I find this strange

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SnWnMe

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Matches I've gone to (rightfully) have very strict rules about gun handling safety. (180 rule, muzzle downrange rule, no cross draw, no shoulder holster, no behind the hip rigs, no using the decocker, etc. etc.). However, no one seems to mind the non FLGR 1911 user who chambers a round and does a muzzle press chamber check on his gun?

For those who wonder: This act involves putting your weak thumb inside the trigger guard and pressing the weak index finger on the muzzle to crack the slide open a bit so the condition of the chamber can be determined.
 
Me personaly i dont need to press check, i find that if i seat the mag and said mag is in good order i trust that a round has chambered. Besides that sounds like a NAD waiting to happen
 
As long as the finger isn't actually in front of the barrel I don't see a major danger but I agree that this operation sounds riskier than it needs to be. You can check the chamber in other ways as well that don't involve what sounds like a strange juggling of the firearm. Of course I'm about to get my first Government Model patterned gun here in a little while so what do I know about it?
 
I do the press check at matches, too. But my thumb is never in the trigger guard. The press check is easily done by squeezing the slide between the thumb and forefinger.

I agree that having the thumb in the trigger guard will increase the chance of a ND. That is the reason the gun is always loaded while pointing down range.

Sometimes when I load a full magazine it does not seat properly. I have had the experience of trying to engage a target without a round in the chamber due to that fact. So, now I press check before I say I'm ready to go.
 
Press checking.. well first of most 'press checkers " point their muzzles skyward.. must disengage the safety to do so.

Sounds bad to me.
 
The press check is easily done by squeezing the slide between the thumb and forefinger.
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Exactly. There is nothing wrong with doing a press check as long as you do it safely. Muzzle downrange and no appendages in front of the muzzle.

Nothing wrong with double checking that you have a round chambered....just do it safely.

It should be a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.

esheato...
 
This act involves putting your weak thumb inside the trigger guard and pressing the weak index finger on the muzzle
Click to expand...

The index finger goes on the recoil spring plug, not the muzzle. I don't find it an unsafe practice at all, since no part of my body touches the trigger at any point in the process.

However, i don't press check on the line, as i won't get that opportunity if i have to defend myself with my pistol. (my shooting group requires that you are ready to shoot before you go to check in, so i load and make ready at the car.)
 
Press checks are an accident waiting to happen. Aside from the already noted issue of placing the thumb inside the trigger guard, have any of you who find press checks acceptable thought of what the index finger on the recoil spring plug will look like if a discharge occurs?

With the muzzle blast being a few millimeters from your index finger, I gotta think it's gonna be ugly.

Besides, in a properly tuned 1911, the slide can be pulled rearward for a visual chamber check just as easily as the more hazardous press check method.:D
 
Um, doesn't anybody just grasp the slide by the rear cocking serrations, pulling the slide back just enough for a quick peek in the chamber, anymore? It keeps your fingers away from the part of the gun that throws fire. :D
 
I have seen guys to that, but I've no need since most of my guns have the loaded chamber indicator :) Intuitively, it just seems like a bad habit searching for an accident.
 
Crossdraw and shoulder holsters are unsafe in competition since they place the muzzle in line with spectators. That is the unforgiveable sin.

I'll occasionally press check if the feed feels weird. Never did it with the thumb inteh guard though and as an IDPA Safety Officer you'd get reamed for having a trigger in the guard while on the line.
 
Maybe it's just me, but with my CZ-97B and Colt, I can tell when a round is chambered when I rack the slide. It sounds/feels different than racking it without a round being chambered.

The CZ has a loaded chamber indicator, the Colt does not.

If you have a problem with magazines not seating properly, perhaps new magazines or slapping them home with a little more authority may be in order?
 
I don't see anything unsafe about it, but I don't see the point. Put a loaded mag in the gun. Run the slide. Remove magazine and top off. If you can top off, there is a round chambered. If you don't want to top off for some reason, note that there is one round short in the magazine. The problem I have with press checking is the slim posibility of the slide not fully returning to battery.
 
However, no one seems to mind the non FLGR 1911 user who chambers a round and does a muzzle press chamber check on his gun?
Click to expand...

If you were to do this by:

This act involves putting your weak thumb inside the trigger guard and pressing the weak index finger on the muzzle to crack the slide open a bit so the condition of the chamber can be determined.
Click to expand...

or for that matter by:

The index finger goes on the recoil spring plug...
Click to expand...

at any of the USPSA clubs where I shoot, you would be disqualified and you could either go home or stick around and tape targets. Your day of shooting would be over. How can you say, "...no one seems to mind" when just the opposite is true?
 
If hehind the hip, crossdraw and shoulder holsters are forbidden how does one compete? This pretty much covers the complete range of real and practical carry rigs for the real world. Particularly FBI rake behind the hip rigs have to be the single most used system for both IWB and OWB carry in the real world.

Neither crossdraw nor shoulder rigs present a safety problem if the shooter is faced with his holster down range before they start.

The biggest problem with the press check is that it the index finger slips off the recoil spring cover the tension will cause the thumb to strike the trigger and with the safety already disengaged a ND is all but assured.
 
Holsters that place the firearm behind the hip are NOT illegal in USPSA, nor in IDPA.

USPSA has a rule that a firearm cannot have it's muzzle pointing more than 1 meter from the shooter in the fully holstered position. That makes most holsters OK.

The notable exception would be those few shoulder holsters that allow the muzzle of the gun to point basically parallel to the ground when fully seated. THOSE HOLSTERS are about the only ones that are commercially available that are illegal for USPSA.

IDPA takes another whole approach to holsters, and lists those that are acceptable by brand and model name/number. They do this not so much in the name of safety, but in the name of preventing holsters that are not in the "spirit of the game".
 
The biggest problem with the press check is that it the index finger slips off the recoil spring cover the tension will cause the thumb to strike the trigger and with the safety already disengaged a ND is all but assured.
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*shrug* If it's with a 1911, just disengage the grip safety. I wouldn't try this stunt withOUT doing that first.

But then, I'm not big on the whole "press check" thing anyways.
 
"If hehind the hip, crossdraw and shoulder holsters are forbidden how does one compete? "

The answer is that you use a conventional belt holster, which probably isn't what you really carry concealed. Or at least that is what I do. I realize this doesn't allow you to practice your technique in a completely realistic manner, but it is done in the interest of range safety and I personally agree with the policy. At a given match, you have people competing at all levels of competency from beginer to expert. But even with an expert, accidents can happy. As an example, Bill Jordon and Jeff Cooper have both had spectacular accidental discharges; if it can happen to them, it can happen to you. So, the powers that be in these shooting sports attempt to make them as safe as they possibly can for everyone involved.
And, the truth of the matter is that your draw (for a match) is a very small part of the overall senario. In most matches, you might make three or four draws. I don't think that missing out on an extra 3-4 draw stokes is going to impact your proficiency in concealed carry. If you worry about your draw stroke, you should be doing thousands of them in dry practice at home with your actual concealed carry rig. Not that I do this as faithfully as I should.
 
The biggest problem with the press check is that it the index finger slips off the recoil spring cover the tension will cause the thumb to strike the trigger and with the safety already disengaged a ND is all but assured.
Click to expand...

no it won't. it'll cause your index finger to strike the triggerguard.

when press checking, the slide only moves at most a quarter inch.
 
Okay, I should've typed recoil spring plug. Not that the finger is any safer by being merely adjacent to the muzzle.

I am glad I brought this up now. I thought I was the only one who thinks it might be unsafe. It seems that there are plenty of us here who agree that it might be unsafe, or unnecessary or have better methods. Like isn't that what the forward cocking serrations are for?

I should point this out to the ROs at my local shooting club next time. I don't want a nasty accident in this club. It's so hard to find an outdoor range in SoCal anymore.
 
I check my 1911 by keeping a full firing grip with my strong hand, putting my weak hand under the dustcover and grabbing the front of the slide (where the front cocking serrations are, or would be) from underneath with my thumb and fingers. I have a hard time controlling the slide when I grab the rear serrations...it's easy to pull it back to far and eject the round, or almost eject the round. I get more control with my weak hand below the dustcover.

- Gabe
 
I don't like having my fingers anywhere near the muzzle. Even the forward slide serrations are too close (if my guns had any). Hold the slide at the rear, and pull like it's a slingshot. You get better leverage that way, and it's much safer and easier.
 
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