L.e. Shotgun Safety Usage

[AQUINAS]

I am a firearms instructor for a state law enforcement agency. I am interested in opinions concerning when officers should be trained to use the safety on the standard Remington 870 Police Shotgun during movement with the shotgun during tactical situations, e.g. felony takedown, etc.

The following considerations should be kept in mind. 1.- Officers are only mandated to train 2 times a year. 2. These officers are not "S.W.A.T. types

Thank you for your constructive advice.

 

[Preacherman]

Welcome to THR, Aquinas. As a pastor, I appreciate the username...

I'd suggest that they should not use the safety at all, but rather have the shotgun "cruiser ready" - magazine loaded, chamber empty, safety off, action unlocked. They can move easily enough like this, and it's a matter of half-a-second to pump the action while raising the shotgun to the shoulder. If they have good reason to suspect the presence of an armed opponent, then the shotgun should be loaded and ready to go, chamber full, safety off, but finger off the trigger, and the shotgun carried at "high ready" or "low ready" (depending on department policy). If they have to put the shotgun down, then the safety can be applied before doing so.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

Personally, i think the gun should have a round chambered ASAP after the officer leaves the car. the safety should be on during movement, and should be taken off as the weapon is brought from the ready position.


I don't know how feaseable this is with the safety location on the 870, however.

 

[Jeff White]

AQUINAS,

Chamber a round when exiting the car, safety on. Safety on during movement. Safety off as you bring the weapon to bear at the target. It's not the easiest with the 870 due to the location of the safety but can be trained.

How long are your twice a year training sessions? I know that most agencies (mine included) get almost no training with the shotgun. I'd dedicate more time to weapons manipulation withe the shotguns then I would to shooting. Try to develop as much familiarity with the controls as possible.

Louis Awerbuck said it's working the controls of the shotgun that will mess you up, not the shooting (that's paraphrased from his initial briefing at Stage 1 shotgun) and he's right. Try to design some drills that are heavy on manipulating the controls along with the shooting. Things like fire two rounds, weapon to low ready, safety on, move to next target, weapons up, safety off, fire two more, load, low ready safety on, move again.

I think it would be much more effective to train that way then simply firing so many bird shot, slugs and 00.

Jeff

 

[Dave McCracken]

Amen to Jeff, and welcome.

A couple things from a former Correctional Instructor....

I hope your dept mandates carrying them safety on, full mag, empty chamber, and locked shut. This cuts down on accidents, but the weapon can be made ready in a twinkling by those who know how.

Equally important to making ready is SAFELY making it unready. After action,the safety has to be out on and the slide must be unlocked and cycled to remove the round in the chamber and the round shucked from the mag and on the carrier. Turning the weapon onto the strong side and catching the rounds in the right hand will do this. Then, close the action and reload the loose rounds.

Since these troops are probably not recreational shotgunners, emphasize that the safety goes off when firing is imminent and ONLY then. It's reapplied for moving and when firing is not imminent. Trigger discipline is essential.

HTH....

 

[AQUINAS]

additional clarification

Our agency mandates the shotgun be carried in "Cruiser Condition": Four rounds of OO buck in the magazine, empty chamber, slide foreward, action unlocked.

We are mandated to train 2 times a year for approximately 6 hours each for a total of 12 hours a year.

This time is mainly spent on pistol work, actual shotgun training regretably gets neglected and only an hour or two max is spent on it.

 

[Tracy Hightower]

My opinion is that when not in hand the the shotgun should be in Cruiser Ready (Loaded magazine, empty chamber, safety off, action closed, hammer down). When in hand it should have a loaded chamber with safety on ready for use. The main point I wish to make is that Shotgun safeties only block the trigger and not the hammer and this should always be in mind, especially when using a shotgun in a dynamic situation.