Home defense...

[dxkj21]

For those who have a bedside autoloader, so you keep a round chambered? I have a CZ 75B and I leave it un-chambered with the safety off...

If I was woken up in the night and had to grab my gun, if I didnt have time to chamber a round, then I probably wouldnt have time to wake up enough to use the gun anyway.... let alone get the safety off

Plus Id imagine if someone stumbled onto the gun (no kids around but lets say one was visiting and ran off and found it somehow) it would be much harder for a child to chamber a round than to click the safety off


comments?

 

[junyo]

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.

That said, I don't have kids, so I'm not sure how much safety/edge one would sacrifice for their welfare.

 

[dxkj21]

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.

That said, I don't have kids, so I'm not sure how much safety/edge one would sacrifice for their welfare.

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

 

[Lupinus]

I keep a semi auto loaded on my lamp (have onea them lamps with a table type things for a nightstand) with a round chambered and the safty on.

On a high risk night (been a sudden increase in breakins latly, halloween, after a bad storm, etc) I also keep my winchester 30-30 loaded and on the wall next to my bed.

 

[Biker]

Actually, a Glock 23 is close to my bed and there is nothing in the chamber. If it is on my person, it is always 'cocked and locked'. As soon as I take it off, the chamber is cleared. Other weapons are nearby also, including revolvers. However, having fired both auto loaders and revolvers indoors without ear protection, I will reach for my Glock everytime. A short-barreled revolver, when touched off indoors, is so loud as to feel like you've just been punched. It's very disorienting. The auto loader is, in comparison, manageable.
Biker

 

[mr.trooper]

Ditto.

.357 HD ammo, fired indoors, makes my ears ring even WITH shooting muffs.

That being said, untill youv actualy fired your gun indoors with no hearing prtection, youl have no clue how loud it will be when the time comes.

 

[junyo]

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

Personally yes. The act of racking the slide, no. But racking the slide is a two handed operation, versus the onehanded operation of grasp-flick off safety-aim, which means you need to include the time required to get both hands free. So I'd guess that extricating both hands from sheets/blankets/bedclothes/significant other would take longer, and every bit of time you can give yourself helps.

 

[Can'thavenuthingood]

Get a revolver and keep it loaded forever next to the bed, it will always be ready.

Then you could fight your way to the semi-auto and rifle.

Always loaded (hic),

Vick

 

[el44vaquero]

I have an old Colt 1911 that I keep near me. I do not keep one chambered. I want to be awake enough to rack the slide. Nothing like a bad dream that you swear is real and end up shooting the dog. Besides, racking the slide get me into a "lock and load" mind set.

 

[f4t9r]

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

 

[Alex45ACP]

I don't, I move around a lot when I'm asleep and worried about NDs. If you feel that half a second it takes to chamber a round might not be available if you need it, maybe you should beef up your perimeter defenses

 

[dxkj21]

I have an old Colt 1911 that I keep near me. I do not keep one chambered. I want to be awake enough to rack the slide. Nothing like a bad dream that you swear is real and end up shooting the dog. Besides, racking the slide get me into a "lock and load" mind set.

My point exactly! I understand it might take two hands... but if Im not able to do that, I shoudlnt be allowed to operate the gun anyway....

I do understand there is a chance that they could already be in the room with you, but Im a heavy sleeper, only way i wake up is if my wife wakes me up

 

[jpIII]

The biggest danger I see about leaving chamber empty is if in the heat of the moment with adrenalin pumpin etc, you "short stroke" and don't actually chamber a round. (or it jams etc)
If that happens, and you do need to use that weapon, it will be the loudest "click" you've ever heard. (and possibly the last sound you hear as well)

I suggest getting comfortable/proficient enough with your firearm so that this worry is mitigated.

 

[Sinsaba]

... If you feel that half a second it takes to chamber a round might not be available if you need it, maybe you should beef up your perimeter defenses

You have a point, I should, I will. However, I'll all the half seconds I can get. I've got a Glock, ready to go.

 

[Zundfolge]

If there's a magazine in any one of my guns the magazine is loaded full.

If there's a magazine in any one of my guns the chamber is loaded.

You see a gun in my house with a magazine in it you KNOW its loaded +1


Consistancy helps to prevent mistakes. So no matter whether your bedside gun has a loaded chamber or not, pick a way and stick with it.



Aside from the time it takes to rack the slide, you also give up your position when you rack the slide. BG breaks into house ... you hear the breakin and hear him sneeking around the house. You rack the slide and now he knows exactly where you are (may even fire at the noise).

 

[Hardware]

If you're worried about it get an auto with a grip safety. I'm too tired right now to think straight but NJ troopers used to use a Sig I think that had a grip coker on the front of the grip.

Bleh! Too tired to check on it now. Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?

 

[browningguy]

EAA Witness PS, cocked and locked, the way Mr. Browning intended it.

 

[Mauserguy]

I keep the pipe empty as well, thought I use a 1911. I like the 75Bs, I have two, but my one criticism of them is that the slide serations are so narrow that it is easy to allow them to slip from under your grasp. It would be very easy to short stroke the slide.
Mauserguy

 

[sm]

My firearms used for CCW and Home/ Office defense are loaded with one in the chambler - always.

Revolvers have full cylinders. Shotguns have one in the Chamber and if using a Lever action 30-30 - yep that one has one chambered as well. Did the same with a model 70 in '06.

Semis? I shot my first 1911 at age 6. I was taught Cocked & Locked and when there was a 1911 at the house, it was cocked and locked. I was that young and yes many times that gun stayed in my room.

I had my own ,22 revolver, it was waiting for me to be born, It was always kept loaded.

I know for a fact how quick a situation can occur and the need to use a firearm can happen. I have used my .22 revolver as a kid to stop an immediate threat. When brick bats are breaking in your front door and the BGs are gaining entry, and you have younger sibs to be responsible for...is not the time to be fiddlin' with getting a gun up and running.

I have grabbed that 1911, or K frame revolver, even a 30-30 in times of 'immediate need'. I was yet a teenager.

Training. I was taught and trained young. 4Rules of Safety, NO mechanical device is to be depended on.

Kids in the house? Wear the gun on your hip , with one in the chamber. When in bed, and kids prone to come into your room, use a Simplex handgun safe. Have the long guns behind a key locked something - easiley accesssible and loaded - ready to go.

The most dangerous thing in a house is an unloaded gun- Mark Twain.

 

[jashobeam]

Aside from the time it takes to rack the slide, you also give up your position when you rack the slide. BG breaks into house ... you hear the breakin and hear him sneeking around the house. You rack the slide and now he knows exactly where you are (may even fire at the noise).

This is a very good point!!

Aside from both the noise and the time involved to rack the slide is the visible movement. Imagine waking up with a stranger's silhouette in your bedroom doorway. I want to be able to ease one hand, still under the covers, over to my loaded Glock, which I keep tucked-in next to me, and get it pointed at the BG before he even knows I'm awake. My Glock 17 is kept fully loaded in a Bianchi soft leather holster so that I can't accidentally stick my finger inside the trigger guard. I would have to undo a single snap in order to gain access to the trigger. I think from now on I will leave the snap undone. I'm glad this thread brought this oversight to my attention.

 

[Biker]

Good God. I thought that I had lived a comparatively dangerous life to most, but apparantly, I've been sheltered and tactically, I am, as they say, 'lacking'.
Someday, sleeping without my G23 under the pillow, cocked and locked and with my finger on the trigger, is gonna result in the death of me and my loved ones.
I must re-evaluate my defensive posture....

Biker

 

[benEzra]

For those who have a bedside autoloader, so you keep a round chambered? I have a CZ 75B and I leave it un-chambered with the safety off...

If I was woken up in the night and had to grab my gun, if I didnt have time to chamber a round, then I probably wouldnt have time to wake up enough to use the gun anyway.... let alone get the safety off

Plus Id imagine if someone stumbled onto the gun (no kids around but lets say one was visiting and ran off and found it somehow) it would be much harder for a child to chamber a round than to click the safety off

Junyo nailed it, IMO. The main drawback to not having a round chambered isn't time, it's the fact that it takes two hands. When the other hand might need to be holding a flashlight, helping you get out of bed, or (worst hypothetical case) grappling with the guy who just jumped you. Though the likelihood of not being able to use both hands is actually low, I'm sure.

As far as unsecured access--if that's even a worry, I'd get a $19.95 pistol lockbox from Wal-mart and bolt it to your headboard or nightstand to keep the gun in when it's not within your arm's reach. Maybe an unauthorized person handling a loaded pistol in Condition Three is slightly less dangerous than handling same pistol in Condition Two, but the main danger in this scenario comes from the fact that the unauthorized person in question is handling your LOADED GUN to start with. Personally, I keep a round chambered and lock it away securely when it's not in use or on my person, but your situation may vary.

 

[38SnubFan]

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

When it is kept loaded, though, the magazine is full and a round is in the chamber.

Either way, a loaded .38 revolver is always at ready underneath the bed. It's as simple as reach over, slip hand under bed, and gun is at hand.

Then again, it's just me, myself, and I these days in my "bachelor pad".

When I'm not in bed, it's on the hip or within arms' reach.

-38SnubFan

 

[raghorn]

I have three dogs in the house, so surprise is not an issue; if anybody comes to visit after bedtime we'll be wide awake. At night the BHP is kept condition 3 and the 20 gauge is unloaded and easily accessible.

 

[Fido]

Your last seconds

There are limitless scenerios to train for in the defence of your home. One of the most important to train for is the one you are talking about.

Waking up from a deep sleep, to a stranger standing over your bed.

First, some assumptions are made. There is no early warning system in your house, no alarm, no dog, just you. Maybe more like a hotel room scenario.
Now lets start with weapons placement when you are asleep.
The nightstand is NOT the place for your firearm and flashlight. Too exposed and too accessable to the offender. Instead keep your handgun and flashlight on the FLOOR right next to or just under the bed and covered with a newspaper or magazine.
Now if you wake up to the offender next to your bed, and havent already been knifed, clubbed or shot roll off the side of the bed toward the offender and retreive your weapon. If its not your drunken neighbor or your youngest son, FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE.