repetitions racking the slide with various handguns. Working the slide is also a gross motor skill, so it degrades less under stress.

[rockinar]

New to guns and new to carry. Have just yesterday been comfortable enough to start carrying with a load in chamber. it has been said that these loads should be recycled (Separated from your regular carry ammo, and shot at range with your range ammo) BUT How long can i keep the load in the chamber (24 hours , couple of days, weeks, months?) I really don't know!

If you don't feel comfortable with one in the chamber, that means you don't have experience with the gun. Get some more range time with it and you will get more comfortable.

To answer your question, I would take it out every couple days. But I think it could probably stay in there for weeks to months.

[trobson]

I am pretty new hence the question. what is "Bullet setback"?

Thanks!

Charlie