more gun talk. the sound of a shotgun "racking".
 

i hear it all the time. shotgun = home defense superiority.."the sound of a shotgun "racking" in a shell is unmistakeable" and should send any would be intruder scurrying back into the shadows..

seriously? i think someone in every shotgun/defense discussion brings this up. i've never had a home intruder while i was home (thanks goodness)..if it happens, i dont think the acoustics of my shotgun going into business mode is even a blip on my brain-radar. arent most home shotguns already "racked". you all have the tube stuffed full and the chamber is left empty? so you have an extra shell ready?

is this a real thing? what about other sounds :D..big dog barking, distant sirens, that movie scene in HOME ALONE?
thanks..i'm bored.

I always believed this... and it prompted me to buy a Remington 870 tactical.
First: even though I don't live with children I don't have "one in the chamber", just seems too dangerous to me and if I need more than 6 rounds of 12 gauge then I'm in some serious doo-doo.
Second: after hearing much talk about home defense (about how difficult it is to go through a house with a shotgun) I actually tried walking though my (empty) house with a shouldered shotguns and yes it is super awkward.
Thus if I ever wanted to 'clear my house' I would use the 9mm (I know that clearing your house not recommended in the event of a break in)
Third: I also don't keep my 9mm loaded but I would think the sound of it being racked would be a sign to any bad guys I'm ready to defend myself.
Forth: I am keeping the 870 for the zombie apocalypse. ;)

I think there are folks that don't keep one in the chamber whether you're talking about a shotgun or semi-auto hand-spoon. I don't necessarily think it's a great idea, but then I don't have kids an idiot wife (she's smart and gun-experienced enough so that's not a problem) or strangers wandering around in my stuff. If I did, and I was going to have a shotgun around, I'd have it locked away or in a place that the above mentioned folks couldn't get at it, and then it would have one in the chamber.

Here's an interesting video on a related subject.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rVPiic-ELoM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Personally I think it's an urban myth or at the very least wishful thinking. Kinda like people saying that if they have a laser sight and point it at a perp he will just raise his hands and surrender. On another note, I do think that a short shotgun is the best home defense gun. The fist shot in mine is rubber buckshot. Leaves a nasty bruise and will knock them down. After that it's 00 buck. You don't have much time in a home invasion situation to say " Hey listen to my gun ....I'm racking the slide now"

My home defense weapon is a Sig 226 .40 with Hornaday JHPs. Shotguns are too unwieldy for my taste.

I think the shotgun 'racking' is a bit of a tall tale. I'm sure it's happened, but I don't think that's a realistic strategy for scaring someone off.

Like all things, it depends on setting and presentation.

Of course empty chamber. Think on that for a sec.

As far as the laser sight, I had to pull the Taser on a lady this past fall. I think that and my presentation convinced her to leave. Saved me $20 or whatever the cartridges cost.

I once heard some famous expert on home defense suggest we just step out onto the back porch and fire off a round.

People still use pump-action shotguns these days? :D

I believe I have commented/joked about this method/phenomenon previously, but IMO it really isn't something one should rely on as a viable means of deterring bad guys. If a criminal is already crazy/stupid enough to be braking into your house with ill-intent, chances are that racking a round isn't going to have much effect (at least for some of them). In situations like that, time is life. The only thing that having to rack a round does is take away some of that precious time (when adrenaline has already impaired your fine motor skills). It potentially gives away your position as well.

This is another misconception that, IMO, is potentially just as dangerous as relying on the sound of a round chambering as a deterrent. As mentioned above, your fine motor skills take a dump when your adrenaline spikes.
Numerous shoot-outs have taken place where waaaay more than 6 shots were fired and nobody got hit. There have also been instances where the person that ran out of ammo first, lost. This includes officer-involved shootings.
Granted, a scatter gun increases hit-probability at close range, but with only 6 shots you are handicapping yourself a bit IMO.
Not a chance I would want to take. If they are also armed, you are just giving up any tactical advantage you might have had (giving away your position, and allowing them to put a weapon at the ready). Just my $.02...

Watch the video below. Lots of other folks didn't keep one chambered either.

Naive people think that if I pull a gun and waive it around the bad guy will back off. Heck no. He'll rush in, take it away from you and shoot you.
Never pull a gun until you are ready to use deadly force.

I saw a wonderful sign the other day:
"Due to the high cost of ammo, please do not expect a warning shot"

12 ga Shotgun using OO buck the pattern is smaller than most people think. At 5 yards, typical pattern is about 2.5-3 inches (60-75mm). This requires more than pointing in the "general direction".

Also, Movies and TV are the source of those racking moves and sounds. Let us not forget, we often see in the movies someone thumb back the hammer on a single action auto. That would mean it is NOT loaded.

Finally, I saw on a TV program someone rack the slide then load a magazine. And then have an accidental discharge...

Yup, scatter guns are too slow to reload. Too few of rounds they need to be part of the plan but not the first tool that I would grab.

The joys of living in California is the mag ban so 10 rounds or less. Multiple guns to fall back onto might be a great option.

Just because they require more precision than pointing in the general direction does not mean that they aren't easier to get hits at home defense ranges than other firearms. Likewise a 12 ga. with buckshot produces a catastrophic wound which you will not get with other firearms, and you are unlikely to carry significant energy outside of your residence. A shotgun is not the best weapon for all jobs, but it as a capable and formidable home defense weapon. And if your knowledge of and experience with firearms has you believing you only need to point a shotgun in the general direction, how likely is it that a different type of firearm would be better employed in home defense?

I think there are two different use cases here:

1) House Clearing

IMO, a light mounted on a handspoon is best for this job. Small, maneuverable, and if you can see the bad guy, you very nearly have sights on him. Here you have the ability to fire multiple shots rapidly. Sure, the sound of racking a shotgun will cause some criminals to flee, but not all. Some won't recognize what is going on. Some might be high. Some won't care.

2) Shelter in place

In this case, you know someone is in your house and you think they are coming for you or your family. Someone is on the phone with the police. Having a shotgun pointed at the door in case they breach is not a bad defensive posture. I'd want to be something like 45º off from the door in case they decide to fire through it.

Actually, the penetration tests on 00 buck show it penetrates drywall better than .223/5.56

The local Cops swear by their pump action shot guns. That should tell you something.

Legion, I'd generally agree with your logic, though I might disagree on the tools: a short AR-15 would probably be my preferred tool for house clearing. In the drills I've practiced with, I find I can acquire targets faster and more precisely with a proper rifle than I can with a hand-spoon. YMMV.

That said, clearing a house is, for most of us, a pretty foolish proposition. As I understand it from chats with professionals, clearing a building is a team job, not something a lone guy without serious training should be doing on his own in the middle of the night.

So my home invasion plan is to shelter in place, literally hiding behind the bed with a 45 and my phone. I'm off-center from the door, and I'm upstairs, in a long hallway full of doors. Woe be the poor sod who comes hunting down that hallway ill-prepared to meet an entrenched defender. The current defense weapon is a beautiful Remington 1911, but I'll be picking up an FNX-45 tomorrow. Once I get comfortable with the new spoon, I'll shift over. Maybe this is cavalier, but if I can't stop a bad guy with 15 rounds of 45 JHP from 3 yards kneeling, even in a high stress situation, I probably don't deserve to live long enough to breed anyway.

As to the shotgun myth: I had a cop buddy who one time, anecdotally, was able to successfully intimidate a couple of hoodlums into ceasing and desisting with an extremely confident approach that included racking the shotgun. Other than that, I think it's mostly just a myth. In my case, I keep the spoon loaded and chambered, so the only things a bad guy would hear are the safe popping open and the safety coming off.

My favorite are the cop movies where the cops are chasing the perp, fire a couple of rounds, then the perp heads into a warehouse or apartment building or something. At that point, it's almost guaranteed that the cops will stop at the door, talk about their plan for when they enter the building, and then, just before they enter the building, they rack the slide. I guess they want a fresh round in the chamber instead of the one that's 60 seconds old from the last time they fired the gun.

Can you really think of ANY likely situation where in your own home you would need more than a couple or three rounds? It is highly unlikely you will be in a gun battle like on TV unless you are a drug dealer or a criminal and the invaders are looking for your stash and willing to kill everyone inside. That is pretty much a TV plot.

With that said, I do like having a double stack magazine just because I want one. My home defense spoon is a revolver. In a total panic adrenaline rush heart pounding situation like a bad guy in the house I want a easy to use 100% reliable point and click works without thinking interface. I can pull the trigger 6 times if necessary. I really hope it is never necessary to defend my house but any and all intruders will be shot.