Bedside shotgun, chambered?

[tegemu]

Of course!!! The BG may or may not hear the "Snick" of the safety being moved to the "FIRE" position, just before he quits hearing completly and eternally.

 

[karz10]

Thinking *mostly* of the night time intruder (there's a million scenarios as we know)...

I'm curious, I hear several saying they have dogs that provide early warning/wake up, etc., do any of the posters here use security systems (please hold references to your firearm brand of choice, I mean the siren type)?

Dogs are great, and most security systems don't early warn someone simply approaching the house the way a dog would, but theoretically, if someone actually gains entrance and breaks glass in my house or opens a door in my house while I'm home, the security system will go off. Now if he's managed to find and cut the phone lines (I could pay a few bucks more for the wireless back-up every month, but one thing at a time), that won't stop the siren from going off (and I've also been thinking of adding a second hidden siren, in the event he thinks he can disable the first one, he'd be surprised to still hear it going off. This is assuming it's not a disaster where the power has been off for more than a week, and the battery back-up has been depleted (unless I get the generator that I want, but again, one thing at a time)

At any rate, my point was that I wonder if a disorienting siren might inhibit his ability to pinpoint my location even if he did hear a slide racking on the 12g?

I'll prob keep a pistol within arms reach of the bed, in a mounted , but have other uses/plans for the shotgun, depending on scenario, and who's in the house or not (wife/kids/other relatives, etc.)

BTW:

shotgunkevin: ...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 think I'd agree after recently learning that, I think that's why I'd grab the pistol first, and go to my SG next for other tactical reasons, for me personally.

VWTim: ...I have my 870P "cruiser ready" Mag full minus one, chamber empty

I noticed the 'full minus one' comment. I read somewhere I think that this is a good idea, something about springs and shells getting compressed and getting stuck at some point, leaving shell out reduces the likelihood of this happening, esp in warm/humid environments. Is that why you leave one out, or is there another reason? I'm looking at an 870 w/ 7 rd mag, so if it was safer to leave one out, I'd still have 6...just thinking

Thanks,

Karz

 

[Chupacabra]

I keep my Remington 870 cruiser ready, safety off.

6 rounds of buckshot in the magazine, 6 slugs in side saddle, and the chamber empty. I download the magazine by one just in case I need to make a slug ready first.

 

[MCgunner]

No kids, leans against an outside wall in a corner both tubes loaded and a five pack on the butt stock. No way for it to fall in a bad direction and I trust the rather stiff safety on the thing. I used to keep it unloaded, but more I thought about it, the less of a safety concern it seemed to me it was having it loaded where it's at. It is hidden, too, where you have to almost be laying on my side of the bed to see it.

 

[22-rimfire]

Loaded with one in the chamber! Safety ON.

 

[tepin]

chambered with safe on.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

Like others have said, since there is no "drop safety" (firing pin safety), chamber is empty on mine.

 

[ctdonath]

As another noted, sleepwalking - or any kind of activity where you're not fully conscious - is a risk. For me:
- a gun with a chambered round is kept in a safe (fast-open for HD)
- an unlocked HD gun is not chambered.
Either way, a rapid yet complex enough action is required that either it cannot be fired in a stupor (sleeping or inadequately awake), and the activity is long enough and noticeable enough that some part of my brain will scream "WHAT THE HE** ARE YOU DOING" in time.

The odds of needing to launch a round the instant the gun is in hand is very slim. A couple seconds of unlocking the safe or chambering a round is acceptable (given the specific situation of HD gun) for safety. Yes, there is the chance of "giving away your position"; the intruder would be VERY determined indeed to continue after hearing that sound, which will likely be from another room (short of him being in my bedroom just as I'm grabbing the gun, he won't know my exact location when he hears ca-chink).

 

[Thin Black Line]

Have never kept a bedside shotgun chambered --even when I was in Iraq.
That would have been a cot-side shotgun anyway

If you have kids in the house, the four-button access pistol safe is the way
to go.

 

[10-Ring]

My nightstand handgun is locked up loaded and my HD shotty is unloaded & secured 12 steps away in my walk in.

 

[MCgunner]

Either way, a rapid yet complex enough action is required that either it cannot be fired in a stupor (sleeping or inadequately awake),

I don't know, as much waterfowl hunting as I've done with a pump, I think I could easily jack a round in it in my sleep. 40 year habits are hard to break. I don't have a sleep walking problem, though. I tend to go comatose until the alarm rings.

 

[Striker]

House shotty is kept in cruiser ready mode. Since dogs will be making a hell of a racket already, I'm not worried about BG hearing me racking one in.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Seems like chambering a round would pretty much verify if the BG(s) are smash and grab theives (hightail it outta there), or if they are there to kill you (start towards your position you just gave away). IANAL but it seems to me like that would help your case if you DID have to let lead fly. DA or BG's relative's atty. saying you silently ambushed the BG instead of giving him a chance to run away.
In El Tejon's case I think I would have already racked the slide en route to the door being kicked in.

 

[grizz]

Tube full, chamber empty, safety off. Bandoleer of 30 more rounds just in case it's zombies.

 

[Todesengel]

Winchester 1300 defender, 1 in the chamber and 7 in the mag...the one in the chamber is target load birdshot since it doubles duty as snake killer...the rest is Winchester Ranger OO Buck low recoil load.
No Kids here so no risk of anybody touching it other then me or my wife.

 

[Oohrah]

Bedside Shotgun

When my ill tempered German Shorthair sounds off. There is
plenty of time to pick any number of ready to go, in condition one.
More likely bear looking for goodies or lion looking for one the neighbors
pet cats, so two legged varmits would most likely would get a single
visit, as it sometimes takes the law a bit of time to respond in the
country.

 

[lawson]

i got in the habit of keeping it with a loaded magazine, empty chamber, safety on. the reason was the my girlfriend at the time was afraid it would go off if she knocked it off the rack in the middle of the night.

this way i could assure her that it would have to fall in such a way where it disengages the safety, pushes the slide back and then forward, and then still land hard enough to drop the pin. it made her rest easy, and i started practicing with it that way.

pick up shotgun, disengage safety, rack slide, aim, shoot, repeat.

now, because i have practiced it til it's second nature, my bedside shotgun stays in that condition, all the time. it's locked up when i'm away, and while i sleep my carry gun rests in a holster mounted to the back of the nightstand. i'd rather not fumble around in the dark, half asleep.

 

[AStone]

Yes.

 

[Mad Chemist]

Empty chamber, full tube, and a 3watt led light with the safety off. Shotguns are not usually "drop safe" and when well worn can also "slam fire".

I also know how to unload my 870 w/out racking and ejecting all the shells. .

 

[traveler106]

Isn't it bad for the spring on the firing pin to keep a round chambered all the time, since it's constantly compressed?

I keep two rounds of 00 Buck in the tube followed by a slug, nothing in the chamber. I keep the safety on and I put a cable lock through the action when I'm not home.

A round in the chamber just seems like an unnecessary risk. Since my apartment is pretty small and I sleep with my bedroom door locked, I think I'll have plenty of time from when someone breaks in to when that person gets through my door to work the pump.

 

[shooting time]

I keep all my shotguns with one BB shot in chamber safety on follwed by 2 more BB then 00 Buck and slug
I use BB shot because it has a great shock effect. It is the same shot as a claymore mine uses

 

[WeedWhacker]

No kids here.

I keep the shotgun loaded with one full-power 1-oz slug in the chamber, safety on, and nine more slugs in the box magazine. Yes, box magazine - it's a Saiga-12 with AGParms US-made 10-round magazines. It sits on the floor, upright, wedged into a corner somewhere near the sleeping areas.

 

[ndh87]

mossberg 88, 3 in the tube, empty chamber, and i dry fire the empty chamber (i check at least twice before i dry fire) safety off. the point of dry firing the empty chamber is so that i dont have to press the little slide release lever...at 2 am im not exactly all there, at least not for a second or two

 

[rellascout]

Chambered. If I have to use it I do not plan on throwing it at the intruder.

 

[obxned]

Mags loaded, but not in gun and none in chamber, shotguns/rifles empty. We have large, load, alert dogs. Grandkids spend a lot of time here. This is the best solution for our situation.

Note: Grandkids know enough not to mess with real guns, but I don't let them play in my truck if the keys are left in the ignition.