Question for people who have a HD Shotgun

[coldfusion167]

I was curious about how you guys store your home defense shotguns at night when you go to sleep. Do you keep some shells by your side? Some in the gun? Not loaded? Some in the magazine?

I am very curious as to the best way to keep the gun and ammo during the night - God forbid an intruder tries to break in your home.

I have a Mossberg 500.

Thanks guys!

[hogdogs]

*LEGAL DISCLAIMER.... DO NOT TAKE THIS AS ADVICE!!!!
I keep mine loaded fully, 5 in the tube and one in the pipe safety on... 18 inch barrel standard stock mossberg 500 in 20 gauge.... This pic is already posted on TFL...
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b8...g/P1010020.jpg
No extra shells on standby normally but out of laziness there could be some left on the night stand...
Brent

[kymasabe]

My Mossberg 500 is loaded with three rounds of buckshot, nothing in the chamber, safety on. It rests on two pegs above my walk-in closet door, inside the closet, out of view, above where my kids can reach, but handy to get to if I need it.
The sound of a pump shotgun racking a round into the chamber can be a very intimidating sound so I prefer to leave the chamber empty.
My kids are 9 and 12, both shoot, know the 4 rules of gun safety, so there is no "curiousity" concern.
I also have my .38 on my night stand in a small biometric gun safe, loaded, with 2 full speed loaders in there with it.

[Slopemeno]

Magazine full- hammer down on an empty chamber. Safety off. 00 Buckshot.

If you have to roll out of bed at 4:15 am and respond with your shotgun, it's very natural to go from a safe, ND resistant state to as-ready-as-it-can-be.
It also works if you have to work from your weak side as well.

[hogdogs]

I assure you if momma hogdogs wakes me up with a whispered..."I hear some one at/in or near the house" I am up and chipper instantly but when I just wake up I ain't nuttin' without my coffee... go figure
Brent

[T.A.Sharps]

Originally Posted by kymasabe

The sound of a pump shotgun racking a round into the chamber can be a very intimidating sound so I prefer to leave the chamber empty.

Or it just tells the intruder to start shooting first.

I think if you have to worry about an intruder that has the intent to kill, a shotgun racking will just tell him where to shoot, and when to shoot.

What would you do if you heard the intruder rack a shot gun, shoot, wait, or surrender?

It may work on an intruder who is not intent on killing someone tonight, just wants to take your TV.

I've never had to shoot anyone in the dark, so this is all just speculation of course.

How you stow your shotgun depends on your situation, how badly you need to have it accessible vs who you have to worry about finding it. If it is only you in your place, sleep with it above your bed on a rack if you want. Just hope you don't sleep walk.

[guntotinguy]

I have a Mossberg 500a tactical loaded with 00 buck,in the closet near the right side of my bed...roll and grab if need be,I also have a saiga 12 converted,loaded with 00 buck and it has a 'special close place' near my headboard...again just in case.

[lowracer]

12 ga pump, 00 buck - 7 in tube, safety on.

I thought about keeping extra shells handy but figure if I ever have a problem that 7 shots of 00 buck won't cure, I'm reaching for the silver cross and wooden stake.

[Dave McC]

My HD 870 holds 6 in the tube. It is loaded with 5, leaving room for a slug if needed and giving the spring a break. Action's locked,chamber's empty, safety on. I can make it ready in a twinkling, but kids or ignorami will have a hard time making it fire at all.

As far as the rack scaring the perp, he'll be scared for maybe .5 seconds. After that,he will not care one whit.

[dabigguns357]

I keep my mossberg loaded at all times,as some will disagree with,managed recoil 2 3/4 slugs.The only thing i have to do is flip the safty off and fire.This is the rig i keep next to the bed for those pesky night time bumps.For the kids i just keep the bedroom door locked at all times.

[FyredUp]

Wow, where do you guys live that you need cocked and locked shotguns by the bed AND loaded pistols too?

[rem870hunter]

i sleep with my bedroom door locked,shotgun on the bed next to me sometimes. i normally don't have company, bed hurts her back (i call bs). if not on the bed, leaning against closet door within reach of the bed. with 4 in the mag on an empty chamber with 5 more on the buttcuff. 6v flashlight on the nightstand.

[New_Pollution1086]

my house unloaded in the closet, idiot roommates, and i dont ever sleep there.

my girlfriends loaded none in the whole locked under the bed. no one will mess with it there

T

[hogdogs]

Fryed up, I keep my gun like this so I do not have to make any noise chambering a round. same for my little .22 pistol in Homer's mouth. I do not live the notion that racking the slide on a pump shotgun will make a badguy poop his britches and remove his spine leaving him a babbling ball of gel on the floor.
I am in a normally ultra safe county and I am in the safest quadrant of this county. But being prepared is the key to countering deviant individuals!
Brent

[dabigguns357]

Fyredup,i and several others here live in Huntington,West Virginia,Let me explain this easily for ya.Both my wife and have had our cars broken into 6 times over the past 8 months,my house was almost broken into,we have had a peeping tom,2 fights of 15 or more people that ended in serious injury,2 major acts of vandalism by a group of 4 teens,witnessed at least 3 break ins to others along my street,watched 3 differant domestic assaults,2 hit and runs one of which involved my car,and last but not least 3 nights ago another group of teens slashed tired on 17 vehicles.I have cameras that record 24 hours a day with motion censor lights all the way around my house,2 giant schnauzers and at present 4 security camera's outside and 2 inside.I call the police and have waited as long as 49 minutes,and yes my street is exactly 2 streets down and 14 blocks over,from the main police station,4 minutes doing 35 miles an hour.At least 3 differant time the cops didn't even show up.When they do come i didn't even speak to them anymore i just hand them video tapes of what happens.You ask why i and others keep all cocked and loaded,I even carry while at home just in case i can't get to any other guns.

Sorry if i sounded harsh,but i get sick of all the teen's that run the street every night looking for something to trash or steal.

[FyredUp]

Different perspective I guess. I keep a loaded magazine with my .45, and 2 loaded magazines with my rifle, and shells by my shotgun. All of which are in my closet. But then again I live in the rural and not a crime infested part of the inner city. If I lived where you do I would be as prepared as you are.

[kymasabe]

Most of the break-ins in my area are robberies. The result of living in one of the most depressed areas of the country. Violent crime is down while break-ins and robberies are going up. We've got people stealing gas cans full of fuel (open garage doors theft of oppurtunity), breaking into homes stealing food, cash, and jewelry (the newbies to crime, trying to survive or provide for others at home), and the pro's coming in, leaving the TV's and jewelry (the things they can't pawn) and stealing computers/hard-drives/laptops for identity theft and online banking. Most of the intruders are interested in quick in/out with as much loot as they can carry and as little human contact as possible. If racking the slide scares them off without me having to fire...great, get the hell out. If they continue into my home, they're only gonna have a second or two to invision their funeral.
But, I'd rather not pull the trigger on an intruder.
I keep the .38 in the safe because it's fool-proof, no safeties, just pull the trigger, great gun for my wife too.
Southwest Florida is a strange place with lots of transient people and illegal immigrants. There's no such thing as being too well armed down here.

[SteelJM1]

I have my winnie 1300 loaded with 4 shells of #4 buck in the mag with a locked chamber. It's easy enough to hit the action release button and rack up a shell if I need to, and I feel better not having a live round just sitting in the chamber. The shotgun rests agasint the wall and my bed, right by my head. I also have my .357 SP101 in the nightstand with 5 ready to go.

And I live in southern Tucson. Pretty much as south as you can get before you start hitting new towns. The neighborhood I'm in isnt bad, but it's not very far from the real s***** parts of town. I carry my pistol with me when I hit up the walmart down the street too.

[Playboypenguin]

I keep a Remington Home Defender pistol grip shotgun under my bed with a full tube and an empty chamber.

[tranks]

i have a newly set up hd 870 that stays locked in a easily accessible gun safe. i can't leave things out and unlocked since i have roommates and other people i don't trust hanging around the house. (when i'm home, everythings locked when i'm gone) when i reach for a hd gun, first the bedroom door gets locked and then usually the .357 w/ crimson trace grips comes out.

once i get my own place (hopefully soon) i'll have a different set up. most likely the shotgun will be the choice. i don't know if i'd keep one in the barrel or not. i don't like the idea of the intruder hearing the shotgun rack but i'd hate to bump it and have to patch a hole in the wall.

[Katrina Guy]

"...where do you guys live that you need to keep loaded guns around" to paraphase. Are you for real?
I keep all of my guns in their original boxes packed away and ammo in it's original boxes, tucked away way up high in a closet, that way if in intruder happens along he may take pity on me for being such a dumb ass.

[Katrina Guy]

Ok, all joking asside now.
No matter where you live and higher priced neigborhoods may be more valued targets to would be intruders even, but no matter where you live intruders are sneaky people that typically don't announce their intentions ahead of time. Thus why most in here keep something, handgun or shotgun in a ready to go mode whether that includes a round pre chambered or not. I keep a round chambered in the Remington only because to chamber a round isn't that easy for me with that gun design, when I obtain the Mossberg I plan on keeping it unchambered as I can chamber a round in that Mossberg in a fraction of a second without switching hands. When I lived in my office I used to carry a snub Smith .38 in my back pocket or my Colt .45 would be in my back jeans pocket. WHY? because I would often be all over the office (big office) and if someone were to break through a window (big store front windows) I didn't want to be in a running around to where the handgun is, these type of break ins, an intruder could be in your face in a few seconds.
I'm sure that most Americans that have some kind of protection gun beit shotgun or handgun, keep it close to their bed easily accessible and in some sort of "good to go" mode.
No expert here but I agree with whomever it was that posted the old saying that if you chamber a round the intruder will be scared off, it's probably correct, the saying, however if he's not scared off he now knows (A) someone's home (B) I heard where the home owner's at (which room or area).
SOOOO much depends on the lay out of one's abode, size and so forth. My office that I lived in for example was pretty much one big 1200 sq ft room, clearly wide open. My approach to home defense, and again I'm no expert, keep the firearms simple to use/get into action (why I'm opting for the Mossberg design by the way), and common sense, with emphasis on COMMON SENSE-if you possess such sense you should do well.

[FyredUp]

Katrina Guy: "...where do you guys live that you need to keep loaded guns around" to paraphase. Are you for real?
I keep all of my guns in their original boxes packed away and ammo in it's original boxes, tucked away way up high in a closet, that way if in intruder happens along he may take pity on me for being such a dumb ass.

Hilarious...just effin hilarious.

Katrina Guy: Ok, all joking asside now.
No matter where you live and higher priced neigborhoods may be more valued targets to would be intruders even, but no matter where you live intruders are sneaky people that typically don't announce their intentions ahead of time. Thus why most in here keep something, handgun or shotgun in a ready to go mode whether that includes a round pre chambered or not. I keep a round chambered in the Remington only because to chamber a round isn't that easy for me with that gun design, when I obtain the Mossberg I plan on keeping it unchambered as I can chamber a round in that Mossberg in a fraction of a second without switching hands. When I lived in my office I used to carry a snub Smith .38 in my back pocket or my Colt .45 would be in my back jeans pocket. WHY? because I would often be all over the office (big office) and if someone were to break through a window (big store front windows) I didn't want to be in a running around to where the handgun is, these type of break ins, an intruder could be in your face in a few seconds.
I'm sure that most Americans that have some kind of protection gun beit shotgun or handgun, keep it close to their bed easily accessible and in some sort of "good to go" mode.
No expert here but I agree with whomever it was that posted the old saying that if you chamber a round the intruder will be scared off, it's probably correct, the saying, however if he's not scared off he now knows (A) someone's home (B) I heard where the home owner's at (which room or area).
SOOOO much depends on the lay out of one's abode, size and so forth. My office that I lived in for example was pretty much one big 1200 sq ft room, clearly wide open. My approach to home defense, and again I'm no expert, keep the firearms simple to use/get into action (why I'm opting for the Mossberg design by the way), and common sense, with emphasis on COMMON SENSE-if you possess such sense you should do well.

If I was so scared in my own hone that I had to have a loaded gun with me 24 hours a day, and multiple ones at that, it wouldn't be my home for long.

I also question what makes you feel that someone stealing things is a deadly force event? Sorry, it is not. You can say I have a gun, and you need to leave, from a place of cover of course. But to kill someone over steraling your tv is simply ludicrous. I see nothing but bad press and potential civil law suits coming out of that. I have insurance to cover a stolen tv and there is no way in hell I am shooting someone over a thing. Go towards my kid's rooms or near my girlfriend and that is a different story. I guess maybe I am just not blood thirsty enough.

[Katrina Guy]

Not I said the fly.
I'm watching a movie on television right now as we chat, with my killer kat, Daisy, next to me! Now then, if "sic em Daisy" doesn't scare the crap out of the BG well, then I guess we'd have to up the ante, assuming audible scare tactics are on the intruder be gone menu at the time *chuckle*
However, much of home defense has to do with locale and accessibility to one's abode, I presently reside in an apt on the second floor, one door is not kick in-able, the other isn't as secure. I don't fret much at all here and my choice to opt for a shotgun for defensive purposes has little to do with present living conditions.
Regarding not shooting someone for swipping your television set, well that may depend whether or not said tv appliance is digital or analog that you'd have to replace anyway soon. No, really, no I wouldn't "pop" someone for swipping my television set, however who knows what a BG is after, I mean besides no good.
Little different circumstance then as an example seeing someone attempting to steal your automobile in the driveway. Oh sure first it's the television set, then what's next, open up my fridge and drink all of my tall canned Busch brand beer! Where does one draw the line? Should I as a good guest offer the BG some chips to go along with the beer and ask him if he'd mind me sitting on the couch watching something on his tv before he leaves with it?
Always one big on adding humor to chats, on a serious nature, I wouldn't want to shoot anyone at anytime, that said if one does break into my abode while I'm home I just hope I do the right thing before the Lord Almighty, who we all will answer to at some point. Difference between defending one's self and siezing an opportunity to legally shoot someone-doubt if most of the poster's here no matter how Terminator looking their cool Scharzannager shotguns look.

[FyredUp]

Katrina Guy: Difference between defending one's self and siezing an opportunity to legally shoot someone-doubt if most of the poster's here no matter how Terminator looking their cool Scharzannager shotguns look.

Ummm, care to decipher this comment of yours?