I saw a thread a few days ago which discussed the merits of various options,loaded mag inserted with bolt locked to the rear vs round in chamber safety on, muzzle up vs muzzle down etc, etc.
I’ve tried to search a couple of forums here from reloading to terminal ballistics, and have read probably 150 pages between yesterday and today and can’t find this thread.
Any help is appreciated. I’ve just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and can no longer hold a handgun and a light at the same time, so I’m transitioning HD to my BCM Middy with rail mounted light. I’ve also got more time to read than ever.
On this issue I keep mine in condition 3 , loaded mag on an empty chamber bolt forward. I have a 20 rnd mag with hornady tap. The 20 rnd should provide me with enough fire power keeping the rifle more compact and handy. It is quick to get into action.
Your situation may have different circumstances, given your condition you may consider keeping it condition 1 as your strength may vary. A 30 rnd mag my be more advantageous for less reloads as well as using it in the prone as a static position may be more in your tactics.
I’ve gone ahead and switched over to keeping a live round in the chamber with the safety on for my Home D SBR. Took a little getting used to. But the idea of having to run the charging handle either discretely or in a panic wasn’t appealing to me.
At this point I keep a loaded mag in my SBR and the bolt open and safety on. I’ve gone back and forth between this and bolt closed on a live round and so far have decided to keep it the way I am now. Weapon is muzzle up in my closet with my T1 always on. I also carry a G19 daily and it is on my nightstand at night. Even though my SBR is in the closet it’s only about 15ft at most from the bed. Would take about 2 seconds at most to get to it if need be. My wife keeps a M&P 45 Middy on her side of the bed also. We do have kids but they have been around loaded guns all of their lives. They also shoot and hunt with me and have their own weapons. I’m not worried about them and having loaded weapons around the house.
My own version of logic had me pointed toward condition 3. Glad that I’m seeing that reinforced a bit here. I’m a lefty and all of a sudden have very little use of my left hand, which in my case means I can charge the rifle with my RH using the Ambi CH and safety will be on. Good things from my position. My girlfriend and I are the only two in the house, so in most (all?) cases I won’t be going hunting or moving to protect others. Bedroom is at one end of hallway with nightlight positioned in bathroom to backlight anyone in the hallway. 30 round mag of 62 grain Fusion in the rifle with another 30 rounds handy in the very unlikely event that I need them and can still use them.
Oak, firstly, I’m very sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Never give up the fight brother. (PM coming your way shortly.)
Re HD: I don’t keep an AR ready for HD. For that I have a 12ga shotgun, Mossy 500 with a Surefire Combat Light attached. I’ve done some shooting drills and it’s dead on accurate at HD ranges. I live in the suburbs of a large city and don’t want to worry about over penetration or passing through walls. (I know the AR isn’t as bad on that front as some may think but I just don’t want to take the chance.)
Mine is muzzle down, condition 3 at night. Loaded with 55gr Barnes TSX.
I’ve gone back and forth on this and have implemented other safeguards in the home so that it is virtually impossible to not have 30s to ‘make ready’. Unless ninjas manage to rappel into my second story bedroom. So I admittedly unprepared…for ninjas. :ph34r:
I keep my rifle loaded and chambered w/safety on due to my bedroom’s location within the house. It sits right next to my bed muzzle up.
OAK
Ammo is hard to come by these days with the scare. I have a few hundred m855 rounds sitting around that cant fit in my ammo cans. If you need some blaster ammo send me a PM with your address and ill get it shipped out to you by this weekend.
I would like to keep my HD rifle loaded with one in the chamber, but I have kids in the house so I choose not to keep one in the chamber. My go to HD gun is a 10" 300BLK with 300 lumen weapon light and Eotech, with a 30 round mag inserted on a closed bolt, chamber empty, safety on. The mag is filled with Barnes 110gr Tac-TX rounds, and I have a Specwar 7.62 can on the way that will stay on the gun.
Currently:
16" middy, Condition three, Aimpoint T-2 on setting 5, face up next to my bed with a 30 round pmag full of Mk262
But my primary home defense weapon is my XD-45 stoked with 230gr HSTs with a TLR-3 that sits on the night stand. I have “better” handguns, but my XD has never had a single malfunction so I trust it. I keep a loaded 18" 870, empty chamber, with 7 Winchester Super-X 16 pellet #1 buck in the tube, 4 buck and ball and 4 1.25 oz reduced recoil slugs on the side saddle behind some clothes in my closet.
I also sleep near two flashlights, a machete, a large fixed blade knife, and an aluminum pony league bat.
I hear ya man. Every night my G19 is on the nightstand, SBR next to the bed and every morning I strap the 19 on, put SBR mags in drawer safe, and throw the SBR on a high shelf in the closet. Kinda a pain but worth keeping their little hands off of.
Firearms in the bedroom (1pistol, 1carbine), to include carbine, are chambered. Puzzles face walls the way they are stored, which is on their side.
Other HD guns around the house have a loaded mag in them, they are not chambered and the hammers are dropped. This is easy to confirm because on an AR the safety won’t move and on a glock the trigger is back.
I do not have children or anything like that I have to worry about in my home. My approach would differ if I did.
Edit to add: I don’t like bolt locked back because shaking the gun or a light impact will charge it. therefor I decided I was more comfortable with it chambered, knowing as much , and treating it as such.
Mine is near the bed, muzzle up, Aimpoint PRO on and empty chamber. One P-mag full of Hornady TAP in the mag well. One quick rack of the BCM charging handle and the Colt is ready for action.
This pretty much mirrors the routine in my home. SBR is parked behind the bed, 30 rnds, muzzle down, RDS is on an optimal setting for total darkness without washing out under a 120 lumen torch. The P228 is within arms reach on the night stand.
My fear of keeping the bolt open would be accidental chamberings if dropped\fell. Not to mention the reg everyday crap floating in the chamber. In this case might as well keep it cond 1 . At least you know for sure where your gun stands. For me its eithr 1 or 3.
I just dont see any real benefit to leaving the bolt to the rear.