Round in chamber on carry PT145?

[smwh2oz]

While hiking and geocaching I carry a six year old Millennium Pro PT145. Normally I have a full clip in but do not have a round in the chamber for added safety. A friend suggested that I have a round in the chamber with the safety on as the double action only feature will help eliminate an accidental firing. What do you think? Thanks.

[Taurus10]

Welcome from TX. Well, "one in a pipe or not" has been asked many times and most people agreed on having one in the chamber. My 3rd gen PT145 has the SA/DA trigger and I carry it with 1 in the chamber and safety ON.

[MilProGuy]

If, while out hiking, you had an encounter with a bear or mountain lion, it would be to your advantage to have a round in the chamber with the safety on.

The safety can easily be swept to the off position when drawing the pistol, and you'd be ready to fire once you acquired your target.

I'd be apprehensive about waiting until you need the gun in a stressful situation and then try to depend up properly racking the slide and chambering a round while a she-bear is lumbering towards you as she protects her cubs. There is a good chance that you might not get the round chambered in time enough to protect yourself and whoever may be accompaning you.

[vonzipper]

While hiking and geocaching I carry a six year old Millennium Pro PT145. Normally I have a full clip in but do not have a round in the chamber for added safety. A friend suggested that I have a round in the chamber with the safety on as the double action only feature will help eliminate an accidental firing. What do you think? Thanks.

I would recommend that you get a package of .45acp snap caps ( package of 3 +/- $10-15 ) and really familiarise yourself with every nuance and features of having one in the chamber. carry it around your home and outside and feel it without looking, feel the position of safety until it ingrains in your mind. Trigger it from time to time and ABOVE ALL remember that you're doing this with snap caps.

That's what I did for several weeks at home until I became comfortable with carrying with a round in the tube. It is an un-nerving thing to think about carrying in Condition 1. It just turns out that you have to train yourself to have the confidence to do it instead of relaying on the thought that one can draw, rack and aim in what will be the most stressful event in your life.

Good luck.

[Smokewagon]

I always say, what's the point of carrying an unloaded firearm? If your semiautomatic doesn't have a round in the chamber, it isn't loaded. I mean, what if you unexpectedly needed it, and your off hand were to be occupied (as in fending off an attack), how you gonna load that pistola?

[chuter]

"What do you call an empty gun?"... "A stick."
My carry and/or car pistol is a 1911 with one in the chamber, cocked and locked. The PT145 is in end table drawer with one in the tube and safety on. Wife's Model 85 has all five chambers occupied.
Your greatest weapon is your mind. Don't carry that empty either.

[daytonaredeye]

Perhaps I am not familiar with the firing specs of a 6 year old PT145 - my PT145, only about 2 years old, is SA/DA which means that each shot is fired single action but with a double action second strike capability, and I carry it with a chambered round with the safety on. I used to do as you are doing when I first got it - carrying a full mag with an empty pipe but got up the nerve to carry condition 1 (round chambered with safety on) after about 3-4 months and haven't looked back. As many have said, you are essentially carrying around an unloaded gun. Under a condition of duress/stress, you may fumble with racking the slide or experience a failure to feed (not as uncommon or as unlikely as you may think while manually chambering a round via a slide racking) and lose valuable time getting the darned thing ready to fire. But, it needs to be your decision and I certainly wouldn't recommend adopting habits you are uncomfortable with; do the snap caps thing per herr vonzipper to get over the hump of familiarizing yourself with swiping the safety if need be. I always go thru a snap caps session with any new gun I am familiarizing myself with - testing the slide function, safety function, etc. until I am comfortable.

[nobody_iam]

With a round in the chamber the PT145 is in SA only, It goes to DA if there is a FTF. I carry mine with safety on and one in

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[smwh2oz]

Those are great comments, thanks. I can see there is one mindset you get when you feel confident about using the gun on the range and another mindset you need to develop to carry the gun ready to fire.

One thing that confused me from Tarus10's comment is that in my mind my gun is DAO always and it is never a single action gun. Correct?

[Taurus10]

One thing that confused me from Tarus10's comment is that in my mind my gun is DAO always and it is never a single action gun. Correct?

Please read this post: Which generation of the Millennium series do I have?