Seriously, (but joking too) I don't get "press checkers" at all.

I load my handgun, don't take it off during the day, at night I put by my bedside... In short it never leaves my sight. The next day I don it, and go about my business, and repeat. That is till I go to the range. Then I unload / reload with target ammo, burn a box or so of carry ammo, re-load and go home.

I have to mentally grin when press checkers claim they are confirming that the handgun THEY loaded, never unloaded and have to check that it's STILL loaded?

Do these peeps live where gun unloading gnomes are at the bedside unloading the gun? Are they concerned that wifey will unload it whilst they sleep hoping hubby will get in a firefight the next day and start with an empty chamber? Divorce Miami style?

I've been teaching 30+ years, half of that an NRA Law Enforcement instructor and not once have I seen or heard of a LEO who felt the need to "press check" their sidearm.

One case I might consider is upon initially loading an auto, "press checking" may serve some kind of purpose that the case actually fed out of the mag... BUT... couldn't the extractor come off the rim and cause a problem that wasn't there before the press check? Or, couldn't the press check disturb the position of the #1 cartridge in the mag causing a second round fail to feed?

So, C'mon press checkers, fess up tell us why you'd suspect your gun somehow became unloaded.

Maybe your wife/dog/cat snuck up and unloaded it while you were sleeping.

I don't press check.

I press check every time I put it on because I am not infallible. In my current situation I have to load/unload my carry pistol (and the magazine) every time I want to carry it. Combine that with the distraction of kids and every day life and shit can, in fact, happen.

Do you think that you never make mistakes?

Hollywood made it look cool. I've never seen the need to do it.

Did you join this forum just to start shit in your asininely juvenile threads?
Stupid troll.

quote:

"press checking" may serve some kind of purpose that the case actually fed out of the mag.

Unlikely, since the mag was full when I closed the slide, I ejected the mag and topped off with another round. If that round doesn't have a home then I would know something was up!

To give the OP benefit of the doubt, an actual reply.

quote:

Originally posted by gnappi:
I've been teaching 30+ years, half of that an NRA Law Enforcement instructor and not once have I seen or heard of a LEO who felt the need to "press check" their sidearm.

Every single basic trainee i've taught has been trained to press check when loading and whenever the gun has been out of their immediate control.

So now you've heard of a couple thousand.

They've also been trained to check their tire pressure on a regular basis, the contents of their first aid kits, the availability of spare flashlight batteries, their currency of knowledge of the criminal code and a bunch of other things amateurs take for granted.

Not needed yet I keep hearing that bell being rung at the academy many times because a round wasn't chambered.

Personal issue. I check.

quote:

I've been teaching 30+ years, half of that an NRA Law Enforcement instructor and not once have I seen or heard of a LEO who felt the need to "press check" their sidearm.

At the department where I worked at, we would qualify on duty - you would get a call to head up to the range and qual. 2 out of the 4 yearly quals were done with duty ammo, so you walked into the range and up to the line - and the fun began.

One of our detectives came up to qual strait from his office. He walked up to the line and we started - first drill, target at 3 yards turned for 2 seconds you had to draw and fire 2 rounds. The target turned, he drew and we heard a "click". When we checked his SIG 226 it had an empty chamber, we asked him how long did he think that he had been carrying that way -his reply, "Since I cleaned it after last qual" (three months ago).

Maybe a press check at some point might have been a good thing?????

Before holstering my handgun for the day I press check, been doing it since the mid 80s, no reason to change.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
I press check every time I put it on because I am not infallible. In my current situation I have to load/unload my carry pistol (and the magazine) every time I want to carry it. Combine that with the distraction of kids and every day life and shit can, in fact, happen.

Do you think that you never make mistakes?

I load mine and keep it that way due to the possibility of bullet "set back".
Is that a problem for you w/ constant unloading and loading?

I prefer to fully load a mag, insert and chamber a round. Then top off the mag. I know the gun is fully loaded then and there is no vacant chamber.

On my pistols, it is possible to either look into a "witness hole" and see that a round is chambered, or to look into the rear of the ejection port on the right side of the pistol were the bolt face comes into contact with the chamber and see the rim on the base of the round that is in the chamber. In bright light, it is visible without a press check. But, yes, I check every time I put it on to carry and every time that I load to shot in a match.

So you load your 15-round magazine with 15 rounds, pop it in the pistol, rack the slide and remove and top off the magazine. Hey! It took that extra round so it has 15 in it. I don't need to press check. Where the hell would that first round go if it wasn't in the chamber? Never heard of a Twilight Zone for ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
I press check every time I put it on because I am not infallible. In my current situation I have to load/unload my carry pistol (and the magazine) every time I want to carry it. Combine that with the distraction of kids and every day life and shit can, in fact, happen.

Do you think that you never make mistakes?

I load mine and keep it that way due to the possibility of bullet "set back".
Is that a problem for you w/ constant unloading and loading?

I prefer to fully load a mag, insert and chamber a round. Then top off the mag. I know the gun is fully loaded then and there is no vacant chamber.

It can be, especially since I carry .357SIG. I keep a close eye on it and tend to alternate which round gets chambered.

quote:

BUT... couldn't the extractor come off the rim and cause a problem that wasn't there before the press check? Or, couldn't the press check disturb the position of the #1 cartridge in the mag causing a second round fail to feed?

No, and no. If your gun is in proper condition, the extractor isn't going to just pop off the rim, and even if it did you should notice that the slide isn't fully forward. The movement won't have any greater effect on the top round of the magazine than it would under normal operation of the pistol.

I would say that you were never a very good instructor if you have the attitude that you do, and you have to ask such questions.

Although there may be a place for press checking, even in my advanced age of 70 I remember what condition each and every one of my handguns is in.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:
Did you join this forum just to start shit in your asininely juvenile threads?
Stupid troll.

No, see other intelligent posts you missed by shooting off your comment.

I used to work with a feller that was notorious for press checking as we entered the rougher housing projects.

This one housing project had a set of railroad tracks at the entrance. He never shot me during his press-check...but I always cringed crossing those tracks!

Best "cop" I ever worked with!

I don't do it but to each his/her own.
What's on my waist goes on the nightstand when I go to bed. No need to unload and then load so I know what condition it's in.

I never unload my EDC, So I don’t have to check to see if it’s loaded.

When I was a cop, I never unloaded my P226, I found several people on my shift who had empty chambers after the range qual and we were forced to clean the gun while at the range. I ve seen guys who had a ball round (training ammo) in their gun six months after the last range day.

When I saw guys doing it at roll call I introduced them to the bullet trap and how to use it...and not to point guns at their fellow workers....

I always cringed when guns came out of holsters.

For years I was in the 'never check' crowd, since the EDC went into the pistol safe at night and then back out the next morning.

A couple years ago I went to checking when I put it on for the day. Drop mag, check the chamber, mag back in.

Takes 5 seconds and ensure you avoid the 'oh fuck, it's not loaded' someday.

quote:

LEO who felt the need to "press check" their sidearm.

When I look for someone to emulate WRT firearms prowess, I don't look at LEOs because they are LEOs. I look at proficient shooters, regardless if they are LEOs or not.

There are plenty of LEOs who aren't good shooters, they are just people who happen to have to carry a gun for work.