[fiji_dieselnuts]

The NRA Gun Safety Rules and gun manuals say leave a gun unloaded until ready to use. I am just wondering what people think about carrying with the magazine +1 in the chamber? Also what do people think about home defense... Do you leave it chambered (some of us live in small apartments and time counts) or work the slide and load it while shocked out of bed?

[Creatism]

All my carry guns are loaded +1, and pretty much stay that way until dry fire practice (a couple times a week) or range time,(at least once a month)
When not in use they are locked up in a safe still loaded, my carry gun also does double duty as a nightstand gun. As a general rule I do not leave guns out "laying around" if they are not on my person or with in easy grasp they are locked up. I do have kids so I'm a bit strict on the whole gun safety thing.


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[Bruce M]

I am going to go very far out on a limb here and take a wild guess that a plurality of people here have a handgun with a round in the chamber somewhere relatively close to them at home. I will likewise take a risky bet that of those who carry more carry with a chambered round than with an empty chamber.

[ca survivor]

all my guns are loaded +1, if I'm carrying it's ready to use mag +1 + extra mag.

[NeverMore1701]

Full mag +1 here.

[Nakanokalronin]

Ahhh, the old C1 or C3 discussion. My HD and carry guns are always C1 (chambered) with a full mag/tube.

I'm waiting for C3 to chime in but I'm only going to sit back and watch this time.

[10-32]

I figure if cops carry with a loaded magazine and one in the chamber, there's probably a good reason for that.
They might need their weapon RFN, and so might I.

[AA#5]

Gun Safety Rules & Gun Manuals have to consider liability. That's probably why they suggest keeping guns unloaded or chamber empty.

The issue of loaded guns in the home depends on how they are stored. Many gun owners see nothing wrong with the foolish practice of leaving loaded guns lying around, accessible to anyone who finds them, rather than the intelligent practice of having them in quick-access lockboxes. Such people are a tragedy waiting to happen & should not be gun owners.

Guns in my regular safe are not loaded. Any gun I'm wearing is fully loaded & guns in lockboxes are also loaded & chambered. I'd never consider having a bedside gun with an empty chamber or even a safety lever.

[fiji_dieselnuts]

Thanks guys for the posts. I asked because I read this article on C1 v. C3 http://thinkinggunfighter.blogspot.c...ry-or-why.html

That and my girlfriend was getting on me for having a loaded shotgun in the apartment... even though we live in less than a nice neighborhood.

[Nakanokalronin]

Originally Posted by fiji_dieselnuts

Thanks guys for the posts. I asked because I read this article on C1 v. C3 http://thinkinggunfighter.blogspot.c...ry-or-why.html

That and my girlfriend was getting on me for having a loaded shotgun in the apartment... even though we live in less than a nice neighborhood.

Just keep the safety on and keep it locked up some how. Some will tell you different or that a safety will take 5min to take off (exaggerated, I know) but I sure feel better having my bedside handgun locked up in a quick open safe bolted to my bed frame when I'm not home and no, I don't have kids.

[FLglockdude]

Any gun that I carry has a full magazine and a round chambered, my bed side guns have a full mag and an empty chamber.

[Little Joe]

It's easy for me to treat every gun as if it is loaded, because they are. There is never any doubt.

[zackwatt]

All my pistols are carried with one in the chamber...

[Little Joe]

The chamber is always charged. I believe in the old adage that an empty gun is a useless as a dusty Bible.

[Metal Angel]

I keep one in the chamber when I carry, but not +1. I don't believe in dicking around with my gun once it's loaded and carrying +1 requires you to do that. I make the gun hot, and immediately holster it. It won't come back out until I have to use it, or put it away when I get in bed at night. I keep it with a loaded mag and empty chamber at night. I've gone back and forth about that one, but that's where I'm at right now.

[Gregg702]

All 5 Chambers in my cylinder are full in my carry gun.

[zackwatt]

Originally Posted by Metal Angel

I keep one in the chamber when I carry, but not +1. I don't believe in dicking around with my gun once it's loaded and carrying +1 requires you to do that.

Huh?

Open the slide, insert a round, close the slide, insert a full mag...

[ronin.45]

Originally Posted by Bruce M

I am going to go very far out on a limb here and take a wild guess that a plurality of people here have a handgun with a round in the chamber somewhere relatively close to them at home. I will likewise take a risky bet that of those who carry more carry with a chambered round than with an empty chamber.

I hope that's a sturdy limb, cuz I'm coming out there with you.

[Metal Angel]

Originally Posted by zackwatt

Huh?

Open the slide, insert a round, close the slide, break the extractor, insert a full mag...

Fixed that for ya.








Only way to do it without potentially damaging your firearm is loading it from the mag... The way the firearm was intended to be loaded.

[Gregg702]

Originally Posted by Metal Angel

Fixed that for ya.








Only way to do it without potentially damaging your firearm is loading it from the mag... The way the firearm was intended to be loaded.

[Philo Beddoe]

Originally Posted by Little Joe

The chamber is always charged. I believe in the old adage that an empty gun is a useless as a dusty Bible.

First off, I'm not against C1 carry. I carry my P239 and EMP C1, but I will not carry my Glock C1.

It is my opinion that this subject does more to cause confusion for the newbie and to discredit the "gun community."

Chuck Yeager is an awesome pilot, with tens of thousands of hours. So does that make him an expert on emergency engine out procedures and/or crash landings? Nope. Chances are that the lowly CFII with just 3,000 hours is more current with engine out procedures. Well, Yeager may have some experience with those emergencies, but the fact that he is a great pilot means he is also better than most at avoiding those scenarios to begin with.

Not to be disrespectful of some of the more well-known gun experts, but just what is it about that experience that makes them an expert on C1 vs C3? Unless they have multiple actual experiences defending themselves using both methods of carry, their opinion is theory. I know I know, they have stats and the experiences of others which they have been involved with, or studied...but it's not the same.

I think the gun community loses credibility when they make goofy statements like the one at the top. A gun newbie may not have years of experience, but he didn't check his brain at the door when he bought his first gun, and common sense screams at him that much of the C1 vs C3 hullabaloo is theory.

The newbie can do simple math in his head. Simple math tells him that the chance of him EVER having to draw his gun in self defense is remote. Furthering those long odds is the chance that he'll have to draw and actually fire. And if those odds weren't already approaching the same chance of winning Powerball, the chances of those things happening, then C1 saving the day where C3 would not have sufficed, are astronomically remote.

So then Mr. Newbie measures those stats against the 5-12 times each day he administratively handles his gun, holstering, unholstering, taking a leak - and he begins to see that the odds of a ND are far greater than the odds of having C1 save the day.

Now, here is where other goofy comments come in, e.g., keep your booger finger off the bang switch, etc, etc, ad infinitum. That theory is the reserved domain of perfect men who never make a mistake. It is the domain of perfect men who never lock the keys in their pickup, who never trip on a crack in a sidewalk, who have never had a fender bender, or made any other mistake or lapse of judgment of any kind.

The reality is that high time fighter pilots get complacent and fly their jets into the ground. Heck, just several weeks ago a famous airshow pilot I knew (Howard Pardue) killed himself in his famous Bearcat - in spite of countless hours in that aircraft, the "rumor" among expert pilots who watched the crash is that his harness failed at the top of a 1/2 Cuban Eight. Hmmmm, that is an item on the pre-takeoff checklist of every N-numbered aircraft in the US. We're human, we make mistakes. That's what we do. God built us that way.

Now, if you want to carry C1, knock yourself out, I don't care. I do too, with certain guns. But the gun community shouldn't be so quick to make sweeping generalizations that defy common sense, such as the various example of the uselessness of C3. Particularly when harping on good situation awareness has a far better chance of results.

[Breadman03]

They recommend to leave it unloaded until ready to use. I am using it when I am carrying it for SD/HD, or when it is in my Gunvault in case of a breakin. My guns in the basement are unloaded because they aren't being used.

[Metal Angel]

I finally read the article linked by the OP. I agree with it for the most part. Important to note is that the article was not C3 vs C1. It was just stating that C3 should not be discounted. It's a viable form of carry in SOME situations. You can make the decision for yourself which situation C3 is good for and which situation C1 is good for.

I used to carry C3 and practiced that way at the range. I am every bit as fast getting my first shot on target in C3 as C1. The reason I switched to C1 is because I am often carrying my baby in one arm and I don't want to drop her to rack the slide. I'm willing to drop my big gulp, but not my baby. When I don't have my baby with me, I still carry C1 because I dont want to confuse myself... Also, I would like to be able to use my left arm for fighting while I draw with my right.

The part about being able to operate the slide one handed is a stupid argument. I can rack my slide on the side of the kitchen counter or my belt or any other solid corner, but when scrapping on the ground with a mugger, all bets are off.

[Gun Shark]

Originally Posted by Philo Beddoe

First off, I'm not against C1 carry. I carry my P239 and EMP C1, but I will not carry my Glock C1.

It is my opinion that this subject does more to cause confusion for the newbie and to discredit the "gun community."

Chuck Yeager is an awesome pilot, with tens of thousands of hours. So does that make him an expert on emergency engine out procedures and/or crash landings? Nope. Chances are that the lowly CFII with just 3,000 hours is more current with engine out procedures. Well, Yeager may have some experience with those emergencies, but the fact that he is a great pilot means he is also better than most at avoiding those scenarios to begin with.

Not to be disrespectful of some of the more well-known gun experts, but just what is it about that experience that makes them an expert on C1 vs C3? Unless they have multiple actual experiences defending themselves using both methods of carry, their opinion is theory. I know I know, they have stats and the experiences of others which they have been involved with, or studied...but it's not the same.

I think the gun community loses credibility when they make goofy statements like the one at the top. A gun newbie may not have years of experience, but he didn't check his brain at the door when he bought his first gun, and common sense screams at him that much of the C1 vs C3 hullabaloo is theory.

The newbie can do simple math in his head. Simple math tells him that the chance of him EVER having to draw his gun in self defense is remote. Furthering those long odds is the chance that he'll have to draw and actually fire. And if those odds weren't already approaching the same chance of winning Powerball, the chances of those things happening, then C1 saving the day where C3 would not have sufficed, are astronomically remote.

So then Mr. Newbie measures those stats against the 5-12 times each day he administratively handles his gun, holstering, unholstering, taking a leak - and he begins to see that the odds of a ND are far greater than the odds of having C1 save the day.

Now, here is where other goofy comments come in, e.g., keep your booger finger off the bang switch, etc, etc, ad infinitum. That theory is the reserved domain of perfect men who never make a mistake. It is the domain of perfect men who never lock the keys in their pickup, who never trip on a crack in a sidewalk, who have never had a fender bender, or made any other mistake or lapse of judgment of any kind.

The reality is that high time fighter pilots get complacent and fly their jets into the ground. Heck, just several weeks ago a famous airshow pilot I knew (Howard Pardue) killed himself in his famous Bearcat - in spite of countless hours in that aircraft, the "rumor" among expert pilots who watched the crash is that his harness failed at the top of a 1/2 Cuban Eight. Hmmmm, that is an item on the pre-takeoff checklist of every N-numbered aircraft in the US. We're human, we make mistakes. That's what we do. God built us that way.

Now, if you want to carry C1, knock yourself out, I don't care. I do too, with certain guns. But the gun community shouldn't be so quick to make sweeping generalizations that defy common sense, such as the various example of the uselessness of C3. Particularly when harping on good situation awareness has a far better chance of results.

So what you are saying is that the probability of using your firearm for SD is slim and that the probability of needing A chambered round is even less than that. So based on that people shouldn't carry C1?

You are right that the odds of me ever having to use my firearm to defend myself or others is slim. But it's still there, and I would like to be as prepared as i can, if it ever happens to me. I don't fondle my loaded firearms 5-12 times a day(or ask my dad if i could see any of his that much), when I get a new fire arm I handle it before I load it. I get used to it. Then when I do load it. It stays in the holster.

It's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.






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[nothing]

If t is a defensive firearm I am ready to use it so I am not breaking he NRA rule.