Do I Carry With a Loaded Chamber?

Exploring the question as to whether carrying a firearm with a loaded chamber is right for YOU!
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Welcome to the "Hickok45 Talks" Channel. This channel is a place for me to just pontificate about random topics that somebody out there might find interesting. I will talk about firearms issues quite a lot, but I'll also exercise my license to talk about any topic I might pretend to know something about.
If you have a topic you'd like me to address, let me know. Doesn't mean I'll address it, but who knows, I might.
Thanks for your support, and I hope you'll subscribe to all three of our channels and keep up with all the brilliance here!!! :-)

[larrynason]

I'm extremely careful when reholstering. Maybe to a fault! 🤷‍♂️ But at 67 I still have both of my original hips. 👍

[TucoDog-hofw]

Speaking of traveling at our own risk.. We should be able to travel legally in all 50 states while armed.

[norencenelson]

Good point, Hickok. One thing taught in most police academies is this. Never assume because you have a gun and the criminal has a gun, that you're on level ground. Unless you're psychic you can't read that criminals mind. What ever you do with your firearm is in response to what the criminal has already done. Ergo, the criminal is always one step ahead of you.

[cabbys]

Perfectly stated, “The least intelligent people often are the most confident.”

[kennethcurtis]

However you carry, train till your mind forgets, but your body remembers.

[omega]

Do I carry with a loaded chamber? Hmmm. Let me check here. (Checks revolver). Yep, all the chambers are loaded.

[ozgott]

A State Trooper pulled me over when I was 18 years old and saw that I had a semi-auto in the glove box... he told me to hand him the gun... I did, and he dropped the mag and cleared the chamber, but the chamber was empty. So he says, "Why's the chamber empty?" and I said it was for saftey reasons. He laughed and said, "Sonnyboy, leave this thing at home before you get yourself killed. A gun fight usually happens at less than 3 feet in less than 3 seconds. If you aren't ready for that you're dead." ... I took that to heart at 18 years old and I carry ready all the time. You should treat every gun like its loaded and ready to go whether it is or not.

[LiorIPSC]

Such a welcome, mature and gentlemanly response. Kudos Sir!

[Bojangles-]

His advice is 10x better than I would have said, which would have been always carry hot, but not until you are comfortable and confident with doing so.

[DavidMosby]

Best advice I have heard! With the amount of accidents in the world, I prefer not to carry a round in the chamber. The guys who strong advocate a round in the chamber have so much more experience than I have and I believe they are projecting their preferences too widely.

[BugsyNY]

I like the format of this channel. I can sit and listen to Hickok45 talk about watching paint dry and still be interested.👍

[bubbleguts]

Trusting your ammo and firearm is a big factor in carrying ready. It helped me ease into it, knowing it WONT go off when I don’t want, and WILL go off when I do

[MaverickFischer]

Thank you for always bringing this humbleness to your conversations! It is really refreshing and important!

[keithstaudtsr.]

For the most part, with a good holster, you should be confident in carrying a firearm with a round in the chamber! Never carry a firearm on you person w/o a holster.

[georgegravette]

As a police officer starting back in the late eighties, we carried double-action revolvers and DA/SA semiautos, and there was NEVER any discussion of whether or not to carry a round in the chamber, because the long, heavy double-action trigger made the gun very safe. It wasn't until the introduction of Glocks that folks became obsessed with shorter, lighter, crisper triggers for that faster first shot. This has culminated in guns like the Sig P320, which has a trigger so light, short and crisp that, according to some people, the trigger doesn't even have to be pulled for the gun to fire. So I understand how some folks, especially those new to guns, and who don't have one of those "old guy guns, " might want to carry with an empty chamber. Having said that, when I carry a striker-fired gun, I ALWAYS carry with a round in the chamber, but I also prefer a relatively heavy (but smooth) trigger, combined with a good holster. And I NEVER appendix carry.

[charliesierra]

I only carry an 8-shot revolver so yes, always. Not having a round ready to go is like locking your gun in a safe and somebody kicks their way into your house. There are no "time-outs." Always appreciate your perspectives Hickok!

[brucesantacory]

BEST Answer i have Seen on this Question !! Most have this have this Macho attitude and totally ignoring things like a negligent discharge in some states is a felony and instant loss of your right to even carry. There are a lot of Excuses and What if's every time this subject is bought up, and sure the bad guy could be a retired navy seal marksman and he has already shot off your racking arm or you have a bag a groceries in the racking just Excuses !! i was trained by a navy NCO who Trained in Israel and he was one of the finest shooters i have ever seen, and he carried condition 3 (Empty Chamber) and had a long list of reasons enough so that 40 years after my Navy time i still carry condition 3 and when i practice i practice with that in mind and if you use a proper Israeli Draw you will actually get a faster sight picture, and yes i need two hands, and i'm praying my bad guy isn't a marksman, and if my life is on the drop the Groceries LOL

[bayricker]

Racking a round in a bad situation is best left to the movies - added drama not needed in a real self defense situation.

[randallhunsaker]

When I was a military police officer in the California Army National Guard in 1979, they made us carry our 45 automatics in the holster without a magazine in it. And only one mag in the double mag pouch. Absolutely insane.

[scooter]

Appreciate the almost uniformly civil dialogue on what is a passionate topic. One point I will add is don’t forget there are a lot of relatively new handgun owners, and carrying one (along with your training and confidence level) is not static; it’s a journey. Let’s not intimidate people into not carrying at all by preaching that the only answer is a loaded chamber combined with some idealistic level of “training”. In the real world, abilities, budgets, and confidence levels vary. I carry with one chambered today, but I admit I didn’t start that way. And I have taken several concealed carry courses and regularly practice drawing and reholstering, both live and dry. And, I insist on a thumb safety for my strikers, unless I carry a DA/SA. That may not be ideal, but it worked for me.