Ok, I’m doing my vodka straight tonight so I’m posting more than usual. Watching movies with all these professional shooters. They always seem to have to rack their weapons to put a cartridge in the pipe. Wtf? My weapon ALWAYS has a round in the pipe ready for action. I guess it’s just the movies and it makes it more dramatic. In real life, if you have to rack it before shooting, then you are probably fucked. Unless, of course, you train as the Israelis do. I’m too damn lazy to train like that.
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Public service message: don't drink and post
lol
It's a movie thing, but it's also a real debate and deep rabbit hole on handgun forums.
I skim over it. My only handgun is a revolver. I'll worry about it if I ever pull the trigger (sorry) on buying a Sig.
So, if you have a single action revolver, do you keep an empty chamber under the hammer? Same principal....
Argh. principle
This has been discussed here at least a couple of times before. I don't keep a round chambered. I know this is a minority position here and in gun magazines/gun forums. I'm not afraid of guns. I'm pretty knowledgeable on firearms and have carried them for work. It takes less than a second to rack the slide and chamber a round. This amount of time is negligible in the context of almost any real world situation you are likely to encounter, short of a completely random unprovoked attack. Whether you are an Israeli soldier or not, it's just not a hard or time consuming thing to do. I think the chances of an accidental/negligent discharge are far higher than the chances of being compromised by not always having a round chambered. That's not to say I never keep a round chambered. If I'm in circumstances where I think the risk is higher, for example being in a sketchy part of town, I'll chamber.
ATACdawg: Yes and no. Old single action revolvers did not have any safety mechanisms to keep the firing pin from resting directly on the primer of the cartridge under the hammer. So keeping a loaded chamber under the hammer was an accident waiting to happen. Modern single actions and double actions don't have this issue. In broad terms, the principle is the same: it's possible to accidentally fire a live chamber, while it's obviously impossible to do that with an empty chamber. But it's far less likely in a modern revolver than with a modern automatic pistol. I would have no problem keeping all chambers loaded in a modern revolver, but I don't do that with an automatic.
Thanks, doc. I didn't know that modern single actions had extra safety features.
Ain't no big deal to get shot, so keep one ready to go!
My Sig Sauer P229 is double action on the first shot and single action after that. So I don't have to worry about an accidental discharge. I do worry with my Glocks and I think it's safer to carry them uncocked. But uncocked means unready to fire.
Modern double action revolvers are safe to carry with rounds in all the chambers. This was not true of the revolvers of the Old West.
I keep all chambers loaded for the reasons already explained.
P229 is the gun I'm considering.
@subraman ...but, but, where is the fun in that? 😂
@Call.Me.Ishmael. The Sig P229 is a very nice pistol and very accurate. It costs more than a Glock but I feel the extra expense is worth it.
I carry a Glock 43 and I keep the chamber empty. The only thing I don't like about a Glock is the fact that it doesn't have a manual safety. If it had one or if I change to a different pistol that does I would carry with one chambered.
They do a lot of goofy stuff with guns in movies. One example is gangsters shooting at each other and holding a semiautomatic sideways. They don't shoot right unless they are upright... lol
I would rather have a round chambered and ready to go. Just keep it holstered with the trigger covered and you are safe.
They are probably going for dramatic effect, not reality
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