Question regarding locked and loaded

[Shootsalot]

So, I keep my 590 racked and chambered with safety on. Is this wrong? I’ve read posts where most are racking it unloaded, pulling trigger then loading. Is this something I should change up and why? I own rifles and handguns, this is the only shotgun I own so I am new to it. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ernst]

First and foremost, welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Mossberg.

There is not just one way to keep a shotgun ready, however; if you have multiple shotguns or rifles you should use the same methodology across all of them to avoid confusion and a possible unintended discharge. The other consideration is if you have kids or other adults who have access to the the gun. Safety first!

The method you described with a round chambered and the safety on is perfectly acceptable. The potential drawbacks include something or someone inadvertently hitting the safety to the on position, thus making the gun ready to fire. And while the Mossberg 590 is "considered" to be drop safe many shotguns are not, even with the safety on, and I'm not sure I'd trust any of them.

The method many of us use is to take a completely unloaded gun and rack the slide action and then pull the trigger to dry fire the gun. At this point you have a completely safe gun and it's your choice if you engage the tang safety or not. Many folks, using this method, do not engage the safety. Now you can load the magazine with your choice of rounds. The condition of the gun is now known as cruiser ready.

To bring the gun into action you simply rack the first shell into the chamber and the gun is ready to fire. Given you've first dry fired the gun on an empty chamber there is no need to utilize the slide release. This is considered by most as the safest way to store a loaded shotgun and have it immediately ready for engagement.

Hopefully this is clear but you should practice whichever method you plan to use outdoors in a safe environment. Plus using inert snap caps is a good way to practice loading and utilizing your gun. But safety first!

 

[Shootsalot]

First and foremost, welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Mossberg.

There is not just one way to keep a shotgun ready, however; if you have multiple shotguns or rifles you should use the same methodology across all of them to avoid confusion and a possible unintended discharge. The other consideration is if you have kids or other adults who have access to the the gun. Safety first!

The method you described with a round chambered and the safety on is perfectly acceptable. The potential drawbacks include something or someone inadvertently hitting the safety to the on position, thus making the gun ready to fire. And while the Mossberg 590 is "considered" to be drop safe many shotguns are not, even with the safety on, and I'm not sure I'd trust any of them.

The method many of us use is to take a completely unloaded gun and rack the slide action and then pull the trigger to dry fire the gun. At this point you have a completely safe gun and it's your choice if you engage the tang safety or not. Many folks, using this method, do not engage the safety. Now you can load the magazine with your choice of rounds. The condition of the gun is now known as cruiser ready.

To bring the gun into action you simply rack the first shell into the chamber and the gun is ready to fire. Given you've first dry fired the gun on an empty chamber there is no need to utilize the slide release. This is considered by most as the safest way to store a loaded shotgun and have it immediately ready for engagement.

Hopefully this is clear but you should practice whichever method you plan to use outdoors in a safe environment. Plus using inert snap caps is a good way to practice loading and utilizing your gun. But safety first!

Thank you for clearing that up. I keep my handguns the same way as I described with the 590, always one in the chamber ready to go. It is only my wife and I in the house but I will adjust and do the recommended cruiser style. Thanks again!

 

[Ernst]

Shootsalot, glad the information was useful.

Just another suggestion for your consideration. Every couple of months download the shells in your magazine tube using the cartridge stop and inspect the crimp end of each shell. Some brands, and especially those using roll crimps, tend to deform the leading edge over long periods of time due to the constant spring pressure in the magazine tube. While this is a rare occurance and only happens typically when shells are static loaded for months or years it has happened. During these periodic inspections if you see a shell that might be deformed replace it with a new shell and use the deformed shell as a practice round. This ramdom inspection precludes, during an actual and potential life threatening engagement, of having a shell misfeed or fail to chamber.

Good luck and enjoy your new Mossberg.

Regards

 

[meanstreak]

I had no idea about the shells deforming. I run across a lot of great info passed on by the folks here. The different experiences people have add up to a ton of knowledge over time.

Thank for asking the question shootsalot, and thanks for the info Ernst.

 

[Autonomous]

Springs don't seem to suffer from being compressed for long periods of time. The last round in the magazine requires quite a bit more pressure to insert than the rest therefore I keep the magazine loaded one shy of it's capacity to spare the cartridges.

 

[Ernst]

Autonomous, you are correct regarding springs. I have pistol and rifle magazines that have been continuously loaded since the 1970s and function just fine. Springs wear through cycling use.

While I doubt there is any harm in keeping the shotgun mag tube fully loaded there is a tactical advantage to having it downloaded by one shell. Lets say you typically keep it loaded with 00 buck but the initial situational response requires a slug. Very easy to top off the mag tube with a slug, then rack it in and keep topping off the tube with additional slugs as the situation requires. If you have a full mag tube and need to load a slug then you must dump the first round. There's a couple of techniques that can be use but they all take time.

Even if you download you mag tube by a round I would periodically inspect the remaining rounds. Takes no more than a couple of minutes to download the tube using the cartridge stop and check each round. Plus good paractice if you speed load the tube.

Regards