Discuss Pros and Cons to carrying semi auto plus one

Favorite Vice Handguns
1

What I mean is insert full mag, chamber a round, drop the mag and put one more round in the mag. So that’s how I’ve been doing it. I just watched VSO channel on why he doesn’t. I tried to do a search in a couple of different places but didn’t find anything. So I was hoping you all could help me with this. Thank you.

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2

When I pick up my carry gun I lock the slide back. I have a lose round that I drop in to the chamber and close the slide. Then I put the mag in and holster the weapon.

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All the things I’ve watched says not to do that because it prematurely wears the extractor claw.

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4

I do it the same way. I see nothing wrong how TR does it either. How often is it really done, not enough to cause any issues in my opinion. You are only adding the “+1” for carry correct? So, during a normal range outing, i would assume youre just dumping & reloading mags? I would say either way is fine. @TickledDog

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I do it the way you do- insert mag, rack slide, remove mag and insert another round, reinsert mag.

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I’ve never seen an issue, and replacing it is cheap and easy.

Yes, I always carry with a full mag in the weapon and a round in the tube. To not have a round chambered, you may as well have a stick. A bad guy can cover 21 feet in the time it takes to react, draw, aim, and shoot. Now add in rack the slide and you may nearly double that distance to 35-40 feet.

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Very good point @Tactical_Reviews

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8

I dont add the extra round, I just insert the mag and chamber a round and go from there. Im too lazy for all the extra effort.

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9

The basic duty load for my job is the full magazine +1 in the chamber. I do the same thing carrying in my off time. I don’t understand why you would ever neglect that extra round.

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10

Not worth the extra effort to me. Im not in a warzone or a shtf situation. I carry two mags so capacity is not an issue either way. If I carried a low capacity firearm like a 1911 I would definitely load that extra round.

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11

That’s just being lazy then. I carry two extra magazines as well though, so I get where you’re coming from.

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12

I already got 10 rounds in the mag, I doubt 1 extra round will mean anything.

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13

I’m not saying you’re wrong not to do so, but it’s a literally free extra round to have on you with no consequences other than having to pop out the mag to top it off once you’ve uploaded. I just don’t understand it. I didn’t carry the +1 when I first started carrying, but now that I’ve been doing it for a while, I see no legitimate reason not to.

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14

Im going be an armchair commando and say weight, gotta watchout or my pistol will get to heavy to operationally operate.

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15

I don’t understand?

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16

I was joking about the 1 extra bullet adding too much weight lol

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17

I do exactly the same, i tend to keep the same round that is chambered always as the chambered round. (Meaning I always use the same round) Believe it or not every time you chamber a round you push the bullet into the case slightly so i normally tend to use the same round to avoid doing it to random rounds. not that i will affect anything but its just my personal preference as you seating the bullet deeper into the case.

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18

I’ve never seen a “top tier” self defense firearms instructor advocate this.

I want every round I have to be able to end a threat. I carry a 15 or 17 round mag. I still want an extra bullet - always. If I felt I could reasonably conceal carry a 21 round mag in my gun, I would do so.

He made fun of the loading process… when he’s making fun of bad loading processes… and there’s a perfectly fine loading process… Chamber a round, drop mag, holster, top off mag, put mag in gun while it stays holstered.

It seems like he isn’t sure of his loading process. If he is that unconfident in his loading process - he needs to get better at that.

At shooting competitions, at the beginning of the stage, I load a mag, chamber a round, drop that mag, and put in a full mag. I’ve never had an issue with the mag not seating properly or anything like that. In other words, I’ve never had an issue with the topped off mag causing problems. Most of the competitors I know have a similar process. We all want a fully topped off mag - even when we know the number of targets.

The improperly seated magazine issue does happen - and it’s easy to avoid. Slam the magazine down hard, then give it a tug. If the mag slides out, then it wasn’t seated properly.

As for the “muscle memory” thing… First off - how often does he load his carry gun? I very very very very rarely load and unload my carry gun. If he is that desperate for extra reps training his handgun reload - spend an extra five minutes dry firing. He’s really afraid of that training scar? If he is, he isn’t training enough and isn’t testing his skills enough. I’ve never once done anything like that in my training or my competitions. Train more - then it’s a non issue.

This is poor advice IMO.

It seems like the VSO Gun Channel likes to have contrary opinions for contrary opiions sake.

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19

Just make sure to swap that round out every now and then! It’s a good point though. You don’t realize how far back you can seat a a round until you compare it to a fresh out of the box one and realize it’s about 4mm back.

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He isn’t advocating carrying an empty chamber. He says to carry a full chamber - he’s just saying don’t swap out the now -1 magazine to a full magazine.

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