|
Forum Rules | Firearms Safety | Firearms Photos | Links | Library | Lost Password | Email Changes |
Register | FAQ | Calendar | Today's Posts | Search |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
April 16, 2014, 04:57 AM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: December 27, 2013
Location: Willamette Valley, OR.
Posts: 22
|
When is it time to chamber a round?
Howdy all, just a thought that keeps coming back to me, and I keep finding myself different answers. So I thought I'd try the community's thoughts.
Starting info, my only option for HD gun is my Mini-14, so be it, I love that, gun has always served me well. So let's stick to rifles/carbines for this discussion, if you don't mind. Also, I live in quiet suburbia. And I'm the kind of guy who doesn't keep a round chambered. It just makes me uncomfortable. Even it does take me an extra half a second to work the action as the three hypothetical bad guys with handguns charge though my front door(this happened in my town recently, they never caught/arrested the gunmen), I'll take that extra half a sec to Think about what I'm doing/about to have to do. My most recent experience of indecision, sitting outside on the back porch(which shares a wall, with a man-door into, the garage), with my girlfriend late at night having a smoke before bed and dog is asleep next to us. Something SLAMS into the inside of the man door, scares all of us, dog growls, I get up to go check, chambering a round into my rifle as I stand. I look, and find... Nothing. Still to this day dunno what made the noise. But the thought stuck in my head. 'Did I Need to chamber that round?' 'Or was it an act of momentary paranoia, that could have put something in danger that I didn't want to destroy(even though nothing important was. Just ground)?' Or was it an appropriate response? How do you react when you hear a bump in the night you can't explain? When do you chamber a round(in your rifle)? Thanks for sharing your thoughts, -Jakob's. |
April 16, 2014, 05:19 AM | #2 |
Member
Join Date: March 12, 2005
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 95
|
My defense guns stay with a round in the chamber whether they be on my hip or on the nightstand (inside a gunvault).
__________________
Don't gouge me bro! |
April 16, 2014, 06:46 AM | #3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: March 18, 2013
Location: Chicago suburbs
Posts: 662
|
Immediately after loading the magazine. Having said that, when my kids were younger, I did not keep a round chambered in my Mossberg pump. Now that they're grown and moved out, my HD guns are all locked and loaded.
__________________
At the young age of five, a bear told me that I was the only person who could prevent forest fires. Why I was chosen, I'll never know. |
April 16, 2014, 07:18 AM | #4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: January 17, 2009
Posts: 296
|
Fill the mag, insert, chamber a round, remove and top up the mag, re-insert.
Every gun, all the time. |
April 16, 2014, 07:38 AM | #5 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: June 16, 2008
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 11,061
|
Long guns I don't keep loaded at all. Seems we're talking Home Invasion.
Defense for home invasions, in reality rule out long guns. They don't always occur while you're in bed with a rifle/carbine/shotgun laying against your night stand, or worse, in the closet. But too many happen while we are setting on the couch watching TV, cooking/eating dinner, or on the internet playing on TFL. It takes 3 seconds for someone to kick in the best of doors or windows. It takes much more time to get to the bedroom or closet to get your long gun and get it in action. It takes me less then a half second to get my revolver out of my pocket. One of the greatest fears in my life is one of my grand kids, or their little friends getting a hold of a gun. I know that can't happen here because they wont be able to get my gun which are locked in a large gun safe (two actually, one for pistols one for long guns). So the only gun available is the one in my pocket, its always available, fast to get into action and I doubt any of my grandkids or their friends can pick my pocket. Quote:
If you are not comfortable then that means you are afraid of your gun. You're not familiar with your gun. If you own a gun, whether you carry it, plink with it, target shoot or hunt you need to be comfortable with that gun. You need to take it out and shoot it, you need to dry fire with it, you need to train with it. I teach self defense classes and target shooting. The thing I stress is that the gun should be as comfortable in your hand as a cell phone in the hands of s teenage girl. Chambered round, or no chambered round, you should be totally comfortable and confident in your gun. Any gun you have. I hunt, but while hunting I don't chamber a round in my rifle until just before I shoot. This is not about a round in a chamber. Its about being afraid of your gun or your ability with your gun.
__________________
Kraig Stuart CPT USAR Ret USAMU Sniper School Distinguished Rifle Badge 1071 |
|
April 16, 2014, 08:17 AM | #6 |
Senior Member
Join Date: September 28, 2008
Posts: 10,442
|
My 2 cents:
Chambering a round in an emergency might go as planned, might not. Guns are just that way. Round in the chamber, loaded magazine securely seated, safety on, finger off the trigger. Use it, don't use it - instant choice. That bang on the garage wall sounds familiar. Our house does it every night as the walls and ducts change temperature.
__________________
Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.” |
April 16, 2014, 08:27 AM | #7 |
member
Join Date: June 12, 2000
Location: Texas and Oklahoma area
Posts: 8,462
|
Generally, I keep firearms I am using in Condition 1 and stored firearms in Condition 3. If a longgun is coming out because of possible defensive use, it goes to Condition 1 just as soon as I can get it out and point it in a safe direction.
It is important to remember the 4 rules though, even when scared. Firearms have slamfired when being chambered, and while it is an extremely rare occurence, it is important to keep that safe direction in mind when chambering or unloading inside your home. I use an old CRT monitor for my backstop. |
April 16, 2014, 09:44 AM | #8 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: June 18, 2004
Location: Central Ohio
Posts: 2,568
|
Quote:
How do you get comfortable with your new car? You drive it. How did you get comfortable with your girl friend? Spending time with her and exploring things together. The same goes for that weapon. Get it out, . . . take it to the range, . . . shoot it, . . . play with it, . . . get to know it. Then realize without a doubt, . . . you can chamber the round, put on the safey, lay it on the dinner table, and never worry, . . . it will not get up in the night and go out shooting people. It will not go bang by itself, . . . you have to make it do so. Finally, . . . someone else hit this point, . . . but it is worth re-iterating: there are two things that can happen when you go to chamber a round. One is, everything goes well, . . . the other is that it does not go well. I will guarantee you, without any doubt whatsoever, that if it fails to chamber when you need it, . . . you probably will not live to regret it. You probably will not live, . . . period. Bad guys take a bad view of people trying to shoot them with rifles, . . . and if they don't turn and run, . . . they'll shoot you real, real, dead. May God bless, Dwight
__________________
www.dwightsgunleather.com If you can breathe, . . . thank God! If you can read, . . . thank a teacher! If you are reading this in English, . . . thank a Veteran! |
|
April 16, 2014, 10:03 AM | #9 | |
Junior member
Join Date: October 4, 2007
Location: All the way to NEBRASKA
Posts: 8,722
|
Quote:
|
|
April 16, 2014, 10:04 AM | #10 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: December 13, 2010
Location: Virginia Beach
Posts: 2,016
|
Quote:
__________________
NRA Life Member USN Retired |
||
April 16, 2014, 10:25 AM | #11 | |
Staff
Join Date: November 23, 2005
Location: California - San Francisco
Posts: 9,471
|
Quote:
Beyond that, I don't think the question has an answer. If you decide that you're not going to chamber a round as soon as you take the gun in hand for defensive use and can have the gun pointed in a safe direction, you will have to make some kind of a decision as a situation unfolds. And when the right time will be during an unfolding situation will depend on what is happening and how. Of course in any case, you will need to chamber a round before you need to actually shoot the gun.
__________________
"It is long been a principle of ours that one is no more armed because he has possession of a firearm than he is a musician because he owns a piano. There is no point in having a gun if you are not capable of using it skillfully." -- Jeff Cooper |
|
April 16, 2014, 11:00 AM | #12 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 10, 2013
Location: Pahrump Nv USA
Posts: 480
|
If you do not have one in the chamber, the time to put one in is when you feel that you need to hold the weapon. Standing guard with an empty gun is supposed to do what?
If you keep your finger out of the trigger hole until you have a target, the gun will not go off on it's own. |
April 16, 2014, 11:12 AM | #13 |
Senior Member
Join Date: June 9, 2010
Location: live in a in a house when i'm not in a tent
Posts: 2,483
|
Just before it goes into the holster.
__________________
I'm right about the metric system 3/4 of the time. |
April 16, 2014, 11:58 AM | #14 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 17, 2005
Location: Swamp dweller
Posts: 6,187
|
Quote:
mag with one round=Barnie mag
__________________
NRA Life Member, NRA Chief Range Safety Officer, NRA Certified Pistol Instructor,, USPSA & Steel Challange NROI Range Officer, ICORE Range Officer, ,MAG 40 Graduate As you are, I once was, As I am, You will be. |
|
April 16, 2014, 12:07 PM | #15 |
Senior Member
Join Date: November 4, 2013
Location: Western slope of Colorado
Posts: 3,679
|
Its kind of hard to holster the OP's Mini14
I think either way, condition 1 or 3 is fine....as long as its consistent AND you train that way. Guns are machines and machines fail. Its true it will not go off by itself but what if it is knocked over inadvertently? I saw the results of an 870 that had a round left in the chamber and then stuck into a rack of a patrol car. Pursuit.. Railroad tracks...car bottoms out....kaboom!!! NO finger on the trigger, not even a hand on the gun. So "stuff" does happen. Made a MESS of the light bar Longguns put into "cruiser ready" (condition 3) are fine. Train to chamber a round as you pick it up... Just like you did Does this take extra time? Sure, but its a second at most. Any early warning system, a stout door, some good locks and a DOG should give you ample time to rack a round into that Mini Some people think the badguys are going to instantly teleport into your face. That said, my preference is my EDC handgun on me at home. Gives me something at hand, RIGHT NOW. Knock on the door...got it covered Dogs start going crazy about something in the garage....grab the longgun and rack a round before going to look |
April 16, 2014, 12:30 PM | #16 |
Senior Member
Join Date: March 18, 2013
Posts: 434
|
^^ Agreed. As long as you train the same way every time to chamber a round immediately when you retrieve the rifle to respond to a threat, it should be a non-issue and only a split second "delay". The "time" to chamber the round would be whenever you deem it necessary to pick up the rifle to use it. Not after you go to check out the noise, not after picking up your phone or flashlight.. the very moment the rifle is in your hands. If the decision is made to retrieve the rifle, the same decision includes chambering the round.
That being said, that split second can also make the difference too, it's a personal question of preparedness vs. comfort and safety inside the home. There's a long list of those personal questions...
__________________
Former US Army Paratrooper (1/509th PIR and 2nd BCT 82nd ABN DIV) 2 time OIF Veteran NRA Certified RSO/CRSO NRA Certified Pistol Instructor |
April 16, 2014, 12:44 PM | #17 |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 7, 2012
Location: Northern California
Posts: 447
|
Seems to me that if the long gun is in a quick-access safe, there is no point in leaving it un-chambered.
If it's sitting "at the ready" in a closet ... there is some sense in having a mag inserted, but an empty chamber. This depends more upon living circumstances, presence of others, etc. I carry a handgun almost 100% of the time at home (semi-auto in Condition 1 or a revolver) IF time is of the essence, because it's really going down that fast, I think this is best first line of defense.
__________________
__________________ NRA Certified Instructor • NRA Certified RSO • Certified Glock Armorer Last edited by zombietactics; April 16, 2014 at 12:49 PM. |
April 16, 2014, 12:56 PM | #18 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 29, 2008
Location: Ft.Worth, Texas
Posts: 1,522
|
I am a CCW holder so there is a pistol close at hand at all times with one in the pipe.
With that said I also have a M1 30 carbine with a 30 rd mag handy but I do not keep a round chambered in that rifle. This rifle leans up against the wall in the corner right inside the garage door which is off the living room. I am very comfortable with guns. I've been shooting over 40 years and handling firearms is pretty much second nature. The reason I do not keep a round chamber is this rifle is it can fall or be nocked over but also in certain situation I fell the sound of that bolt flying forward can be a good deterrent. Just like when a round is chambered in a pump shotgun or a auto pistol. That's a sound that has a tendency to unnerve folks.
__________________
Texas - Not just a state but an attitude! For monthly shooting events in DFW visit http://www.meetup.com/TexasGunOwner-DFW |
April 16, 2014, 01:22 PM | #19 | ||
Staff
Join Date: June 8, 2008
Posts: 4,022
|
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
April 16, 2014, 01:52 PM | #20 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: July 15, 2011
Location: N Ireland. UK.
Posts: 1,809
|
Quote:
|
|
April 16, 2014, 01:53 PM | #21 |
Junior member
Join Date: September 6, 2013
Location: Kitsap County, Washington
Posts: 316
|
I'm with Bartholomew Roberts and Frank Ettin on this one.
(A "Homer" bucket, from Home Depot, filled with sand is another good backstop.) It'd also be a good idea to be proficient in quickly clearing stoppages that can occur when you chamber a cartridge under stress. |
April 16, 2014, 02:53 PM | #22 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: September 7, 2004
Posts: 162
|
Quote:
1. You have conditioned yourself to respond to a perceived threat with little or no hesitation. 2. You were well aware of what condition your rifle was in, and what condition it needed to be in to deal with a perceived threat. |
|
April 16, 2014, 04:16 PM | #23 |
Member
Join Date: December 27, 2013
Location: Willamette Valley, OR.
Posts: 22
|
Wow. Lots of good responses.
Overall, seems more training is in order, even if I do have my mind at least decently conditioned. Suppose it has been a couple months since range time.. I think Sharkbite and madmo44mag, had the right ideas about why not to keep a round chambered. Sometimes guns get knocked over, etc, and sometime out of that, they fire. Especially, it seems, rifles and shotguns that spend most of their life leaned in various locations throughout a house. Also, I too believe in the possibility of the noise of an action working being a strong deterrent for your average bad guy. Which brings me to another thought, also mentioned by GodblessAmerica, knowing exactly what condition your weapon is in. More then once in my life(back when I lived in the country and had acsess to a vareity of firearms), I've missed a shot on rabbit/bird/whatever because whatever gun I grabbed by the door didn't have a round chambered when I assumed it did. So it would seem that it'd be easier, faster, safer, and much more effective at letting you Know what condition your weapon is in as you need it, particular in a defense/perceived threat situation. Your thoughts? |
April 16, 2014, 05:01 PM | #24 | |
Staff
Join Date: June 8, 2008
Posts: 4,022
|
Quote:
For several decades, I felt that having a firearm in the bedroom was prudent--until I realized that, unless I just happened to be in the bedroom when trouble called, it could well be of little use at all . Having a loaded firearm unsecured can be an invitation for disaster, even if the chamber is empty. Many people know how to chamber a round. The gun would be there for the curious, the reckless, and the person wanting to injure or kill or just to take the gun. I most certainly would not want to rely upon the sound of the action to deter someone who has decided to bet everything on criminal activity--nor would I want to give away my position until I am in a safe place. This subject has been discussed here at length. Relying on being able to function the action reliably under great stress may not be very prudent, either. One of the top instructors in the country, a member here, speaks of the advantages of the semiautomatic shotgun over the pump. A major one is the risk of short-cycling when under stress. |
|
April 16, 2014, 05:30 PM | #25 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 8, 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 3,787
|
I tend to try to simplify things; you can draw your own conclusions about the simplicity of my mind from that statement.
I prefer loaded and chambered firearms for self defense. OP's preference differs from mine and at the earliest indication of a threat he prepared his available firearm. My advice would be not to second guess yourself. You were, by my standards, a little late, but by your standards, prompt. Finito. |
|
|