Why I went with LC9s Pro

Will probably get some heat for this but, here goes:

Been shooting for years but got my CCW recently. Was carrying my Kimber Micro 9 with safety engaged, full mag inserted, but....not chambered. Perhaps an over abundance of caution and I admit, too much to do in the event it is needed.

Why I like the Pro is I can insert a mag, (not chambered) and no safety to get in the way. Easy enough to draw, actuate slide and shoot.

Perhaps because I'm new to CCW (a few months) I guess I'm not comfortable with a round in the chamber with the gun holstered and aimed southward. Sure, anyone could forget there's one in the chamber but Im pretty careful about that and the gun is always holstered.

Anyone else carry without a round in the chamber? I'm no Rambo and in 59 years have never been in a situation where I needed a CCW. The time it takes to draw and actuate the slide seems negligible for 99.9% of the situations (that so far, have not occurred).

Ok, tell me I'm crazy and for that .1% of the time it's worth the risk. I doubt I'll agree but hey, I've been wrong before.

I'll tell you. It takes a fairly long trigger pull to fire that pistol. It's light, and a great pistol, but the time may come when you have to use it. You ain't gonna have time to tell the bad guy to wait a minute while I chamber a round. I really
Ike mine, and have a Sneaky Pete holster for it. I'm wanting to get a pocket holster, but don't know just what to get. By all means keep it holstered, but remember that it was designed to be carried with one in the chamber.

I sold my LC9 and got the LC9s too but I got the model with the manual safety. I comes off smoothly as I draw. And it stays on in a pocket holster. I know that holstered the Pro models are likely safe enough but I like that extra margin. They are great pistols; the best 9's I have found in my searching. Good luck with yours!

Tom W said:

I'll tell you. It takes a fairly long trigger pull to fire that pistol. It's light, and a great pistol, but the time may come when you have to use it. You ain't gonna have time to tell the bad guy to wait a minute while I chamber a round. I really
Ike mine, and have a Sneaky Pete holster for it. I'm wanting to get a pocket holster, but don't know just what to get. By all means keep it holstered, but remember that it was designed to be carried with one in the chamber.

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That sneaky Pete looks interesting. Does that qualify as concealed carry even though it's OWB? I guess the flap lifts easily for access? Looks like a comfortable alternative and certainly looks less prone to accidents. Interested in your experience with it.

Easy enough to draw, actuate slide and shoot.

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Unless your support hand is otherwise engaged. I always have one in the pipe. Or when I carry my LCRx you could say I have 5 in the pipe ;-)

First, welcome to the forum! I think you will find the majority of folks that carry, at least here... have one in the chamber... but I'll say do what ever you are comfortable with. The LC9s pro does have a greater potential for an accidental discharge... much like glocks and with the light 4.5lb trigger pull even more so..... I've just recently discovered that with Glocks that this it is usually something caught in the trigger guard when you re-holster... I've been carrying the LC9s pro for two years now.... have even dropped it three times on a hard floor... seems it really does pass the drop test. Except for when cleaning or reloading this gun always has a round in the chamber.

Now here comes me 'preaching' just a tad. I'll blame it on a fellow member here even though I can't recall who it was. A few years back I was in a discussion on this forum and this mystery member replied that if a person was going to carry a gun daily they should be trained and retrained... in other words not just an 8 hour NRA handgun course but serious training... at least what they can afford. For some reason that stuck with me... because of the type of work I do and my being able to schedule my time and money a tad easier than most folks... I have been trained..... it is hard to explain but I don't regret it.... If you can find your way to take a two or even four day defensive hand gun class you will be amazed at what you learn.

I've had my CCW for 12 yrs. now. I NEVER leave the house without one in the chamber.
You will make yourself conscious of the round in the chamber and when it's burned in your brain, you'll
never worry about it being there.

If you're not willing to carry chambered you're not ready to carry a gun. It is that simple.

Trust the design and manufacturing of your quality firearm and carry chambered.

Do you try to put your seat belt on right before an accident?

rammerjammer said:

If you're not willing to carry chambered you're not ready to carry a gun. It is that simple.

Trust the design and manufacturing of your quality firearm and carry chambered.

Do you try to put your seat belt on right before an accident?

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Exactly!!
Good point.

Understood...and somewhat agree. I ask myself, what's more likely, a need to draw and fire instantly, or a horrific accident? Not a question to be taken lightly. Perhaps these things weigh heavier with me than some.

Just bought the gun yesterday. Put 150 rounds through it this morning. 2 FTF's early on, then none later. A matter of building confidence in the gun. For now, no bullet in the pipe. In time, perhaps that will change.

The all-or-nothing platitude makes a good bumper sticker, but in making these decisions, I rarely consult bumper stickers. Time, thought, practice, reflection and most importantly, balanced judgement will carry the day.

The Sneaky Pete I got is leather. I've practiced with it and i can lift the flap with my little finger and grab the pistol with the rest of my fingers. As there is already one in the chamber all I have to do is aim and shoot. It qualifies as concealed, it looks like a cell phone or some kind of electronic device carrier. Never have been stopped or questioned by any LEO in any state that I've been in, and I carry it almost everywhere. The sad thing is if I get caught with it on Ft Benning, that's a federal offense and I'm not willing to risk that...

I completely disagree with Blackhawk on this subject of a round in the chamber. His statement is assuming and somewhat arrogant. I grew up in the army and spent 11 years in the Navy in the era when MP's and SP's carried 1911's with no round chambered. I saw demonstrations of fast draws and round chamberings that would put most people to shame. Even when we carried pistols into combat they at most had around chambered and the hammer down. And even that was rare. The drill, and the practice thereof, is more important than a situational status.

To assume blindly, and possibly without real combat experience, that every encounter is going to be one of instant reaction or death, is also egregious and patently false. The concept of "trusting the design of the firearm is also naive. I personally do not trust the Glock style trigger with no safety. The idea that a safety is also somehow a disadvantage is also naive. 1911 carriers still have the safeties on. Their carry style is not invalid because of it. We are all going to carry 99.9% of the time and shoot the other .1%. Safety is in reality more important than the specious concept of instant reaction at all times. I personally carry with a round chambered in a pistol with a manual safety. That is my preference. I still know people who do not chamber a round and I would hate to have to attempt to outdraw any of them.

I can understand bias for any number of reasons; but I cannot abide someone "preaching" a doctrine that they have most likely never experienced. If one wishes to opine his predilections that is fine. But I recommend that we refrain from making a priori doctrinal statements. Please state your own preferences, not dogmas.

teuthis is right.... there is never just one right way.... I think the biggest danger of carrying with one in the chamber on a pistol is that most folks don't follow the cardinal gun rule of not having your finger on the trigger until the target is sighted in. Personally it took me years and a lot of training to get this embedded in my muscle memory and I'm not sure I'm totally there yet. That 8-10 pound trigger pull is probably about 3 when you get an instant spike of adrenaline... and I suspect a 4lb pull is non existent. One other part of keeping your finger off the trigger is that nanosecond it takes can allow for your brain to re-adjust to the situation if need be.
The one suggestion I would make if you chose to carry with out one in the chamber is to get some snap caps and practice drawing and chambering a round (with keeping your finger off the trigger) until you are just totally sick of doing it and then do it some more. Oh, and one other part of the drill is to learn to move your cover garment while clearing the holster....

teuthis reminds me of one of my favorite quotes... it's from a Tom Robbin's novel:

"Ideas are created by Masters,
Dogma by disciples.
And the Buddha is always killed on the road....."

I almost went with an LC9S Pro for ccw but when I had an opportunity to examine one closely over a little time I chose against it. I'm a Ruger fan and liked almost everything about it but, in the end, I just felt the trigger was too light for my comfort and I never fully got comfortable with the internal safety features. You can see the striker release through the back of the pistol and it just seemed too slight for my comfort. I know many people love it but if I ever buy one it will probably have the safety. I continue to use my excellent little Sig P290RS, which is IMO a real "sleeper" among subcompact nines. It's trigger is, if anything, a bit too long and can be annoying at the range, but for its purpose it is just about perfect. I certainly have no qualms carrying it chamber loaded.

GaryA,

That is really amazing... I've started feeling the same way about my LC9spro.. that the trigger pull was a little too light for what I wanted... or maybe that was just my excuse..... I've carryed one for a while now... but am fixing to change over... to guess what?


Yep, Sig P290, but not an RS... but an older model with a laser... which I was planning to take off but now I'm not so sure... I kind of like it and it is simple to operate... on button is where you finger should be before sighting in.

When I carry a gun it always has one in the chamber.
If you don't feel comfortable with one in the chamber that is fine as far as I am concerned.
It's your gun , carry it the way you feel the best.
Carrying it with an unloaded chamber is still better than leaving it at home.

The little Sig has never set the world afire but I like mine quite a bit. Underestimated IMO.

I tried it out yesterday and the accuracy is unbelievable for a double action only.

I always carry with a round in the the chamber. I had an LC9S PRO, and for a short time carried it. After a while, I began to feel that the trigger pull was just too light for my comfort level, and sold the pistol off. I now have 2 guns for CCW.....a KelTec P32 for deep concealment, and a Kahr CW9 for normal carry situations. Both of these guns require a relatively long and deliberate (but smooth) pull on the trigger to get them to light. Moreso than the Ruger. It is all personal choice, I know, and where you are in your comfort level, but for me, the Ruger was just too light of a pull.

I used the light pull of the LC9s as and excuse to buy a new gun... but the other thing I did not like after this Summer is my spare magazine was rusting.... I carried it in a ballistic nylon kife case and I guess my 'dew' leaked through..... probably, now that i think about it I should have done the same thing I did to stop the rust that occurred on the LC9 the previous summer... soak the inside of my leather holster with WD40..... So, find a leather single stack mag pouch and do the same.... but I chose to just go with a stainless steel pistol for now and the Sig mags are stainless steel too.