I managed to get a spot on a CCW class for next month. The class was open for one hour when I arrived at the LGS to sign up. I was the last/10th entrant. Barely made it.
In preparation for being a CCW holder, I’ve been wearing my IWB hoslter around the house, loaded but w/no round chambered. This is mostly to get used to it, the weight of it, and living with it. I take out the trash carrying, cook, watch TV, and let the dog out to do his bidness. I put it on in the morning, take it off to go to work, put it back on when I get home, and take it off when getting ready for bed.
I understand the hive’s opinion of carrying w/out a round chambered. I’m not a’skeered of it, but there’s that concern of the Glock trigger. I understand I’ll come to the point where I chamber and carry all the time when able. I know I have to learn the ins/outs of taking the required care with my loaded piece.
My question is, what is it that I’m getting to? I’m a conciencious individual and have open carried a 1911 and an old S&W .38 revolver in years past. The Glock is new to me. If you have a minute, what insight might you be able to pass on to me? I thank you for your assist.
I’m going to finish watching Wayne LaPierre on C-Span now. Thanks.
I would love to try to help, but I don’t have any idea what you’re asking. Even when I reword it so that the sentences make sense, I still don’t understand the point. You carried a 1911 (safety) and revolver (no safety), and now you’re worried about carrying a Glock because there’s no traditional safety?
The only thing I would say is you’re probably better off with your 1911 if you’re not going to carry the Glock with a round in the chamber. Just get a decent IWB holster for the 1911. It can be done. Milt Sparks.
I guess you get it or you don’t. Understand that I’m new to Glocks. The pull is easier than a revolver and there’s no safety like the 1911.
Perhaps a rephrase will help. How did you guys in the same boat work it out when you did it? I know it’s a weenie question, but I’m just a new guy. Surely I’m not the only one here with this question, and you with your 50k round Glocks were once working through the same issues.
Fact is, the Glock won’t fire unless you pull the trigger, period. If you have a quality holster that covers the trigger, there’s literally no chance it will go off.
If you are careful with your trigger discipline when holstering and upholstering, there’s nothing to fear. I carried around my house for a week loaded but not chambered, then carried the same way publicly only once. I saw nothing bad would happen, I’ve carried chambered ever since.
I agree you should take a defensive pistol class from a top flight instructor to increase your confidence.
Take a class, preferably something multi-day that involves a lot of working out of a holster. Then practice what you learn there about safe gun handling. You can also participate in a league like IDPA if there’s one in your area. Just follow the fundamentals and you should be fine.
Carrying can be a weird feeling at first but you get used to it. Your first few times out you’ll think everyone is staring at you and can make out your gun. Pretty soon that goes away and eventually if feels weird going out without carrying. Just stick with it and stay within your comfort zone until you’re confident carrying with a chambered round.
I hear this a lot but there are other factors to consider. Your finger is not the only thing that can depress the trigger…think clothing, draw strings on jackets or any other foreign object that could get inside the trigger guard when you holster the pistol.
Not true. The Glock does have a safety like the 1911. It’s the trigger safety. Unless the trigger safety is depressed, the pistol will not fire. Sound familiar? It should. It operates just like the 1911 grip safety but it’s protected by the trigger guard and is returned to safe by simply removing your finger, an advantage over the 1911 grip safety
How did you guys in the same boat work it out when you did it?..
If it’s complicated, you’re doing it wrong. What’s simpler? Drawing the pistol and needing two hands to rack the slide before shooting it? Or keeping the finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot?
When I got my PPQ, which has a trigger safety similar to the Glock, I simply loaded and holstered it right out the gate. Before the PPQ, it was a 1911 which I carried cocked and locked. Simple.
As the others said, get a good instructor. Go out into the woods or desert and shoot the pistol. Go camping for the weekend and wear it. Handle it, dry fire it, practice mag changes while watching the One Eyed Idiot Maker. Use common sense. Keep it simple, keep it real, pay attention and you’ll quickly be ready to wear your pistol like a grown-up
This is taken care of by deliberately taking the time to focus on reholstering. Using your support hand to clear any garment or other items that may impair the process. Draw fast, never reholster fast. Getting the gun in the holster fast serves no purpose. Again, having a good holster your confident in and focusing on what you’re doing during the action will remedy any problem you think not having an external safety may cause.
Referring to it as the “hive’s opinion” probably isn’t the best way to phrase that. That implies that the “opinion” has been formed based up following others blindly, like bee’s hence the term “hive mind”.
The belief in carrying with one in the chamber is derived from experience that dictates the advantages far outweigh any perceived disadvantages.
Re-holstering should not be done with both hands or looking at the holster. There may be a situation where it’s necessary to do both, but do not train yourself to always look or to use both hands.
There are bits and peices of good info that cover all of your issues amongst the useless reply’s. it would help if you phrase your questions more coherently.
Since you have a couple of guns and owb holsters, I assume you have a basic draw down. If not, use an owb holster you are comfortable with for your ccw class. If you do not have the fundamentals of the draw down, you do not need to start from concealment even though the class is oriented towards ccw and iwb is how you plan to carry.
Get a good holster for iwb or however you plan to carry. I like raven for owb and comptac for iwb. For me, it’s iwb for summer (g26) and owb for winter g19 w/ x300). Lots of good options, hit the search button.
Now that you have that taken care of, read the instructions for your holster for break in and adjustment.
If the manufacturer recommends x number of draws prior to deploying, do so with an unloaded gun. If you experience any safety issues to include snagging, slipping, clothing or anything else pushed into the holster on reholster, finger unexpectedly on trigger, and of course pulling the trigger then you need to stop and seek professional help unless you are at a level at which you feel you can self diagnose an move forward safely. In this case, bring a holster and gun you are familiar with to the class along with this system. Hopefully the instructor can get you going with your new rig but if not, at least you’ll have a working weapon system with which you can complete the class safely.
And what surf said, fast into the fight, NEVER in a hurry to get out of the fight and reholster. You will almost never reholster until the fight is verifiable over (as a ccw holder you will almost never reholster to go hands on). At that point you have all the time in the world to reholster. Do so safely, ccw holsters are not ideal for reholstering especially if it is leather. Sweep your clothing aside on reholster to ensure nothing gets caught in the trigger gaurd on reholster! This is how a lot of folks shoot themselves in the leg.
Buy a quality holster! This will give you the necessary peace of mind.
I’ll preface this with that this is just my opinion. I don’t believe in any administrative moves before during or after the fight. It’s for the same reason people advocate a speed reload each and every time. I agree that it isn’t a speed contest to re-holster, take your time to put the gun away, but the fight may not be over when you think it is. Be ready to continue the fight. I want my support hand ready to fend off a close quarter attack, and taking your eyes off the threat may not be prudent. As with everything else, the situation will dictate what you actually do.
Do you advocate not breaking eye contact with the threat while doing a reload for a millisecond to view the mag inserting into the gun? Eye movement doesn’t seem to take that much time to me especially on actions that are important.
How long does it take to briefly view the holster is clear and then look back to the threat?
Why are you putting your gun away if a possible threat is within arms distance of you and you don’t believe it’s neutralized?
How long does it take to release the grasp of clothing from your support side hand to stave of attack?
How long does it take to move your support side arm to a defensive position? And if you aren’t using it to clear garments where are you putting it that takes so long to get into that position?
If I’m carrying AIWB at 1 o’clock, and I just finished a gun fight with my adrenaline on high I shouldn’t use my support hand to lift my shirt up to reholster? Instead blindly try to fish the shirt up with the pistol grip? I should not look down to ensure a clear holster while pointing my hot muzzle at my abdomen, dick, and balls? All the while i should be keeping my hand up by my head in a defensive position in case of attack?
If I’m sweeping the garment with my support side hand while reholstering and as soon as the gun goes back in the fight starts again guess what I don’t have to do again in the process? Sweep the garment. I already have it pinned to my body clear of the holster.