Setting aside the fact that the shooter above wasn’t acting in self-defense, props to the not-so-gregarious gunman for shooting and moving. When it comes to gunfights (not to mention executions) it’s always a good idea to have an exit strategy. It’s usually best to be implementing that strategy as you’re shooting. Granted, standing and shooting gives you a more stable platform, which increases accuracy. Which you kinda need when you’re going for a head shot. Still, for defensive gun owners, shooting while moving is a five-out-five strategy. Where was I? Oh yes: keeping a cartridge in the chamber of your defensive gun . . .
The so-called “Israeli method” of carry was developed back when all guns were like the Caracal C (i.e. not drop safe). These days, you can throw a modern gun at the wall (except the Caracal) and not worry about anything more than A) the wall and B) your warranty. So keeping the chamber empty is an unnecessary safety measure from the days when it wasn’t. Unnecessary.
If you want “extra” safety, get a gun with an external safety, put one in the pipe and switch the safety on—or off, depending. Personally, I prefer an everyday carry gun without a safety. The less physical manipulation during the defensive gun use process, the better.
Saying that, Nick carries a Wilson Combat cocked and locked; I wouldn’t want to be the bad guy trying to get the jump on our man Leghorn.
If you train hard enough, you can learn to rack the slide in less time than it takes to spot a Swedish model in a Latvian train station. But there are still plenty of ways that can go wrong (both the gun and the babe thing).
You could fail to rack the slide for any number of reasons: slippy hands, massive adrenalin rush, awkward position, etc. If you carry a gun with an external safety, you have to train yourself to rack the slide and turn off the safety.
Good luck with that. And there’s one more drawback to Israeli carry that this video illustrates perfectly. Timing.
When second count, fractions of a second count, too. The shooter gave his victim just that tiny of bit of “extra” time he needed to duck out of the way of the lead projectile sent in his direction.
Anyone who says that racking a shotgun stops bad guys in their tracks (a belief system that’s all kinds of dumb) should note that the sound of a racked gun is also like a starter’s pistol for someone trained for combat. Or escape.
Botton line: train as you mean to fight. Do you really want to fight with an empty gun?