The 686 and 870 are both one step from the bed. The 686 goes with me. The wife is in charge of getting to the safe room with the 870, cell phone and any guests we might have staying with us. I hope we never need this drill.
Full size 9MM Handgun as that is what I keep at bedside, either a CZ-75B or Browning Hi Power. Plus a large dog of the hunting variety.
Shooting rifles, or shotguns in the house would not be good for my hearing, and also may disorient me. A blast from a full size 9MM is not nearly as bad.
I live in the woods and there is no telling what I might find, shotgun covers all contingencies no matter what the bump was. Rifle shooter by choice and handgun shooter by training but at dark thirty in the morning Mr. Mossberg just seems to be more practical.
Pistol.
My Kimber Ultra Carry is always handy, and I am very familiar with it.
Now that doesn't mean the proverbial shotgun, rifle, and four wheel drive aren't available for a more riot oriented situation, but the goto is always the Kimber.
When the kids were in the house (a ranch/split type) it was a Mossberg pistolgrip shotgun. With small shot it is less likely to penetrate two layers of drywall.
Kids are now long gone and my first grab is a S&W 9mm. It WILL go through walls and we are one, don't be the noise in a dark room or on the other side of a wall.
For almost 18 years we never gave it much thought. For anything that went bump in the night, the first responder was an inquisitive and noisy 85-90 pound Doberman. If'n someone had gotten in, when the dog showed up he'd be wantin' out right quick.
Today, sadly, we don't currently have a spam-fed, gas operated semi-automatic alarm and shredding system. Typically, there's a 9mm S&W 3914NL near by and a S&W Model 67. Either one is sufficient to investigate an unusual noise or bump. However, voices, footsteps, breaking doors or glass causes me to bring out the 21-inch 20-gauge 870 loaded with #2 buck, plus 3 more rounds and 3 slugs.
- *Bump*
- 4lb Yorkie goes crazy barking because she's scared of her own shadow.
- 100lb Doberman wakes up on high alert and what appears to be a direct injection of a 40oz mug of expresso. Gives a warning roar/bark/woof (scares the crap out of me when he does this, glad he's on my side because the bark is downright terrifying and the bite is definately worse) and sets off to investigate and make sure kids are ok.
- I wake up, grab 1911 & flashlight. Wife is awake and grabs cell phone and lays her 9mm on her lap.
- I go clear the house. (Before some expert chimes in and tells me that clearing the house is a bad idea; my kids' rooms are on the other side of the house. To hell with 'expert' theories. I search and clear unfamiliar commercial ships for a living, I think I can handle my own house.)
- Doberman joins me in my clearing, a step behind me and to the side.
- All secure, let the Doberman outside to take care of his bladder and let him have a look around the house.
- Let him back in and go back to bed.
here you here noises in the dark its pretty stupid to take a handgun. shotgun with buck or slugs or a carbine. F-105 with naplm would be better but cant do that now. Wandering around with a handgun in the dark and a flashlight will just get your ass killed.
Even though it could be any of the three, I picked a handgun.
I only picked that becase that's what I had in hand the only time I ever investigated a sound in the night & felt the need to be armed.