Many of us have pretty massive arsenals. Shotguns, rifles and pistols. I get excited just thinking about it! The question you have to ask yourself is how fast can I go from safe to armed? In my opinion if the SHTF and things go bad and the violence is at your door you need to be ready to repel borders in 60 seconds.
If you have kids and guns you should have a gun safe. If you have a gun safe then going from safe to armed in 60 seconds is relatively easy. I keep my tactical Remington 870 ready to rock. I keep 7 “00″ low recoil buck shells and 3 hollow tip slugs in the shell carriers. That way I can grab the gun and be off in seconds. I also keep my new Heckler and Koch USP .45 in a state of ready. She is in a Blackhawk Tactical holster with a paddle holster attachment. That way, no matter what clothes I am wearing I can clip the paddle holster on and roll! For the .45 I keep two magazines of Hornady TAP Self-defense loads (235 grain) for some serious power.
Between 20 rounds of .45 and 10 shotgun shells I feel that I am covered for unknown emergency situations. Your rifle doesn’t need to be ready to go because rifles are typically for offensive reasons. However, it couldn’t hurt if you do get your rifle prepped and ready.
You definitely don’t want to be loading magazines or doing through ammo cans for ammunition when the manimals come knocking.
Be ready to rock!
-SP
Filed under: SHTF, suburban survival | Tagged: shtf guns
[...] From Safe to Armed in 60 Seconds « Suburban Preparedness and Suburban Survival Many of us have pretty massive arsenals. Shotguns, rifles and pistols. I get excited just thinking about it! The question you have to ask yourself is how fast can I go from safe to armed? In my opinion if the SHTF and things go bad and the violence is at your door you need to be ready to repel borders in 60 seconds. Code Name Insight: 10 Reasons NOT to Have a Firearm in Your Home August 20th, 2008 [...]
I leave preloaded magazines at strategic points for reloads in addition to a two mag carrier kept with my pistol. One extra mag in the nightstand, two extra mags in the glovebox of each car, two extra mags in the tornado shelter and one extra mag + a box of ammo in my GHB.
I think it is a whole different ballgame for people without children or other assorted unauthorized users then for people with children, etc. I have 2 handguns loaded at home. One stays in the nightstand at all times and the other rotates to the living room when I am home.
For those with children, etc keeping guns that are not on your person locked up is essential. I don’t know what kind of safe you have but unless it is a key or fingerprint/ punch code safe I would think long and hard about getting one to keep the ready guns in. One of those little punch code one gun sized boxes costs under 100 bucks. Bolt it to the floor right by the bed and you are G2G. I don’t worry about immediately accessible spare ammo for the pistols. If a gunfight in the RV takes more then 6 rounds I have lost. I can’t envision this ever happening but if I had the need to go outside with a gun I would take the AK and pocket a spare mag (got to get a buttstock mag pouch if available).
As for the paddle holster will your boxers or PJ’s hold it up? I doubt it. Consider having a dedicated belt to hold the holster and mag pouch. You can be Neeked and throw on a gunbelt.
I carry at home in the house. My gun doesn’t usually come off until bed time and then it is in my nightstand next to the bed. It goes on as soon as i dress in the AM. When I do take it off before the end of the day, it goes in my gun cabinet and is locked up, but that is the exception rather than the rule. One of the small lock boxes would be good because my gun cabinet is not in the main living area of the house. I can get to it in under a minute IF no one is between me and the cabinet.
I like theotherryan’s idea about the gunbelt for storage and being able to hastily put on a belt.
You have a good point about the rifle. I have a slightly different situation as I live in an RV. The distance from the bed to the bedroom door is about 8 feet. The distance from the bedroom door to the front of the cab is about 23 feet. If I can’t hit at that distance with the .357 then I have big problems. Also the space is just too small to make a scatter gun practical. I can’t see needing it but if for some insane reason I need to go outside with a gun I am taking the rifle. Keeping 2 mags loaded doesn’t cost me anything…. come to think of it I should probably rotate them.