I don't understand the point of press-checks.

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Candiru

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Apparently press-checks are popular enough to justify slapping forward slide grooves on everything that actually features a slide, but I'm having a little trouble understanding their purpose. As I understand it, a press-check is performed by grasping the forward part of a gun's slide from below and pulling back enough to visually or tactically verify that a round is in the chamber.

One proponent of press-checks explained to me that the press-check is intended to verify that a gun is loaded in situations where it may need to be put into immediate action; this, he explained, is why one should not use an overhand grasp of the slide that would cover its sights and/or ejection port. According to him, the press-check is useful for people who frequently load or unload their guns to the point that they might not be entirely certain of its state in an emergency situation where they may need to use it very quickly.

To me, none of this really rings true. I have trouble imagining a plausible scenario where danger is imminent enough to justify checking the gun in a fashion designed not to permit instantly shooting it if need be, but not so dangerous that one has no time to do anything but shoot.

Actually, that's not entirely accurate: I can imagine that kind of situation, but only if the scenario involves a certain degree or negligence or inattentiveness on the part of the person with the gun. If one cannot bet his life on whether or not the gun in his holster is loaded, it seems that the procedural solution is better applied earlier in the process, before one is in such imminent danger that even covering the sights constitutes a risk.

I understand that someone who may have to clear and reload a gun multiple times a day has more opportunities to leave his gun in a state where it is not ready for action; similarly, checking a gun before it is needed offers one more safety net. What I am having difficulty understanding are the circumstances where someone has engaged in confusing gun-handling far enough in advance to raise the specter of not having a round chambered, but has not since had a chance to verify that the gun is loaded in a controlled, non-dangerous situation.

Can someone enlighten me?
 
Since I don't understand it either, I really can't comment much on it. Apparently enough think it has value that all the companies making the "tactical" autoloaders put those on their slides.


Personally I think they're ugly.
 
1. Insert the magazine and drop the slide. Is the pistol ready to go? Make sure with a press check.

2. You hear a bump in the dark, so you grab the nightstand gun. Is it loaded? Are you sure? Did the wife clear it while she was dusting? Did you remember to rack the slide after the last time you cleaned. Press check is the fastest, most positive way to make sure without dumping a perfectly good round on the ground.

If you aren't sure, why wonder? just check it and be done.

At Gunsite the instructors advocated doing this every single time, before the pistol was holstered. The loudest sound in the world is "click" when you were expecting 'bang"
 
I don't actually use the side grooves - I put my finger over the rear sight and my thumb down on the grip of my Glock and pull back slightly. Way easier than trying to use grooves, and I can still keep the gun in front of my face and my eyes on target.

The purpose of it is to ensure that you did, in fact, chamber a round like you thought you did. From time to time for whatever reason you can slam a mag home and drop the slide and it may *not* actually chamber.

Additionally, in a more-than-one-gunnie household, it's a good way to check and make sure your nightstand gun, if chambered by the other person, was set up with a chambered round that day instead of empty. Hey, it could happen. :)

Now, as to whether or not it means those slide grooves are necessary, I can't speak to that. Although they can be handy for other things. I have seen them be pretty useful on race guns where the slide can be tough to grip due to all the scope stuff hanging off the top of it.
 
2. You hear a bump in the dark, so you grab the nightstand gun. Is it loaded? Are you sure? Did the wife clear it while she was dusting? Did you remember to rack the slide after the last time you cleaned. Press check is the fastest, most positive way to make sure without dumping a perfectly good round on the ground.

If you aren't sure, why wonder? just check it and be done.
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That's a great example that I hadn't considered. My guns are always under my direct personal control, so I hadn't thought of the situation where you have to pick up a gun that has been unsecured somewhere for a period of time when you weren't there. Color me corrected!
 
Don't see the point in it, either. Check it before you go to bed, before you stick it in your holster in the morning.
Or else get a gun with a loaded chamber indicator.
 
You'd think you'd always know but I've read a few stories from people who thought they had a loaded gun and didn't. I can't imagine it could be a bad practice to do before holstering.
 
I just move my hand breifly over the loaded chamber indicator on my XD...
 
I don't use them either. The only possible use I see for them is an additional surface you can use to work the slide one handed. You can hook them against a kydex holster and keep the muzzle mpointed away from you when reloading one handed. Might be better for some people then the ejection port or rear sight.

Jeff
 
Maybe I'm the oddball. I use them. I could care less if they're ugly, they're functional, and on my carry guns, functionality is what matters. They're worn around the edges too; that's ugly to some people, but they can pound sand.

I check my gun when it goes into my holster for the evening or night, and again in the morning when it goes onto my bedstand, and I use the forward grooves to do it. It's easier and works best for me.
 
I press check every time I pick up a handgun. Its just an old habit I picked up when I first started shooting. Its so ingrained that I press check when I *KNOW* no one else has tampered with the weapon.
 
I check the condition of every firearm I handle if it's been out of my immediate control. Other than that, I see no reason to press check. As far as loaded chamber indicators go, I'd never rely on one. Like anything mechanical, they can be faulty and should only be used as confirmation to a visual/manual check.
 
Once in a blue blue moon, if your mag isn't seated, a round will fail to feed.

I press check every time I holster an autoloader, to ensure my sidearm is in the desired condition.

I don't use the front of the slide for this, that's bad form. It's almost impossible to prevent a finger from drifting in front of the muzzle, which is bad ju-ju should that be the time you have an ND.

I like my fingers. They serve me.
 
It is my understanding, and practice that a press check was originally done with a standard 1911, with a short guide rod. The index finger was placed over the recoil spring cap, below the barrel and the thumb was placed against the front of the trigger guard. Then you pressed your fingers together which will retract the slide enough to see the chamber. The term has been carried over to all handguns and generically means to check that the chamber is empty. Whether or not front serrations are used is immaterial.
 
I don't use the front of the slide for this, that's bad form. It's almost impossible to prevent a finger from drifting in front of the muzzle, which is bad ju-ju should that be the time you have an ND.
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No, it's bad form to ALLOW your fingers to go in front of the muzzle. If you lack the ability to bring you hand up beneath the muzzle of your handgun, you probably get coloring books for Christmas every year anyway.
 
I routinely perform press checks when loading or going into a situation where I might need my firearm. Only exception is if I am carrying a pistol with a loaded chamber indicator, In which case I just run my finger over the indicator.
 
I Frequently load and unload, so I probably press-check my 24/7 9mm about 5 times a day. Oh, it does have a loaded chamber indicator (both visible and tactile) but I feel a whole lot better if I actually see a round, as opposed to a little sliver of red-painted metal hanging off of the extractor.

Oh, and my gun doesn't have forward slide serration. Never saw the need for those, unless you have the grip of a little girl. (Maybe if your hand was wet, or the slide was greasy, so I guess they do serve a purpose.)
 
IMHO foreward serrations came about due to game playing range rules , after a course of fire you unload , and press check to show the range officer empty. Some customiser came up with the foreward serration idea , others thought it looked cool and it was off and running . Functional, not really for me but if you use them fine as long as you use them in a manner that does not allow the muzzle to cross hands , other folks , ect..
 
Carry either a PPK/S if clothing dictates, unless conditions dictate that clothes are secondary, at which time I carry .45ACP. Had instance last year when I thought round was chambered and carried and relied upon it being in battery in the PPK/S, when in reality, it was nothing more than a light metal object, and about as useful.
In some instances I do not like to have the .45 cocked and ready to go, notwithstanding the arguments of how safe this firearm is, with the three safties. I completely unload both firearms under certain family attendance situations Therefore I do feel the need to check actual status from time to time, and I do not want to eject a round by automatically cocking the pistol or sometimes not want to make the noise of doing so. I feel entirely comfortable though with the DA design of the PPK/S and would prefer this in a .45 but am not willing to part with my .45 to change.
 
Personally I think they're ugly.
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Ditto.

justify slapping forward slide grooves on everything that actually features a slide
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If I had Photoshop skills, I'd put some on a revolver, just for fun.

You hear a bump in the dark, so you grab the nightstand gun. Is it loaded? Are you sure? Press check is the fastest, most positive way to make sure without dumping a perfectly good round on the ground.
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Uhh. It's dark. Press check no good w/out light.
 
I had the privilege of shooting with a member of Marine Force Recon back from the sandbox a while back (no, I am not a mall ninja making this up, I live within an hour or two of Camp Lejeune), a heck of a shooter and all-around nice guy. He said he was trained to always do a magazine check and press check before holstering or reholstering a loaded gun--you don't want to holster a gun with an empty chamber, and you don't want to holster a gun with only one or two rounds left in the magazine.

I actually don't have to do a press check to verify a loaded chamber on my 3913 unless the lighting is bad, because I can see the case rim in the barrel/slide gap from the side, near the extractor. But I do think that checking the chamber, by whatever means, is very important on a defensive firearm.
 
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