Confession... I haven't exactly been carrying chambered

I carry a Beretta 96..

...11 in the mag, one in the chamber, hammer down, thumb safety on, or a revolver. Growing up shooting semi-auto shotguns, I am very comfortable with the "safety on, won't shoot, finger flip and good to go" feel of the Beretta.

I have shot friends' 1911's but always have them show me exactly how to engage and disengage the safties. I am still uncomfortable with the 1911 platform, but that is just me. Familiarity is very important. Look at all the stories about LEO's improperly handling guns during detainments. Not LEO bashing, just saying be very familiar with your gun and its safety features.

riverrat10k said:

...11 in the mag, one in the chamber, hammer down, thumb safety on, or a revolver. Growing up shooting semi-auto shotguns, I am very comfortable with the "safety on, won't shoot, finger flip and good to go" feel of the Beretta.

I have shot friends' 1911's but always have them show me exactly how to engage and disengage the safties. I am still uncomfortable with the 1911 platform, but that is just me. Familiarity is very important. Look at all the stories about LEO's improperly handling guns during detainments. Not LEO bashing, just saying be very familiar with your gun and its safety features.

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+1 Beretta's are quite good. The safty removes the firing pin from the striking point? and decocks the hammer(hammer down, making it for a longer trigger pull the first shot)

Also why do you carry 11 in the magazine? it holds 15? made you have a different magazine or you have problems with 15 in the magazine? (unless you have the .40cal model?)

3 words..... 21 foot rule.

You might as well trade your EAA in for this....



There are no time outs in self-defense.

ocholsteroc..

11 round mag. is standard in the Beretta 96, .40 cal. The 9mm Beretta 92 holds 15, I believe. The thumb safety actually slides a small plate between the firing pin and the chamber.

As an aside, would either of these be considered high-capacity mags? Both are standard from the factory.

riverrat10k said:

As an aside, would either of these be considered high-capacity mags? Both are standard from the factory.

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"Double-stack" magazines generally qualify under some characterization as "high capacity" regardless of their manufacturer's intent or legitimacy, though I would argue that to meet even the most minimum of criteria the magazine would have to be one which extends beyond the butt/grip length of the standard magazine well.

I have seen a handful of 11rd single 9MM Glock magazines and thought to myself "Why?"

They were likely Clinton-era low-cap mags specifically to eliminate the possibility of violating some stupid center-fire rule or restriction prior to the adoption of the preemption statute.

Don't you know? A Glock is the preferred weapon of deranged madmen

peter nap said:

I'm not going to flame you.

My Glock plain gives me the jitters. A plastic gun with no safety.

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Well, Frank [STRIKE]Loughner[/STRIKE] Lautenberg said it, so it must be true:

The sickening shooting spree in Tucson holds many lessons for our country, but the most important is this: It's much too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on deadly weapons.

We must change this.

Loughner's magazine was attached to a 9 mm Glock 19 semi-automatic handgun, which is the preferred weapon of deranged madmen. In 2007, Seung-Hui Cho used the same model in the Virginia Tech shooting spree, which claimed 32 lives.

This month, I will introduce legislation to ban ...

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The face of Common-Sense

Can you (well, Glock...) sue a Senator for libel?

TFred

TFred said:

Can you (well, Glock...) sue a Senator for libel?

TFred

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That would be blood libel, right?

Seriously, though, these national Hoplophobes really get away with a lot of falsehoods. There needs to be accountability.

I low sided my motorcycle with an Springfield EMP on my hip in a Comptac MTAC holster. Gun didn't fire and shoot me in the ass and safety was still on. I still carry that pistol cocked and locked in condition 1 with no doubts in my mind. Other than some light scratches, the gun functions 100% and still shoots true.

Carrying cold (unchambered) is understandable. I was forced to carry hot right away in the AF police (Security Forces). We were one of the few in the military that carried hot weapons. The M9's were hot and the M4's were loaded, but not chambered.

It does take a push in order to feel comfortable carrying hot. Trust me, you will get used to it. It will be like second nature eventually.

The Rt. Rev. John Moses Browning, who did in his lifetime wrought numerous miracles, should be elevated to Sainthood for his holy genius and of laying of hands upon the most beautified form of the 1911. It is truly a religious experience still.

Designed with multiple (redundant) safeties, it was intended to be carried cocked and locked. Brain = 1st safety, grip safety = 2nd safety, ambi-mechanical safety = #3, and trigger covered on holster = #4. That's plenty for me.

Sometimes (rarely now) I carry an old favorite - A Firestar .40 cal. It only has one less safety - no grip safety. It too is always carried cocked and locked as designed.

Both show holster wear from years being drawn in mirror combat and range time. They are burnished old and dear friends in whom I have great confidence. Keeping them in good repair, cleaned and lubed regularly, I expect many more years of the same high quality, safe service from them.

Excuse me sir, do you know your hammer is back? .................... Yep.

Zastavarian said:

Gotcha.

It does have a pin AND hammer block safety on the rear of the slide. What I'm trying to figure out is where I could find a diagram, if one exists, of the hammer mechanism. Nothing in the user's manual. I just took the gun apart but i can't take apart the hammer mechanism. Womp womp...

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Are you talking about a 1911? A minor part of the attraction to that platform for me was the ability to completely disassemble the gun. I love doing it to mine.

I'd gladly show you how. There are also some videos on the web.

Add me to the list of full time condition 1 carriers. The thumb break on my holster even prevents the hammer from dropping but that is a side effect as I bought the holster for its active retention qualities.

Grapeshot said:

SNIP The Rt. Rev. John Moses Browning...

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Wait a minute. Who down-graded him from Saint to Reverend?

From The Gospel According to John (Moses Browning):

"In the beginning was the 1911, and the 1911 was the pistol, and it was good..."

frfrogspad.com

Grapeshot said:

The Rt. Rev. John Moses Browning, who did in his lifetime wrought numerous miracles, should be elevated to Sainthood for his holy genius and of laying of hands upon the most beautified form of the 1911. It is truly a religious experience still.

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Well, technically, no elevation is needed. He really was a saint.

He was a Mormon, and us Mormons believe that all followers of Christ are saints, hence the full name of the Church: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In that context, the proper religious title for him would have been Elder Browning, but that's just quibbling at details. :lol:

Of course, as Mormons believe in both modern and personal revelation, I prefer to think of the 1911 as being revealed to Browning, rather than him designing it. It's too perfect a design to be purely man-made.

A frequently posted, and at times hotly debated, topic; whether or not one carries their SD sidearm in full battery. I have some definite opinions on this and for myself, I believe they are good and valid reasons. Still, this is a wholly subjective topic and therefore multiple opinions and ideas abound.

All of the guns in my carry stable are of the DAO design (and I don't wish to get into any arguments about action designs vs gun types/manufacturers). Kahrs, Glocks, an M&P40, an XD40, a Kel-Tec P3AT, and a Ruger LCP live in my carry, all of which have reason to be there to satisfy whatever want and need I perceive at the time. Of these the only ones which have not yet seen carry service is the XD40 and a T9 Kahr (that one is just too pretty to carry).

I do have three single action pistols, two 1911's, but in all honestly, I just cannot bring myself to carry one of these in Condition One. It's a personal thing. I completely respect and understand those who do this but it's not my cup of tea. And I am not a fan of DA pistols for carry because of the difference between the first and second trigger pull when the hammer is at rest. I have found that for me, a DAO design is perfect in a semi-auto pistol. I want the least amount of hand and/or finger movements going on if and when I have to draw my gun in an extreme encounter. Which brings me to carrying with an empty chamber.

Carrying a SD gun with an empty chamber is something I find could be disastrous to my future health and well being. I've heard many arguments in favor of this and how some people claim they can rack their slide in a heartbeat to be ready and in full battery, but I don't buy that for myself and here's why. Suppose an assailant manages to get off a shot or a hit with a baseball bat or perhaps a strong hold, all on my support hand/arm? Now racking the slide has just been made far more difficult. Your attacker could grab hold of your gun before you have a chance to work the slide. And then there is the time element.

It takes time to rack the slide on a semi-auto pistol. The sight picture has just been delayed, if one was going to obtain a sight picture. There is the distinct possibility that in the extreme stress of a deadly encounter, one could mess up racking their slide and either have a FTF or some similar failure to go into battery. And lastly, it is just one more thing you have to consider before you are in a position to use your firearm. Still there is this.

Carrying with an empty chamber, in my opinion, is an intensely personal decision. If this is what one really wants to do, trains diligently doing this, is most comfortable with this mode of carry, then that is certainly what they should probably do. I would advise otherwise, but if this mode of carry serves them well, then go for it. It's just not for me.

BTW, my primary carry gun is one of my 3G Glock 23's. With no external safeties to set or release and a round in the pipe, all I have to think about is pull and pull (pull the gun, pull the trigger).

Condition 1 and only

http://www.smartcarry.com/mainwebsite_html/cocklock.htm

Texas Ranger Charlie Miller was minding his own business when a concerned citizen came up to him, noted the hammer cocked back on the big 1911 dangling from the Ranger's belt, and asked, "Isn't that dangerous?" Charlie replied, "I wouldn't carry the son-of-a-bitch if it wasn't dangerous."

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