1911 pistols without recoil spring guide rod
Press check - weak hand thumb in front trigger guard, index finger in the front of pistol and under the bore over the recoil spring cap. Squeezing the thumb and index finger together slightly to open chamber far enough to see if pistol is loaded.
All pistols
Pinch check- weak hand under front of pistol, using thumb and index finger to squeeze slide at front and pulling to rear of pistol to open chamber slightly to see if pistol is loaded.
Press check was popular until recoil spring guide rods made it impractical.
Al Pacino did it in HEAT, Steven Seagal has done it in several of his movies.
And just the other day, I saw the redhead on CSI vegas do a correct press check of a 1911. Needless to say it was pleasing sight to see it done correctly on a TV show.
waterdog