Defensive Shotgun Home Use Question - High Ready or Low Ready?

[RicInOR]

When using your shotgun for the purpose of home defense

In your home - not thinking extended property, or out of doors



Is it better to be in High Ready or Low Ready when doing administrative actions, like topping off or search?

I think it might be very difficult to be searching thru the sights with a shotgun. If you are actively engaged, then yes you would do this.

However, if you are investigating the "Bump in the other part of the house" - you need to be scanning, probably with a light ..





One thought, High Ready is more like a handgun use, maybe closer to muscle memory. Especially true with topping off.

One thought on Low Ready, is if you come across someone who needs to be shot, then you are quicker on target - even if they are at bad breath distance you are more likely to get them in a foot / leg from low ready than from high ready.



My personal plan if I think someone is in my house is to scream at them to leave, have the wife call 911 and get my calling out to leave recorded,
to hide behind the bed and use it at concealment. Then anyone coming into the bedroom would have decided they are there to hurt me, or the mrs.


But, I have to think thru, practice the clearing of the house if that becomes necessary. It maybe that I transition to my handgun to do this.


Thoughts?


TIA

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[Knobgoblin]

What floor are you on ? Who's in the line of fire in relation to high or low muzzle position? Ammo choice? Wall, floor, ceiling materials? Windows? Neighbor's proximity?

Just added a few variables that come to mind.

 

[Cerberus Group]

CQB is done with the muzzle level ready to engage, only go high or low depending on people and obstacles.

 

[titsonritz]

CQB is done with the muzzle level ready to engage, only go high or low depending on people and obstacles.

^^^This

That said, I'm not clearing a house with a shotgun, I'm using a 14.5" or shorter AR as it is lighter, faster and more maneuverable. With a shotgun I'll dial 911 put on mute, barricade in place and melt the turd if and when they come to me. But that is me

Also, I have a red dot on the shotgun I'd likely use in HD so sights are not a concern.

 

[bradsteen]

The only reason I would be "searching" during a potentially hostile encounter would be to locate a family member and get them to safety. As a general rule if I hear a "bump in the night" I am taking up a static position and controlling access to my safe zone via a fatal funnel. In the case of my home, that safe zone is my upper floor - someone breaking into my home comes upstairs, they're gonna regret that decision... It'll be a very short-lived regret, but regret nonetheless. I don't care how "operator" you might be, searching your home for an intruder dramatically increases your risk for no reason (barring the exception mentioned above). Hunker down and let them come to you. The advantage is yours that way... generally street punks aren't well versed in assaulting fixed positions.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

When using your shotgun for the purpose of home defense

In your home - not thinking extended property, or out of doors



Is it better to be in High Ready or Low Ready when doing administrative actions, like topping off or search?

I think it might be very difficult to be searching thru the sights with a shotgun. If you are actively engaged, then yes you would do this.

However, if you are investigating the "Bump in the other part of the house" - you need to be scanning, probably with a light ..





One thought, High Ready is more like a handgun use, maybe closer to muscle memory. Especially true with topping off.

One thought on Low Ready, is if you come across someone who needs to be shot, then you are quicker on target - even if they are at bad breath distance you are more likely to get them in a foot / leg from low ready than from high ready.



My personal plan if I think someone is in my house is to scream at them to leave, have the wife call 911 and get my calling out to leave recorded,
to hide behind the bed and use it at concealment. Then anyone coming into the bedroom would have decided they are there to hurt me, or the mrs.


But, I have to think thru, practice the clearing of the house if that becomes necessary. It maybe that I transition to my handgun to do this.


Thoughts?


TIA

I use red dot on a magazine fed shotgun. Handling, ready position, etc is no different than any other sbr, rifle etc. Fire rate is about 300 rounds per minute (not counting reloads of course), again similar to AR. Good muzzle brake reduces 12 gauge recoil by up to 80% (99% in terms of muzzle rise for the v6 brake). In this way you can get all the 12 gauge effectiveness with none of the 12 gauge drawbacks (except weight).

12, 15, 20, or 25 round drum or 10, 12 round stick mags depending on your preferences.

 

[OldBroad44]

In my experience a bump in the night is usually a rat in a bucket. Or even a bat once. Good excuse to routinely practice house clearing (which I do with a handgun.) No reason to call 911. And I certainly wouldn't hide. For how long? If someone is in my house I want them out right now. And the earlier and closer to their breaking-in I confront them the easier it is for them to flee when I confront them. Which is what I want. (Trying to capture bad guy and hold him for cops increases my risk and is beyond my paygrade.)

Also, I don't want cops showing up while I'm looking for the rat in the bucket or the bad guy, and maybe having cop shoot me through the window because I'm carrying a gun. Calling cops is essentially handing authority over to someone else--someone who considers the invader's life and health as important as mine, an evaluation with which I don't agree. If I actually talked with dispatch on the phone they would likely be telling me to put the gun down and hide somewhere, or some other nonsense. They would tell me to stay on the phone, which I would not do because it's stupid. I'd be giving away my position by talking with them and distracting myself and interfering with my ability to deal with the situation. If its a rat in a bucket I don't need cops. If I chase out a home invader I still don't need cops. Only if I have to shoot a home invader do I need to call cops. And once bad guy or guys is/are dead I can afford to put gun down so I'm less likely to get shot by cops. Of course bad guy(s) may kill me instead of my killing them. Sometimes you eat the bear. Sometimes the bear eats you. I'd rather take my chances with the bad guy(s) than the cops. I can legitimately shoot a bad guy who has invaded my home and attacked me instead of taking the option of leaving when confronted. I can't legitimately shoot a cop.

I've experienced two attempted home invasions in my life. One a guy trying to come in through a window. Changed his mind when confronted with a gun. I didn't call cops or report it. Just went back to studying. College student at the time. The other was in Corvallis back in late 8Os. After I chased the guy out at gunpoint, I did report it, though not on the emergency line. The bad guy was clearly deranged, probably on a drug that causes extreme rage and aggression, and I thought he might attack anyone he ran into. Both incidents within a block of a college campus. I've decided that living very near a college campus is among the worst places a woman can live. Have now lived in a small residential area N of Corvallis for 29 years. Nothing but rats in buckets. One bat. One bird. (Flew down chimney?). A pair of swallows nesting under eaves outside. Peaceful.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Sorry never was hip to tactical terms...even when in the army , while in a MOS that actually used 'em.....

I would suggest here that :

You practice with whatever firearm you use for home defense...
As in go around your home with the firearm and try to do things like :
Calling 911...
Search for a loved one , or intruder....
Maintain control of your firearm while carrying another item....
Check out your line of sight from various rooms , lighting conditions and positions / stances.....

It is important that you do this with whatever firearm you use for home defense because....
Often what works well for someone else , where they live , train or whatever....may not work out so well for you.

At the end of the day...
If you survived and stopped the threat...then whatever you did , whatever name is put on it....worked.
Andy

 

[DunRanull]

In my experience a bump in the night is usually a rat in a bucket. Or even a bat once. Good excuse to routinely practice house clearing (which I do with a handgun.) No reason to call 911. And I certainly wouldn't hide. For how long? If someone is in my house I want them out right now. And the earlier and closer to their breaking-in I confront them the easier it is for them to flee when I confront them. Which is what I want. (Trying to capture bad guy and hold him for cops increases my risk and is beyond my paygrade.)

Also, I don't want cops showing up while I'm looking for the rat in the bucket or the bad guy, and maybe having cop shoot me through the window because I'm carrying a gun. Calling cops is essentially handing authority over to someone else--someone who considers the invader's life and health as important as mine, an evaluation with which I don't agree. If I actually talked with dispatch on the phone they would likely be telling me to put the gun down and hide somewhere, or some other nonsense. They would tell me to stay on the phone, which I would not do because it's stupid. I'd be giving away my position by talking with them and distracting myself and interfering with my ability to deal with the situation. If its a rat in a bucket I don't need cops. If I chase out a home invader I still don't need cops. Only if I have to shoot a home invader do I need to call cops. And once bad guy or guys is/are dead I can afford to put gun down so I'm less likely to get shot by cops. Of course bad guy(s) may kill me instead of my killing them. Sometimes you eat the bear. Sometimes the bear eats you. I'd rather take my chances with the bad guy(s) than the cops. I can legitimately shoot a bad guy who has invaded my home and attacked me instead of taking the option of leaving when confronted. I can't legitimately shoot a cop.

I've experienced two attempted home invasions in my life. One a guy trying to come in through a window. Changed his mind when confronted with a gun. I didn't call cops or report it. Just went back to studying. College student at the time. The other was in Corvallis back in late 8Os. After I chased the guy out at gunpoint, I did report it, though not on the emergency line. The bad guy was clearly deranged, probably on a drug that causes extreme rage and aggression, and I thought he might attack anyone he ran into. Both incidents within a block of a college campus. I've decided that living very near a college campus is among the worst places a woman can live. Have now lived in a small residential area N of Corvallis for 29 years. Nothing but rats in buckets. One bat. One bird. (Flew down chimney?). A pair of swallows nesting under eaves outside. Peaceful.

Moving to a small peaceful town- I get that. I left the Detroit area for the mtns nigh forty years ago. In all that time Ive only ::::knock on wood:::: by the grace of God only one firearm "incident". Life is much different in a small community compared to the hullabaloo of the city, took me a few years to decompress, so to speak.
While like many here, I have a range of armament, my preferred Bump In The Night weapons are a Mossie 500 and Colt .45 auto or Glock 21... I hold the shotgun at the waist pointed straight out, or else shouldered, straight forward.
I really need to figure out a mounting device to put a flashlight and maybe a laser on it.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Sorry never was hip to tactical terms...even when in the army , while in a MOS that actually used 'em.....

I would suggest here that :

You practice with whatever firearm you use for home defense...
As in go around your home with the firearm and try to do things like :
Calling 911...
Search for a loved one , or intruder....
Maintain control of your firearm while carrying another item....
Check out your line of sight from various rooms , lighting conditions and positions / stances.....

It is important that you do this with whatever firearm you use for home defense because....
Often what works well for someone else , where they live , train or whatever....may not work out so well for you.

At the end of the day...
If you survived and stopped the threat...then whatever you did , whatever name is put on it....worked.
Andy

Totally agree with all of the above. Especially the practice part! Better to have your gun bump into the bannister and fall on the ground in practice (so you know to do it a different way in future) rather than when ur life depends on it!

I would also add practice in the dark and think about stopping the threat before it gets into the house. Assume you have to get up at 3 am, where is your gun?, flashlight?, phone?, extra mags, whatever. What windows etc will give you a commanding view/position? If everything you need "lives" in the same spot all the time then you can function really well in the dark because everything is right where you expect it to be.

Living in S-hole Portland we've had a lot of "bumps in the night" that were outside and being able to have everything you need in one place and not having to hunt for it in the dark (I say dark because if they are outside you can see them but they can't see you if you don't turn on the lights) is really important imo. Losing minutes hunting for stuff the perp can move to somewhere you can't see him anymore or break in or whatever. So far we have been able to keep threats out with voice, ring camera intercom, and even just a flashlight. Having cameras with phone alerts is really helpful in this regard imo. Col. Jeff Cooper said it best something like "hyenas always sneak up on you from behind...look for an easy target". Just like if you were on the street a potential threat that is confronted/shown he is being watched by an alert person is probably less likely to attack cuz you aren't an easy target.

Just to be clear I'm not trying to downplay responding to an intruder in your home at all. Im only suggesting augmenting it with being able to confront the intruder before he ever gets in, and suggesting a good way to do that leave the lights off and have everything you need in one place, ideally in a position of maximum advantage such as a window overlooking the property and entrance or whatever.

Just my 2 cents, I'm no expert. But I believe in an "outside in" defense and having every possible advantage and giving perp every possible disadvantage.