I look forward to the XD-M when it is available here. It looks to be a nice pistol. I shot a .40S&W XD today and it is a nice pistol. I don't think I'd buy an XD-M, but it's always nice to have variety!
Mikjk,
I agree with your post for the most part. My concern is why learn and/or practice a press check if you aren't going to do it all the time? I mention checking the magazine capacity which I only do when I top up. Naturally if you cannot add the additional round your pistol didn't feed the first round. You are correct in that any action you've learned or trained yourself to do could come back to haunt you during times of stress. By not learning such behavior there is a zero chance your brain will choose such actions.
TDC
The reason I pinch check is that I have observed, and replicated, semiauto pistols and rifles with a partially inserted magazine have the action cycled without chambering a round.
Yes, the operator is at fault for not fully seating the magazine into the firearm and then attempting to load it, but it does happen. If your in a profession that puts you in harms way and you carry a firearm, I think it is prudent to visually check your chamber to make sure you are loaded before you step outside to conduct 'business'.
As I said before, I am not a proponent of pinch checking ALL the time. I only advocate that one pinch checks when initially loading your firearm... when you are not in harms way or under stress. To do a pinch check in the middle of a competition or a gunfight is bad ju-ju. Practicing pinch checking ALL the time is setting yourself up for failure.
Although I do not pinch check ALL the time, I do pinch check when I initially load my firearm ALL the time.
nelly said:
To me, doing a press check to confirm that you DO have a live round in the chamber prior to holstering up is the safest way to do this, as you have full control of the firearm
Yup, have to agree with nelly on this. It is not a matter of trusting that you did a proper load of your weapon, it's a matter of CONFIRMING that your weapon is loaded. Especially when you NEED the firearm to go BANG and not CLICK on your first trigger press.
Removing the magazine to check if a round loaded from the magazine is an alternative way to check if the firearm is loaded... it's just that I don't use this method with a pistol. I have used it when initially loading my rifle to check and confirm that my rifle is loaded if I'm in low light and when a pinch check is not feasible (when light discipline is important). I rarely use this method, but know how to do it when needed.