TexasCHLforum.com

I was reading a Gun & Ammo review on the new Berretta PX4 Storm, and they mentioned how the external extractor was configured to indicate that there was a round in the chamber. The Kaiforians insist that all guns sold have this feature. Although I figure if my gun is banned an Kalifornia it must be a good thing. I was a little envious that I couldn't tell for sure if there was a round in the chamber without pulling the slide back, and sending a cartridge spinning out.

I had a thought. I maybe the extractor will show if I have a round in the pipe. Sure enough On my Ruger P95 when I am loaded the extracter is pushed out just a little bit past being flush with the barrel unloaded it exactly flush. Without the one in the pipe the extractor is perfectly flush. Its a little thing but I thought it it was pretty kewl. to be able to double check that I have one in the pipe before I step out the door.

Liberty wrote:I was reading a Gun & Ammo review on the new Berretta PX4 Storm, and they mentioned how the external extractor was configured to indicate that there was a round in the chamber. The Kaiforians insist that all guns sold have this feature. Although I figure if my gun is banned an Kalifornia it must be a good thing. I was a little envious that I couldn't tell for sure if there was a round in the chamber without pulling the slide back, and sending a cartridge spinning out.

I had a thought. I maybe the extractor will show if I have a round in the pipe. Sure enough On my Ruger P95 when I am loaded the extracter is pushed out just a little bit past being flush with the barrel unloaded it exactly flush. Without the one in the pipe the extractor is perfectly flush. Its a little thing but I thought it it was pretty kewl. to be able to double check that I have one in the pipe before I step out the door.

almost ALL external extractor guns do that. On Berettas the part that sticks out is painted red even.

However, I never leave the house without a press check. That extractor might just hang up. And NEVER use it as a chamber UNLOADED indicator. Good way to shoot someone.

txinvestigator wrote:

Liberty wrote:I was reading a Gun & Ammo review on the new Berretta PX4 Storm, and they mentioned how the external extractor was configured to indicate that there was a round in the chamber. The Kaiforians insist that all guns sold have this feature. Although I figure if my gun is banned an Kalifornia it must be a good thing. I was a little envious that I couldn't tell for sure if there was a round in the chamber without pulling the slide back, and sending a cartridge spinning out.

I had a thought. I maybe the extractor will show if I have a round in the pipe. Sure enough On my Ruger P95 when I am loaded the extracter is pushed out just a little bit past being flush with the barrel unloaded it exactly flush. Without the one in the pipe the extractor is perfectly flush. Its a little thing but I thought it it was pretty kewl. to be able to double check that I have one in the pipe before I step out the door.

almost ALL external extractor guns do that. On Berettas the part that sticks out is painted red even.

However, I never leave the house without a press check. That extractor might just hang up. And NEVER use it as a chamber UNLOADED indicator. Good way to shoot someone.

It sounds like a pretty crappy way to shoot someone to me. No one touches my guns but me, and its always in a holster. Pretty much the only reason that I unload it is to clean it after shooting, or temporarily to change out ammo. An unloaded weapon seems like such a waste and makes them unhappy. Knowing the extractor thing makes it possible to do a quick little extra check.

txinvestigator wrote:

Liberty wrote:I was reading a Gun & Ammo review on the new Berretta PX4 Storm, and they mentioned how the external extractor was configured to indicate that there was a round in the chamber. The Kaiforians insist that all guns sold have this feature. Although I figure if my gun is banned an Kalifornia it must be a good thing. I was a little envious that I couldn't tell for sure if there was a round in the chamber without pulling the slide back, and sending a cartridge spinning out.

I had a thought. I maybe the extractor will show if I have a round in the pipe. Sure enough On my Ruger P95 when I am loaded the extracter is pushed out just a little bit past being flush with the barrel unloaded it exactly flush. Without the one in the pipe the extractor is perfectly flush. Its a little thing but I thought it it was pretty kewl. to be able to double check that I have one in the pipe before I step out the door.

almost ALL external extractor guns do that. On Berettas the part that sticks out is painted red even.

However, I never leave the house without a press check. That extractor might just hang up. And NEVER use it as a chamber UNLOADED indicator. Good way to shoot someone.

Liberty wrote:

txinvestigator wrote:

Liberty wrote:I was reading a Gun & Ammo review on the new Berretta PX4 Storm, and they mentioned how the external extractor was configured to indicate that there was a round in the chamber. The Kaiforians insist that all guns sold have this feature. Although I figure if my gun is banned an Kalifornia it must be a good thing. I was a little envious that I couldn't tell for sure if there was a round in the chamber without pulling the slide back, and sending a cartridge spinning out.

I had a thought. I maybe the extractor will show if I have a round in the pipe. Sure enough On my Ruger P95 when I am loaded the extracter is pushed out just a little bit past being flush with the barrel unloaded it exactly flush. Without the one in the pipe the extractor is perfectly flush. Its a little thing but I thought it it was pretty kewl. to be able to double check that I have one in the pipe before I step out the door.

almost ALL external extractor guns do that. On Berettas the part that sticks out is painted red even.

However, I never leave the house without a press check. That extractor might just hang up. And NEVER use it as a chamber UNLOADED indicator. Good way to shoot someone.

It sounds like a pretty crappy way to shoot someone to me. No one touches my guns but me, and its always in a holster. Pretty much the only reason that I unload it is to clean it after shooting, or temporarily to change out ammo. An unloaded weapon seems like such a waste and makes them unhappy. Knowing the extractor thing makes it possible to do a quick little extra check.

I am sorry, I didn't realize you live alone and never forget doing something.

Several of my pistols have chamber full indicators, but I must admit I never use them. I have press check so ingrained in my day to day operation, it’s practically second nature, and I just don’t think to use the chamber full indicator.

There’s also the issue not all my weapons have chamber full indicators. For instance my 1911’s don’t have indicators. So for simplicity I use the same approach on all weapons, and since press check is the only one that works for all my autos, it’s what I use.

I probably press check my weapon 3 or 4 times a day on average. Sure it’s redundant, but it doesn’t take much time, and better safe then sorry.

Why check it so often? Personal rules of repetition, much like what I do for safety checks. For instance, when I’m taking down my Glock’s to clean them, I first drop the magazine, then slide back to eject the round in the chamber. The mags on the table, the ejected round is in my hand, the weapon has to be unloaded, so I can pull the trigger safely...but I don’t. The next thing I do is pull the slide back and check the chamber again, then pull the trigger and continue the take down. Why did I check the chamber when I know it was empty? Redundancy is a good thing where safety is involved, and it doesn’t take much time.

To me the same is true with the press check. The first thing I do in the morning when I get up is take the G19 off the night stand and…you guessed it…do a press check. By the way, I do this by feel since I don’t turn the light on and take a chance on waking my wife. I then dress, and it goes in its holster. The dog and I go downstairs and the day can officially start. When I leave the house, I press check, and the weapon probably hasn’t even been out of the holster since I checked it in the bedroom. But better safe then sorry, after all, I did say “probably� hadn’t been out of the holster. Again, the impact is minimal so why not be redundant?

We all know the rule “Assume all firearms are loaded�, but in my mind I’ve modified that line a little “For safety reasons, assume all firearms are loaded, but for defensive reasons, verify�...and in both cases, redundancy is my friend

One last comment on mechanical indicators, I prefer the ones on the side of the slide. My XD has it’s indicator on top of the slide, and under certain lighting situations, the glare of it can slow down my sight acquisition. True, the light has to be coming from a certain direction, and it’s a very narrow angle, but it has happened to me several times during practice outside and I’m seriously thinking about modifying it to eliminate the issue. I have seen no negative impacts from the indicators on the side of the slide.

Forgive me but what is PRESS CHECK ?

TIN BENDER wrote:Forgive me but what is PRESS CHECK ?

I was just about to ask the same thing.

TIN BENDER wrote:Forgive me but what is PRESS CHECK ?

You "press" the slide back just far enough to confirm a round in the chamber, then return it to battery. This way you don't eject the round as the OP implied...

txinvestigator wrote: almost ALL external extractor guns do that. On Berettas the part that sticks out is painted red even.

However, I never leave the house without a press check. That extractor might just hang up. And NEVER use it as a chamber UNLOADED indicator. Good way to shoot someone.

It sounds like a pretty crappy way to shoot someone to me. No one touches my guns but me, and its always in a holster. Pretty much the only reason that I unload it is to clean it after shooting, or temporarily to change out ammo. An unloaded weapon seems like such a waste and makes them unhappy. Knowing the extractor thing makes it possible to do a quick little extra check.[/quote]

I am sorry, I didn't realize you live alone and never forget doing something.[/quote]
I don't live alone, but my wife [aka Equality] will not touch my my gun unless she intends to make a hole in someone/something. I forget all the time, and I know it. I do visually inspect that the round is in place. at least once a day. Knowing that I forget and things happen, I also compensate and constantly am checking that the safety is on that I'm loaded and the Mag is secure. I understand what you were saying about actually checking directly one is in the pipe. Although I don't agree with you that this is a good way to shoot someone and don't intend on letting that happen.

I do take to heart that unloaded guns are very dangerous, and a locked gun is useless.

The extractor position allows me to check the condition when I might not normally do this. In the stall a slide pull and check is a very distictive sound. When driving I will often deholster. I can check the condition one handed. I thought it was neat to find a new feature I didn't know I had, and the means to do an extra safety check at times when I normally wouldn't.

FWIW:

A couple of the reasons my Walther P99c/AS and P99/AS have become my favorites for cc is the presence of both a visible red "chamber loaded" indicator, and a visible red "cocked" indicator.

Even in nighttime conditions you can tell if the pistol is cocked by feeling the "cocked indicator" which protrudes slightly at the rear of the pistol.

My previous favorite cc pistol was a Sig P239.. I consider the Sig P239 to be an excellent firearm.. Top quality, absolute reliability, and very accurate. I had cc the P239 for approximately ten years before I bought my Walther P99's.

The Walther's right out of the box were more accurate than my previous all time favorite Sig P239.. Both absolutely reliable and offered more capacity (10+1 in the compact/15 or 16+1 in the full size) than the 8+1 capacity of the Sig.

If I ever err in whether or not my pistol has a round in the chamber, or if the pistol is cocked (4.4lbs) I work from the premise that both are true.

Maybe it's "old fart" syndrome, but I really like my cc pistol having these two features.

JMOFO

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy