Carry of Kahr P9 or any semi-auto

[jkoter]

I am new to concealed carry and have purchased what I feel is the right gun for me for the purpose. I have purchased a Kahr P9. I am leary of carrying the weapon with a round chambered and ready, for fear of accidental discharge. Am I being unreasonable? Is this weapon and most semi autos perfectly safe in a holster with a round cambered? (With all other safe practices considered) Thank you.

[PisnNapalm]

Most people new to carry a firearm feel just as you do. For the first few weeks I carried without a round chambered too. Then after those few weeks I realised a few things.

1. My firearm cannot fire unless the trigger is pulled.
2. The safety on my firearm works.
3. My holster completely covers the trigger preventing anything from snagging it.

Here's what I suggest... Spend time at a firing range becoming comfortable with your new firearm. You have to build trust in it. Then carry as you see fit. Alot of people will say that carrying without a round chambered is foolish. The gun won't be ready for use if you need it quickly.

Personally I had to have time to adjust to this new responsibility I've taken on. Now 6 months later I just holster it up and go. I have no qualms about carrying my pistol with a round chambered.

[soberbyker]

Originally Posted by PisnNapalm

Most people new to carry a firearm feel just as you do. For the first few weeks I carried without a round chambered too. Then after those few weeks I realised a few things.

1. My firearm cannot fire unless the trigger is pulled.
2. The safety on my firearm works.
3. My holster completely covers the trigger preventing anything from snagging it.

Here's what I suggest... Spend time at a firing range becoming comfortable with your new firearm. You have to build trust in it. Then carry as you see fit. Alot of people will say that carrying without a round chambered is foolish. The gun won't be ready for use if you need it quickly.

Personally I had to have time to adjust to this new responsibility I've taken on. Now 6 months later I just holster it up and go. I have no qualms about carrying my pistol with a round chambered.

I have a Kahr CW9, the P9's less expensive twin, there is no safety on the gun, the long trigger pull is the safety. In a decent holster I feel the gun is safe chambered, but that's my opinion, you have to decide what you're comfortable with.

Take out the magazine, clear the chamber, make sure the gun is UNLOADED, make sure again, rack the slide and with the mag still out dry fire, try this while the gun is in a holster, again UNLOADED, you'll see if the trigger can be pulled, move the gun around inside the holster EMPTY but ready to DRY fire, it's not impossible, but very difficult to pull the trigger while it's in a good holster. Try this a few times while drawing your gun from the holster, STILL NO MAG and UNLOADED but ready to DRY fire to make sure your finger doesn't grab the trigger as you draw the gun. I've done this and have determined FOR ME, a chambered round is OK.

If you do carry chambered after carrying non chambered for awhile, you really need to make yourself aware that the gun is now chambered when handling, in the beginning you may forget.

Again, it's up to you to decide what's right for you.

Bill

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[Emptymag]

jkoter,
WELCOME to the forum.

You are not the first person to have this concern, and certainly won't be the last.

I too carried w/o one in the chamber for about a week when I got my first carry gun. I wasn't so much worried about the gun, as I was about the holster. It was a nylon IWB(Inside the WaistBand)holster and I wanted to be sure that there was no way for the trigger to be moved. The concerns were pretty much unwarranted, but I did it anyway.

Until recently, I carried my Colt Pony the same way.(Nylon IWB holster)


It functions much like your Kahr... No external safety, long, heavy trigger pull. As long as you keep it in a holster with the trigger guard covered, you should have no problem.

As soberbyker mentioned, practice and familiarize yourself with your new handgun. Be sure it is empty, and even when it IS empty, treat it as if it were loaded, and do not point it at anything that you are not willing to destroy.
Try dry firing it and you will soon realize that something "touching" the trigger will not cause it to discharge any more than harsh words will.
It will require a deliberate action on your part to cause the firearm to "discharge".

Good luck. Keep posting. Ask questions when you need to.
Before long, that Kahr will be like your wallet or wrist watch... just another part of your daily gear.

[27hand]

I also carry a Kahr P9 Covert. Nice gun.

Having the firearm without a round chambered can be a possible problem if you would need to use it quickly.

Some advocate this method of carry arguing that it takes but a second or two to get that done. I agree with SoberBiker that the long trigger pull on a Kahr is somewhat of a safety feature but understand that just like a Glock, if you depress the trigger, a round goes off. Plus one on the GOOD holster which covers the trigger guard completely.

The training most people get from professional trainers ALL recommend carrying with one in the chamber.

One thing the majority of people do not do is to get professional training with cost being the major issue "I can buy another gun or ammo for the cost of a training class". While this is true, taking one three day pistol class is a tremendous eye opener. The quote I like and believe is that "people don't know what they don't know".

If someone tries to instruct you with out themselves being properly trained, the end result may very well be poor training or incorrect instruction.

Get the instruction(from a well known source). You won't be disappointed.


27hand

[LittleRedToyota]

Originally Posted by jkoter

I am new to concealed carry and have purchased what I feel is the right gun for me for the purpose. I have purchased a Kahr P9. I am leary of carrying the weapon with a round chambered and ready, for fear of accidental discharge. Am I being unreasonable? Is this weapon and most semi autos perfectly safe in a holster with a round cambered? (With all other safe practices considered) Thank you.

this topic has been covered many times on many forums...if you really want to do a long read of pro's and con's do a google search for something like "carry round chambered".

in a nutshell, the arguments for carrying with a round chambered:

1. it is perfectly safe with modern semi-auto pistols. they don't fire unless the trigger is pulled. if you use a holster that protects the trigger (as nearly all holsters do) and use care in holstering and unholstering (and follow the basic rules of safe gun handling--especially keeping your finger out of the trigger guard), you will be fine. if you carry a gun with a manual safety, like a 1911, keep it "cocked and locked" (loaded, hammer back, safety on). if you carry a gun that doesn't have a manual safety (e.g., a glock), well, then you don't have to worry about the manual safety.

2. most self-defense situtations happen at contact distance or not much further. you may very well only be able to use one hand to manipulate your gun as your other arm may be tied up defending against the attack/trying to keep the guy off of you. if you do not have a round in the chamber, you will have to rack the slide to chamber a round with one hand. this is not terribly easy even under calm practice conditions...it is going to be very difficult or impossible with someone on top of you trying to kill you. (yes, there are methods to do it...and, with practice you can get it down pretty well under perfect conditions, but i wouldn't want my life to depend on it under less than ideal conditions.)

3. one of your hands may be disabled by the bad guy before you get your gun into the fight. (see issues regarding only having one hand available in point number 2.)

4. in short, a pistol without a round in the chamber is just a not very effective club.

in a nutshell, arguments for carrying without a round in the chamber:

1. fear of accidental discharge. however, with modern handguns, there is nearly no such thing a accdintal discharge--nearly all of them are negligent discharge (i.e., the fault of the operator). modern pistols do not fire on their own. if you don't trust yourself to carry with a round in the chamber, you should work on your gun handling until you do.

2. the israelis do it. however, they do it because when they first started the IDF, they had a bunch of different kinds of pistols and this was the only method that would work with all guns...no need to worry about different safeties on different guns. however, you do not have this issue as you will only be carrying one type of gun. (also, military doctrine--israeli and otherwise--does dictate carrying with unchambered rounds in certain situations. but these are generally situations where there will be time to chamber a round before having to engage the enemy. this is likely to not be the case for a lone citizen who suddenly finds himself becoming the victim of a violent crime.)

3. "i can draw and rack the slide nearly just as fast as i can draw without having to rack the slide". yeah, in controlled practice, using two hands, when there is no bad guy on top of you, your hands aren't covered in blood, etc.

4. the only good (imho) reason i have ever heard is "i have kids around and they are always jumping on me and playfully wrestling around, etc. and i don't always have a chance to disarm before this happens and i don't want to not play with them". this is the only argument for carrying without a round in the chamber that ever made any sense to me. in that situation, it would be possible, at least in theory, for a kid to pull/knock the gun out of your holster. if that happened, not having a round in the chamber would be a very good thing.


my suggestion is to do this:

carry your gun without a round chambered, but with the trigger forward, for awhile. each night, check to see if the trigger has been pulled. it will not have been...and that means that the gun would not have discharged during the day while you were carrying it.

after you do that for awhile, you will come to realize that the gun is not going to go off by itself, and you will become comfortable with carrying with a round chambered.

(one other suggestion...take the time to learn how your pistol actually works. you will learn that it uses multiple and redundant methods to ensure it will not go off unless the trigger is pulled.)

[phillyd2]

As my fellow Kahrer has wisely suggested give it time and carry non chambered for a while until you a fully comfortable. Always treat any gun as if it was chambered. In other words, treat all firearms with respect.

It would be nice if all pistols had a safety like say a Beretta (magazine disconnect safety, firing pin block safety, ambidextrous frame mounted safety/decocker, etc...) but these small puppies are a compromise that you need to understand and respect.

The best safety on any weapon is your brain. Just be sure that the trigger is fully covered in whatever holster you use.

Welcome to PAFOA and as a last piece of free advice: stear clear of Emptymag and you will be fine

[Jake^]

Most modern pistols (like Glock, Taurus, Beretta, or Para 1911-ish types) have some type of firing pin block, (or hammer block/strong firing pin spring, etc) have passed drop test if applicable, and are designed to carry with round chambered.

Considering that some people have forgotten to release the manual safeties (if so equipped) in the heat of battle, (and this has saved some lives as well when BG gets ahold of the gun and can't figure how to make it go bang) racking the slide may be something you could easily forget or not have time to do. IMHO, For 1911 styles, I'd always recommend cocked and locked unless you have a really extreme set of circumstances. TDA is your choice, but if you use the manual safety as a safety and not decocker, you need to practice under the same circumstances and remember that it's engaged. For you and Glock, I'd recommend round chambered, good holster, and attentive handling (which should always be the case). Really not too much difference between Glock - style DAO and revolver which has its first charge hole filled with a round.

[gf45acp]

I have two Kel-tec's, a P3AT and a P40. Both are no safety long trigger pull guns, and I carry them chambered and ready. If you need the gun you may well need it quickly, and you may not have time to chamber in the face of a problem. It is safe to carry this way. In the same token, if you want a gun with safety, trade for it or buy one and pratice with the new gun. You will want another one, it's like potato chips! Also, welcome to the forum!

[LittleRedToyota]

Originally Posted by phillyd2

It would be nice if all pistols had a safety like say a Beretta

no it wouldn't.

seriously, i'm glad my glocks do not have a manual safety. it would serve no purpose, and it's just one more thing that could possible go wrong if you need to deploy the weapon quickly.

i understand you train to automatically flip the safety off if you have one, but i just don't see the benefit of having one on a DA or safe-action pistol, so i don't want one.