Proper nighttime storage of handgun

[BigCinBigD]

“just cause a guy breaks into the house doesn’t mean you can shoot him”

Around here it does. ;0)

[Randy Papadoo]

Some of the advice given here depends on whether your pistol is double-action or not, and whether or not it has an external hammer. Don’t know the characteristics of your P6, but do use the 9mm for emergencies. More stopping power, etc.

For immediate action, your pistol should have a round in the chamber, and the external hammer down. Not a safety problem, because modern pistols have a hammer block that stays in place until you pull the trigger. Dropping it should not be a problem.

For a double action pistol without an external hammer, leaving it cocked with a chambered round is dangerous, sort of like having a set mousetrap in your drawer. Doesn’t take much. If you leave it uncocked, you will have to rack the action to shoot, which takes just a second.

Plus, leaving a pistol cocked for extended periods, like all the time, can fatigue the mainspring and that could eventually make the pistol unreliable.

If you’re concerned that an intruder could make it into your bedroom before you became aware of him, you might not have time to grab, cock, and shoot. A large knife, secreted within instant reach, will be faster to deploy than a pistol.

I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t have the pistol, I’m just mentioning the knife in case it fits your situation.

Lastly, as others have said, be sure you follow your local gun regulations, and know the consequences if you do actually shoot an intruder. Set yourself up so that you won’t have to rely on your brother’s help, since that could compromise his position.

But don’t let the BS mess up your judgement when the s**t comes down.

[Leisler]

This is the way I prefer to sleep.

Helmet, charcoal impregnated mask, vest, and a clicker in my hand for the perimeter of claymores surrounding my bed. This way, when my political enemies (and they are legion) attack me when I am in an occasional state of inebriation, I just have to hard squeeze the hand clicker and I can get all of them from any directions.

[doodad]

my vote: keep it locked up, or at the very least unloaded.

Might as well just keep a hammer by the bed then.

[mosaicwolf]

Keep it cocked and locked on the night stand. You never want to work the action because an intruder may hear it and run before you have a chance to neutralize the threat.
If you have children teach them the safe handling and operation of a fire arm at a very early age. Train often. Marksmanship is a perishable skill.

[cowboyway]

The grooves are so your fingers can find the buttons in the dark and you set the combo. It takes me about two seconds to go from unarmed to ready to rock.

You can open your safe in 2 seconds and have gun in hand ready to fire after being woken up from a sound sleep by a home invasion, bill?

Yeah, right. The grooves are where they're going to find your hand after the invaders have capped your sleepy, fumbling ass.

Don't listen to him Fred. This could be a life and death situation; YOUR life. One motion: hand to gun. Not hand to safe then gun......or watch, depending on what other crap you've put in the safe.

Nightstand.
Round chambered.
Full high cap mag.

I prefer one of the following 3 models in the order listed:

H&K USP Tactical 45 ACP
Springfield Armory Tactical 45 ACP
GLOCK 21

During the day if you don't carry it with you, then lock it up.

One more thing. Practice.

[El Laton Caliente]

Since no kids.

Your Sig has no safety; like a Glock. It is normally kept loaded and round chambered with the hammer lowered by using the decocker. It is double action on the first round and single afterwards.

No pillow! Keep it within arms reach and it is best if not visable by an intruder.

Nice choice in handgun... I have a Sig 226 on a shelf next to my bed. The wife has a CZ82 on her side.

Drop by www.Gunsnet.net and join there... the guys are helpful on all subjects gun...

[El Laton Caliente]

The Sig in question here mechanically has to have the trigger pulled for the hammer to contact the firing pin. That is the real safety on the pistol, it has no other (like a Glock).

The Sig pistols are designed to be carried loaded, chambered and decocked using the decocker lever. The are double action the first round and go to single after...

[Travis McGee]

I have a similar fast opening pistol safe. I trust it 100% and can open it, as you said, in 2 seconds flat.

But I still keep a pistol in my bed’s shelved headboard, behind the pillow.

[joseph20]

Yep, I own a SIG P226. I keep mine loaded (decocked of course) with 15+1 rounds of Winchester Ranger T 124gr +p+ inside a quick-access safe. SIGs are excellent firearms. I am supremely confident in my P226.

The P6 is the German Polizei’s designation for the SIG P225. The P225 is a top-notch firearm. I’ve heard people describe handling it for the first time like “pulling Excalibur from the stone”. It features a single stack magazine, which allows for a slimmer grip (but less magazine capacity). This makes it well-suited for shooters with smaller hands, especially females.

Good luck with your P6 (P225), train and train often!

[Mad Dawg]

Okay, no kids ever? That opens things up.

My first pompous remark is that having a pistol ready is not a complete home defense plan. Visualizing and planning are your friends.

I suppose the worst case it someone already n the bedroom with a knife at your throat. In that case a gun within reach would be nice. Maybe also a knife of your own

Next worst (? Is that English?) would be in the bedroom, but not near you. Maybe gun and Surefire or gladiator that will dazzle the intruder.

Next worse, at the bedroom door - whatcha gonna do now, Daddy?

Not so worse: "Honey? I hear something downstairs." I'm serious about having plans for various possibilities.

Okay, so you have prevailed. The guy is backing off, hands up, saying,"Hi, my name is Clarence Weatherbeam Cholmondely III, and I just thought I'd stop by. Don't shoot me, bro'.", somebody is calling 911, you've got a wait ahead of you.

So are ou going to keep pointing the gun at him untilt he police come, even though you are now wide awake and if you don't get to visit the "place of flowing waters" really soon it's going to get ugly (and damp) on the floor near your jammies.

Maybe cuffs? Maybe getting someone to teach you how to put cuffs on someone while also maintaining control?

I have no kids in the house. By my bed I have a Surefire, two knives -- loose in their sheathes, my Sig with one in the chamber and a full mag (and know where my other mags are), and a pair of handcuffs (with another pair nearby). I am fortunate in that I can keep these things so that there's no way I can bump into them accidentally, but they are within easy reach. My cell phone is also there.

Something I like when I'm travelling is the Wilderness Safepacker. You can tuck the flap between the mattress and the box and you are ready to rack 'n roll.

These are just my thoughts and I don't know what I'm talking about. (Just ask my wife and daughter.)

[Mad Dawg]

There’s no way cops are here at night in under 25 minutes unless they’re already out here for some other reason.

[mad_as_he$$]

What ever you decide on practice the act of getting the gun and putting it on target several hundred times - depending on your age. Put several paper targets around the room and while laying in bed grab the gun and point it randomly at the various targets. You NEED this to become second nature and it MUST come from muscle memory NOT from deliberate action. It is really embarrassing to get shot with your own gun. BTW - holster on the back of the nightstand works for many.

[Mad Dawg]

Pepper spray is also nice as a non-lethal way to get compliance once you're in control (mostly as a threat). No substitute for a pistol though.

Oh, and I always tell people, "Imagine pieces of skull and brain spatter on your bedroom wall behind the guy you just shot. Imagine ungodly amounts of blood on our floor and a guy who's alive but will never walk again. Now: Are you ready to be responsible for that? Make sure you are, or sell your gun. When the battle flag goes up, your head has to be in the right place. It's too late then to 'think what this really means'."

[mad_as_he$$]

Very few if any modern guns will accidentally discharge if dropped. Not to say it does not happen. 1911’s and old revolvers started this fear. Under VERY unusual conditions a 1911 with a round in the chamber has been dropped and discharged. The drop must be from more than two feet and the gun has to land just right. Old revolvers - well that is self explanatory. The Peacemaker that lived by the front door when I was growing up only had one 5 rounds in it for that reason. Considering that there were millions of 1911’s made and they were handled in the Military by people who did not know a gun from a hotrock it is actually amazing that it is a rare an incident as it is. Revolvers were handled by every Tom, Dick and Harry....

[TalonDJ]

In a drawer is better than in the case.
Under the pillow is right out! Too easy to slip off the bed or some place it should not be. That garbage is for cheezy movies.

Locked&cocked depends on the gun and on your own comfort zone.
If you are really good at handling a gun with your finger safely away from the trigger at all times until you are ready to shoot, and if you know the trigger pull of that gun really really well then I would say you are ok putting one in the chamber. If those two things are not the case then I would say don’t do it.

Personally we keep our ‘ready’ guns loaded but without one chambered. This is for a couple reasons. One, so that we can have them all in a consistant condition. Some have manual safeties and some have trigger safeties. Some are rifles that have safeties in funny places. It is much easier for my wife and I to know that any gun we pick up and where in the house (if it was a ‘ready gun’) is just one slide pull, level movement, or charging handle pull away from being ready to rock.

[M1928A1 Thompson]

I have no kids, keep a loaded revolver and a Surefire light on the nightstand. The light is for humane reasons. That ensures that the intruder who has broken into my house at night that the last thing he sees in life WON’T be me, naked in the hallway.

[Mad Dawg]

Very thoughtful of you.

"Go to the light .... Okay, stop right there. Lie down. Repeat after me: Our Father, who art in ...."

[CholeraJoe]

Lock the pistol in the safe and prop one of these in the corner by your bed with 5 in the magazine and the chamber empty. Anyone comes in, rack the action. Guaranteed burglar bladder control loss.

[absolootezer0]

If I were an intruder and I heard a gun being cocked...I might change my choice of victims.

there are two schools of thought on this. first agrees with you, pucker factor might have bad guys scurrying out.
however, some people believe that it serves as a warning to the criminal, who now knows you're awake, knows you are armed, and knows what direction you are in.