carry with a roound in the chamber

[washerman]

I have a CM9 and a CT380. i carry one or the other in a owb holster. i'm not a big fan of pocket carry with a round in the chamber without a safety and i'm not a big fan of a safety either. Around the house i stick my LCP in my pocket and leave the chamber empty. just feel more comfortable that way..I would prefer to use my ct380 around the house in my pocket but have not because of the slingshot slide thing. Need to slingshot the slide to carry this way in my opinion. I noticed on the Kahr website that by leaving one round down in the magazine that the gun will chamber ok even if you ride the slide. this would let me use my ct380 for around the house instead of my LCP. Anybody have experience with this? Does this apply to all Kahr magazines and gun models? according to kahr this changes the angle of the top round enough to allow for slingshotting the slide.

[berettabone]

I pocket carry my MK all of the time..................in a proper holster. I also carry OWB. Whenever I get the urge to carry an unloaded weapon around(which hasn't happened yet) I would put it away, and go get a hammer. Because that's what your firearm is without one in the chamber. I carry to protect myself. Why would I want to make it any more difficult, by having to rack a slide to load. I want to pull it out, and be able to shoot immediately. Personally, I would NEVER carry a firearm around in my pocket, without a holster, whether it was loaded, unloaded, safety, no safety, just me. I am not sure I'm understanding the sling shotting thing, and what it has to do with carrying it around the house.

[knkali]

I pocket carry my MK all of the time..................in a proper holster. I also carry OWB. Whenever I get the urge to carry an unloaded weapon around(which hasn't happened yet) I would put it away, and go get a hammer. Because that's what your firearm is without one in the chamber. I carry to protect myself. Why would I want to make it any more difficult, by having to rack a slide to load. I want to pull it out, and be able to shoot immediately. Personally, I would NEVER carry a firearm around in my pocket, without a holster, whether it was loaded, unloaded, safety, no safety, just me. I am not sure I'm understanding the sling shotting thing, and what it has to do with carrying it around the house.

This sums it up for most of us here but if for some reason you rather do it without a round in the camber, I suggest you practice practice practice getting your gun out from concealment and racking a round. Sligshotting is never a preferred method of chambering a round. Please check you tube channels for the proper technique of chambering a round correctly. By slingshot I mean using only your thumb and forefinger to pull the slide back like pulling a sling shot back.

[Bawanna]

You have to do what your comfortable with. Kahrs are difficult to rack due to the strong springs and small size. Downloading the mag 1 round helps with the feeding but doesn't help at all with the racking.
I'm not an advocate of pocket carry, never was, never tried it, never will.

I had a friend who was an advocate of empty chamber. Carried a Glock at the time. That's one that for sure needs a proper holster regardless of where you carry it.
For his own education after he tried to tell me he was just as ready as me with my 1911 on my belt and his empty chambered Glock on his belt with a thumb break. I emptied mine, told him there was no need for him to do so since his was already empty.

Then sitting across the dining room table with one another I had him just say bad guy. Draw sounded to much like an old western movie I guess. Never pointed at one another obviously. He never got his hand on the slide before I was dropping the hammer on the imaginary spot on the wall.

Later on he was standing at the sink rinsing out a coffee cup and I sitting nearby said bad guy. Drew my imaginary gun since the 1911 was loaded again. He lost again, didn't even try.

If life provided us warnings about things that were about to happen the empty chamber wouldn't be a bad thing.
Unfortunately life comes at you fast, the bad guys, threats, whatever you want to call them have the advantage since they know what they are going to do. We have to play catch up.

But the bottom line is you have to do what works for you. If that means empty chamber then so be it. It's better than leaving the gun in the safe I guess by a little bit.

[knkali]

^^^ dat

[washerman]

"if you prefer not to carry a round in the chamber, you may remove a round from the magazine. This alters the angle of the bullet and will allow it to chamber even if you ride the slide". This is quote from the Kahr website. I was asking if anyone had experimented with this and if it applied to all Kahr pistols and all kahr magazines. Thanks for the replies

[Bawanna]

In my opinion it applies to most all semi auto pistols. The top round in the mag doesn't have to deal with the fired round getting out of the way. Even though I carry chamber full I don't top load usually.

I don't chamber a round, then drop the mag and replace the cartridge. So my 5 + 1 PM45 is usually a 5 shooter.
I do top load that one sometimes since I've tried it numerous times and has no issues.

[berettabone]

Let's say for giggles, that what the Kahr website says, is totally true...................let's say that people ride the slide, and it chambers a round.................let's say that people have experimented with this issue................let's say that it applies to all Kahr firearms. Now what???????????????

[340pd]

Been pocket carrying a half dozen different DA guns for a lot of years. Proper holster, no problem. In my opinion a gun without a round chambered is a 17oz. brick and it will probably get you killed if you ever need to put it to use.

[picrthis]

Just carry a hammer then, no permit required, quicker & cheaper too

[kwh]

The CM9 is my every day pocket carry for the past 5 years. I am on my feet most of the day and wear business casual pleated pants with a thick gun belt. Pocket carry has it's advantages: Good conceal-ability (no flashing), walking along with hand in pocket, no fallout when the pants are dropped in the rest room, shirttail can be tucked in. Element of surprise. My type of dress does not shout out concealed carry to any "bad guy". Always a pocket holster.
Too many things can go wrong when trying to rack the slide for an emergency first shot.
I chose the Kahr due to its size and double-action like trigger pull. I would not feel as comfortable with a Glock -like trigger. That is just me.
If you decide on pocket carry a D/A revolver could be a consideration.

[jeepster09]

I have gone around on this....now I always carry one in chamber than add one back to magazine. My new favorite carry is my Smith and Wesson 1911SC Commander in a Galco King Tuk holster. Instead of the ole skool 230 grains I now shoot 185 grains in it for less recoil considering it is scandium light weight gun.

Oh...my pocket/appendix carry is a Ruger LC9s with safety.

[Barth]

Always run my guns with one in the chamber and the mag topped off.
Pocket carry is no issue at all with a proper holster that covers the trigger.
For me, that's DeSantis Nemesis or Superfly depending on the gun.
For self defense? Generally like the KISS method of draw, aim, squeeze.
Actually prefer using the mag release over sling shot.

[DeltaSteve]

To answer the post, yes always.

[OvalNut]

+1 in the chamber is a given as long as the firearm is in a stable secure all kydex holster with full trigger guard coverage and good retention. I carry my PM9 +1 all day long ready to go.


Tim