Do you like "loaded chamber indicators" on your pistols?

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They aren't a deal breaker, but I do like having them, so long as they aren't obnoxiously large and "loud," like the ones on some of the recent Rugers. The LCI on my XD is just "right," and there's a cutout on my DB380 so I can see brass/aluminum in the chamber. My MKIII also has an LCI.

However, I consider them only an addition to the first rule of gun safety and the old pulling the slide back a teeny bit. I believe using LCIs in lieu of proper gun handling is foolish. They should only be used in addition to proper gun handling.
 
I check myself, always have so it doesn't make any difference and I don't trust many "newer" features personally.
 
metalman8600 said:
I don't know why you guys are like "I wouldn't trust it." and stuff like that. It's operation is the simplest thing ever. Such as the one on the XD/XDm, it's just a lever than pivots. It is not going to fail, it is not going to indicate a false empty chamber.
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I really hope you're joking.

I've run practical pistol matches for about 15 years now and I can't count the number of mechanical failures of every type I've seen. All it takes to jam a pivoting lever (extractor, LCI, etc) is a little funk on the spring or a little crud under the lever. Took about 2 seconds to find literally dozens of posts on the Springfield XD forums about jammed LCI's.

For example:

The loaded chamber indicator on my XD (4" .45GAP, if it matters) is stuck in the loaded (up) position when the chamber is empty. I suspect that there's just some crud that got underneath the indicator and won't allow it to drop back down. Are the any gotchas waiting for me if I drive out the pin and pull the indicator out to clean it?
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I had the same problem with mine. I soaked the slide in rem oil over night then went to town with q-tips and papertowels. It only got stuck after 1143rds at one trip to the range.
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Mine got stuck too twice now. I manage to scrub the crud out but after about 3-400 rnds. It got stuck again
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http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/general-sa-xd-xd-m-talk/33956-loaded-chamber-indicator.html

Maybe your gun is special, you keep it perfectly clean, dirt doesn't affect it, whatever. Depending on a mechanical device to tell you whether you have a round in the chamber if your life may depend on it is a very bad practice. Learn how to do a press check.

Nothing wrong with LCI's, just like there's nothing wrong with fuel gauges. But if your life is going to depend on it, make sure that there is really a round in the chamber and gas in the tank. Same reason the military tops off the tanks before going out no matter what the fuel gauge says. Be prepared for any mechanical or electrical device to crap out at the most inconvenient time.

I own around 10 to 20 semiautos that I shoot regularly. I couldn't tell you which ones have LCI's on them. I verify a loaded round with a press check before holstering, and verify empty with mag out and slide locked back.
 
I am ambivelent to them. If the firearm is a design that I like and it happens to have one on it that's fine. If its not on there thats fine too.
 
I am staying with my Ruger Mark II, no loaded chamber indicator. I have seen the Mark III and think they had a bad idea. If it can be done simply and unobtrusively, it is a nice feature, but I prefer to assume that a gun is loaded unless the slide or bolt is locked back. The only use I would see is on a carry weapon to determine if the chamber is loaded, and at one time thought it was a neat idea on the Walther. Since I prefer revolver for self defense, loaded chamber indicator is not important to me.
 
Human eyes/varification

...

Even a "gun loaded indicator" needs to be chked and verified, leaving no room for error.. by such guns owners when handled or left "wherever" and "whenever"..

Nothing has changed when it comes to SOP via the 4 rules of gun safety..

OMMV,


Ls
 
Gloob - :what: Put not your trust in fuel gauges unless you like getting stranded on a deserted road. Oh, that's never happened to you? It will. Watch someone do a preflight check on a Cessna sometime. Watch them climb up and open the fuel tanks and LOOK INSIDE it to see if they're really full. Why don't they just look at the gauges? Wouldn't that be easier? Watch them sump fuel from the tank and inspect it to see if there's water in the fuel. It goes through a filter doesn't it? What could possibly go wrong?
 
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It doesn't matter if it has one or not. My gun is always loaded with one in the pipe unless I'm cleaning it or I just emptied the mag. I would still check, reguardless of the loaded indicator showing brass or not.

Guardrail
 
I've always considered them a waste of time, as quite a few of them are useless in the dark. When in doubt chamber a round.
 
It is not one of the four rules to check "loaded chamber indicator" :p

Anyway....take it or leave it doesnt matter im gonna verify myself!

Besides they truly only verify a CASE is in the chamber now dont they!

I like the ones on my Beretta 92 and Taurus counterparts, but still its not like the most important feature.
 
I'm indifferent to them. I'm not going to whine about one if it's there (particularly not the top pic type), but I also don't search it out. Just a feature that I don't use, but it typically doesn't add any complexity - heck for the cutout style ones it's not even a "thing" but just a bit of missing metal. Nothing to go wrong.

I will admit though that the one Ruger added to the SR9 is a bit over the top (literally :)).
 
Drail: good point. But not all LCI's are created equally. If a cutout hole fails, then there's little helping the fact that you somehow went blind. :) And a Glock LCI is just the extractor, itself. If that stops working, the gun won't function properly, anyway. There's no fuel filter, pump, electronics, etc.

I do like your Cessna example, because it illustrates the severity of the repercussions of making sure the tank is chambered - err, I mean that the chamber is full. :) I understand taking a peek in the tank, when warranted. But I'd still rely on the gauge the rest of the time.

E.g. my favorite use for the Glock LCI is at the range, where 1. stakes aren't as high, and 2. my gun repeatedly transitions through varying states of "loadedness" as I'm shooting, reholstering, reloading. I have gotten into the habit of touching the LCI before stepping to the line and firing off a string. I can do that with one hand while the gun remains locked in my Serpa holster.
 
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I think all of my semi-auto's have LCI's... but I don't use them, so I guess it doesn't matter to me one way or the other.

R
 
No.

If it's just a peep hole, then I can tolerate it.

But, if it involves any mechanism, then I don't want it.

I use chamber check, so I don't need any mechanism that can reduce reliability.
 
Guardrail said:
If you verify it's not loaded, it's still loaded? Huh, pretty hard to clean it then.

Guardrail
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Yep, always loaded, and always treated as such, regardless if it's actually loaded or not

Of course you would strip the gun to clean it, but you would strip it in a safe manner (i.e. don't point a Glock at your face while pulling the trigger to let the slide come off)
 
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