Shotgun question?

Question

Is racking a pump shotgun really an effective way to encourage an intruder to leave, or does it just serve to give away your location and lose the element of surprise?

Answer 1

It depends on the criminal more than anything else. It is kinda like the times that having a gun laser would scare them off. If they are willing to fight the sound won't deter them. If they are petty criminals and not wanting a fight they will run.

Answer 2

Alot depends on the laws for your state and your county prosicutor, but here is my answer given from a place where your home is still your castle. If some one is breaking into your home and you know where they are, give them a chance but just a small one. With the gum aimed at them the sound of a closing the action on a pump with a loaded chamber (a Mossburg 500 sounds the scariest!!!) followed by a firm "Da **** You Want" will freeze all but the dumbest crank heads. If they run call the cops. If they drop to the ground and pee them selves call the cops. If they just stand there or make a threting move toward you call the cops and tell them to bring a bag. This is what my lawyer told me when I had some problems with my wife's boyfriend while I was getting a divorce.

Answer 3

One stand-off with sheriff's deputies that I am aware of went down like this: Bad guy racked the slide on his twelve gauge pump effectively expelling the only live round in his shotgun. The deputy responded by emptying his .357 Magnum center-mass into the bad guy's torso. Guess who won?

Sure, racking a slide on a 12 gauge pump is intimidating but so is staring at the wrong end of a 12 gauge. So rack it only if it is necessary. If your shotgun is your primary defensive weapon then you should know if it is ready to shoot or not. Policemen do not rack the slide on their handguns when they draw them. No one really opens the cylinder on a revolver to make sure it is loaded. If it is your weapon you should know if it is ready or not.

So I would not give away my position by racking the slide on my shotgun unnecessarily. If it is loaded I know it is loaded and only need to trip the safety if I need to shoot it. Same thing with my duty automatic.

H

Answer 4

As a retired LEO/Detective I can tell you from first hand experience that it does BOTH.... But it's a 50/50 c**pshoot at what the outcome is going to be.There is no way to know ahead of time unless it's in a Hollywood movie script..There is no way to suppress the noise so either way it's a gamble, and your position will be noticed..You're either going to scare an Intruder into submission or push him towards being confrontational when normally he might not be. In a modern day world filled with repeat offenders and drugs.If you're going to "rack" one..You best be prepared to pull the trigger.......

Answer 5

it does have pyschological advantages to both sides, and it is the one personal weapon that will cause a bad guy to take a second thought. Ask any officer on the street if the feel better doing a sweep with the riot gun or their sidearm

my question is if you have an intruder at gunpoint and you racked your slide and your intruder is wanting to retreat why not order said intruder down and hold at GP until the authorities arrive? then the next home owner wont have to shoot him

Answer 6

JD well said. All I can add to that is in the event of a home invasion, whether single perp or not, the best thing to do is avoid the confrontation directly, call your local law enforcement at the earliest opportunity to provide you with back-up. I believe the best thing to do with a shotty is to take cover in a room, low on the ground (like your bedroom) and rack it loudly. The noise is unmistakable and every perp knows it and it's implication. He will now have to make a choice, Shoot it out with a home owner that he can't see while trying to enter your room or grab what he can and run for his life. Remember that at night it can be very difficult to pinpoint the location of a cycling shotty so it can be very effective as a deterent, however, if the perp is intent on trying to kill you it does not matter how many rounds you put in the barrel, as long as one of them hits the perp before he hits you.

Answer 7

Well - racking your shotgun is going to either scare them into running away or scare them into shooting it out with you since the intruder now knows you're armed.

In *most* cases - intruders aren't looking for that kind of confrontation... so, this will typically get them to bugger out. However, there's always going to be an exception to this rule.

If you're in a scenario where you feel it's necessary to actually get out your gun - you need to be prepared to use it (and use it with deadly efficiency) ... if you're going to just pull out the shotgun with the intention of ONLY racking it to try to scare someone off - you're setting yourself up for trouble because you've just escalated the confrontation.

Don't pull it if you're not ready to use it.

Answer 8

What do you need to rack your slide for? If you are confronting a burglar you better have that baby already loaded and safety off, with your finger on the trigger. The noise that will deter a criminal is called BOOOM!! And it is made when the gun goes off and the shot is flying.

Answer 9

I believe the smartest approach is to have it locked & loaded ready to fire away except for having to only release the safety. Like the old Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared".* I am not going to try & scare him by first racking a live round in the chamber, its going to be ready to fire except for taking the safety off.*

Answer 10

I think it would give away your position , and if you did it too many times you would have to reload it and a smart intruder would know that .