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I've also found my safety to be off while carrying once. As mentioned before, a good quality holster specifically made for your gun is a must. Since I got one I haven't had the safety come off yet, although I have now made it routine practice to randomly check throughout the day.

I think everyone has these feelings at the beginning that carrying condition 1 is unsafe because we are (at least I was) programmed not to put a round in the chamber unless you were ready to shoot. Duck hunting or deer hunting as a kid, pops would always tell us not to load our guns until we were in the blind or sitting in the deer stand, but once we left the blind/stand our gun was to be unloaded and carried with the reciever/bolt open. I now see his reasons for having us do those things, because it was just hunting and the need to have a loaded firearm was not a life or death situation, as is carrying concealed. That was the obstacle I had to overcome to carry my 1911 cocked and locked, which I didn't do right off the bat.

I tried to train drawing/racking/aiming and firing, but the more I practiced, the more I began to realize this is just not a viable method. How could I possibly do all of this in an unexpected attack and be able to defend myself? You just can't.

Some folks carry a knife with a dull blade because they mistakenly feel it is less likely to cut them if they mishandle it.

A carried gun should be loaded and a carried knife should be sharp.

Both should be treated with proper respect.

Part of the issue may be the type of pistol. I'd feel more comfortable with a modern 9mm style on safety then a 1911 style. As noted a 9mm type on safety is equivalent to a double action revolver (plus with the safety). I think many people are leery of carrying around a 1911 type cocked and locked.

EDIT: Thats also the reason the quicksafe has a revolver in it in case of emergency and access to CCL is not available. She Who Must Be Obeyed can just pull out the revolver and start squeezing off rounds without worrying about cocking/safeties/anything. Doesn't hurt that its a large caliber revolver either.

I carry a Colt Officers Model .45, cocked and locked, ready to do business all day, every day. You will become more comfortable with your carry weapon the more you use it. Study the schematics and learn everything you can about you gun and how the safeties work. If you have a quality holster the only way your gun can fire is if you pull the trigger. Guns do not just go off by themselves. You need to be prepared, because when the attack comes, you will not have time to blink...and it's over.

Good Luck!
-geo

Aggie_engr wrote: I tried to train drawing/racking/aiming and firing, but the more I practiced, the more I began to realize this is just not a viable method. How could I possibly do all of this in an unexpected attack and be able to defend myself? You just can't.

I came to this same conclusion also, I practiced one-handed racking many times, but still there were times the slide didnt catch my belt or pocket lip. I got a good holster practiced carrying around the house with a snapcap chambered to prove to myself that it is safe. I have a G27 also and have carried with a chambered round ever since.

I think tfrazier mention this video i dont know if any of you guys got a chance to see this. I have to try this draw at least a couple of times because i didnt see the draw like this in my mind. (Oh by the way i am a huge youtube nut!)

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

Sure it's cool they can do that, but why not for a manual safety gun just click the safety off? Or just pull the trigger on a DA/SA gun? Yes of course there will be a select number of people who can do this on a range with their guns holstered outside of their clothes and not in a life threatening situation, but how many people of the general public can one expect to perfect and master this technique, let alone posess the ability to? I do not think it is good judgement to pass this type of mentality on to other prospective chl'ers expecting them to survive/effectively defend themselves. Learn your weapon, how it works and functions, and if you're not comfortable carrying it condition 1 find another weapon that is suitable and train with it and learn how to carry it safely. Practice makes perfect, so the saying goes.

frazzled wrote:She Who Must Be Obeyed can just pull out the revolver and start squeezing off rounds without worrying about cocking/safeties/anything. Doesn't hurt that its a large caliber revolver either.

That's funny...that's my wife's name too!

MojoTexas

Hi, I've been lurking this thread for a while, and I've been really educated by what ya'll have shared. I, too, am new to CHL, and still haven't "graduated" to keeping one in the pipe yet, though I'm getting closer to that, thanks to you guys. For me, it's not the fear that my gun will accidentally go off, since it's a modern 9mm with all kinds of internal safeties, a thumb safety, and it sits in a form-fitted kydex holster. I've heard some say that as long as I follow the 4 Rules, everything will be fine. But therein lies my mental barrier: my concern is for a lightning quick scenario in which I might forget the rule to keep your finger off the trigger. In a moment of adrenaline, what if I draw my gun and pull the trigger, all in the same motion? So, my concern is for the "mistake" that could be made when adrenaline causes my normal careful approach to go out the window. Any advice?

ClarkLZeuss wrote:Hi, I've been lurking this thread for a while, and I've been really educated by what ya'll have shared. I, too, am new to CHL, and still haven't "graduated" to keeping one in the pipe yet, though I'm getting closer to that, thanks to you guys. For me, it's not the fear that my gun will accidentally go off, since it's a modern 9mm with all kinds of internal safeties, a thumb safety, and it sits in a form-fitted kydex holster. I've heard some say that as long as I follow the 4 Rules, everything will be fine. But therein lies my mental barrier: my concern is for a lightning quick scenario in which I might forget the rule to keep your finger off the trigger. In a moment of adrenaline, what if I draw my gun and pull the trigger, all in the same motion? So, my concern is for the "mistake" that could be made when adrenaline causes my normal careful approach to go out the window. Any advice?

Empty your gun \, check the barrel , and then check it again... Your draw should consist of clearing leather setting the safety and doind so safely, If you practice enough in just a couple of days your draw should be pretty automatic with out your finger going for the trigger. Practice practice practice. It will be held into muscle memory.
I clear the safety even when I draw a DAO.

I agree with Liberty. Practice is the key to it all. As you practice your draw, you practice where your trigger finger will be. It will become instinct when/if you practice enough. Finger only goes on trigger when eyes/sights/muzzle are on target. If your range permits it you could even come up with scenarios with both combatant and non-combatant targets crossing. This would take at least one other person and some outside-the-box thinking/planning but it can be done. Using a sled to pull a non-combatant target across a series of combatant targets is one that comes to mind quickly. Use your imagination.

The biggest thing though is to practice and establish that correct habit and you won't get bogged down with the details when the adrenaline starts pumping. This is not something that one right answer but again practice is the key.

my carry pistol is a bersa 380, one in the barrel and if its to be drawn its a real simple finger learning to roll back the hammer and safety in a smooth evolution.
i practiced for many days with a snap cap to get the feel for what i needed to do in a crisis situation.

Well, I carried with one in the pipe today for the first time! It was a really crazy feeling at first, but that made me realize that I had become too lax about carrying a gun. Not lax with the 4 Rules, but in my overall respect for the gun. ELB's quote below says it well:

ELB wrote:You think the gun is "safer" because it doesn't have round in the chamber. You mentally differentiate, perhaps almost subconsciously, between a "safe" gun and a "dangerous" gun. The problem is when you get the situation where there is a round in the chamber and you don't know it -- then you think it is "safe" when it is not. People rarely get shot accidently with loaded guns -- they get shot accidently with "unloaded" guns.

I felt like I hadn't been taking safe thinking and safe practices far enough, because in the back of my mind I had been saying to myself: "Don't worry...it's not loaded." I realized that this was a very dangerous mindset, so - paradoxically - I had to make my gun more dangerous to make myself safer.

My thought is always be ready to fire (Fully loaded, one in the chamber, safety OFF).