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I hear alot of folks talking about keeping a shotgun as a home defense gun. I have no issues with this as a 12 or even 20 gauge with buckshot is a devastating gun. However a lot is made of the feeling that the sound of the pump is a deterrent and can end or preempt a confrontation. I have a couple questions/concerns

1) does anyone actually KNOW that this is the case? Are there multiple cases of intruders voluntarily fleeing at the sound of a racked shotgun?

2) My feeling personally, is that if an intruder is within my house and close enough to hear a shotgun being racked, they are an immediate lethal threat to my family and strong consideration would have to be given whether this warrants a warning or definitive action?

any thoughts?

I don't really care if the sound of my 12g scares/deters an intruder before I stop his threat to my family. Pumping a shotgun to scare somebody is about as dumb as just pulling a pistol as a show of force. If you have to go to your weapon, be prepared to use it. Don't rely on the visible presence of it to make the bad guy just run away. Lots of things can go wrong if you do not have your firearms locked and loaded. Per the shotgun, not probable, but something could go wrong while you are trying to load that shell. I'm not willing to risk my life or my families' lives just to make a cool sound. The gun is just a tool to get the job done. I see no point of trying to scare off what is probably a drug crazed intruder by simply racking my 12g. Just my opinion.

This is folklore as far as I am concerned, and it usually comes from Tactical Ted types who like blowing smoke up peoples skirts. Another one I about is "when they saw the red dot they broke down and instantly wet their pants". Possible, yes, but certainly nothing to either take to the bank or rely on and hyperbole that is, in my opinion, repeated far too often. Don't show it if you can't shoot it, and if you can shoot it spend that millisecond on aiming, not on racking "for effect"

Carrots wrote: Don't show it if you can't shoot it, and if you can shoot it spend that millisecond on aiming, not racking.

Well said, better than I could. That could be a signature!!

I agree that racking the shotgun as a warning is just as silly as firing a warning shot. (I believe the first shot should always be a warning shot: aimed center mass, as a warning that if you don't stop, I'll shoot you again!)

That said, I have some friends who went to Los Angeles as special Deputy U.S. Marshals during the Rodney King riots. At one point they chased a man carrying a handgun into an abandoned building. They saw him dart down a hallway, but didn't know where he went from there. There were multiple doors down the hall, so they shouted for him to throw out the gun and come out with his hands up. No response. One racked the slide on his 870, and all of a sudden a handgun came skittering across the floor, followed by two empty hands sticking out of a door.

At least that's how they told the tale.

so I take it you all are in agreement with me then.

sar wrote:so I take it you all are in agreement with me then.

No. Storing a non-drop-safe gun (most long guns have none of the various drop safeties common in handguns) with a round chambered is asking for trouble. I rack the shotgun because that's what it takes to make it go boom. If it happens to scare a home invader away before I have a clean shot, so much the better.

Most here accept that there are hundreds, if not thousands of defensive handgun uses every year that we don't hear about because no shot was fired, and they are therefore either not newsworthy or not reported at all. It's odd then, that everyone assumes BGs who get scared off at the sight of a .32ACP are immune to the sound of a 12ga simply because there isn't a stack of well-documented reports from people who made the bump in the night stop with a double-clack in the bedroom.

A recording of a shotgun is very cheap. Or get the iphones app.

I also agree that doing it just for the effect is very foolish. A very close friend woke up one night and heard someone in the house. He grabbed his shotgun and started looking. When he started downstairs he heard the person in the kitchen and worked the pump. He then heard the BG take off out the back door. The shotgun was loaded and it wasn't just for effect either. He was prepared to use it if necessary.

Personally, I would not give any warning that I was approaching if I could avoid it.

i respect all of the responses here. IMO though I think if I was a criminal in a house and heard shotgun pump would stop me I'm my tracks . I can remember as a boy in my house hearing my dad pump his shotgun due to getting ready to go hunting and just checking the operation. It allways got my attention. I truely don't see how it can be called a dumb idea. Gun safety can never be called dumb. IMO to each his own I feel I'm trained good enough that the extra time to pump will not effect the outcome and will probably wake me up and get ready. Again just a different look at it. I do carry my CHL hangun chambered but That has more safetys then my shotgun.I would never pump a shotgun without being fully ready to use it.

KD5NRH wrote:

sar wrote:so I take it you all are in agreement with me then.

No. Storing a non-drop-safe gun (most long guns have none of the various drop safeties common in handguns) with a round chambered is asking for trouble. I rack the shotgun because that's what it takes to make it go boom. If it happens to scare a home invader away before I have a clean shot, so much the better.

Most here accept that there are hundreds, if not thousands of defensive handgun uses every year that we don't hear about because no shot was fired, and they are therefore either not newsworthy or not reported at all. It's odd then, that everyone assumes BGs who get scared off at the sight of a .32ACP are immune to the sound of a 12ga simply because there isn't a stack of well-documented reports from people who made the bump in the night stop with a double-clack in the bedroom.

Agreed.
There was a study done of recognized sounds. Oddly enough in North America (not just the US) one of the top 3 was the sound of a shotgun. If they go away great. If not thats fine, I'm ready to deal with the situation.

Was on a jury once and we spent almost an entire day discussing this particular sound. The BG had robbed several adults with a "shotgun". He confronted them in the driveway and forced them into their own apartment. Had more than 6 adults under his control for several minutes. To emphasize his point, he repeatedly racked the slide on his "shotgun".

Sad part to it all was mutliple adults were traumatized by the experience and it wasn't even life threatening. The BG was carrying an old kids pump action .22 rifle that was obviously empty ("...he just kept making THAT SOUND...").

None of the victims had any experience with firearms and ALL were terrified. Anybody else would have probably yanked the rifle out of this kids hands and beat him over the head with it.

The only sound an intruder should hear from your shotgun is the safety being clicked off. I'm sure the sound of the pump would be scary to 1 assailant armed with only a pistol, but probably not scary to 3 or 4 assailants who also have shotguns. I'm not taking my chance nor am I giving them a tactical advantage by letting them know what I'm armed with. Just my 2 cents.

I would think most robbers would carry handguns not shotguns. They don't want to bring attention to themselves and need both arms to carry the stolen property.On my Winchester Defender it's much more easy for me to just pump then find that darn little safety button on the side in the dark.

RedRaider wrote:The only sound an intruder should hear from your shotgun is the safety being clicked off. I'm sure the sound of the pump would be scary to 1 assailant armed with only a pistol, but probably not scary to 3 or 4 assailants who also have shotguns. I'm not taking my chance nor am I giving them a tactical advantage by letting them know what I'm armed with. Just my 2 cents.

Lets discuss this train of thought here. I have watched a couple of NRA videos noting the need to find a secure place and shout out "I have a gun." If the familia is secure, nothing helps accentuate "I have a gun" like racking the slide of a shotgun.

We're generally talking about a home robbery correct? If you're a robber, or even two or three, and you hear a shotgun being racked what are you going to do? Are you going to try to trade fire or leave? Why on earth would you stay around-if you had guts you wouldn't be in that line of work now would you?
If you're talking home invasion then its a different story isn't it? You're racking the slide to shoot. But the same issue arises. Home invaders are crazier but don't want to get involved in an active firefight. It doesn't follow logic.

What you're talking about is some sort of kill team. Every else is leaving, quickly. If you have a kill team after you, then your issues are running way beyond this board no and you need to be involved with the police in a big way?

EDIT: I should note, if you're ok with having one round in the chamber to begin with then I'm definitely ok with that as well.