Serving as a LEO since 1999.
USPSA# A56876 A Class
Firearms Instructor
Armorer for AR15, 1911, Glocks and Remington 870 shotguns.
Who gives a damn what your agency thinks? I'm not constrained to their policies, which are stupid anyway. Condition 1 IS a better way to store a defensive firearm.
It is not just my agency its pretty much all lEO agencies and the military as well. Storing a rifle or shotgun with a loaded chamber is not a good idea. Now as soon as you put your hands on the weapon it should be loaded at that time. But its stupid to have the weapon with a loaded chamber in the rack or in any other location where you are not in actual control of that long gun. Long guns are not designed with the drop safeties that handguns are. For example if you were to get into an accient with your cruiser your long gun could fire. Most handguns are designed to be carried fully loaded and are drop safe. Most long guns are not designed this way.
Do you understand what the various conditions are. Condition 1 is loaded chamber and loaded magazine safety on. Condition 3 or what is called cruiser carry in Law Enforcement Circles is loaded magazine and empty chamber. That is the proper way to store a long gun when not in use. I realize you are still just a student. But you should make sure you word your post where it is not flame bait and you should make sure you read the posters post fully before replying. I did not state my agency does not allow condition one. I said my agency and most all leo agencys do not allow condtion one storage of long guns. A little respect goes a long way. Also long guns are generally considered offensive firearms while pistols are considered defensive in nature. We break out the long guns when we know there is going to be a fight. We carry handguns when we don't expect a fight but they are there just in case. Obviously a home defense situation is different but its still not a good idea to store your long guns with a loaded chamber in the home. I feel storing a long gun with the chamber loaded is stupid.
Pat
Last edited by Alaskapopo; 11-21-08 at 16:10. Reason: Toned down after responding to earlier rude post
Serving as a LEO since 1999.
USPSA# A56876 A Class
Firearms Instructor
Armorer for AR15, 1911, Glocks and Remington 870 shotguns.
If we are talking about keeping a carbine next to your bed at night for self-defense then I'd be inclined to agree. Short of that, no. There is a reason the Military and Law enforcement agencies generally do not store their weapons that way. It can create an unecessarily dangerous situation where one didn't need to exist.
My carbine is stored condition 3 w/ aimpoint on at night setting.
I store my Bushmaster empty. I store my Colt LE6920 with a full mag and the weapon unchambered. Safety is on and the bolt is in the forward position. I have an EOTech so no matter what my optic is off after sitting there for four hours.
On the subject of optics, I am now an Aimpoint convert. I'm not totally sold on Aimpoint as I have yet to use mine, but I've ordered one and the reason for that is complaints I've developed about the EOTech over time. The first of which is the battery saving feature where the optic turns off after 4 or 8 hours. I ran into that once on an extended shooting outage. I didn't care for that. I also can't stand how it doesn't save your brightness settings when you turn the optic on. You have to re-adjust the brightness each time. Also, even at full power it isn't the easiest thing to see in the daylight. Batteries must be replaced far too often for my tastes. I had to switch to irons at one point because the batteries died on me with little warning. It does blink the reticle and let you know the batteries are dying but once it starts doing this you have very little time left before the batteries die completely.
From what I've been reading switching to an Aimpoint will definitely address most if not all these issues. I've got an Aimpoint Comp M4S on order and can't wait until it arrives.
The only difference between the M4 and M4S is the placement of the batter box. The M4 has the battery box at 1 o'clock. The M4S has the battery box at 5 o'clock.
*My* personal preference is for the M4S because it's lower profile and the battery box is down at 5 o'clock and out of the way. But I could put either on a gun and be happy with it.
When running an Aimpoint 3x magnifier, I actually prefer the M4 over the M4S, because you can get the 3x magnifier closer to the Aimpoint M4 when running the 3x magnifier in a LaRue pivot mount. The battery box on the M4S forces you to move the mount one position to the rear when using the 3x magnifier on the LaRue pivot mount.
Here is the M4 + 3x magnifier:
I don't have any pics of the M4S + 3x magnifier, but it's about the same distance as the T1 + 3x magnifier:
S/F,
Jeff
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