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S 12 ready conditions


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Hope this hasn't been covered... I am always debating the balance between having a firearm safe, and a firearm ready. 

It is particularly difficult with the S 12, as we  all know about "top shell deformation" if we  leave a magazine locked in under a closed bolt.  Even with my bolt relieved so I can load a full mag on a closed bolt, my mags will deform a shell to the point where it will not chamber in under a day, even when I load down 1 shell.

I don't believe it is safe to leave a full mag in and the bolt locked back if it is not in my hands, and I have experimented with different trigger locks, but have been unhappy with the results.

What I am doing now is loading 9 shells in a 10-round magazine, and the top "shell" is one of those high-quality aluminum 'snap-caps', and the mag loaded on a closed bolt.I feel comfortable leaving the firearm in this condition for instance, in my bedroom at night, or in the gun rack when I am home alone and working around the house and grounds.  If I feel I need to transition to condition orange, (zombies, terrorists, aggressive mice) I need only rack the operating handle... TWICE. 

It appears one can leave the firearm indefinitely in this condition without deforming the second shell.  I can also easily make it more secure by removing the mag, or putting a trigger lock on.  Obviously, the drawback is that under stress one might not remember to rack the action twice... or not at all.  Then one has a failure to fire with the first needed shot. 

Hmmm... everything in firearms is a compromise.  Thoughts?  Alternatives?  Solutions so we can live in a society where one does not want a shotgun at the ready?

 

Snap cap.png

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Good idea.  Same thing I do with my Atlantic Firearms Trench 12 "firearm".  Only I load  8 shells into the Csspecs 10 rd steel box mag with a aluminum snap cap on top.  Safety is off.  I only have to quickly rack the shotgun.

Ir would be a hoot to get some brass 3 inch empty cases and have fun working up a max load number 4 or number 1 buckshot load.  Reduced velocity.   More pellets.  The barrel is 12 inches long.  Should spread very fast.

Edited by HB of CJ
s/p w/w
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I just leave the bolt open using the BHO... slam her home if I'm gonna have myself a donnybrook..

8 round russian inserted.. sneaky bag with three more 8 rounders and three 5 round with Slugs.

No kids at home..

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I'm not a fan of the AK safety and choose to not use it much. I do like the Kreb's product, but I am too cheap to buy one. Weapon is either empty during transport or there is a full mag in it with the bolt locked back.

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Must be the plastic on Bianchi shells is sturdier than most. I've had the same five #4 Buck rounds in the factory mag, inserted in the gun for about two years and they'll still chamber without fail. I think I'll pick up some more of those. 😉Oh, one in the chamber with the safety on, like most of my guns. 

 

The deadliest gun is an empty one.

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On ‎9‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 6:04 AM, Heartbreaker said:

Took me 5 minutes with a Dremel to notch the factory safety like a Krebs for BHO. Works great.

I hope to have 5 minutes to work on my own stuff again soon. 

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I keep mine fully loaded, with the safety on. There's no valid reason to leave an empty chamber with good ammo. i.e. Federal or hornady #4 buck.  

That leaves the operation with the most opportunity for error already done. 

The fabled deformed top round is mostly that. You can reproduce it with soft enough ammo with 00 buck or larger in a brand that uses no buffer or shotcup. At that point, I think you are going out of your way to have a bad time. I was able to get some S&B 15 pellet 00b to get some noticeable dents in the hull between the pellets over about a year of chambering it most every day.  I shot all that ammo, and a couple did feed slugishly or need a little help to go fully into battery. They looked pretty rough just from sheer # of times they had been cycled. The main issue though is that those are soft hull with a roll crimp that can get kinda bent. Also the extractor will eventually chew up the brass. With common as dirt federal field load #4 B, #1 B or fancier stuff with flite control or Versatite wads, you just aren't going to have a problem.

See previous posts elsewhere in this forum in which I tried to make a worst case scenario for shell deformation, having a gun stored next to the water heater with a topped of 8 round mag for max spring pressure, which I loaded on a closed bolt almost every weekend for 8 months plus (or whatever period of time my oldest post on the topic says.) After a long time of that, I took it that way to the range, and it ran the whole mag without issue. 

"Cruiser Ready" is a bad concept. It doesn't apply to this platform, and shouldn't be used in others. It's a dumb idea for your carry pistol to carry on an empty chamber, and the same considerations apply. If you disagree, please send your hatemail on the back of a $50 bill to ....

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post script. There are a lot of right ways to do things, and a much smaller number of wrong ways. You can do your own, even if it isn't what I think is optimal. However, I do strongly suggest that you have a consistent system.

By that I mean, have a constant policy about the condition of your guns. You should never wonder if a particular gun is loaded. My policy is that any gun not in the safe or a case is ready to go, and any gun in a case or safe is empty. You might do the opposite, or only have guns on your person or at your bedside ready.... Whatever your system, stick to it.

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