How to hide HD shotgun?

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Win_SX-1

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I'm looking for suggestions on how to hide a HD shotgun in the bedroom. I might soon be able to acquire a Remington 870 (20" barrel; wooden stock) from my father-in-law to supplement my 9mm handgun for home defense. The handgun is in a drawer safe next to my side of the bed. The shotgun at around 41" in length is a bit more difficult to hide.

With young children in the house, my wife is not too happy about having a loaded weapon in plain view. Please note that she is not anti-gun, and supports my having the shotgun for HD - just not so the kids (ours or their friends) can find it accidentally. And as we don't live in a high crime area, I'm probably being over cautious in the first place.

To me, an unloaded HD shotgun is about as useful as a club or a baseball bat. In a home invasion situation, I don't know how fast I can load the shells - however much I practice, I will admit that I'll probably be scared and be much slower in the real situation. I cannot hide it under the bed - we have one with drawers underneath, none large enough. The wardrobe is across the room and I have to go past the door to the bedroom to get there - possible, but not the best in a tactical situation.

I don't really want to alter the 870, so I'm not looking to replace the wooden stock for a folding one or something like that. I do plan on using the gun for hunting with a different barrel.

So I'm looking for suggestions or ideas. Right now, I'll probably put it in the wardrobe and hope that I never have to use it! Or if I have to, I have the time to go get it.

Thanks.

Win_SX-1
 
How old are your kids and what is the age range of their friends? It might make a difference. If your kids are 35-years-old, for example, you might be able to tell them to leave your shotgun alone and make it stick by telling them that if they don't do that you'll require them to move out and get jobs. But if your kids are 9-years-old that might not work.

You noted that because you don't live in a high crime area you might be over-cautious in taking precautions to defend your home against the possibility of home invasion. Could be. You might want to wait until a better class of home invaders reaches your neighborhood.

That's the way some people feel about insurance, by the way. Because they haven't died yet they see no need for life insurance; because their home hasn't yet burned to the ground they feel no urgency about adequate fire insurance; and because they're really careful when driving, follow all the traffic rules, and stay out of bad neighborhoods they're sure that automobile insurance is for lesser mortals. Can't argue with complacency or denial. :)

Some of us, though, have a slightly different way of thinking about self-defense, the possible need to respond to an unlikely home invasion, and other forms of insurance. We don't think the perils are likely and we do all we can to avoid them, of course, and then we insure against possible losses that are unpredictable and unavoidable.

I don't know about you but if I have advance notice that my home is going to be invaded, I'd be somewhere else at the time. My reason for that shotgun would be as a last ditch potential life-saver in the unlikely event that the worst happens. I'm not really big on betting the odds that nothing will or can happen to me or my family, mostly because the losses would be more than I could bear. I also don't need or expect a guarantee that my last best chance will work. If it just might work that's good enough. But that's just me.
 
Age is a big decider. I used to leave my 229 on top of my TV until I saw my 3yo use a dog leash to fish toys off of the top of it. Now it's in the top of a closet when not on me.

My buddy has two large wallhanging hooks inside his closet, above the door. His shotgun resides on those hooks. To retrieve it, he reaches in and up into his closet and it is there. Well hidden and fast.
 
As the parent of three little kids, and a former teacher at both elementary and secondary levels, my advice on hiding any weapon is...don't!!! Don't trust that you are smarter than your kids, or that they won't find something by accident when playing hide and seek in Daddy's closet (little) or swiping a few bucks from the old man's wallet for beer money (big). If you want to keep a loaded shotgun safe and secure, but readily accessible, use a solid trigger lock (and try really hard to fire the gun with the lock attached to be sure that it works) and keep the key around your neck. A cable type lock in the feed port and out the ejection port works well, too. If you keep your handgun in a locked drawer safe, clearly a shotgun deserves at least the same prudence.
 
When the latest generation of McC's were small, the HD 870 was kept inside a closet hung from a couple pegs at the top. It took a 6 footer to reach it there. And with it hung on the wall above the door, it could not be seen from outside the closet.

When kept with action locked closed, chamber empty, safety on, mag loaded, an 870 or similar shotgun is nigh impossible to get a round fired by kids or unknowing adults.

Since WW is vertically challenged, she had her Colt Trooper in a little Cannon gun safe at floor level.
 
I agree

Keeping a loaded shotgun hidden is asking for trouble if kids are in the house. I would hang it up as others have said or keep it in a lock box. Tons of little kids get shot after finding a loaded gun under the bed, couch, etc. Kids are very smart and will get into everything.

HB
 
Take a look at http://www.mossberg.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=97 . Should cost about $40 to get one, I called to check and Mossberg sells them direct through the 800 number listed on this page.

You can hide it behind a curtain or mount it behind a door that is usually open, hide it inside a closet or whatever you want.

Put the key on your keyring, unlock the box at night/when you go to bed and leave your keys in the lock. That will remind you to lock it up when you leave in the morning... you'll need your keys and they'll be in the lock that needs locking.

lpl/nc
 
Robert Hairless said:

If your kids are 35-years-old, for example, you might be able to tell them to leave your shotgun alone and make it stick by telling them that if they don't do that you'll require them to move out and get jobs.
Click to expand...

LOL!!! That was very funny . . . :D
 
Put the key on your keyring, unlock the box at night/when you go to bed and leave your keys in the lock. That will remind you to lock it up when you leave in the morning... you'll need your keys and they'll be in the lock that needs locking.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I do with the small personal safe I have on my nightstand where I keep my handgun. It's an electronic pushbutton safe, but also has a key lock on it.

You could also do this with a metal gun cabinet like the Stack-on ones as well, like this one. It's not secure enough to keep a determined thief out, but enough to keep curious kids out.
 
That Mossberg Lock Box seems the most practical I have seen.

It would be more practical if the lock was a touch pad or simplex.

I think the smartest way to use it would be to keep the key in the same quick-access safe your 9mm resides.
 
God, those wonderful little ones can just about figure out every place. Hard call. Clamped and [I mean clamped good] over the inside of the closet door up high and in the middle or locked up. Shells not with gun when gone. Don't have kids, but I use to be one.
 
The Long Gun Vault is no longer being made. Gunvault stopped. For a while a company in Ca had some left, with no warrantee (as Gunvault no longer provided service, as I understood it). I bought two. I do not have the info on where I got them, and it was about 2-3 years ago. I love mine, and you may be able to google around and still find some tucked away somewhere. It was my solution to the problem described in this thread.

The Mossberg LocBox looks like a great alternative, and I love the idea of putting the key to it on your truck key ring and locking it when you go to work. Easy to remember, like lugging in your cell phone at night, etc. Looks like you could screw it into the flooring under the bed as well as on a wall.

Good answers in this thread.

Steve
 
Thanks for the suggestions

Thank you everyone for the ideas and suggestions. My daughter is 4 and son is 14 months, but I'm thinking of the next few years. Once they are older, I will teach them about gun safety and that guns are just tools and not evil ... as often portrayed in the press or by Hollywood :cuss:. But I still won't put a loaded weapon in any child's hands without supervision.

I'm starting to re-think the idea of having the loaded shotgun hidden. As many suggested, if I keep my handgun in a safe, I should have the same precautions for the shotgun. I will probably invest in some sort of safe that I can install in the wardrobe and have the handgun as my primary HD weapon until I can get the shotgun ... if I need it. And like any insurance, it is something that I should have but hope that it is never needed.
Thanks again
Win_SX-1
PS - The Winchester SX Model 1 is safely locked away in the basement gunsafe and totally out of reach for home defense.
 
My daughter is 4 and son is 14 months, but I'm thinking of the next few years. Once they are older, I will teach them about gun safety and that guns are just tools and not evil ... as often portrayed in the press or by Hollywood . But I still won't put a loaded weapon in any child's hands without supervision.
Click to expand...

Good thinking all around, in my opinion. Parenting starts with protecting when the kids need it and continues with enabling so that they become increasingly able to take care of themselves. Then mom and dad have raised competent adults.
 
My girlfriends parents have a scatter gun between the bed and the wall. unless you know it is there you would never see it. And the kids know what it is for and they know they will be in deep s**t if they touch it. The gun isnt loaded but her parents have an alarm system so they would have a warning if it ever needed to be loaded up.

The youngest is 4 and while I was babysitting one day he found one of those toy guns that looks like a nickel plated 6 gun. He came inside and told me he found a gun and wanted to know if it was real so I went outside with him and he showed me exactly where he found it. He didnt even touch it! They are trained well
 
Gosh, when I was young, parents (imagine that, two of them) gunproofed their children. I knew where my father kept his gun, and knew what would happen to my backside should I mess with it.

In our little town of 500, Dad was the chief of the volunteer fire department, and fire calls came through to my home. There was a button mounted very high on the wall above the telephone. The button sounded the fire alarm that would sound to summon all able-bodied males from miles around. As a child, I was told, in no uncertain means, that if I ever pushed that button, the volunteer FD would take turns paddling my tender little tush. I never touched, nor was tempted to push that button. I knew what would happen to me, and understood the consequences. Yet I was trained, should I be home alone, and a fire call come through, I would push that button to summon the FD.

Children aren't stupid, dumb, nor cunning. They need to know the lay of the land, what happens if they make large mistakes. Guns in a household needn't be, nor should be mysterious, tantalizing objects. Children should have explained to them, in no uncertain terms, just what firearms are, and why children aren't to mess with them. It's important to demonstrate to a child just what immense damage a firearm can perform. Children will grok, will understand powers beyond their means, and will leave them alone.
 
Get the gun in camo and hide it in the plant stand ! :evil:

OK - OK - I was just in a mood ! :p
 
Good parenting

Husker1911,
I understand totally. Growing up, I was spanked only a few times, but the threat was more than enough to keep me in line. Don't get me wrong, I was no angel and I probably pushed as mush as I could, but I always knew where the line was drawn. My parents being disappointed in me was the worst punishment ever!

Now that I'm a dad myself, I've grown to appreciate what a great father my own Dad is. If I do half as good a job as he did, I'll consider myself a success. Thank you for reminding me - I need to call him and tell him I love him.

I will bring up our kids with the same morals, ethics and especially manners that I and my wife were taught. It may be old fashioned in todays world, but I don't care. And they will be taught not to touch a gun unless my wife or I are present ... or if they are with someone we have have told them is okay. I suspect that most people in this forum think like me - pity that a lot of the rest of the world does not.

I still think it will be prudent for me to lock away all my loaded guns. If I need to, I believe that I can unlock a gun safe / cabinet much quicker than I can load shells into an unloaded shotgun.
 
You don't have to hide it from them 24/7, get it out and sit it by the bed when you go to sleep and lock it up when you wake up. It will never be more than a few feet from you when it is unlocked.
 
Hide in plain sight:
DSC_3969.jpg
 
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