Something goes bump in the night what do you take to investigate?

You hear a bump in the night what do you take to investigate?

  • Rifle

    Votes: 5 3.8%
  • Shotgun

    Votes: 31 23.8%
  • Handgun

    Votes: 94 72.3%

  • Total voters
    130
  • Poll closed .
Basically, depends where I am and ...

WHAT hits the hand, first.

Normally, a 4" revolver, semi (9 or .45) or the 97 12 bore.
 
If I owned a shotgun, I'd probably take that. I recently gave away my only rifle, a .22 long rifle, to a deserving young fella, so my choice is among revolver calibers. If it goes bump in the night at my house, it's going to find itself looking up the business end of a .44 magnum.

Actually, it's probably just the cat trying to remember how to push open the glass shower door.
 
Depends on if "the bump" got past the dogs or not, which is highly unlikey. But for the sake of argument, I'd probably grab my Beretta PX4.
 
12ga shotgun

With 2¾" 12ga #1 Buck, each pull of the trigger puts sixteen 30 caliber projectiles 12 to 14 inches into the attacker.

A double tap puts 32 holes in the BG. That's tremendous wound volume.

And with a ghost-loaded Mossberg 930 you can do that 9 times.

I don't have any corners I am going around or anything, the shotgun is a much more effective weapon than a handgun.
 
I chose shotgun... For many reasons... number one reason is I do not even own a centerfire handgun at this time.

Even when I do, I use it only when the carry or use of the shotgun is not beneficial.

I know my shotgun like my booger hook knows my nostril.

I can use it accurately way faster than any hand gun and I can better defend it than I can a handgun...

Lastly, in a situation where I am suddenly finding myself in a physical scrap, I can employ more weapon retention techniques with shotgun than handgun... the length of my shotgun and my training drills makes it far harder for a person to put my own gun under my own chin...

Brent
 
The bump will encounter three dogs followed by me with a Mossberg pump. It is a former Alabama State Trooper 500 with a 20" barrel and 8 round capacity.

My dogs are very friendly, but they do not like bumps in the night. :)
 
Either a Glock 21SF or a Springfield XD-45.

I'm a retired police officer and whenever I did a building search, I always prefered a pistol over a long arm. It gave me an extra hand to turn door knobs, move things around or work the radio or cell phones if the Control Center was calling us. Plus, if I made contact with somebody that needed arrested, it was always easier to handcuff them with a pistol in one hand rather than trying to do that with a long arm. Same logic held true if I got into a fight.
 
Since the long guns are locked up the three choices at hand are S&W 459 9mm w/ JHPs, Ruger Speed Six w/ .38+P JHPs and S&W Model 36 J frame w/ .38 Special JHPs. The first two are for me, the J frame fits her hand better...

This is under normal conditions. If there were widespread civil unrest, rioting, extensive natural disaster (like Hurricane Katrina), etc. then there might be a couple of shotguns at hand and loaded. I would also have arms available to at least my oldest daughter if I had to leave the house.
 
Last edited:
I keep a Glock 30 (45ACP) with a rail mounted light as well as a hand held tactical light in a small combo safe on the headboard. The safe is unlocked when I go to bed so the gun is quickly accesable befor even getting out of bed. We live in a house in a rural area and only my wife and I live there so I'm not too concerned about over penetration issues. I do have Win 1300 Defender 12 ga in the closet in needed but its much easier to move about the house with a handgun. :)
 
all signs point to...

My handy dandy mossy 500. That is if the bump isnt the dog falling off the couch. But once it wasnt the dog, or the cat. And that time it was a russian sks. I scared the person off my back porch. But I had my fiance calling 911 while I did so, the police arrived 20minutes later, which was a little scary, but thats a story for another day.
 
I live in a pretty small apartment so my shotgun isn't the most maneuverable gun in a bump in the night situation. I'll usually grab my 637 w/crimson trace these days or my Vaquero.
 
Mossberg 500 12 gauge loaded with #1 Buck, with a 130 Lumen light mounted on it. First round is a 3" Magnum with 24 #1 Buck shot pellets for an attention getter. The next five are standard 16 pellet #1 shells for easy follow up shots.
 
Depends upon what my 3 dogs do and how they react. If they bark, I'm up with gun in hand. If they growl... I'm up with gun in hand, flashlight and extra mags (if they growl they are in "serious" mode & it's a threat). Then, I tell them to 'show me'.... and they take me to the source of the bang and thru various commands, will clear an area or a room quite well.

If they head me to the back door, which has occurred... and they've never been wrong either..... then one remains inside, one on leash and one free wheels it... she'll do searches on command & go right to them .... and I take over if need be at any point.

It seems whoever was messing around with my shed, my backdoor and my car soon decided they didn't like me showing up with gun in hand and 2 dogs that could easily locate them. My one, caught scent and began tracking them a few times, and I stopped her at a certain point. But, I'm sure if I had let her go she would have followed them all of the way home or to a car. They've seemed to have moved to someone else's house or another part of town.

When I go to bed, they go in protection mode, they won't even let the cat enter the room if I'm in bed, let alone any person (except my grandkids).
 
Last edited:
Usually my house sweeps happen in the middle of the night and when they do, I normally end up taking my Glock 22. Day light sweeps involve whatever gun I've been carrying that day.
 
The only firearm I keep out of the firearms safe at my house is a .40 Glock 23, or a Sig 229 also in .40. Which one is on duty is just determined by whim, and is rotated every six months or so. Either one is locked in a quick access lock box on my dresser.
 
Back
Top