I keep my 870 beside my bed. I keep it loaded with one in chamber with safety on. not likely but something could happen when racking the slide. i have no children to worry about so I do not have to worry about them. I keep it loaded with the new Federal #1 Buck which is awesome. I keep aa 6 shot side saddle loaded with 4 Slugs and 2 #1 Buck. I also have a butt cuff loaded with 4 #1 Buck and 2 #6 Bird shot in the summer to deal with snakes but in winter I replace the bird shot with 2 more slugs.
OP checking in.
I keep mine with one in the chamber, mag full, and safety on. Federal Flite Control ftw!
Same as I keep it at work. Crusier ready. empty chamber full mag. The problem with chamber hot on shotguns and rifles is they do not have a drop safety. I don’t want it fully loaded until I pick it up and chamber it myself.
Pat
I keep mine chambered safety on an antler rack high on the wall.
if I want to scare em I usually have bird shot for the first round then 2 00 buck and 3 slugs.
flashlight with pressure switch on the top rail.
Mixing rounds in your tube is not a good idea. First off bird shot sucks and unless your worried about being attacked by birds then you should use something else. Buck is a better choice by far than slugs for home defense. The other issue with mixing rounds is as the fire fight starts you WILL lose track of where you at in the mag tube and it could have tragic results if think you have a slug for a precise shot and you end up sending buck out.
Pat
thats why you use birdshot as a warning lol I was addressing the comment about racking the action noise as a deterrent.
I know how many rounds are in the gun I have shot with mixed loads for training it helps when shooting for me anyway, I dont think about the heavy or lite loads I just practice as usual to keep things consistant, its all the same round count anyway.
I under stand that racking the slide as a deterant is stupid I am just saying having bird shot in a defensive shotgun is equally as stupid. Also for a long gun like I said earlier I believe in condition 3 not to scare off anyone but simply because most long guns don’t have drop safeties. As soon as I put the long gun in my hands then I will load it, until then its chamber empty. Of course that is the training for 99.99% of LEO. You can very little by keeping the round chambered in a long gun that is in the corner of your room. As for counting rounds one thing most gun fight survivors will tell you is they don’t know how many rounds they fired. The ones that do tell you are usually grossly wrong in their memory. If you want different ammo keep it on the side saddle and do a select slug drill.
Pat
IDK I would hate to kill someone if I didnt have to and birdshot gives the other guy a chance at the least, it’s Def. better than the noise and if you have other people in your home you dont have to worry much about missing and having the shot go through the wall hurting someone else.
if the intruder is still coming at me and not running away after the bird shot then I have the bigger brothers waiting in semi auto.
I hate to sound cold but if its time to grab a gun and shoot someone you should not be concerned with rather they live or die. Your concern at that point should be for your own safety. Bird shot is not a reliable fight stopper period its not good to use and it could get you killed. Also any round that will reliably stop someone will go through your walls. The secret is not to miss. If your really concerned get a .223 carbine and load it with some good JHP rounds as these have the least over penetration risk.
Pat
its all about situation and you dont always know the situation or have excellent Aim after you wake up to a breaking window and grab your gun.
Bird shot will kill just as any other well placed shot and in a home defense situation I would much rather have a shotgun than a .223 especially at night and half awake. its all about the situation and my shotgun is tailored for home defense situations.
im not sure what you mean by any round that will stop someone will go through walls. sure a buck shot and bird shot will both go through a wall but the bird shot will not be as lethal as the buckshot. and i like to know who or what I am shooting at.
just last month a guy died crawling through his hotel window he was on a trip with his father who was in the room sleeping and thought someone was breaking in I will guarantee you that father wishes he used better shot placement and would have just wounded the intruder unless there is a gun pointed at you there are other options before resorting to a head shot.
Actually bird shot is not a reliable stopper. You need to go up to the terminal performance portion of this site and do some reading. As for shooting someone you had better damn well know what your shooting at. There is no excuse for people shooting relatives. Its ppor training. You should have a weapon mounted light and back to the safety rules you need to be aware of your target as well as the surroundings. You don’t shoot when your half a sleep. I purposefully keep my pistol just out of reach so I have to get up to get it. This makes sure I am more awake before I get a loaded gun in my hands. I had a situation once where I thought someone was kicking my door in, turned out to be Ice slidding off the roof. I got up got my pistol and listened and gave myself time to wake up before I went to see what happened. A shotgun is not a better choice than a rifle or a pistol when your half awake. Not sure why you would think its better. Another good reason to keep the chamber empty on a long gun is so you have to be awake enough to rack it or load the gun before you start blazing.
As for going through the walls comment bird shot is not reliable even without a wall in front of it. I know of a person who tried to commit suicide with shotgun loaded with bird shot. He is still alive and his face looks like a pumpkin. The birdshot tore up his flesh but did not penetrate his skull enough to kill him. Bird shot sucks for self defense.
One more thing YOU NEVER NEVER NEVER shoot to wound. That is stupid and not only could it get you killed when the suspect does not stop it will get you sued and possible in jail. When you use lethal force you have to be in fear for your own life or that of another. When you shoot to wound the argument will be made that you were not truly in fear for your life and that is why you shot to wound the suspect. There is a reason why we as police officers are taught to shoot to stop the threat, not to wound. You are in need of some training. I highly recommend you get a competent instructor and take a class.
As for that father who shot his son. What I bet he wishes now was that he had identified what he was about to shoot at before he pulled the trigger. Its a tragic example of why you should have a weapon light on your home defense weapon rather its a pistol, shotgun or a rifle.
Pat
Poor threat identification as rationale to use a bad SD load from a terminal ballistic standpoint?
L33t.
Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2
ok, but your missing my point. Terminal means to KILL and thats exactly what I want to avoid doing. just because someone is breaking into my house does not mean they deserve to die and if I have the chance and forethought to make a decision to shoot for the knee I will.
In a night time break in situation usually the person is there to steal not to kill so a warning shot and even the sound of a racking gun is enough to scare them away.
I would rather have a shotgun in close quarters than a rifle because of the shot pattern and stopping power or a shotgun you can hit someone in the body with a 223 and unless you hit a vital organ it will only wound them just like the bird shot but birdshot gives you a bigger pattern and a stronger followup shot.
Bird shot will do plenty of damage to stop someone from hurting you I have seen someone hand taken off completely by bird shot from across a hotel room, he wont be shooting back at anyone with his right hand ever.
but he isn’t dead thankfully.
again I am talking about my shotgun in my home at night or day.
if I have a defense problem during the day I would grab my pistol as it is always near by.
I am used to these kinds of questions. We teach a citizens police academy class once a year so people can understand why we do the things we do. I cover the law and firearms sections. The questions I have gotten would be funny if the people were not serious.
- Why don’t you shoot to disarm the suspect (like gun out of their hands)
- Why don’t you shoot to wound.
- Why don’t you use your night stick when a suspect is just armed with a knife.
and so on and so forth. A lot of people simply don’t know what they don’t know and its scary. I almost wish people had to be trained in the law and safe use of firearms before they could own a gun. But I understand the government would abuse that. I just wish there was a way to educate more people faster.
Pat
poor reading comprehension before reply = Fail
simple answer to all those questions cops aren’t trained to care they are trained to kill.
look at the NY police officers training they got a big F for that one.
the father who shot his son I spoke of earlier look that story up he was a cop trained and certified.
No your missing the point. If your using a gun you had better be in fear for your life or that of another. At this point need to end the threat as fast as possible and that means shooting the suspect with an effective load in a location that will put him down. Rather he lives or dies is not the concern.
Another myth you seem to have is that shotguns throw a wide pattern so you don’t have to aim them. That is false. Shotguns generally have a pattern that spreads 1 inch per yard from a cylinder bore. Here is a pattern of buck shot fired at 7 yards.
You still have to aim a shotgun if you want to hit with it. Again you need training so bad its scary.
pat
That is a big FALSE answer.
- We are not trained to kill we are trained to shoot to stop again if the suspect dies thats another matter and with modern medical technology they live more often than the die.
- We are trained to care. The fact you would say that shows your ignorant.
- NYPD did as best they could with the situation they had and they stopped the threat. The fact is when you have someone shooting at you and he is surronded by innocent people bad things are going to happen. Priority 1 is stopping the threat. If you think you can do better go sign up for NYPD and put your ass on the line. Those cops are heros nothing less. Moral of the story is SHIT happens and there is not always a happy ending in real life. I suppose you believe the officers should have allowed themselves to get shot and tried to tackle the guy.
As for the cop who shot his son that does not change the fact he screwed up. You ID your target before you shoot.
Again you need to get some training and like NOW!
Pat
in your opinion.
& in my opinion its sad you think a simple thief crawling through a window should be shot dead.
that pattern is much larger than a .223 pattern I never once said you didnt have to aim with a shotgun I said the pattern was bigger anyway you obviously know you are right and I am wrong so I will stop here.
this thread is talking about HD shotgun Home Defense and sometimes in home defense situations you dont know if it is life or death like you pointed out with the snow falling on your front door.
so in home defense situations with a shotgun I choose to have the option of less lethality. be prepared for anything because Murphy is the real LAW and he is waiting around every corner.
my kindest regards I tried to stay civil.
If someone is breaking into my house I have no way of knowing what their intentions are. If I have the opportunity I will order them to stop and hold them at gun point until I get the on duty officer on scene. However if they put my life in danger I will shoot stop the threat. Its not a matter of being civil you simple don’t know what you don’t know. Get some training.
Pat