How do you stage your HD shotgun?

[Guest peacexxl]

Do you go with:

a. Empty chamber because "CLICK CLACK" is universal for "your in the wrong place now get out or die!"

b. One in and ready to rock because "my locked/closed front door is all the warning they deserve.

c. No shotty, I think there are better options for home defense.

d. Nunnayer business. Come through my door uninvited and find out.

I haven't gotten one yet, but I am curious as to what the general consensous is.

[Guest bkelm18]

Personally, I keep the chamber empty and the safety off. My apartment is so small that the shotgun is not my primary weapon. If I have to resort to the shotgun and have the time to retrieve it, the extra second it takes to chamber a shell and the noise it produces will be inconsequential since I will already have exhausted two magazines from the pistol.

[Motasyco]

B. Suprise! And it's not the only suprise they'll have coming.

[tntnixon]

I'm always amused at the way people want to "rack" their shotgun in a defensive situation but they wouldn't do the same with their pistol. My way of thinking is that when adrenoline is high, you want to eliminate as many variables as possible (the ones that can ultimately get you killed).

So my unequivocal answer is B. Just point and shoot.

[LngRngShtr]

Do you go with:

a. Empty chamber because "CLICK CLACK" is universal for "your in the wrong place now get out or die!"

b. One in and ready to rock because "my locked/closed front door is all the warning they deserve.

c. No shotty, I think there are better options for home defense.

d. Nunnayer business. Come through my door uninvited and find out.

I haven't gotten one yet, but I am curious as to what the general consensous is.

To the criminal Element :

A. You know you are already where you don't belong, as you do not live here and you don't have an invite from my wife or myself and my dogs don't like you why would I give you a 3rd indicator ? seems to me 2 would be enough to help you realize you need to find another line of work but if you must continue in after damaging my door/window.....

B. Why give away my position or capabilities to defend/cause you harm,..this is what keeps your "job" interesting and is an occupational hazard on your part

C. 1 shotgun (? see answer 2.) several rooms (unless you pulled a builders design sheet in that case you now know your odds of rooms to armed homeowner ratio ( wait see rule .2 ) ) oh, and there may be house guests,who may also be armed..

These odds don't look good even from the "bookies in Vegas"

D. I am only unsociable to those who arrive uninvited,..you will have 2 choices on how to leave walking out and being carried out

Then again you might just get lucky.....but since most folks in your line of work are in the grasp of a few of the deadly sins be envious, greedy,lustful and somewhere else..lest you are visited by the other deadly sin......WRATH

so to answer the OPs question..... :P:P

John

P.S. there are a lot of variables to this question but think of it this way a hunter is in your house would you let him know anything more than what he already knows? would a deer or any game animal jump up and sqwawk Here-Here (click-CLACK) to help him home in on a target ?

I would advise to take advantage of what little surprise you have left and home court advantage (think like a bad guy for a min) if you know someone is in the next room and is armed you have 2 choices, leave or shoot it out..however a well timed confident loud and clear "GET OUT" won't give you much bearings and you still won't know if your quarry is armed but a "click-clack Get Out Or I'll Shoot I am calling the cops !" will possibly let you know which wall to shoot through .

Every encounter is different so in the end is there really a 100% right answer to this question? yes.. train to use your guns and train to adapt quickly to answer the shooting problem which you will get as a "pop quiz" on test day,..if it ever comes and I hope it never does

John

Edited January 13, 2010 by LngRngShtr

[Guest SUNTZU]

If they hear the safety clicking off then they got their warning.

[Guest 10mm4me]

If you wanted to rack your scattergun to warn them, you wouldn't be defending your home with a firearm, you would be using an alarm.If you wanna warn,scare them call ADT, If u want to kill them, as any home invader more than deserves,call Remington or Glock.I suggest a handgun for home defense.Much more wieldy in tight spaces,destroys alot less personal property too.

[Guest GT_Rat]

B. Definitely B. Yeah. B.

[DavidH1]

If they hear the safety clicking off then they got their warning.

+1

[MCSCOTT]

If they hear the safety clicking off then they got their warning.

That was my exact though, and I may even try to click the safety off quietly. I have several rules around my house, and rule #1 is that if you're in my house, and you're not suppose to be in my house, you are about to die. I'm not the type that would really try to scare a burglar off with the sound of pumping the shotgun if he is already inside. That just gives them practice for the next time they break in my house. I would rather know that for that particular individual there won't be a next time.

[molonlabetn]

I leave the chamber empty... for no other reason than I am used to charging a long-gun as soon as I pick it up, either to bring it into action or verify the chamber is empty or loaded... I never assume that a gun I pick up isn't loaded, but I also will never assume that the gun I pick up is ready to go, either, if it has been out of my sight and I need it to work... nothing worse than hearing a click instead of a bang because I thought I didn't need to rack a shell/cartridge in. I do this with pump and semi-auto... I plan to pick up one of the new Stoeger Double-Defense SxS shotguns, and it will be kept with both chambers loaded, safety on, but it will also be kept in a manner I always know is under my control.

[Shug]

You ain't going here crap, unless I fall over the cat.

[setsdw]

I keep a shotgun next to the bed chamber empty with the safety off but if I hear that bump in the night I'm reaching for the cocked n' locked 1911. My wife and I can wait on the other side of the bed behind cover till the walking dead shows his face. I have the shotgun ready in case for some crazy reason I have to go looking for him. Mossberg 500 with Truglo sights.

[setsdw]

...I plan to pick up one of the new Stoeger Double-Defense SxS shotguns, and it will be kept with both chambers loaded, safety on, but it will also be kept in a manner I always know is under my control.

I would also like to get a double barrel ready to go. One of those cheap coach guns with the double hammers would be nice. I would feel safe leaving one of those loaded witht the hammers down. The ones I've looked at have the firing pin blocked until the hammer is cocked.

[mikegideon]

Empty chamber, but I'm changing that after reading this thread. The lady in my security system tells me when a door opens, and which one, so there's time to chamber the gun.

With that said, I'm thinkin' no warning is the best policy. Did y'all just hear that "clack clack"?

[Guest Drewsett]

I leave the chamber empty... for no other reason than I am used to charging a long-gun as soon as I pick it up, either to bring it into action or verify the chamber is empty or loaded... I never assume that a gun I pick up isn't loaded, but I also will never assume that the gun I pick up is ready to go, either, if it has been out of my sight and I need it to work... nothing worse than hearing a click instead of a bang because I thought I didn't need to rack a shell/cartridge in.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Also, I keep my gun at my bedside and I toss and turn quite a bit. I feel better knowing there isn't one in the chamber in case I ever knock the gun over or something in my sleep

[xd shooter]

I can tell most of you don't have teenage kids. Do you not want to give them a warning before you cut them in half with a 12ga?

Or is it that I'm missing something.

I say this because it almost happened to me all I saw was a barrel of my dad's 10ga double barrel comming around the corner. If I had not seen the barrel I sure wish he would give a warning before the mechanical separation begins!!

[Guest jackdm3]

My alertness upon waking is unpredictable. I sleep deeply or I drank several the night before, so I will not make it that easy to hit that switch and endanger my wife. I purposefully placed all weapons a very short distance but out of immediate reach for the sake of keeping my wife in one piece. I have a completely wired house as stage one. With a night time raid in a two bedroom house, they have a greater-than-50/50 chance of finding me very quickly. In fact, my bedroom comes before the other one. So I'd say have a 100% chance of finding me in short order. The sound of me racking my 12 and marking my location is inconsequential.

[Guest Synghyn]

I keep the chamber empty and the pump back, so chamber open, and no safety. When I grab the gun by the pump and pick it up briskly, it chambers(and yes I've practiced it). I figure the sound might be a deterrent and if I can scare them into running like hell, I'm going to be happier not shooting someone. I've never really subscribed to the click clack school of thought per se, but it's there. And I doubt the quick (single) clack is going to let them pinpoint me precisely.

The real reason I keep it that way will probably sound kinda silly to alot of you. We have cats, they drink from my water glass on my bedside table, shottys right next to the bedside table, barrel up. They are somewhat uncatlike in that they move like a drunk rhino most of the time. They could and in fact have knocked over the gun before and I wouldn't put it past dumb luck to have them catch the trigger. And I like my roof as it is, no holes. I'm not trying to mess with the little safety button even if it is pretty second nature, in the middle of the night, half asleep, and startled/scared. But I can grab the 500 by the pump and yank it up and it's locked and ready. Cats can't do that. Like I said, sounds silly, but we like our animals. Oddly, none of the dogs have messed with it at all, so not worried about that.

So there's my 2 addled cents

Syn

[wjh2657]

Cruiser mode. chamber empty and safety off. I am a former LEO and it is second nature for me to rack the slide on the shotgun in a "go" situation. Followed same drill in USMC. Shotty is on a bed rack and could be inadvertently touched when bed is made, so it is just one more safety factor. I've never seen a "quickdraw" showdown gun fight with shotguns and don't intend to get into one, so I feel I'll have time to rack the slide. On the other hand I wear a revolver all day, including at home so that I don't have to do anything but point and shoot.

Tennessee even allows me to carry the shotgun in car as long as it is in the cruiser mode. So one drill at all times for the Mossberg 500.

[Mark@Sea]

I've been the victim of a home invasion. From the time they came through the front door to the time they were literally in my face was maybe 3 seconds (it was a small apartment). They took the time to knock my apartment mate cold with a pipe or wrench on the way. I had enough time to reach into the closet and pick up the pistol lying on the shelf. I did NOT have time to rack the shotgun. As soon as I grabbed the pistol I swung around to see the guy rearing back his wrench to clobber me; he was maybe a foot away.

Lesson learned from that little incident - have a gun within reach. Not in the closet, not on the nightstand in the bedroom, but holstered or within arms reach.

I do have some HD shotguns at home, and if I have the time to get to one, great. Safety on, shell chambered . Sometimes (split) seconds count. Don't count on having time.

No teenagers at home; friends and family know that calling ahead is the polite thing to do anyway. If you can't call ahead, it'd be wise to yell out.

Louis L'amour once wrote that a man that shot at unexpected noises may not have many friends, but he damn sure had no enemies.

[Guest SUNTZU]

I've been the victim of a home invasion. From the time they came through the front door to the time they were literally in my face was maybe 3 seconds (it was a small apartment). They took the time to knock my apartment mate cold with a pipe or wrench on the way. I had enough time to reach into the closet and pick up the pistol lying on the shelf. I did NOT have time to rack the shotgun. As soon as I grabbed the pistol I swung around to see the guy rearing back his wrench to clobber me; he was maybe a foot away.

Lesson learned from that little incident - have a gun within reach. Not in the closet, not on the nightstand in the bedroom, but holstered or within arms reach.

I do have some HD shotguns at home, and if I have the time to get to one, great. Safety on, shell chambered . Sometimes (split) seconds count. Don't count on having time.

No teenagers at home; friends and family know that calling ahead is the polite thing to do anyway. If you can't call ahead, it'd be wise to yell out.

Louis L'amour once wrote that a man that shot at unexpected noises may not have many friends, but he damn sure had no enemies.

Truth. I've decided to start singing Streets of Laredo every time I start up your driveway......Sue scares me.

[Guest BEARMAN]

Click-clack, patty whack, give the dog a bone...pity the invader that enters my home!!!

[Guest peacexxl]

Well I'm glad to see so many diverse responses. But, damn if both major schools of thought don't make a lot of sense. I have a lot of thinking to do but with the layout of my home, I am thinking empty chamber and the XD on my hip or night stand is the way to go. All though half racked sounds like an interesting concept, but a little advanced for me. Once I get my shotty and get real comfortable with it, then I may go that route.

[Guest Linoge]

Modified Condition Three - full tube, empty chamber, trigger pulled, safety off.

Why? Because in the middle of the night, I do not want to be fumbling for the safety, and my wife does not want firearms in the house with rounds in the chamber.

My AR-15 is kept in the same condition, and my carry PPS stays in Condition 1 all the time. Each to their own, though.