Do you top off your magazine?

[Expat]

I always do and most importantly you know for sure that you successfully chambered a round out of the magazine if there is room for one more. I don't do the peeking in the chamber routine.

 

[T4rdV4rk]

I always do and most importantly you know for sure that you successfully chambered a round out of the magazine if there is room for one more. I don't do the peeking in the chamber routine.

That's a good point.

 

[drysdaleg]

Always

 

[wizard_of_ahs]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What they all said

 

[Manatee]

Do You Feel Lucky, Punk?

 

[PX4me]

I load one directly into the chamber then insert the full mag.

 

[Manatee]

If +1 was necessary, no one would carry a 1911, would they? Or a revolver?

WWDHD?

 

[ultra...good]

I top my full magazine off with a 1911.

 

[Bigtanker]

I load one directly into the chamber then insert the full mag.

Be careful doing this. Most gun manufacturers do not want you to do this because it can damage the extractor. Read your manual. My XDm had in big bold red writing NOT to do this.

 

[Classic]

There is a good reason for not dropping a round in the chamber on most 1911 type handguns. The extractor is not made to flex to the side when the slide goes forward and meets the case rim. Most will do it but the extractor is actually designed to slip up over the rim vertically as the round come up out of the magazine.

I used to drop one in the chamber and let the slide slam forward all the time and broke 2 extractors that way over the years. I always strip one out of a magazine, pull the mag out and put in the "top-off" round.

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

Always top off. I typically have an empty mag to load the +1 to the chamber...saves on having to load/unload a mag.


I've also convinced my wife to allow me to leave my EDC loaded 24/7 so I don't have to rotate carry ammo nearly as often.

^^ I do pretty much this, but instead of using an empty magazine, I load the spare magazine to full capacity. If I decide to clear my firearm, the round goes is tossed into one of those magnetic trays, and when the magazine runs out of rounds, I simply reload it from the tray.

Every now and then I fire them at the range and replace them. This keeps me from chambering the same round over and over, wearing out the first round I rely on in my EDC firearm - which I have seen lead to some odd extraction issues in the past.

Using a spare magazine in this capacity also makes me feel better since the magazines I am carrying are not as worn.

 

[patience0830]

No. I like to be able to contain all my rounds in one magazine. I cross over into Illinois frequently and don't like unloading my gun and having a loose round.

Thats why ya got pockets!

 

[HoughMade]

If +1 was necessary, no one would carry a 1911, would they? Or a revolver?

WWDHD?

That kind of like saying that since the average gunfight involves only 3 shots, you might as well leave half of your model 29's chambers empty.

 

[PX4me]

Be careful doing this. Most gun manufacturers do not want you to do this because it can damage the extractor. Read your manual. My XDm had in big bold red writing NOT to do this.

It's doable with the PX4, says so right in the manual. You can also fire the loaded round without a mag in the gun as it doesn't have a magazine safety.

 

[WebHobbit]

I have the habit of carrying my semi-autos downloaded by two thus:

XDm full size 9mm

1 in chamber and 17 in (19 round) mag

compact XDm 9mm:

1 in chamber and 11 in (13 round) mag

I read in some gun magazines 20 years ago that this practice will make the magazine springs last longer. I don't know if this is true or not but I figure it cant hurt.

Now when I'm going to the range the next day and I'm pre-loading all my magazines then I load them fully. I just don't like the idea of them being fully loaded to the max for an indefinite period of time.

 

[Manatee]

That kind of like saying that since the average gunfight involves only 3 shots, you might as well leave half of your model 29's chambers empty.

I don't happen to be an average 1911 owner.

 

[Jeremy1066]

Why wouldn't you??

 

[Jeremy1066]

1) fill magazine
2) insert magazine
3) chamber a round
4) remove magazine
5) insert round
6) insert magazine

 

[DungeonCrawl]

For my carry definitely!! at the range load'm and shoot'm

 

[ATM]

...I read in some gun magazines 20 years ago that this practice will make the magazine springs last longer. I don't know if this is true or not...

Twenty years ago, it might have had just a hint of truth to it, not so much now and certainly not for modern XDm mag springs.

but I figure it cant hurt...

...unless you need 2 more rounds someday.