When do you UNchamber your gun?

[Bigtanker]

Mine are chambered except when cleaning. (My EDC and my other EDC) They are either on my hip or locked up. I am a firm believer that kids WILL find your hiding spots. Even on the 1,000th time they do find it and don't mess with the gun, the 1,001st time might be different. With their life in the balance, that is a chance I won't take.

My kids know the drill. See a gun, don't touch, leave and tell a grown up. They have yet to get it wrong when tested. But I still won't chance it.

 

[RedTJ]

Keep in chambered. Copy that.
This shall take a little getting use to, I'm sure.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Setback is a function of the geometry of the round in question, the feed ramp, the magazine, and the strength of the recoil spring. I have some seriously dangerous .45s I'd like to be able to use in my 1911s, but they hang on the bottom edge of the feed ramp. Obvious setback. I need to do some dremel work to get them to feed at all, and they're still liable to set back if fed more than a couple of times. My usual JHPs are round enough they just slide on up in there. Ooh, kinkay! I might feed one a hundred times and mike the OAL to see if they set back at all. From what I've seen, it's usually pretty obvious, though. DO NOT EVER FIRE ONE OF THOSE unless you can tap it back out with a bullet puller, or even better take it all the way down and reload it.

After all that, yeah, the only time I unchamber my EDC is for cleaning, or going in to the 1500. I have a second one just like it for drills and such. Anytime I have my pants on, there it is. In fact, although it may offend some, the only time I thumb the safety on is when it's out of the holster and going to leave my hand.

 

[pudly]

Keep in chambered. Copy that.
This shall take a little getting use to, I'm sure.

Some good gun practices can take getting used to for some people. You will periodically see a newbie ask about having a round in the chamber while carrying and they will get a similar flood of "keep one in the chamber" responses. It is an education and comfort level thing, so it takes them a while to become comfortable with the practice. Experience and understanding increases your comfort with "best practices".

 

[Dead Duck]

From one of my my favorite books -

I like it chambered in the house.
I like it chambered at the range.
I like it chambered here and there.
I like it chambered everywhere.
I like to have my bullet chambered.

I like it chambered, Prepared-I-Am.

You will get used to it and it will become second nature.
It's much safer chambered and left alone than to be constantly bothered.

 

[red_zr24x4]

EDC is always loaded unless I'm changing to my range mag,or cleaning

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

Only time my guns are not loaded is when I'm handing it over for someone to admire.

 

[Thor]

Mine stays chambered all the time unless I'm cleaning or going through draw drills.

This. It is also the only time I take my firearm out of the holster.

This...It's also the only time I take my firearm out of the holster, drawer, cabinet, case, bookshelf...I have lots, they are all loaded, the kids know how to use them...well. I un-chamber them to clean them. Otherwise they'd just be furniture.

 

[Cameramonkey]

chambered unless cleaning, someone is checking it out, etc.

Otherwise its always chambered, and to keep out of the kids reach yet still readily accessible...

Gun and Pistol Safes by GunVault | GunVault.

 

[k1500]

I leave my carry gun (sub compact) loaded. my home defense pistol (full size) is loaded as well. With HD, I did leave the chamber empty. I realized doing so would mean more time to load it.

It is best to use a quick access safe to know a kid won't touch it.

 

[Hogwylde]

How many times can you chamber/eject a shell before you effect the integrity of the casing?

Once, then you have to worry about setback. I have an example I can show you if needed.

 

[churchmouse]

Have 2 EDC's that are always chambered. 2 wheel guns loaded as well.
They get un-chambered for cleaning of firing. I do not burn up my carry/PD rounds at the range.

 

[MCgrease08]

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...0-guy-chambered-same-9mm-round-100-times.html

 

[MCgrease08]

You also might want to consider a sand bucket if you are going to continue unchambering regularly.

[video=youtube_share;2OpHjldbO5s]http://youtu.be/2OpHjldbO5s[/video]

 

[marv]

My revo stays chambered and in my pocket unless I'm practicing double action head shots at the TV.

 

[alabasterjar]

I have 4 kids, ages 10 mo - 8 yrs. Yes, they all know the gun handling rules (the ones that can speak, anyway) and I trust them to follow 99.999% of the time...I carry all the time at home and I have a GunVault safe that my edc rests in while I am sleeping.

I rarely unchamber my edc unless I will be setting it down where it is not in my direct control, and cannot be otherwise secured - for example:
* when talking a shower when the kids are up & around, I unchamber & place the gun under my stack of clothes;
* when traveling, hotel or staying at friends/family homes, I unchamber & place the gun by my bed.

When I was new to carrying, it took a while to get comfortable with one always in the chamber. After taking the NRA inside the home and outside the home firearms class, I decided that my firearm needed to be on my person everywhere it was legal, a long as I was awake. When the firearm is needed, time is of the essence.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...0-guy-chambered-same-9mm-round-100-times.html

Like I said, setback depends on multiple factors. That one looks all banged up. The JHPs in my P12 don't. I'd do the hundred and mike it after every reload just to see how it went.

Feeding the top round off a magazine allows it to ride up behind the extractor, no stress there. Dropping the slide on one in the chamber makes the extractor ride over the rim, stressing it. The extractor should be somewhat springy, but doing this regularly will indeed stress it, and it would really suck to have your extractor break off when you have to make a followup shot.

 

[throttletony]

good post, it got me thinking a bit.
I usually have a live round in the chamber, especially when its in the safe or on my hip (not all the time since I'm at the university often, but I do what I can). If I'm diong dry fire practice, cleaning, or handling it with anyone around (to show it to them, etc.) I empty it.

More importantly, your post made me remembe some things I used to do.
Before we had kids, I kept a fully loaded glock just sitting on the nightstand, sometimes in a soft generic holster.
Then, for a while, I kept it with a loaded mag and the slide locked back. My thought was that if I needed it, it would be fast, but I'd have to be intentional to discharge it.
Then came our baby and I got a Fort Knox Pistol Vault - which I love! Ever since then, I just keep em fully loaded in the safe and haven't had any second thoughts about it, especially since I did my homework before I bought that safe!

Do you guys have any old habits that now seem odd to you?

 

[Dead Duck]

I usually have a live round in the chamber, especially when its in the safe or on my hip (not all the time since I'm at the university often, but I do what I can).

Nothing wrong with carrying at a University. The kids are just taller High Schools students.....SCARY!

 

[throttletony]

Nothing wrong with carrying at a University. The kids are just taller High Schools students.....SCARY!

to a certain degree, you are right (this has been discussed elsewhere, I won't drag it on here)
At the risk of getting expelled and fired (near the end of a PhD program w/ teaching assistantship), I choose not to carry on campus. I know that when the dust settled, it wouldn't be breaking the law, rather, just breaking the school code and a trespassing issue.
But can you imagine the sh*tstorm that would ensue if a grad student were found with a gun on their person or in their bag


P.S. I agree that it can be scary considering the recent school incidents over the past 8 or 10 yrs.