Do you carry "Round Chambered" or not ?

[frankie_the_yankee]

When I carry my Commander, I carry in Condition 1, chambered round, safety on.

When I carry my Para LDA, I carry it with a chambered round, but I don't bother with the safety (even though it is a 1911 type thumb safety) because the hammer is down and I just don't feel I need it.

When I carry my little P32 I carry it with a chambered round. There is no manual safety. Like the LDA, the hammer is always down.

When I carry my SP101, all 5 chambers are loaded.

I could never see carrying a gun with an empty chamber. (Never owned an old style SAA.)

[Liko81]

Neither. Have you not heard of a DA/SA? Those guns carry condition 2 as as a matter of course, especially if the gun has a decocking safety like the Ruger P-series or Beretta PX4. My P95 is chambered, hammer down, safety usually on but safety off is fine too. Flick off the safety and pull the trigger (DA) and the gun will fire, but the gun cannot be carried C&L; engage the safety while it's cocked and the hammer drops.

[nedmoore]

I carry my 1911 "Cocked and Locked" and my XD always has one in the chamber. I am fairly new to CHL, and was a little hesitant to carry this was at first. Now I can't imagine carrying any other way.

[eric]

The 911 is the primary carry, da/sa are to be used in backup, Revolver style is not my style but carry sometimes in different mode.

[DParker]

Since both options include "safety on" I can only assume this is either a trick question or one intended to discriminate against a huge segment of the handgun-carrying population.

[LarryH]

When the Kimber finishes its break-in, it will be the primary carry, in condition 1.

The CZ75D is current primary carry, loaded, chambered, de-cocked, no mechanical safety.

IF I have to fault-down to the Kel-Tec, loaded, chambered, relying on the lo-o-o-o-ng trigger pull.

[The Annoyed Man]

My 3 carry weapons are carried thusly:
• 1911, cocked and locked, round in chamber
• H&K USP, decocked, safety off, round in chamber
• S&W 642 round in chamber.

If you don't have a round chambered, will you have time to actually deploy your weapon and use it? It might be argued before a grand jury that, since you had time to load the weapon and/or chamber a round, you were not in immediate danger.

[CodeJockey]

XD Sub-Compact - Round in the chamber

[DoubleJ]

My 3 carry weapons are carried thusly:
• 1911, cocked and locked, round in chamber
• H&K USP, decocked, safety off, round in chamber
• S&W 642 round in chamber.

seems to me you'd want a round in all 5 chambers!

[boomerang]

Empty chambers go "click!" when I need a "bang!" so I have a round chambered when I carry.

I didn't vote in the poll because I carry Glocks and revolvers.

[pedalman]

After I got familiar with my new Glock and its workings, I have no problem carrying it with "one in the pipe".

I also have an Auto-Ordnance 1911A1 clone, but I'm not comfortable carrying it chambered, since it doesn't have a firing pin safety (pre-Series 80). That's why I have the Glock for concealed carry.

[The Annoyed Man]

My 3 carry weapons are carried thusly:
• 1911, cocked and locked, round in chamber
• H&K USP, decocked, safety off, round in chamber
• S&W 642 round in chamber.

seems to me you'd want a round in all 5 chambers!

Nope, just one... ...'cause I'm bad to the bone, and that's how I roll.

[smyrna]

In a traditional properly functioning 1911, 3 things have to happen in order for it to fire from "cocked and locked"...

1. Thumb safety off,
2. Grip safety depressed,
3. pressure applied to trigger with "booger hook".
The first two can happen in any order but BOTH must happen before the third.

Now if it's a Series 80, yet another "safety" has to be overcome. The initial take-up of the trigger actuates the small plunger in the slide that allows the firing pin to move past the hole in the slide when struck by the hammer.

That's three (or four depending on how you look at it) very deliberate things that must happen. That's pretty safe if you ask me, so I vote "cocked and locked".
How many things have to happen for DA revolvers to fire? What about striker fired pistols? I think a "cocked and locked" 1911 is intimidating for some because unlike the DA revolver, the potential energy needed to cause a discharge is visible; hammer cocked.

Another way to think about it is this...other than the steps above, what could cause a "cocked and locked" 1911 to fire?
Possibilities...
[*]The hammer hooks break off. Unlikely to cause a discharge since no pressure was applied to the sear, so the sear will likely catch the half cock notch.
[*]The hammer hooks are too shallow and the sear misses them or slips off easily. More likely to cause a discharge when you release the slide to chamber a round AKA "hammer follow" or "sear bounce". Hopefully the hammer only follows to half cock.
[*]The tip of the sear breaks off. More likely to cause a discharge since the tip of the sear is what catches the hammer hooks or the half cock notch.

Now, I'm sure that each of the above HAVE and WILL happen because nothing is impossible, but they would truly be freak events. YMMV

[Briankey]

Ride a Motorcycle a lot, so would be hard to pull my Weapon and chamber a round at the same time, so Carry Glock 19, Chambered, safe. 2 extra Magazines

[bigolbigun]

XD .45 compact with one in the pipe and 13 in the mag on standby.