Bedside shotgun, chambered?

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TFin04

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Messages
267
How do you guys keep your bedside shotguns stored? I have a HD 500 Pump from Mossberg, it's the one w/ 18" barrel and 7 shot magazine.

Currently, I've been leaving 7 rounds in the magazine, safety off. I would have to rack it once if (god forbid) I need it.

There are multiple options here, I'm just curious what others do.

I can see where having one chambered would allow you a silent way to tell your intruder how you feel, and I wonder if the slide racking would either scare off an intruder or simply be loud enough to announce where you are and that you are armed.

Storing a gun with one in the pipe is no problem, I have no children running around and everyone in the house knows how to shoot. 8 in the gun with the safety on would be fine.

What's your personal opinion here?
 
I have decided not to keep my bedroom gun loaded for the simple reason that I have been prone to sleepwalking in the past and I don’t want any accidents. We have a kind of safe room in the bedroom area of my house and in the event of someone in the house I’m hoping the dogs will notice first, then we can get into the safe room and take any actions from there if necessary.

I'm not about to play hero (no kids involved here), I have insurance for a reason, but if someone decided to try and get into the safe room that would be a different story.

Just my .02 on the topic.

billyp
 
In your situation...

...no problem. But where does the loaded gun go when you are out of the house?
I'd hate to walk in on a burglary in progress and find that I'd furnished the thieves with a loaded 12GA.
Other than that minor point, you're good to go.
Every one of the pistols in my RSL are loaded condition one.
Steve
 
I'd hate to walk in on a burglary in progress and find that I'd furnished the thieves with a loaded 12GA.
Click to expand...
Definitely something to consider, although leaving the chamber empty won't help here.

In an ideal situation, I'd keep everything loaded and securely locked up, save for the pistol on my person. My personal circumstances a don't allow this at present, so I keep my home defense gun in condition 3 on a high closet shelf (no kids normally - the gun gets locked up when the niece comes over.)

I'm not a huge fan of racking the slide (and don't use a pump-action shotgun anyhoo.) If I feel the need for a verbal warning (unlikely), I can always shout one out.

Think about the likely threats you face at home, role-play your responses, and the hardware just seems to select itself. :D Good thing to do from time to time.

- Chris
 
NO KIDS AT HOME-FIREARM SECURED WHEN COMPANY IS HERE.

I keep a Rem 870 Express 12 ga with a 20" slug barrel (with rifle sights) next to the bed. Mine is empty chamber, safety off and HAMMER DOWN. That allows me to work the slide without ANY extra movements-don't have to click the safety off and don't have to find the slide lock.

Extra ammo in a butt cuff.

A third of a second and it is ready to get loud and rambunctious if needed.

YMMV
 
...no problem. But where does the loaded gun go when you are out of the house?
I'd hate to walk in on a burglary in progress and find that I'd furnished the thieves with a loaded 12GA.
Other than that minor point, you're good to go.
Every one of the pistols in my RSL are loaded condition one.
Steve
Click to expand...

As of right now I just try to hide the firearms as best as I can. I don't have a safe yet. I own two handguns, two shotguns and one rifle. It is a much smaller collection than some here, but still enough that I don't want to get into the wrong hands.

A safe is next on my list, then I'll just simply lock them up when not at home. Soon I'll have my CCW and one of those pistols will just go with me when I leave.
 
You need to consider that shotguns do not have a firing pin safety like most pistols do these days. With a round in the chamber, it's possible that a sharp blow could fire the gun. The safety does not secure the firing pin.

I keep my Mossberg 590A1 loaded with 7 in the tube, empty chamber, safety off, hammer down. The immediate response in a crisis would be to pump the slide and pull the trigger - repeat as necessary. I figure that if I need to be silent, I just won't pump the forend. The gun is still loaded, and it only takes a fraction of a second. If I need to fire, yes, cycling the action would compromise my position, but immediately after that would follow the report of a load of Winchester 0 buck.
 
My Mossberg 590 has 8 rounds of reduced recoil #00 buckshot loaded and a side saddle in a security cabinet 5 feet from the bed. My wife and I both have rapid access pistol enclosure on the sides of the bed. It takes 1.5 seconds to open the rapid access enclosure but I leave mine open at night.

The enclosures discourage a casual bad guy from deploying my weapons against me or worrying about someone that "knows about guns" from playing with a loaded weapon.

Personally I'd leave the safety on whether it has one chambered or not, the Mossberg center safety is very easy to disengage. If you don't have time to disengage the safety the shotgun may be the wrong weapon because the BG will likely be on top of you anyway.
 
TFin04

The way you have your 12ga. "staged" is fine. In the biz we called it "patrol ready". Rounds in the tube, empty chamber, safety off. I would recommend however, never leaving it unsecurred when you're not in the home. My full size gun safe was the best $900 I ever spent. Good Luck. JMHO
 
My pump gun is loaded with the chamber empty. My #1 go-to 12 gauge is a coach gun. It's loaded with #8 AA featherweights, with the hammers down. Takes a bit of force to cock them, so I'm okay with that. If I can't fix it with two shots at close quarters of the little stuff, it's back to the bedroom and the buckshot in the pump gun...
 
Chambered on safe. I perfer the Moss 500 safety because I push it FORWARD toward the target when I shoulder it. Those left and right trigger guard gizmos confuse me which way is OFF. I shoot LH and RH.
 
My house gun is a Benelli M1S90 which I keep loaded with Hornady TAP OO. I have 6 rounds in the tube, one on the shell lifter. The gun remains under my bed in V-Line gun vault with simplex 5 button lock.

Chuck
 
Sounds like all I need now is a good gun safe, which I knew I needed anyway.

Sigh...I'll have to hold off buying that 1911 and spend that money on a safe. Oh well. :)

Thanks for the input, I will be keeping the chamber empty and safety off.
 
I keep my bedside shotgun loaded with 000Buck, slugs on the saddle, safety off, chamber empty.

When I leave the house I put a chamber lock through the receiver. Keeps the gun safe from kids.

I figure it only takes a second to rack the chamber, and it is a good audible deterrent for a potential thief.
 
I don't use a shotgun for a 'bedside' gun, but I do use a Bushmaster shorty. I keep it with a round chambered, the safety on.

I see that the old myth of 'the sound of the shotgun slide' as a 'deterent' is still alive and well.
 
Only sound someone would hear from either of my bedside guns would be a click from the shotgun, or three clicks from my revolver.

The benelli is chambered, and full tube of 00, safety on. Revolver is hammer down on an empty cylinder.
 
I do have little ones running around who are VERY interested in firearms.
"Daddy, show me the guns......Daddy, let's shoot" and he's only 2 1/2 yrs old.

I keep my Winchester Defender 1200 w/ pistol grip with a fully loaded mag tube but no round in the chamber. The safety is on, chamber empty. I just have to rack the slide and we are good to go.......forgetting to take the safety off will not be a problem.

Now, in my drawer next to the shotgun are two loaded sidearms.....a G23 and a 1911 cocked and locked.

If God forbid, anything every happens that I need to deploy those firearms in my home....I will not go down for lack of shooting back.:)
 
Sounds like we do it like many here...

Tube full, safety off, chamber empty.
 
I have my 870P "cruiser ready" Mag full minus one, chamber empty with the safety off and hammer down. That way if I need to transition to a slug it's ready to go. Or if not I'll start loading from the spare carrier.
 
El Tejon said;
No kids, the gun is hot and safety on.

Trust me when I say you do not want to be on your kitchen floor at 2:30am waiting for the back door to be kicked in or bullets to come through and be worried about giving your position away by racking the shotgun.
Click to expand...

Bad things happening in your hometown or did one of your clients get upset? ;)

Jeff
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
  • Locked
Do you REALLY want to rack a shotgun when you hear a bump in the night?
2 3 4 5
Replies
122
Views
6K
cracked butt
C
N
  • Locked
What do you do with your bedside gun?
2
Replies
25
Views
1K
brassdog
B
C
  • Locked
Top 10 Gift For shotgun owners Of the Season-- bedside shotgun rack
Replies
1
Views
658
Art Eatman
A
H
  • Locked
Racking a pump shotgun, or other alerts
2 3 4
Replies
75
Views
2K
Fred Fuller
F
D
  • Locked
Home defense...
2 3
Replies
65
Views
3K
cz75bdneos22
C
Back
Top