Is the "racking of a shotgun" sound...

I have a story about this too lol. When I was in college I was a criminal justice major and took lots of practical police courses. One class I took from a professor who used to be a cop in Memphis. Anyways, he tells this story one day about how he was sleeping and heard noises downstairs. He says "I reached over and felt my kid, reached over to the other side and felt a bride...then I grabbed my 12ga and wallked down stairs to see a guy holding my CD player. I racked on in my 12ga and the guy dropped the Cd player real fast."
 
Dave, . . . the answer to your question is a qualified "maybe" at very best.

Why take the chance, . . . is the question I would ask you.

First, . . . you put yourself at a tactical disadvantage in several ways: 1) you have given away any and all "surprize" effect, 2) you have given up your location, 3) you have one less round than if you had started with the chamber loaded also, 4) any serious bg has you made for a dufus, a newbie, or a John Wayne wannabe.

Secondly, . . . if you are serious in wanting to use the sound, . . . do it as a recording on a cassette tape, . . . also add verbal commands about bg's getting out of your house, . . . and have the speaker someplace that would not give away your position. Rig the recorder to play when you flip a remote switch or something.

Thirdly, . . . never, never, never give away your position or your resources until you fire that first shot, . . . and when you do, . . . make sure of your target, . . . and follow up quickly and decisively.

The winner of all gun fights is the one that got the baddest and deadliest the quickest. Everyone else comes in second.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
I've got 7 rounds (1st 2 are 00 buck, last 5 are 1oz slugs) in the tube. The chamber is empty for saftey reasons b/c the saftey is off. The trigger has been pulled so all I have to do is rack the slide and I have it ready to fire. Racking the slide does allow for intimidation factor but I will have a round in the chamber ready to be fired if it is needed.

This setup will change once I have children in the house, but for now its how I do it.
 
yes that sound makes grown men cower. i have been in a couple riots where the sound og a shot gun racking put 700 men on the ground. this said i woulnt run around with an empty shotgun.
 
I gather from the general theme of this thread that a single or double barrelled shotgun is out of the running, as probably is an automatic.

It may have been covered in other threads no doubt, but I sometimes wonder if there is really any intimidation threat at all for some people who are having a gun aimed at them, other than a shotgun, perhaps. I am talking about a homeowner armed with a handgun confronting, well, anyone. Assuming the other person is a person with a little street experience, it might be that he is not at all intimidated by the sight of a gun pointed at him and he just might decide to take his chances with a homeowner who has had absolutely no such experiences behind him. Naturally a lot of other things enter into the situation and anyway, such situations are relatively uncommon. But in a confrontation between two people of different experiences, one being a little harder and rougher than the other and more than likely has been in more than a couple of fights, the whole point of the homeowner having a gun is to even up the match and tilt it a little in his way, if that is possible. The question is, does it?
 
Dave in Delaware Wrote:

And there you are: you rack your (unloaded) shotgun with the hopes of it scaring them, and all they do is pull a firearm on you instead. Now you're unarmed, gave away your position, and just pissed off an already pissed-off someone who broke into your house. They shoot you dead, STILL take your stuff, AND they beat your head in w/ the butt of your unloaded shotgun, just to make a point.
Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question bud. :D

And my only question is, why is it unloaded to begin with? Might as well be a huge, unwieldy club....:confused:
 
Grant Money!

Humm...

I knew I kept notes for a reason. :D

Semi-Autos: Teaching new shotgunners , often with a 1100 20 ga or Beretta A303 also in 20 ga- back in the day. First time the student hits the bolt release Whoa!many times followed by a expletive. :p

My SX1 being machined has a "distinct" closing. You get to a point if you shoot enough, or spend enough time on a range to be able to tell what semi-auto is shooting without looking, by the sound of bolt release.

I knew this being a Range Rat would pay off some day.

Lets see, following the Gimmee Greedy Gov't Guidlines:
Grants for:

-Closing Sounds Differentations b/t Pump,Semi, O/U, SxS ( spl catagory for
hammers on SXS) and Single Shots.
-Might as well do a sub study on Gauges...oh, oh, we cannot forget the 32 and 24 ga [ more money]
-Barometric Pressures and affect on Sound [ Sounds right smart don't it?]
-Synthetic vs Wood for sound suppression based on stock densities.
-Single Shots - Special study on their sounds A) open/ close , B)Hammer being pulled back, C) Ejectors ejecting.
-K80s getting a scratch
-Battery Operated Drills running cleaning rods with Scotchbrite to clean bores.
-Favorite expletives when nylon hammer misses tubes and thumbs hit.
-Identifying slugs from various guns based on Report
-Favorite expletives for 1) getting pinched on closing break open guns, 2)slicing finger on inside of 1100, 3)thumbs/ fingers caught in bolt closing. [NOT the same as Garand Thumb - that can be another grant...see how this works?] 4) Loading mag tubes.

Etc.

I have surmised this is going to take a LOT of time, and therefore requires a Really Big Grant. Gonna needs LOTs of Guns, Ammo, Range Time, and "variables" - how many many members on TFL now? [variables = members X ....whew doggie! Nawlins ain't got nothing on me. :p
 
In my experience the sound of a pump racking a round into the chamber is an attention getter. Thus far all the thugs that I've drawn down on with my 870 have gotten very peaceful upon hearing the distinctive "slack-slack". I don't know if the next suspect will be brought into compliance so easily, each situation is unique. Having been on the receiving end of a suspect chambering a round on me (at 0430 in the morning) it got my attention but didn't cause either me or my partner to faint. You can put me down as one who generally believes in the intimidation value but backs that up with the willingness to use the 00 buck that is now in the chamber.
 
The core issue is not whether the sound scares someone, only if you make a deliberate show of it to intimidate an opponent.

If I were armed and facing you and your shotgun, I would shoot you while you are futzing around with it. In your house, assuming I'm not the 'all burglars are cowards' type, if I hear a big rack, I might leave or for the tactical advantage, I would fire a series of shots at the location of the rack. That might scare you.

So, is it a show? For the LEO, facing a dude, who probably doesn't have a gun out, is misbehaving in a nonlethal threat manner - sure rack away for the Clint Eastwoodiness of it.

As I said before, when you pick up the gun, you rack it and you should be behind cover if you are able. If it is heard then and has a positive effect - goody.

Otherwise, if I want sound effects - I'll play the 1812 Overture with cannons.
 
As Denny said earlier, it will likely scare REASONABLE individuals (and -- whether I am "reasonable” or not -- it would certainly give me pause).

When I was a very junior officer standing the OOD watch on an isolated, austere Aleutian island, I had a drunk Chief briefly point a loaded 12 gauge shotgun at me during domestic dispute (there was no 24/7 law enforcement -- the duty officer was the first responder). With assurance, I can tell you that was a VERY long twenty seconds until he decided that was a major error. A 12-gauge shotgun at close range should deter anyone with even minimum brains.
 
As I told someone years ago...

If your only plan is to rack your shotgun slide and hope that the person runs off, you need another plan.
 
I was walking up a stairwell with 3 other MP's to check on a domestic violence call. As we approached the apartment door we heard a shot gun slide rack. We all scattered, ducked, crawled, dove, jumped to what ever cover and concealment we could find and broke leather. As it turns out, the lady of the house threw some Mac & Cheese at her husband, and the sound we heard was the wringer on a mop bucket.
 
Dave in Delaware-

I was told a long time ago to never use a weapon as a threat- Be prepared to use it or don't have it at all. An empty weapon, even to the most ignorant, is useless. When it is time for combat, it's "Weapons Free" (round chambered and safety off). I'd sure hate to go down with an unloaded weapon or a bent trigger (because the safety was on).
 
"Um...pull the trigger as the next step"

You'd think so, wouldn't you...

However, this individual didn't even keep any shotgun ammo in the house.

He was depending on the sound to do the job for him.

I never quite got it through to him that that might not be much of a deterrent. He was quite wedded to the belief that an intruder would hear that sound and run like a frightened rabbit.
 
We had just moved here from Seattle, a few days before Christmas, didn't have the money for a stay in the motel so we started apartment hunting right away. We were quite suprized to find almost all the apartments in the area were way out of our cost range, so we ended up moving to the "darkside" of town, im talking neighborhoods with razor wire and iron screen doors.

One night we wake up to someone messing with the doorhandle to the apartment, I reach over grab the shotgun, sneak up and look through the peephole in the door and see 2 guys trying to pick or unlock the door. I, in my best command voice..came out sounding something like Betty Boop...asked them what they wanted? They stepped back and started cussing asking wtf did I want and kept trying to enter.

I did the ol'rack of the 12g pump right by the door, they did the ol keep picking the lock till we get it open...I went back to the kitchen area, a breakfast bar seperated the kitchen from the front room and called 911...told the operator of the situation and told her that I had informed them I was armed but they kept trying to enter. I stated, knowing that the 911 call waqs being taped, that if my front door comes open Im going to blast them out the door, because as far as I knew anyone who keeps trying to enter knowing the occupant is armed, is more than likely armed themselves? Right?

After a few minutes, sirens start blaring from all directions these guys leave and start walking down the sidewalk. The cops pull up and to my suprise, these guys start fighting with the cops! Finally they are restrained and taken away. The cop comes up to my door, all dissheveled, dirty and asks what happened, I told him they were just trying to mess with the lock...he asks if the kicked the door shouldered it, or anything else...guess he was trying to pile up charges as a payback for the fight...lol

But your right, the racking of a shotgun doesnt work everytime, certainly didnt in this case!

Bob
 
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