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Keeping a Round Chambered

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inthelineofire

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Sep 22, 2009
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I am new to the forum but not new to firearms... I wanted to pose a HD shotgun question to the experts here. Even if you do not consider yourself an expert your advice is greatly appreciated.

Does anyone here keep a round chambered in their HD pump shotgun, and if not, why? Do you consider it safe? Unsafe? How do you store your HD shotgun if you keep it chambered? How do you store it, period?

I'm trying to devise a plan to keep my home safe, and wanted to know what others do. :eek:
 
I'm a newbie here too but I'm sure this question has been beaten to death and resurrected several times in many guises before...
 
Yep sure has! The search feature is your friend.

For me...I have kids in the house although they are now teens. I choose to have a full magazine and fill the chamber when I determine it is time. That is MY choice and not necessarily the right or popular choice.

Others have it where one click of the safety is all that needs to be done before pulling the trigger.

Find what is comfortable for you and practice practice practice!
 
I don't consider myself an expert either. I do however have a 3 inch mag 15 pellet buckshot load in the chamber and a tube full of ammo, safety on. Anything mechanical can fail, even a pump shotgun. If I absolutely have to shoot something I would like to have as few things to have to take place between me making the decision to do it and the kaboom. Less chances of hearing the loudest sound ever heard in gun fight "click".

I wouldn't recommend it around kiddies tho unless they are completely taught on gun safety.
 
Resurrection

Sorry if I am beating a dead horse. I searched for a bit but didn't find what I was looking for. Anyway, is there anything unsafe about keeping a round chambered if I am the only one with access to the gun?
 
Keep in mind that (generally) long gun safeties are not like handgun safeties. They are much easier to get to shoot by jarring the gun. Crossbolt safeties are especially troublesome while they do block rearward trigger motion, they don't lock the sear-hammer engagement. Which means a shock or a hard enough jar on the longgun will allow the sear to let go of the hammer. So AD's are much easier to achieve with a long gun than with a short one. Plan accordingly!
 
 
No one in our house but me and my wife. Rarely have visitors, and when we do it is more often than not my adult son and his girlfriend (both of whom I have personally trained in pistol and shotgun). Shotgun by the headboard has a full magazine and one in the chamber. Glock 29 on the night stand has 12 in the magazine and one in the chamber.

I am comfortable with it. You may not be.
 
NO!!!!

Shotguns are NOT drop safe!

If you prop gun against wall with round chambered and it falls or gets knocked over it can discharge. BAD.

Keep safety on or off as fits your needs but don't chamber until your ready to shoot IMO.
 
I have two small children. They are at the point where I'd trust them to not touch a gun without permission. OTH, they have friends who come over and I can't trust them not to. So, I keep my Mossberg Mariner in a Mossberg Loc-Box. It locks around the action like so:

locbox-action.jpg

The gun actually hangs on a vinyl coated hook through the open ejection port. I am able to keep a shell on the lifter so all I need to do when I remove the gun is to close the action, and it's ready to go. (You can see where I put some electrical tape to cover the edge of the LB to protect the gun.)

locbox-open.jpg

The muzzle is stabilized with this hook:

locbox-muzzle.jpg

(The wood into which the muzzle hook is screwed is secured to studs with 3" drywall screws, and is also Gorilla Glued to the sheetrock.)

Since I don't want to be fumbling around in the dark if someone breaks in, I unlock it before I go to bed.
 
On my shotgun I have a Knoxx stock with a power pack on it, it is basically a shell holder on the side. I keep 3, 00 buck shells and 2 rifled slugs in the shell holder. The chamber on the shotgun is open and I can pretty quickly load a shell directly into the chamber and then the rest in the mag tube. The gun is in a case tucked away in my closet but I do not keep it loaded because I do have a 3 year old around.

If I need to get to something quicker I do have a loaded .45 (no round chambered) kept out of reach as well.
 
My HD shotgun has an exposed hammer, so I keep it on half cock with a shell in the chamber. I sleep well at night. When my daughter becomes old enough, of course I'll have to factor that in.
 
I do not keep one in the chamber for the same reasons as others have mentioned above. I also have small children in the house.

WJR
 
I am in the same camp as alot of others --- mag full , chamber EMPTY , and safety off.
It takes less then 1/2 second to rack the slide on a pump or cycle the bolt on a semi-auto ---- on the other hand , if the SG gets dropped/knocked /or trigger gets pulled with the safety off --- it COULD be you or a loved one who gets killed !!!!

Some will say " we don't want the BG to HEAR the SG being racked " ----- I SAY IT IS THE LAST THING THEY WILL HEAR BEFORE THE BOOM !!!
 
Chamber empty always!

1. You can't hardly pick up a short barreled shotgun from a "standing in the corner" position without covering yourself with the muzzle at some point.

2. Shotguns are not drop safe. Guns with exposed hammers even less so.
A sharp blow to the hammer can break the sear and fire the gun.

3. In the event of a house fire, a round in the chamber is going to cook off and shoot something!
Might be a fireman on the roof trying to put the fire out!

4. A loaded magazine with the slide unlocked or open is as fast into action as leaving it loaded.

IMO: Leaving a shotgun chamber loaded in the house is bordering on irresponsible gun safety.

rc
 
Does anyone here keep a round chambered in their HD pump shotgun, and if not, why?
Click to expand...

No... never.

It is not safe to do that in my Remington 870 Express 12ga. All it has is a trigger bar safety... that is not reassuring in a single action gun with no external hammer. A round is chambered only when I am preparing to fire the gun.
 
New 870, same status - chamber empty, mag tube full, safety on. The 870's safety is in exactly the same spot as the Charles Daly autoloader and 552 Speedmaster I grew up with, so no need to change 25 years of muscle memory as far as that's concerned. 90 pounds of Chesapeake Bay Retriever as an early warning system.
 
It's all about the logistics and details of the particular situation.

Other possibilities: with NO CHILDREN: a rack on bed frame allowing shotgun to sit in a secure horizontal position, with barrel towards foot of bed, foot of bed faces door. Hooks suspending gun are deep enough it won't get knocked off by bumping it or stumbling. With a shell in chamber, safety on, it's about as secure as it can be and yet ready for instant deployment during the night. Works for me but nobody is allowed in that area of my house.

Also possible to load up your gun, safety off, and push the slide lock and start slide just past locked position. It's entirely safe, and you can lean it up in a corner or whatever that way. In a fast action event there's no fumbling for the little slide release button, allowing you to very quickly rack it and chamber a round. You can even pick up the gun by racking down first, then when lifting gun up swiftly by forestock the shell is shoved home in the chamber. You'd want to dry fire practice that of course.

With those two setups I have 2 guns ready to go in an instant, however I live alone!
 
Trigger tripped so the chamber is empty and ready to rack one in, safety off - no need for those things - none of my guns get a round in the chamber until ready to shoot
 
I wouldn't recommend it around kiddies tho unless they are completely taught on gun safety
Click to expand...

Even then, kids typically have friends. IME some of those friends will probably be idiots, even if there not they may not be gun savy. Loaded guns that other people have access to is bad news.

As an aside people should not presume that everyone has the same situation as them. Some may have different models of shotguns. Some may not keep it leaned up against the wall, or may not do so with the muzzle up. Some may have kids, or roommates or frequent visitors. People need to think through what is best for their equipment and their situation. Doing what someone else does just because they do it is silly.

For what its worth I do not leave my particular HD shotgun chambered. The design of my gun is not conducive to it. I also don't think it is sound to leave guns just lying around. If I'm not there I like them in the safe.
 
Interesting you mention about keeping it muzzle up/down, against the bed, etc. What is the best way? I've always done muzzle up, chamber empty, slide already released so I don't have to fumble for the switch in the night. I doubt I'd fumble, since I'm familiar with the gun, but one less thing to do is OK with me.
 
Locked and loaded is the only way to go. I can't believe anyone would practice anything else for true home defense. The sound of you racking the slide isn't going to panic a bad guy looking for drug money packing the same gun, it's just going to pinpoint your location. And I bet he's loaded and not locked ! The chamber is always empty when I am cleaning it, though.
 
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