I have a springfield xd. Only safetys are trigger and grip safety. I never carry or keep rounds chambered. Ask yourself this. How long does it tale to pull a slide? Half a second? Sorry but when you are in your house you will have more time than that to defend yourself. If not, I dou t the slide pull time was goi g to save you in the first place.
Educate Me on Beginner Handguns
- Thread starter GreyhoundGuy
- Start date
I agree completely. I find it hard to get range time too. But if you're going to carry a deadly weapon for the purpose of killing someone for your protection then you need to be damned sure that you're using it correctly. If not then you might as well not even have it. For you if you don't have the time to practice as much as you would like then you have a very good platform that is safe for your means.
Thai
Elite Member
Well, adrenaline + sweat + whatever else going on at the time may limit your ability to rack your slide....
nevada
Senior Member
to each his own.
you may not have that half a second when you NEED it.
and you'll have to remember to chamber a round. being IN THE SHIT, people can forget the simplest things.
id prefer to remove just ONE more thing I don't have to worry about. especially if it comes down to me or my families lives.
ddnww
New member
Thai
Elite Member
Yeah, i know my limitations....
Of course, maybe if i spend less time posting irrelevant iPhone nuggets on this forum, then i have more time to practice! :toilet:They most certaintly do!
id say slide pull time is a second, and every second counts
Exactly!
True statement! Never know, with adrenaline going you may not even rack the slide all the way back and now you have an empty gun and you don't even know it! Depending on your pistol, not racking your slide all the way back can even cause a misfire which could kill someone you care about if you're not careful. I had a pilot have an accidental discharge with his baretta 9mm inside of my helicopter while overseas because he didn't pull his slide back all the way. He pulled it back just far enough to put a round in the breach and half way cock the hammer before the hammer was locked down. When he released the slide the hammer fell forward and BOOM! This pilot was also a former army ranger. This goes to show that just because you practiced it a lot a long time ago doesn't mean that you have the skills forever. You need to continue the practice. Luckily the pilot didn't shoot anyone and didn't damage the aircraft. The round went right out the back of the helicopter and into the ground.
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Thai
Elite Member
I assume that you had to fly your helicopter back alone...............since you kicked him out in the middle of the flight!
We were on the ground getting ready to leave. Luckily none of our customers were on board yet. But he was an officer and a former ranger so it was brushed under the rug as a "weapon malfunction" even though our armorer proved the pistol to be in good working order.
LandCruiser
New member
SAO will only work when the hammer is cocked, so you either carry a gun with a 4# trigger condition 0 or gently lower the hammer on a live round to carry in condition 2--where you have to cock the hammer to get it back to condition 0 and hope that you get it back all the way.
Since I only carry SAO guns, thumb safeties and condition 1 are way of life. I sweep the thumb safety when I draw, I've even unconsciously done it on striker fired guns that don't have one. It's not about 'remembering' to do it, I do it without any conscious thought, spinal reflexes and all that, just like tap, rack, bang when I pull the trigger and don't get any results. And I "ride" the safety with my thumb when shooting (whether that is the way they teach shooters these days is another story, but that's how I learned over 2 decades ago). So if I'm holding and shooting a gun, the safety HAS to be down, my hands don't know any other way to grip it.
As for "racking the slide" on an empty chamber and loaded mag? You're expecting a lot to go right, gun strips round off of mag, gun returns to full battery, you actually cycle the slide all the way, the mag is fully seated... it's a recipe for disaster. And like I've pointed out again, if you don't want to carry one in the pipe, then you need to re-examine whether you want to carry in the first place.
oh, and watch the bullet setback kiddos when you keep rechambering your carry ammo. Especially with high pressure cartridges.
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Logan714
New member
Home defense? Shotgun all the way. Like someone said earlier, 9 .32 pellets is going to be way more effective with each trigger squeeze than a revolver or most other handguns.
My personal setup is a shotgun under the bed with 00 buck and a 1911 in the nightstand cocked and locked with 8 hollow points and extra magazines.
My best advice is to do nothing but go to the range and throw a ton of rounds down range until you and the wife are comfortable. Then get both. And keep going to the range to always keep your skills sharp.
My personal setup is a shotgun under the bed with 00 buck and a 1911 in the nightstand cocked and locked with 8 hollow points and extra magazines.
My best advice is to do nothing but go to the range and throw a ton of rounds down range until you and the wife are comfortable. Then get both. And keep going to the range to always keep your skills sharp.
larrylegend
New member
One good point is to train and train as much is possible. You need to be completely familiar with your weapon. One poster above noted that his pistol comes with a safety but he never leaves it on. You should practice shooting it both ways. What happens if you go to use it and the safety is on, however, since you never practice with it that way you need extra time to take it off.
I used to only like pistols with safeties, however, recently I have found that I like pistols with very few safeties on them. The less to go wrong the better. Buy some good defense ammo and practice with those rounds too. Make sure you pistol will cycle and function with your chosen rounds.
Think about it like your 4Runner. The more familiar you are with your weapon the better off you will be.
I used to only like pistols with safeties, however, recently I have found that I like pistols with very few safeties on them. The less to go wrong the better. Buy some good defense ammo and practice with those rounds too. Make sure you pistol will cycle and function with your chosen rounds.
Think about it like your 4Runner. The more familiar you are with your weapon the better off you will be.
BrianSD_42
New member
There seems to be a good spread of people on this thread who either keep their guns in a safe or choose not to.
Who here has children in the house and does not use a safe or trigger lock?
Another way of putting it is who believes children should have access to guns in the house (vs guns locked up with only parental access)?
No need to be shy...
Who here has children in the house and does not use a safe or trigger lock?
Another way of putting it is who believes children should have access to guns in the house (vs guns locked up with only parental access)?
No need to be shy...
Ooohh dear... Here we go.
LandCruiser
New member
There have been generations of us raised in the Dirty South who have been shooting almost as long as we can hold a rifle or shotgun.
The best way to teach proper gun safety to your kids is to take them to the firing range or hunting.
The best way to teach proper gun safety to your kids is to take them to the firing range or hunting.
RunninInGA
New member
Really? Isn't that generally what happens when only binary options are presented?
BrianSD_42
New member
Look I'm not against guns. I don't have kids and I don't own any guns right now.
If I buy a gun in the future I would keep it in a gun safe like Thai mentioned.
I'm just curious because there really does appear to be totally different opinions amongst you guys. Some don't even lock up their guns at all.
So my question is do you lock them up or not?
