Is there any reason I shouldn't do this....

[psijac]

I for one do not top off my magazine. When I unload the gun I dont want a free-lance round, rolling around with out a care in the world

[rotor]

While I do carry in just this fashion, I strongly recommend that you try this with your pistol and each magazine at the range before doing so. Some magazines are listed as 8 rounds, but you have problems seating it and getting the weapon to fire when you leave the slide closed and try to push the full magazine back in.

My Sig 220 is that way. Magazine holds 8, but I can only insert it with 8 with the slide open. If I chamber a round, add one to the mag, and try to insert, it fights me, and I will probably get a failure to feed.

I don't understand this. How does the magazine "know" a round is chambered. What if you wanted to carry 8 in the magazine and no rounds chambered would the magazine seat differently? Not interested in arguing about whether one should keep a round chambered or not but some people will reload before their magazine is empty just to make sure they don't have an empty chamber.

[Cedar Park Dad]

Ok, so I have an empty handgun, full magazine of 8 rounds, I insert the magazine into the gun, I pull the slide and chamber one into the pipe. Now I have 7+1 right... are there any issues with then dropping the magazine and adding one more round to then have 8+1 ?? I don't see any reason why not but I'm relying on some of you more experienced guys to confirm. thanks (when concealed carrying)

That personal preference. Personally I will use a Barney Mag to load one, then I will insert the regular full mag. Its just easier for me, but either way is fine. Just remember your four rules especially: keep it pointed away from anything you don't want to die; and keep your booger hook off the trigger.

[Cedar Park Dad]

I for one do not top off my magazine. When I unload the gun I dont want a free-lance round, rolling around with out a care in the world

? Each to his own, but (thinking on a CC basis here) thats an extra round in gun before you have to reload. Again though each to his own.

[MechAg94]

I for one do not top off my magazine. When I unload the gun I dont want a free-lance round, rolling around with out a care in the world

I can understand the concern maybe, but if you needed that extra round and didn't have it........

[srothstein]

While I do carry in just this fashion, I strongly recommend that you try this with your pistol and each magazine at the range before doing so. Some magazines are listed as 8 rounds, but you have problems seating it and getting the weapon to fire when you leave the slide closed and try to push the full magazine back in.

My Sig 220 is that way. Magazine holds 8, but I can only insert it with 8 with the slide open. If I chamber a round, add one to the mag, and try to insert, it fights me, and I will probably get a failure to feed.

I don't understand this. How does the magazine "know" a round is chambered. What if you wanted to carry 8 in the magazine and no rounds chambered would the magazine seat differently? Not interested in arguing about whether one should keep a round chambered or not but some people will reload before their magazine is empty just to make sure they don't have an empty chamber.

When the magazine is loaded, the top round actually sticks a little out of the magazine. When the magazine is inserted into the weapon with the slide closed, the top round is pushed down into the magazine a little by the closed slide. This makes it feed the same as if the magazine was not loaded to capacity. In most gun/magazine combinations, this is not a problem. In some, when the magazine is loaded to its full capacity, there is not enough room left for the spring to compress further into the magazine. This may cause feeding problems or seating problems because of the extra spring pressure.

So, the magazine does not know or care if the chamber is loaded, it is all based on the actual room in the magazine for the spring to compress or not.

[WhoWouldGuess]

While I do carry in just this fashion, I strongly recommend that you try this with your pistol and each magazine at the range before doing so. Some magazines are listed as 8 rounds, but you have problems seating it and getting the weapon to fire when you leave the slide closed and try to push the full magazine back in.

My Sig 220 is that way. Magazine holds 8, but I can only insert it with 8 with the slide open. If I chamber a round, add one to the mag, and try to insert, it fights me, and I will probably get a failure to feed.

I don't understand this. How does the magazine "know" a round is chambered. What if you wanted to carry 8 in the magazine and no rounds chambered would the magazine seat differently? Not interested in arguing about whether one should keep a round chambered or not but some people will reload before their magazine is empty just to make sure they don't have an empty chamber.

Sorry I didn't explain this better. As SRothstein indicated above, I can only insert a full magazine when the breech is open. When the breech is closed, there is not enough space for a full magazine because the spring won't compress anymore.

[Vol Texan]

Don't rely on the loaded-chamber indicator, either. Not that they have a history of malfunctioning, but it's always best to establish a system of administrative handling that is transferable to most guns of the same general type.

IMHO, everyone should become comfortable picking up any popular semi-auto handgun and performing all necessary administrative actions no matter the model, e.g., clearing, loading, stoppage correction, press-checks. It's simply a good idea to practice a pattern of gun handling that is as universally applicable as possible. That way, all the practice remains valid whether you decide to change firearms in the future or, more importantly, have to pick up a different gun at a critical time.

Although Skiprr states this perfectly well, the point bears reaffirming...

The loaded chamber indicator is a great tool. Personally, I do use the indicator on my Sig on a regular basis. But I only use it to make sure it is still loaded. For instance, if I loaded it, I wore it all day long, I locked it in the car lock box (because I have to enter some location where I cannot carry), and then, when I pull it out to re-arm, I check the indicator to make sure it's still loaded.

I use the loaded chamber indicator to make sure it is STILL LOADED, but I never use it to make sure it's UNLOADED. For that, I use the same drill that I use with virtually all semi-auto handguns that I pick up (drop the mag, cycle the slide, look in the chamber, etc.)

[WinoVeritas]

I always replenish the mag after loading one in chamber. I also make sure that I shoot my CCW SD ammo on range; watch for set back for oft cycled ammo (loading, unloading) - my CC is first weapon fired on range - at least one mag +1. Over a period of time I have had two instances that my CC had a misfire (ammo related) - always thankful it wasn't when I needed it.

[gljjt]

I for one do not top off my magazine. When I unload the gun I dont want a free-lance round, rolling around with out a care in the world

I can understand the concern maybe, but if you needed that extra round and didn't have it........

But what if you need an extra magazine after you have been through three? What if you need more than a 1911 and spare magazine carry? What if..... Its a matter of risk/reward/convenience. Different people have different thresholds. My Glock with 1 magazine has similar capacity to a 1911 with 2 magazines. I also do not top off for the same reason as psijac. I've never heard of CHL holder needing more than a few shots. With the odds of needing more rounds astronomically small and the odds of a magazine failure at any point in time astronomically small, my risk/reward/convenience factor for my G19 is one 15 round mag, rack one into the pipe, don't top off. Others prefer differently.

[rotor]

While I do carry in just this fashion, I strongly recommend that you try this with your pistol and each magazine at the range before doing so. Some magazines are listed as 8 rounds, but you have problems seating it and getting the weapon to fire when you leave the slide closed and try to push the full magazine back in.

My Sig 220 is that way. Magazine holds 8, but I can only insert it with 8 with the slide open. If I chamber a round, add one to the mag, and try to insert, it fights me, and I will probably get a failure to feed.

I don't understand this. How does the magazine "know" a round is chambered. What if you wanted to carry 8 in the magazine and no rounds chambered would the magazine seat differently? Not interested in arguing about whether one should keep a round chambered or not but some people will reload before their magazine is empty just to make sure they don't have an empty chamber.

Sorry I didn't explain this better. As SRothstein indicated above, I can only insert a full magazine when the breech is open. When the breech is closed, there is not enough space for a full magazine because the spring won't compress anymore.

Thanks, I understand now.