Storage of Home Defense Shotguns

[Brkenarrow]

I've got a question regarding home defense shotguns. How do you store yours so it's loaded and ready if needed but inaccessible and safe from nosy guests, kids, etc.?

I seem to remember seeing something once where it was a wall-mounted device that locked around the shotgun receiver and trigger. That way you could have the shotgun loaded but was locked away so nobody could get to it without a key or code. Anybody know of something like this?

 

[rcmodel]

Yes.
I'll get to it in a minute.

But first, your shotgun Should Not be chamber loaded in storage.

It should be mag loaded, with the hammer down on an empty chamber, and the safety on.
You can rack a round in the chamber while picking it up.
And take the safety off before you can aim it.

After you gain full muzzle control of it.
(Called Cruiser Ready in cop speak.)

That way a house fire won't cook off a round in the chamber and blow a fireman off your roof!

And you won't fumble picking it up half asleep and blow your own head off.

Here is the wall mount lock.

http://www.mossberg.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=95092

rc

 

[Water-Man]

It's locked in my gun cabinet. Unloaded. My M4 has HD preference.

 

[leadcounsel]

Chamber empty. Most shotguns are not drop proof. Not worried about the rare housefire and AD... but I suppose it could happen. I'm more worried about it falling over and an AD.

So, chamber empty, sitting in a cabinet or safe or against the wall, all within easy access...

I always have a primary longgun and secondary handgun within a few seconds reach in my home. It's the prudent thing to do in the modern world.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Cruiser ready....

I'd keep my "room broom" "cruiser ready" or with safety ON, empty chamber, loaded tube.
Id put it in a bore-store bag and either keep it locked up until the kids went to bed or in a trunk/storage container with a pad-lock/security lock.
There are safety orange plugs you can put into the shotgun & if those are out, you know someone was fussin with your scattergun.

 

[Virginian]

When I rely on a shotgun for self defense, which is rarely anymore, it is fully loaded with the safety on. If I expect anyone else who is not gun savvy or trusted to be in the vicinity I have a lock on the trigger and the key around my neck. If I need to use it I am one soft snick of the safety away from shooting. If there were kids coming around, other than mine, I had a lock on the closet door. I cannot imagine worrying less about anything than an 870 not being so called drop safe. Any mechanical device can fail in any of several modes, so treat it accordingly.

 

[Sam1911]

Cruiser ready with a cable lock through the action.

 

[jdh]

Minor nitpick on cruiser ready. Safety should be off. The reason being the variety of shotguns found in police cars, sometimes within the same department. In a rapidly flowing situation an officer who is issued an 870 may have to get the shotgun from another unit which has a 590. If the safety is off the officer can still deploy the gun quickly. If the safety is on, and it not being in the position to officer is familiar with, time is wasted while the officer has to figure out where it is.

Or so was the thinking last time I went through instructor recertification.

 

[evan price]

Full tube, chamber empty, hammer back, safety on.
Can only be fired by stroking the action, and that can only happen by pushing the slide release or by pulling the trigger on an empty chamber.

 

[cc-hangfire]

I found a PC combination lock on Amazon with a long, vinyl coated, steel cable that can make a double loop. The lock is a solid, steel mechanism with a 3 number combination that can be re-set to your preference.
Search for: Stack-On SPACL-4 Cable Lock for Stack-On Lap-Top Computer Safe
Stack-On makes reliable gun cabinets and hardware cabinets.

I have the long loop through the barrel of an 18" 12 gage pump, and the short loop through the ejection port/feed port/trigger guard. Action can not be closed with lock on. The shotgun is in an unlocked case under my side of the bed in the master BR. No young children in the house, and ammo out of sight nearby.

Someone could find it and walk off with it, but can't chamber or fire it without some dedicated work using tools and searching for the ammo. It's not perfect, but it fits my circumstance.

 

[oneounceload]

Full tube, chamber empty, hammer back, safety on.
Can only be fired by stroking the action, and that can only happen by pushing the slide release or by pulling the trigger on an empty chamber.

Disagree - to many extra steps. Mag loaded, hammer down on empty chamber, safety OFF. All that is needed is to pump and fire

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

Mine is cruiser ready in an unlatched pelican case in the closet, mag full, safety on.

 

[M1key]

Mag loaded, empty chamber, hammer down, breech closed, safety off

M

 

[Fred Fuller]

Muzzle down between the head of the bed and the nightstand (no kids, no company, locked in the safe when away from home), magazine loaded one down, chamber empty, hammer cocked, safety on.

YMMV of course.

 

[WALKERs210]

Pistol grip Mossberg 500e hanging behind front door, tube loaded none in chamber safety off with released to pump with one hand. No kids, very very rarely company and then I still discourage company. Only person other than the wife is a respiratory therapist once a month. Then in the den, shotgun in cabinet, tube loaded none in chamber, three pistols in desk drawer. Paraphrasing something a LEO asked of an older woman in regard to handguns she was carrying, what are you afraid of - her reply NOTHING-. I just make sure all it takes is one person forcing his way into your home that things change.

 

[Inebriated]

Loaded/Chambered, action just out of battery.

 

[RustyShackelford]

LE training: post #8....

I disagree with post #8.
Working, trained sworn LE officers can learn how to operate or function different weapons.
Personally, I'm annoyed by the "police officers need formal training" to learn how to properly use different weapons.
It doesn't take a PhD or a 8 hour in-service to brief officers or deputies on how to work a firearm.
Keep in mind too that weapons in LE vehicles may be snatched or tampered with by a detained subject, .
Detainees & suspects have escaped or made efforts to grab firearms in my area a few times. If using safety devices or gun safety levers help, then Id do it.

 

[jdh]

RustyS,

I didn't write the curriculum. "Smart" people who sit in offices not patrol vehicles did.

Heat of the action and being on the range are apples and oranges. It has been proven over and over that persons under stress revert to their training. Remember the old revolver days when officers were found with empty brass in their dead hands because on the range they were trained to retain brass and deposit it in the bucket instead of dumping it on the ground? Same thing.

The shotgun should be retained in a secured rack not left flopping around for the detainee to easily access. Officers would know the location of the release button.

Having been a LE firearms instructor for many years I can assure you that many, not all but many, need all the training they can get and then some. My personal favorite was the shooter that raised his hand on the line and said his gun was jammed, then asked which way the bullets went in the shotgun. Yes he put the shells in backwards. This after an hour in the classroom and hands on on the range. Some are naturals. With them a quick block of instruction on the various firearms and they are ready to qualify.

If you are that easily annoyed perhaps you should focus your annoyance on those who cause the rest to be trained from the Shotgun for Dummies manual. Instructors have to train to minimal proficiency because of them instead being able to take the good shooters to an advanced level.

BUT, it is no longer my problem. I retired 4 years ago.

 

[gamestalker]

If you must take others into consideration, as in the risk of someone messing with it, then yes, keep the mag loaded, hammer down, safety off. But in my home, I keep it loaded, safety on, and next to my bed side. With my revolver, loaded and under my pillow when sleeping, and loaded on my person when not.

We've had some really bad stuff going on around here, such as home invasions, car jackings, and people posing as cops, cable man, gas man ect. knocking on the door to gain access.

GS