Poll: Rack the shotgun?

[Fast Frank]

I've seen it.

You've seen it.

We have ALL seen it.

Somebody says "Rack the shotgun, the bad guys will run away."

Then, 20 people will post up with all sorts of tactical advice.

And it goes on and on and on...

Let's get to the bottom of this!

First, the rule: DO NOT VOTE FOR WHAT YOU THINK!

That's right. We've heard what everybody thinks a gazillion times.

THIS THREAD IS ABOUT WHAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE ACTUALY SEEN OR DONE!

I have attempted to make the questions fit, if your situation was different, please vote the answer that is closest to your experience.

This is a multiple choice poll. If you have had more than one experience with this, vote for as many as fit what happened to you.

PLEASE BE HONEST!

******EDIT******

I just realized that I left out a couple of situations. "I Racked the slide and then had to shoot the bad guy" and " I racked the slide and the bad guy shot me".

If that was your experience, tell us about it!

 

[Oldnamvet]

Yeah, I'll rack it ..............after the first shot.

 

[jpatterson]

I tested this theory out a couple weekends ago.

I was lying down on the couch watching tv late into the night and someone comes up and tries yanking my front door open for about 15 seconds then stops. I know all my roommates are inside the house and we aren't expecting anyone at 4am, so I grab my gun (870) and check the front door.

I open it enough to be able to clearly see two sketchy looking guys outside my apartment talking about 15 feet away from my door facing the opposite direction. I opened the door all the way and without stepping out of my actual apartment I rack the slide and load one into the tube. No response whatsoever. After maybe 10 seconds they turned around and looked at me, saw my gun and then walked away pretty quick. If their intentions were worse/hadn't seen my gun it would have been a bad night. My point: DO NOT COUNT ON THIS! While it may work for some people who register the slide being racked, SOME PEOPLE STILL WON'T! Don't take the chance! I am 100% positive these two heard it, but I don't think their brains registered the sound as a threat. That was the first and the last time I will EVER rack the slide as a defensive measure.

These two might have been high as kites/whatever the case, but I will never take a chance with that. I suggest you don't either.

 

[Goblin]

I use a SXS...no warning req'd in Tx!!!!

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Funny poll - I like it.

But I would say, heck no - you just put one of your rounds on the ground, and so you have one less shot! I for one keep my bedroom shotgun chamber-loaded.

 

[foghornl]

Racked mine ONCE as a deterent...

back door knob quit rattling around.

 

[Fast Frank]

So far, the results are interesting.

I see that74 people have viewed the poll, but only 20 votes.

Could it be that some folks are not voting because they don't like what the truth will do to the numbers?

Out of 74 views only five claim to have "Racked the slide".

Of those five, only one claims less than ideal results.

That's an 80% success rate, and no negative results.

Interesting.

 

[RetiredLawman]

I am a retired cop that never had to fire a shotgun is a takedown. However, we used them sometimes for their psychological effect. Bad guys know what racking the slide sounds like and sometimes we racked the slide when doing an entry for a search or a takedown. It always worked for us. Of course, they knew we were police officers and would not hesitiate to use the weapons. For home owners, it might not work. Dopeheads are very determined individuals when they need a fix.

 

[plumberroy]

Several years ago we live in a house with an alcove window on the side of the house I was fixing to go to bed when patsy started barking at that window. I dropped a mag in a 45 auto and hit the slide release (sound simalar to racking a shotgun. about the time it takes to get to my coon dog at a hard run she started barking ,you could follow the dogs barking down the alley as some one leaving in a hurry went by them .

 

[slow944]

Heard my driveway gates rattle one morning about 2am and saw a shadow going down the driveway to the garage, went into the den and took the shoty off the rack and "racked it" next to the window. The uninvited guest bent my gates leaving the area.

 

[SaltH2OHokie]

I voted for never done it because I didn't even shuck a shell into mine the only time I've had to grab it. Two guys came into my apartment in the wee hours of the morning, drunk and talking crap about something that they thought I, or one of my roommates, had done to them. We kept trying to get them out without escalating the situation or engaging in an argument. I told my girlfriend to call the cops (said it very loudly and deliberately) and they seemed to ignore that, so I motioned to my roommate that I was going to go to my room, he hollered at them, they looked at him, I ran to my room, one followed and when I met him in the hallway with a 26" barrel shotgun, he turned around and was hollering for his friend "HE'S GOT A GUN, HE'S GOT A GUN!!!!" and they left in a pretty big hurry.

We never figured out what they were pissed off about...figure they had the wrong apartment and just didn't know or didn't care. They weren't trying to rob us, it was like they came in looking to fight?

 

[W.E.G.]

Never done it.

But if I did have time to make sound-effects before a lethal encounter, I think I'd also make some remarks about the intruder's relations -- preferably in several languages -- just to be sure.

 

[Loosedhorse]

Safety first!

Hey, guys, remember that shotguns don't have drop safeties, and the reason we teach that you don't load the chamber until you're actually hunting (and to unload when crossing fences) is so we won't stumble and get a surpirse. What's true in the hunting field may be doubly true in a dark house at night, with the adrenaline pumping.

My advice would be if you:

a) are investigating a bump in the night, and not sure what it is, take the shot gun, but don't rack it until you've identified a target/intruder.

b) KNOW you've been invaded, rack the shotgun, get everyone into the designated safe room (usually the master bedroom), lock the door and call the police.

c) have to exit the family safe room (to locate/rescue a missing family member), leave the shotgun in the bedroom, and use a pistol: it has a drop safety, leaves one hand free (if needed), and is less likely to make a mess of a hostage in a rescue shot.

I would avoid exposing myself to attackers (going out on the front porch, racking the shotgun, and announcing, "What we have here is failure to communicate!") and any incoming fire they might decide to provide.

 

[KBintheSLC]

Never tried it. I assume it depends on a lot of things. If it a common criminal, they will likely cower and leave. If it a psychotic, delusional maniac, I doubt it scare them away.

But I would say, heck no - you just put one of your rounds on the ground, and so you have one less shot! I for one keep my bedroom shotgun chamber-loaded.

Unless you have an external hammer that you can manually drop, I don't think that is safe. Unless your shotty has a hammer or firing pin safety. Most pumps that I have used only have SAO with a trigger-only safety and no external hammer control making it very dangerous to leave one in the chamber.

 

[357wheelgunner]

Hey, guys, remember that shotguns don't have drop safeties, and the reason we teach that you don't load the chamber until you're actually hunting (and to unload when crossing fences) is so we won't stumble and get a surpirse.

Now the "tactical debate" begins....

If you follow the Big 4 Rules of Gun Safety you'll be fine, even in the unlikely occurance of a shotgun firing from impact. Never point it at anything you don't want to shoot, and keep your finger off of the trigger, and you should be just fine with a round in the chamber.

I'd prefer to be able to shoot immediately if I stumble onto some crackhead with a rusty screwdriver in my living room, as opposed to having to load my currently useless shotgun and giving him a fraction of a second to shank me a few times.

When things go bump in the night, I chamber my shotgun, quietly, in the bedroom.

 

[Titus]

Like any other defensive situation, it's one more thing that may or may not work. Some folks won't be deterred by the fact that you have a gun and some might not be deterred if you shoot them too. I know some folks want to be quiet for some element of surprise, but then a lot of folks keep their defensive shotguns in cruiser ready, so they're going to rack the slide whether they think of it as a deterrent or not.

 

[tblt]

stupid poll I won't answer

 

[KC0QGL]

In my house the only thing the BG's will hear is the safty being clicked off.

 

[H2O MAN]

"Rack The Slide"?

What slide?

 

[boomvark]

Never tried it, don't know if it works, and am unwilling to gamble my continued consumption of oxygen on the willingness--or ability--of any particular goblin to take such a subtle hint.

If "DON'T move!"--pronounced loudly, enunciated clearly, and amplified by the fact that I'm eyeballing the critter down the barrel(s) of a 12-gauge--isn't enough to make him stop what he's doing, I doubt rather seriously that any further non-physical arguments will prove persuasive.

Also, by definition, if I'm justified in displaying the weapon at all then I'm justified in using it. I hope, intensely, that I never have occasion to run this scenario for real.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

Never done it,
never hope to.

 

[onebigelf]

When my first wife and I were dating I caught some crackhead going through the back or her roommates JEEP. I'd had knee surgery and was on crutches. When I asked what he though he was doing he told me to mind my own f-ing business if I didn't want to get hurt. What was under my right arm wasn't my crutch. I racked the slide as hard as I could and he F L E W away. I mean it. I swear, he was airborne. It was amazing. I still keep my bedside Ithica with an empty chamber for that reason.

John

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

stupid poll I won't answer

Bout the only thing worse is your response saying "I won't answer" in run-on grade school fashion no less.

 

[Fast Frank]

See? this poll is producing some valuable data for sure.

83% of the responders admit that they have no experience in this matter, but they are giving advice anyway.

Of the folks that have experience with this, they are reporting an aproximate 80% success rate, and no negative results at all.

Very interesting indeed!

stupid poll I won't answer

Really. Why is it stupid?

Is there some reason why we should not discover the truth?

 

[Loosedhorse]

For the record--

My advice revolved around safety. And I have an awful lot of experience with unsafe gun behavior.

One definition of "expert" is a guy who's already made every mistake in the book. And survived to tell you about it.

I also have an incredible amount of experience avoiding shotgun fights--all of it successful so far.