Chambered versus Unchambered:

I’d consider myself quite well-trained. I practice weekly with a combination of range time and exercises during which I typically go through 200-500 rounds; about 50-50 between pistols and rifles. I also use a SIRT laser pistol for “non destructive” training.

Regarding pistol carry; I’d always been an advocate of the “Israeli draw” method, which is a loaded magazine but no round in the chamber. Every week I practiced racking the slide as I brought the pistol from the holster to the ready position and was confident I’d be able to execute this procedure if, heaven forbid, I’d ever have to engage a hostile threat.

It wasn’t until I went through an intense training course with adrenaline-pumping routines that, despite my relentless practicing, I failed three times to get a round off before I was “hit” by the threat: Once I forgot to rack the slide (really, after all my practicing?!), once my hand slipped off the back of the slide without fully engaging the round (wet, cold, slippery conditions), and once I had a failure-to-feed (FTF) I had to deal with in order to get my weapons system back into play.

I was lucky, this was just a training exercise. In a real-life scenario there would be no pause, no replays, no rewinds, and no “wait a minute while I fix my weapons” opportunities. In a real-life scenario this would have been a very bad day for me. I experienced three of several classic scenarios of the downside of deploying the Israeli draw method. That event changed my whole way of thinking. I now carry loaded, meaning a full mag and one in the chamber.

So, if you’re going to carry unloaded (no chambered round) you’d better be 100% confident you can execute this procedure flawlessly if your life–or someone else’s–were to depend on it. I’d suggest to sign up for an adrenaline-pumping training course like I did to see if you can really execute it and not just think you can like I did.

2000 Rounds To Really Know Your Weapon:

Early in my training I was taught from the time you shoot your first pistol or rifle it takes a minimum of 2,000 to 3,000 rounds to really get to know your weapon and, more importantly, yourself: How will you react to the recoil from the weapon? Will you subconsciously anticipate the recoil and unknowingly move your weapon when the trigger breaches and miss your point of aim? How fast and accurate can you recover after each shot to get back on target? Will you close your eyes every time the gun goes off? How soon will you develop muscle-memory so your actions become second nature? And the list goes on.

When I heard the 2-3K rounds rule I must admit I though it was a bunch of BS. I thought I’d be able to master my weapons after only a few hundred rounds.

Now I have well over 10,000 rounds through my primary weapon (M&P 40 full-size), and probably the same again through my secondary weapons, I can better appreciate this and the reasons why. I still have a yearning to learn and so learn something new just about every time I practice, either about the weapons themselves or about me. I figure the more I can learn the more second nature things will become if ever I need to rely on instincts, muscle memory, and my training.

I say this to hopefully encourage others to practice as often as practical. Rather than just lobbing rounds down the range trying for tight groupings, focus on things like technic; trigger control; target acquisition; holstering; repetitive, repeatable motion; increasing speed and efficiency, etc. If you have the opportunity take indoor and outdoor training classes even better so you can experience more real-world scenarios so as to broaden your training.

The more you practice and the more variety you can work into training regime the more second nature things will become.

This all plays into what “Phil Fountain” mentions in thread #74, “The difference between practice and the real thing cannot be simulated but practice goes a long way in preparing for the unexpected event”. Great words of wisdom.

.22LR As A Self-Defense Weapon:

I’d say if a .22LR is what you’re most comfortable with carrying and/or using as a self-defense weapon because you’re not comfortable with larger caliber weapons then as long as you practice with it like you would any other weapon then go for it! In my mind, if you’re in a situation where you have to neutralize a threat and you’re most comfortable and accurate with a .22, it’s better to get in 3 well-placed, effective rounds in from the .22LR than having three misses with a gun you’re not comfortable with.

As I always tell folks, “No one should make decisions for us when it comes to guns and gun carry. If we do things we’re not comfortable with because someone told us it’s ‘right’ it becomes a distraction in an event where clarity and simplicity is needed.” These may be words to live by.

As far as caliber, if you are comfortable with a gun and can consistently hit center mass with it, the caliber is less important than accuracy. A .22 will knock a man down if hit center mass, even with a vest on. In a world where seconds matter, that second for them to recover might be all you need.

By the way, I earned my CIB in 1993 so some might know my combat time was spent against idiots that used drugs. They are harder to bring down but center mass ammo placement buys a lot of time. I would just like to make sure a person is comfortable with what they are shooting and can hit where they aim.