Home defense...

[Carl N. Brown]

Loaded .38 (snub barrel, handful grips) behind a 2 cell Maglight,
in the headboard instantly accessible but not visible to an intruder;
cell phone charging on the night stand; fire extinguisher on the
floor beside the bed. Better'n'a teddy bear for security.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

My HD gun is a Ruger P90DC with loaded mag and a round in the chamber, hammer down with the safety off. Right next to the Ruger is a Surefire G2 for positive target identification, which will also temporarily blind anyone who's eyes are adapted to the dark.

I don't want to have to make any noise to ready the gun to fire.

 

[45+]

I keep a Glock 27 (with mepros, easy to see when in bed but not otherwise) with full mag and loaded chamber, G2 or 6P, and spare mag on headboard. Cell phone charging next to above.

I trained my 13-year-old son so that he has known for years how to handle (and use) a loaded weapon, and if it is on me, on wifey, or on the headboard, it is loaded and ready for use.

If I were not comfortable with a semi with a round in the chamber, I personally would change to a revolver, but I want it ready to use. YMMV.

Good shootin'....

 

[ka50]

Round chambered always. Bedside, carry, going to/from range.

Basically 24/7, except when I clean it or rotate ammo. Keep in mind though that my pistol is double-action only with 8lb trigger (kel-tec p11), so it's made to have round chambered.

If you ever have to use your gun, you will NOT have the time to chamber a round. When adrinealine is high and your hands are shaking, racking a slide might prove to be challenging. And each split second you spend racking the slide, is a split second given to whoever is trying to kill you.

 

[one45auto]

Provided you have good perimeter security there should be ample time to chamber a round, so leaving the pistol in Condition Three shouldn't pose a problem.

I keep my Glock 19 ready to rock and roll at all times. Same goes for my Smith & Wesson snub.

 

[Dick Dart]

I agree with Vick on the revolver. You can leave it loaded forever without worry of magazine spring fatigue and it is ready to go. I have my H&K on the dresser and the other weapons are within easy access. Of course I have no children in the house so the child/loaded weapon combination isn't a factor.

 

[RiverwinoIA]

there is no such thing as "magazine spring fatigue" with modern springs. the only thing that fatigues them is loading/unloading them. keep them loaded and they are fine.

i keep cellphone on charger, streamlight scorpion, and fire extingisher on nightstand. rifle behind bed, unloaded with 2 mags attached to stock. once i get a handgun, it will be kept in a bedside holster with the flashlight. loaded, no safety (glock or kahr).

 

[308win]

An unloaded gun is merely an expensive and not very utilitarian club. What are you going to do with it, throw it at'm to gain time?

 

[The-Fly]

my glock 17 is loaded and chambered 24/7. Otherwise its a useless club.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

IMHO, a weapon that you intend to use should be ready to use at all times. On the street, in the den, in the bedroom. It's not a game, where the clock only starts once you've chambered a round.

I've never understood the concept of "a pistol should always have a round in the chamber" argument. I think it all comes down to training, situation and expectations.

Why is "cruiser-ready" OK for shotguns? What's the difference?

 

[Mulliga]

Why is "cruiser-ready" OK for shotguns? What's the difference?

I asked this same question.

Shotguns, ARs, AKs, etc. usually do not have any kind of firing pin or drop safeties, so that's one argument against having one in the pipe, I suppose. Additionally, using a shotgun or a carbine for HD assumes you have two hands available anyway, so the whole "need two hands to rack a slide" issue goes out the window. Finally, unless you find a way to keep your long gun within arms' reach when you sleep in your bed, you probably will have to get up to get it anyway (from your closet, or your safe, or the place where you propped it up or set it down, etc.).

 

[Tokugawa]

Buy time. Reinforce your bedroom door. I have woken up to four drunk armed intruders beside my bed.. I have learned this lesson. Reinforce your bedroom door. Reinforce your bedroom door. Rei.............

 

[TOADMAN]

S&W 640 or 60 - Crimson Trace Laser grips loaded with Winchester 145 grain 357 magnum silvertips - my answer the door at night gun. Wilson Scattergun BoarderPatrol 870 loaded with #1 buck or 00 buck hangs out around the house 100% of the time.

 

[Podster]

My vote is be consistent. A shooter will always revert to training under stress, if you carry cocked and locked in daytime conditions, sleep ~ cocked and locked too. If you drill with chamber empty ~ sleep the same.

 

[Pilot]

Auto with nothing in the chamber everything in the clip
I will take my chances with that for now

revolver is a good way to go , My next purchase prob

I don't see the difference between a loaded revolver and a loaded DA semi-auto. The first trigger pull is the same on the DA semi-auto and the revolver.

I keep a loaded (one in the Chamber, hammer down) CZ-75B next to my bed. If I hear a bump in the night, I get the flashlight first, gun second.

 

[cxm]

Time to Chamber a Round

Aside from the actual time to chamber a round, you also face the question of what happens if you ride the slide (easy to do half asleep) and jam the gun?

Most guns were designed to be cocked and locked... why mess with success?

V/r

Chuck

I understand that... but you would consider chambering a round to take signficantly longer than clicking off a safety?

 

[loose cannon]

ive heard of incidences of nd's caused by fumbleing a chambered glock and hitting the trigger.i keep my chamber loaded glock17 in a kydex holster on the floor by the bed.

with the perimiter defenses in my home ill have plenty of time to shuck a holster off and grab my 6p.

 

[AStone]

chambered in DAO

9 mm K9 sleeps under the pillow, wedged between mattress & headboard, bottom of pistol grip sticking out by 1/2".

It's got 1 in the pipe & 6 more in the mag.

I'm a light sleeper. Several times per night, when rolling over,
I fondle...er, check to make sure it's still there.

There are multiple locked doors between me and 'outside'.

Soon, an 870P will be just above me, with ... see above, only with less in the mag.

If I wake to the sound of someone in my sleeping space,
I trust myself implicitly (because I know myself well) to know if it's a lover or a bg.
And, I'm not interested in having to chamber one. That's why DAO is relevant.

Remember: I'm a light sleeper,
and I trust myself implicitly.
I've done it that way for many years.

Your mileage may vary.

Nem

 

[benEzra]

I usually keep the autoloader unloaded at night (to keep the mag spring from premature wear-out).

Actually, it's cycling the springs from long to short to long to short that causes metal fatigue, not storing them compressed, unless the metal is stored at a high enough temperature to anneal the metal (i.e., don't put a loaded magazine in a 550-degree oven).

Once the spring is compressed, any fatigue that's going to happen has happened; it doesn't matter how long the spring "sits" in the compressed state, it's the act of compressing it that fatigues it.

SO, unloading your magazines every night and reloading them the next morning is arguably harder on the springs than leaving them loaded. Though neither should wear out a quality spring.

 

[DirksterG30]

If I have a gun on me, either as a CCW or for home defense, it is fully loaded. As Podster said, be consistent. Plus, I can't guarantee that I will have 2 hands available to rack the slide.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

For those who have a bedside autoloader, so you keep a round chambered?


I keep a 1911 in the night table, mag in, unchambered. I have motion detectors on the outside lights and an alarm on the doors and windows. I believe I have sufficient warning to chamber a round prior to any possible confrontation.
FWIW
YMMV

 

[Erinyes]

I keep all of my HD weapons loaded and chambered. The BHP and M14 are both cocked & locked, and the Walther is chambered, hammer down, and safety off. I can bring any one them into play quickly.

 

[No_Brakes23]

I keep my 1911 in a retention holster like so:

10+1 ready to go within arms reach.

I can vary the tension with the allen screw. I can get the pistol out, but my wife cannot, and neither can my kids. First thing in the morning, it goes back into the safe. It is never in the holster without me right next to it.

I know I can thumb off the safety as I pull it out, and I can do it one handed. Working the slide while in a daze would be more of a challenge.

Besides, external safety SA autoloaders are meant to be carried cocked and locked.

Perhaps a Gun Vault would be a better solution for you?

 

[No_Brakes23]

I keep all of my HD weapons loaded and chambered.

It is my understanding that some weapons have trigger safeties instead of firing pin safeties, and this increases the risk of a ND. So I keep the 870 with a full mag and round on the lifter with the pump back. If I pick it up by the pump it will be 7+1.

(And yes I realize that for the trigger safety to fail I would have to drop the weapon on its muzzle, pretty much.)

 

[Curare]

Why are people using pistols for HD over a shotgun? A relatively weak pistol over the most devastating CQB weapon where concealment is not an issue?