To rack or not to rack.....
- Thread starter tjhands
- Start date
State laws vary.Here in Oregon,if someone is in my house,that is considered sufficient threat for deadly force.That said,if this person knows me,he or she will definitely ID themselves.(I'm the "gun nut" of the group.)No ID by them equates to no warning from me.I agree with the view that announcing you're armed will perhaps make the intruder leave,but then they are aware of valuables in the home,and they'll just be doubly sure the house is empty before burglarizing it some other time.They can always knock and ask for a fictitious person if the door is answered.I'm friends with a few of the local PD,and this subject has come up,I get mostly unanimous agreement that they'd prefer to call the coroner for a Bad Guy than search the neighborhood for him.I'm not out looking to shoot anyone,but if you're in my home and I didn't invite you,then you shouldn't be there,period...
If my house were on fire, rounds "cooking off" would be the last of my worries. Getting me and the cat out would be first priority 
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I leave mine chambered (handguns) but I don't have the shotgun chambered. I've seen safeties on shotguns just quit working (especially mossberg 500's) and I don't want ANY danger of a ND.
As for the guns, the 1911 stays "cocked and locked". I feel comfortable with that. The USP .45 has a round chambered and then decocked.
The AR isn't chambered either.
Wayne
.I leave mine chambered (handguns) but I don't have the shotgun chambered. I've seen safeties on shotguns just quit working (especially mossberg 500's) and I don't want ANY danger of a ND.
As for the guns, the 1911 stays "cocked and locked". I feel comfortable with that. The USP .45 has a round chambered and then decocked.
The AR isn't chambered either.
Wayne
noise reduction
i understand the problem with racking the slide and losing the element of surprise. i got a simple solution . pull the gun under your bed covers and rack it there it wont take much time at all. also barricade your door so the bg has to take time to open it. hide and wait.
i understand the problem with racking the slide and losing the element of surprise. i got a simple solution
. pull the gun under your bed covers and rack it there it wont take much time at all. also barricade your door so the bg has to take time to open it. hide and wait.
stephen426
New member
johnnymenudo said:
Johnny,
I am looking at this from a liability standpoint. If call 911 and yell that I have a gun and will use it if necessary, there is a much lower chance that I will be prosecuted and a much lower chance of losing a civil case from the deceased scumbag's family. Yes, he may return but that can happen anyways. You might be thinking if you kill him, he won't return. I think killing someone, even in self defense will complicate your life much more than want. I would do it without hesitation if my life or my family's lives are in danger. As for him taking your guns if he can kill you, I don't think stealing guns are that high on the priority list for robbers. Fencing stolen jewelry or electronics is much easier since there are no serial numbers to be verified.
Here is what to do if you are concerned about being broken into again and having your guns stolen. Unless you are home all the time, you can get broken into. Smart criminals can knock on your door and pretend they are lost if someone answers. Why risk getting shot? This is why I am very leery of door to door sales people (unless they are cute little kids with cookies!) Get a good alarm system that is monitored by the central station. Set up a neighborhood watch if you live in a bad area. Reinforce your house to minimize easy access points. Get a big dog. This will do the trick for most criminals. If you have a professional after you, stick you head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbbye. They can watch you for a while and monitor your patterns. Then when you least expect it, you get a .22 in the ear from close range or you get sniped as you are walking out your front door.
For an intruder other than a typical robber (rapist, murderer, druggie) you may have to shoot them. It is much easier to shoot them with a loaded weapon than an unloaded one. Announcing the police are on the way and that you have a weapon may make them choose another victim (except for the druggie).
spacemanspiff
New member
including the liquid lunch?
TJ, . . . put yourself in the shoes of the intruder. Remember, you are a thief, a rapist, perhaps a murderer, a meth-head, . . . in other words: you are not a normal person. Non-normal persons don't act/react like normal people do.
Normal persons hear a 1911 or an 870 go "slip - slide" and their first inclination is to find somewhere else to go to: now. These other people are either there to rob, rape, or worse.
Yes, . . . they "may" elect to leave, . . . but if they don't, . . . you have revealed your position, the fact that you are alert, you are alert to them, and you have a gun or two.
I don't plan on doing any such thing, . . . my plan is that when the bg is coming into the premises, . . . my wife is in the bathroom on the cell phone (we keep it unplugged, turned on, and the security lock is off at night), . . . I am sitting beside my bed on the floor with my 1911 covering the obvious door to our bedroom, . . . and anyone who comes into that bedroom may only hear the 1911 safety going off, . . . if they even hear that. I will probably scream at them when they open the door, . . . or otherwise breach the opening, . . . but that is the signal for my wife to get down low in the shower just in case the lead starts flying.
Get a plan, . . . walk through the plan with all family members, . . . make sure all know who does what, . . . when, . . . where, . . . how, . . . and where all meet up when the bullets quit buzzing.
Most importantly, . . . get a friend to walk it through with you, . . . you try to out think him by playing bg, . . . and vice versa. That is how you find the chinks in your armour and your plans.
May God bless,
Dwight
Normal persons hear a 1911 or an 870 go "slip - slide" and their first inclination is to find somewhere else to go to: now. These other people are either there to rob, rape, or worse.
Yes, . . . they "may" elect to leave, . . . but if they don't, . . . you have revealed your position, the fact that you are alert, you are alert to them, and you have a gun or two.
I don't plan on doing any such thing, . . . my plan is that when the bg is coming into the premises, . . . my wife is in the bathroom on the cell phone (we keep it unplugged, turned on, and the security lock is off at night), . . . I am sitting beside my bed on the floor with my 1911 covering the obvious door to our bedroom, . . . and anyone who comes into that bedroom may only hear the 1911 safety going off, . . . if they even hear that. I will probably scream at them when they open the door, . . . or otherwise breach the opening, . . . but that is the signal for my wife to get down low in the shower just in case the lead starts flying.
Get a plan, . . . walk through the plan with all family members, . . . make sure all know who does what, . . . when, . . . where, . . . how, . . . and where all meet up when the bullets quit buzzing.
Most importantly, . . . get a friend to walk it through with you, . . . you try to out think him by playing bg, . . . and vice versa. That is how you find the chinks in your armour and your plans.
May God bless,
Dwight
Good advice everyone. Thank you, Dwight.
OBIWAN, nice suggestion! How about I tape some loud music with people partying and laughing, and then have a voice say, "welcome, friend! The beer is in the fridge downstairs! Help yourself!" Then when he goes downstairs, I push the button for the trapdoor. He falls into my pit, then I can torture him Silence of the Lambs style! "It puts the lotion in the basket...."
OBIWAN, nice suggestion! How about I tape some loud music with people partying and laughing, and then have a voice say, "welcome, friend! The beer is in the fridge downstairs! Help yourself!" Then when he goes downstairs, I push the button for the trapdoor. He falls into my pit, then I can torture him Silence of the Lambs style!
"It puts the lotion in the basket...."stephen426
New member
I hate to do this but lets complicate the situation further. I'm sure at least a few of you on this forum have kids. If your kids are in their rooms, you will need to give away your position when you go and check on them or move them to the safe room. Accidents happen when people fail to check on the kids first and then end up blasting them. It almost happened to me a long time ago.
I heard some noise downstairs very early in the morning. I checked my parents' and sister's room to make sure it wasn't them downstairs. I didn't check my other sister's room, which is connected to my room (she actually has to pass through my room to go downstairs) since I was actually awake for a little while and didn't hear her go downstairs. I am very lucky I was taught to keep the gun at low ready and my finger off the trigger. If not, I might have ended up shooting my little sis as she rounded the corner. CHECK TO MAKE SURE WHERE EVERYONE IS FIRST!!! If you are nervous and the adrenaline is pumping, you may just react and pull the trigger at anything that moves.
Another story but different sceanrio. A father shot and killed his daughter when she jumped out of the closet to suprise him for his birthday. She was away at school and came back for his birthday. He noticed things weren't the way he left them and he cleared the house. Had he announced he had a gun and that he had already called the cops, his daughter would probably be alive today.
Forget the whole tactical thing for a moment and use common sense please.
I heard some noise downstairs very early in the morning. I checked my parents' and sister's room to make sure it wasn't them downstairs. I didn't check my other sister's room, which is connected to my room (she actually has to pass through my room to go downstairs) since I was actually awake for a little while and didn't hear her go downstairs. I am very lucky I was taught to keep the gun at low ready and my finger off the trigger. If not, I might have ended up shooting my little sis as she rounded the corner. CHECK TO MAKE SURE WHERE EVERYONE IS FIRST!!! If you are nervous and the adrenaline is pumping, you may just react and pull the trigger at anything that moves.
Another story but different sceanrio. A father shot and killed his daughter when she jumped out of the closet to suprise him for his birthday. She was away at school and came back for his birthday. He noticed things weren't the way he left them and he cleared the house. Had he announced he had a gun and that he had already called the cops, his daughter would probably be alive today.
Forget the whole tactical thing for a moment and use common sense please.
Struckin Fuggle
Moderator
Empty chamber in a safe. 
But my situation is a little different than any I read above.
The Kids: Boy 8 and a girl 11, both are familiar with my pistols and I've taught them gun safety. They sit with me sometimes while I clean. As my boy hasn't had an interest yet, neither shoots or has access to the guns.
The Wife: I love her, but prone to panic and not great in an emergency. She has access to the gun and knows how to use it in the event I wasn't home and there was a break in ... but no 'immediate' access like in the nightstand with one in the pipe. [/shudder]
A paperweight? You're entitled to your opinion but this setup is a happy medium between safety and defense for our family.
My wife can't wake up, see a dark shadow, panic and shoot my ass. If she has to enter a safe code and rack a round, she's awake enough not to cap me. And my kids can't have an ND 'showing off' to their friends.
The home is alarmed and we have a dog that sleeps downstairs. I expect a little notice and I, from a sound sleep, can have the gun out of the push button safe and a round chambered in less than five seconds. I know that to be true because I had the wife set off the alarm at 3am one morning to see how I'd do.
I couldn't agree more with the suggestion of an emergency response plan. We practice ours once every two months. There's a "Dad Home" version and a "Dad Away" version. In the event of an alarm, we scoot!
There is, I suppose, a trade-off for the security of the safe. A BG could bypass my alarm, sneak past my dog, float up my creaking stairs and be in a bedroom without waking me.
In which case it wouldn't matter if I had a round in the chamber or not.
Fire away with the what-ifs if you wish but you're pissin' in the wind. This is the deal that works best for us in our situation. I'm completely comfy with it.
But my situation is a little different than any I read above.
The Kids: Boy 8 and a girl 11, both are familiar with my pistols and I've taught them gun safety. They sit with me sometimes while I clean. As my boy hasn't had an interest yet, neither shoots or has access to the guns.
The Wife: I love her, but prone to panic and not great in an emergency. She has access to the gun and knows how to use it in the event I wasn't home and there was a break in ... but no 'immediate' access like in the nightstand with one in the pipe. [/shudder]
A paperweight? You're entitled to your opinion but this setup is a happy medium between safety and defense for our family.
My wife can't wake up, see a dark shadow, panic and shoot my ass. If she has to enter a safe code and rack a round, she's awake enough not to cap me. And my kids can't have an ND 'showing off' to their friends.
The home is alarmed and we have a dog that sleeps downstairs. I expect a little notice and I, from a sound sleep, can have the gun out of the push button safe and a round chambered in less than five seconds. I know that to be true because I had the wife set off the alarm at 3am one morning to see how I'd do.
I couldn't agree more with the suggestion of an emergency response plan. We practice ours once every two months. There's a "Dad Home" version and a "Dad Away" version. In the event of an alarm, we scoot!
There is, I suppose, a trade-off for the security of the safe. A BG could bypass my alarm, sneak past my dog, float up my creaking stairs and be in a bedroom without waking me.
In which case it wouldn't matter if I had a round in the chamber or not.
Fire away with the what-ifs if you wish but you're pissin' in the wind. This is the deal that works best for us in our situation. I'm completely comfy with it.
Quote-"I am looking at this from a liability standpoint. If call 911 and yell that I have a gun and will use it if necessary, there is a much lower chance that I will be prosecuted and a much lower chance of losing a civil case from the deceased scumbag's family."
GOD,I'M GLAD I LIVE IN OREGON!!
GOD,I'M GLAD I LIVE IN OREGON!!
Dre_sa
You are kidding? If you read my reply it's cocked and locked with 17 in the magazine, and 1 in the chamber, within arms reach, on my night stand. That way I don't have to practice not shooting my wife in the leg, and the BG is going to get taken down allot sooner.
BTW, what you do under the covers is your business, but I wouldn't trust the defense of my home and family to anyone's theory. You are kidding, right???
You are kidding?
If you read my reply it's cocked and locked with 17 in the magazine, and 1 in the chamber, within arms reach, on my night stand. That way I don't have to practice not shooting my wife in the leg, and the BG is going to get taken down allot sooner. BTW, what you do under the covers is your business, but I wouldn't trust the defense of my home and family to anyone's theory.
You are kidding, right???