The Christmas table topic of debate at our house this year..

Do you carry a tactical round in the chamber or not? The thought being that not having a hollow-point as the 'chambered round' would bide well for your defense that the first shot was to "stop" and not kill.

Thoughts?

Firearms, in Minnesota, are by definition lethal force. Lethal force is either justified or not. There is no situation contemplated by the statutes or any case law of which I am aware where FMJ is permitted but JHP is disallowed.

Same fallacious thinking as that behind warning shots or placing the first shot in an arm or other extremity.

Besides, there is a heightened risk of overpentration and injury to bystanders, and there is a small but significant chance that the lower performance and reduced stopping power may cost you your life if you're depending on the first shot, perhaps if someone is rushing you with a knife or is otherwise armed.

Of course, if you're shooting .380 or smaller, the differences in performance between HP and FMJ are minor enough that there is little practical difference.

A better debate would be, is it better to switch to FMJ for winter where your target is likely to be wearing heavy clothes & better to trade penetration for expansion.

IMHO, a magazine should be loaded consistently from the first to last round. so when you fired your second shot your intent was to kill? I don't think this line of logic buys you anything. And given the number of very dead people who got that way via FMJ the idea of using it with intent other than to kill is kinda hard to buy. Either it is a good shoot or a bad one, but I'd say always carry the most effective round you can for your given environment.

I can see an argument where you carry HP most of the time and your carry has a HP in the chamber. . . leaving it there and swapping your FMJ spare mag in when going to an event where you expect heavy clothing to be a factor. I try and leave the round in the chamber alone, as I don't want the bullet to get pushed deeper into the case or any of that kind of badness that can accompany unneccessary fidgeting with rounds in the chamber.

In the winter, I like the idea of alternating FMJ with HP rounds in the 2 carry mags.

The next leather jacket we throw away is going to the range with me to wrap a watermelon in to test the effectiveness of FMJ and HP in the winter.

Assuming that you must fire your handgun to save a life, the best way to stop a threat is to make large holes, COM, as many as possible (some argue that groin/pelvic shots are just as effective).

So, for me it's always JHP.

As for a round in the chamber, always carry a round in the chamber. You may not have enough time to get your gun out when you need it. Chances are that you certainly won't have enough time to chamber a round.

If you choose to carry with an empty chamber, practice, practice, practice drawing, chambering, and getting a round on target, FAST.

Find a competent trauma surgeon who deals with GSW's a lot and he will tell you a JHP does less overall damage than Ball round blowing out the back and leaving two big holes. I can provide names if you ever go to court, both guys have seen more bodies with bullet holes in them than any prosecutor.

My warning shot would be technically classified as a miss.

I believe you would be refering to .45ACP. If so yes, after being made aware of this fact I carry ball in my 1911. I still carry JHP in my .38spl or in my 9mm on the rare occasion that I carry it.

To the question of round in the chamber or no, I tell students if you are not comfortable carrying with I round in the chamber I advise you not to. I also add that it would be good for them to get comfortable with a round in the chamber. With a variety of firearm types and skill levels I am always careful not to advise people to do things they are not comfortable doing.

if you cary a revolver you always have one ready to go, and no one can question your decision to chamber a round. Just my two cents worth.

There are folks that carry with an empty under the hammer.

I have never been in this situation, thankfully, but if the need arose, I would guess that by the time I was able to see the bad guy go down and my brain was able to register that he or she was no longer a threat (and just going down does NOT mean he's not still a threat), more than one round would have been fired.

Again, total guess here, but I'm thinking I might have fired at least 3 rounds if the first round was actually successful. You can't plan on only shooting one round, you can only plan on reacting to the situation as it develops. If I used the logic you present, I'd have to load 3 or 4 FMJ's in the chamber and up top.

The winter clotheing thing depends on which theory you believe.
If you believe that the material clogs the HP and it doesnt expand then you have a non expanding round similar to fmj and penetration is not a issue, And a 45 wont shrink to 9mm
I gotta get me A 50GI

I don't think I saw anyone sporting a SAA at the Gopher. I understand that inclination comes from very old revolvers that weren't drop safe . .. have a really hard time justifying carrying with an empty under the hammer in any modern defensive handgun. Am I missing something?

Just like Navy landing ships, your magazine should be "combat loaded."

The first shot will probably stop most threats. It should be a high-performance stopper. And useable in all social environments. I often load 1 Glazer safety slug (devastating but low ricochet potential).

If you are hitting COM and the threat is still active, the most likely problem is lack of penetration. So the next 3 rounds take that into account. I often load the 9mm Remington Golden Saber round in this position.

The threat is still coming? Need more penetration (but I still want stopping power). Switch to 3 rounds of Federal BP9.

Still coming? Now, go to 3 rounds of hardball for maximum penetration.

That's a ten-round magazine loading that maintains stopping power while escalating penetration to meet the most likely needs of the defensive situation.

Obviously, in Minnesota winter for example, you can bring in the hardball earlier (and more of it) if you judge that to better meet your needs.