Press checks are dumb?

[Maestro]

I have to go with what some others have said. If I just loaded the gun, I don't do a press check. If I'm picking up a weapon to carry that I didn't just load, I check the mag and I do a press check to verify one in the chamber.

Never trust your memory. "I always do it that way so I know I did it that way last time" is the universal preface to a negligent discharge or not having a round on tap when it is needed.

[Pro2a]

Call me weird but I only tend to do it with my guns that have front serrations and not with the ones that don't.

You weird?, yes....but serrations help, you'd have to flag your hand/fingers without them.
Good feature to have and not use than need and not have.

[Boriqua]

I am a firm ... "I dont give a fuk what you do so long as you leave me alone" kind of guy but .. I also dont get the press check thing. Here are my issues. Just about every modern firearm has a peep hole or some such means of seeing if there is a round in the chamber.

Second .. I only own 2 semi autos so its not really an issue but most importantly and it might be silly .. If I load a mag and sling shot it closed .. my thinking is that everything is in about as perfect a condition as it can be. The cartridge is firmly seated, the rim is perfectly under the extractor and the next round is in about as perfect a position as its going to be short of firing the gun. I also know the gun is in battery as about as good as it gets. It was all sent home with the aid of a strong spring and inertia.

Now I have no evidence but have a builder guy kind of mind ... I now go and creep the slide back enough to see if there is a round in the chamber because my alzhiemers has kicked in or I dont have my glasses on so cant see the peep hole. The barrel ever so slightly tilts out of its firmly locked position and the cartridge ever so slightly slips down some under the extractor .. and then I let it go from its position of 1/2 inch open or whatever amount you open to check and instead of having the full force of the recoil spring and inertia doing its job locking everything up and slipping that rim just perfectly under the extractor .. you get the very weakest part of the last 1/2 of travel to make sure all those things happen again.

To each their own but .. I dont do it and cant find a good reason to start now.

Most of the time .. if I do a press check .. it looks like this

[shooter444]

AZ1182, has hit the ball out of the park, imo!!!

Along with the four golden rules, my added one is if one is handed a gun from myself or to me, even my own stuff, check even after you see me checking before handing off, same for my friends after them checking I check once more. Trust no one, people make mistakes and get forgetful.

There was a time when I did a lot of gun handling, with guys I shot with. I don't do it nearly as much, anymore. AZ1182's safety recommendation is the one I have done, from a very young age, as I was taught. I do/did it so much that many friends thought me crazy for checking a weapon before handing it to them,... then making sure they check upon receiving it,... and then check again when they hand it back to me! To be honest, I have done this for so long I thought this was the only way to exchange a weapon, with someone else!

Doing it this way, I never had a gun in my hand I didn't know what condition it was in,... nor, a gun in the hands of a person in close proximity to me, without seeing its condition checked... and that is a feeling of safety, I can't handle firearms, without!


AZ1182 »
When I shoot an EDC at the range, I never take out what was already in the pipe to reuse later. I have spare ammo for that and I never have to worry about round setback and keeping track of it. All have gone bang and kept on going bang even when press checked. Tension still stays the same. Tens of thousands of rounds fired, not one problem. EVER. Not having tension from a press check...is like an old wives tale...kind of like when before handing off arms to the armorer, all had to be on fire because of "spring tension" lol....what a crock of BS. Say it enough and you start believing in it despite the fact that the facts are not in existence to support that argument either.



I can NOT remember the number of press checks I have done in my life. What I can remember,... I never had a failure to fire after a press check. My guess is, some sort of press check has been around since the first semi-auto was sold, well over 100 years ago. Just doesn't seem to be a safety procedure that has been stopped from use, do to negative results!


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[Jeep]

I don't do them enless I have just been handed a gun.

[Boriqua]

When I shoot an EDC at the range, I never take out what was already in the pipe to reuse later. I have spare ammo for that and I never have to worry about round setback and keeping track of it. All have gone bang and kept on going bang even when press checked. Tension still stays the same. Tens of thousands of rounds fired, not one problem. EVER. Not having tension from a press check...is like an old wives tale...kind of like when before handing off arms to the armorer, all had to be on fire because of "spring tension" lol....what a crock of BS. Say it enough and you start believing in it despite the fact that the facts are not in existence to support that argument either.

I am sure you are aware that Spring tension and a spring releasing stored energy or the inertia from a slide that was released when under full tension are different than static tension. Your tens of thousands of press checks prove to you that its not an issue.

I will still hold that Spring tension at the end of the springs travel having to overcome the friction of a round now pulled out partially from under the extractor while pressed against the bolt face is an unnecessary encumbrance and there is no good reason to do it with a modern firearm.

Slingshoting the slide closed ensures that everything is where it ought to be.

I dont do it, havent found a need and wont start doing it. To each their own.

When I hand someone a gun .. and many people on this forum can attest to this in real life ... I pop the mag and lock the slide back before I hand it over. Most times they will peak in the chamber and then release the slide. That is in my opinion the only safe way to transfer a gun.

[knockonit]

[nvgdude]

I only press check if I swap carry pieces. I don't need to check to see that my daily carry is loaded, it's put away loaded.

[Eleroo]

I’ll do a check if it doesn't have a loaded chamber indicator, but most handguns now days have those. If I just loaded it and the LCI is engaged, thats is good enough for me, but there is nothing wrong with taking a quick second to double check. Just comes down to personal preference.