The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Empty chamber for safety

Webleymkv · January 20, 2014, 12:31 AM

While carrying revolvers and semi-autos with empty chambers may seem like similar practices, there are actually very different reasons for them. The only revolvers which require an empty chamber to be carried safely are 19th century designs like the Colt Single Action Army or S&W No. 3 and modern replicas thereof. These guns have either inadequate or non-existent safety features to prevent a sharp blow to the hammer from igniting a round in the chamber aligned with the barrel. Just about any quality DA revolver made in the last 60-70 years will have internal safety features which make the gun firing without the trigger being pulled all but impossible.

The practice with semi-autos comes from the action of the trigger and general mistrust of the then new-fangled self-loaders when they first became popular for military use in the early 20th Century. Most early semi-auto designs such as the Colt 1911, Luger P08, and Mauser C96 Broomhandle are single-action which means that the hammer/striker must be manually cocked (either by physically cocking the hammer or cycling the action of the pistol) before the first shot can be fired (the automatic cycling of the pistol will re-cock the hammer/striker for subsequent shots). While most of these early semi-autos had manual safeties, applying the safety still left the hammer cocked and many did not adequately guard against the possibility of an accidental discharge if a sharp blow to the hammer should shear off the sear. Because of this, many people who were used to revolvers simply didn't feel comfortable carrying around a cocked pistol so keeping the chamber empty became standard procedure for many armies.

Even later on when double-action semi-autos like the Walther P38 became available, many still chose to carry them with the chamber empty because their safeties were awkward to operate, the DA trigger was perceived to be too heavy, it simplified training, or just "because that's how it's always been done." A notable example of this is the so-called "Israeli method" in which the pistol is carried with an empty chamber and the slide cycled during the draw stroke. This method was developed because, at the time, the Israelis had a myriad of different types of pistols with different sorts of safeties, but empty-chamber carry worked for all of them.

All that being said, modern semi-autos and revolvers have numerous safety features which make the gun discharging without a pull of the trigger, outside of some exceedingly extreme and bizarre circumstances, all but impossible. Unless you're carrying some sort of vintage gun or one of questionable quality, there really isn't any good reason not to carry it with the chamber(s) loaded. My standard advice is that if you do not feel comfortable carrying your handgun fully loaded, you're probably better off selling it to finance a different gun that you feel more comfortable with.

January 20, 2014, 12:31 AM	#11
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,446	While carrying revolvers and semi-autos with empty chambers may seem like similar practices, there are actually very different reasons for them. The only revolvers which require an empty chamber to be carried safely are 19th century designs like the Colt Single Action Army or S&W No. 3 and modern replicas thereof. These guns have either inadequate or non-existent safety features to prevent a sharp blow to the hammer from igniting a round in the chamber aligned with the barrel. Just about any quality DA revolver made in the last 60-70 years will have internal safety features which make the gun firing without the trigger being pulled all but impossible. The practice with semi-autos comes from the action of the trigger and general mistrust of the then new-fangled self-loaders when they first became popular for military use in the early 20th Century. Most early semi-auto designs such as the Colt 1911, Luger P08, and Mauser C96 Broomhandle are single-action which means that the hammer/striker must be manually cocked (either by physically cocking the hammer or cycling the action of the pistol) before the first shot can be fired (the automatic cycling of the pistol will re-cock the hammer/striker for subsequent shots). While most of these early semi-autos had manual safeties, applying the safety still left the hammer cocked and many did not adequately guard against the possibility of an accidental discharge if a sharp blow to the hammer should shear off the sear. Because of this, many people who were used to revolvers simply didn't feel comfortable carrying around a cocked pistol so keeping the chamber empty became standard procedure for many armies. Even later on when double-action semi-autos like the Walther P38 became available, many still chose to carry them with the chamber empty because their safeties were awkward to operate, the DA trigger was perceived to be too heavy, it simplified training, or just "because that's how it's always been done." A notable example of this is the so-called "Israeli method" in which the pistol is carried with an empty chamber and the slide cycled during the draw stroke. This method was developed because, at the time, the Israelis had a myriad of different types of pistols with different sorts of safeties, but empty-chamber carry worked for all of them. All that being said, modern semi-autos and revolvers have numerous safety features which make the gun discharging without a pull of the trigger, outside of some exceedingly extreme and bizarre circumstances, all but impossible. Unless you're carrying some sort of vintage gun or one of questionable quality, there really isn't any good reason not to carry it with the chamber(s) loaded. My standard advice is that if you do not feel comfortable carrying your handgun fully loaded, you're probably better off selling it to finance a different gun that you feel more comfortable with.