Howdy all,

I have a pump shotgun I would like to have quick access to for home defense.  I also have children, so I would like to mount the shotgun in the closet or at least lock the weapon securely.  I have a gun safe, but access to it is slow and it is on a different floor of the house from my bedroom.

I see two products out there that would fit the bill- the "Life Jacket" which is a locked plastic cover for the action of the shotgun and a Mossberg product that mounts the shotgun to the wall.  Both require the action of the shotgun to be open and both locks use keys.

I can live with fumbling with keys but does no one make something with a keypad?  The other question is if the action is open how does that effect manual loading?  Can I fill the tube, open the action and leave the shell on the carrier, then lock the action open?

Any thoughts on "quick" access to a shotgun?

Thanks,
Cheese

www.securitylockersystems.com/

Mine, mounted right next to the bed:

Drill a couple of holes inside your closet, above the door and put some sort of dowel rods in them. You can mount the shot gun on those. It's out of the reach of children, it doesnt require "disabling" the gun by opening the action, it's out of immediate view, and it has the ability of quick access.

Here's one of the best deals around:
www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=176908

This can also be bolted to a wall or ceiling.

It has both a key pad AND a key lock.

Quoted: www.securitylockersystems.com/ Mine, mounted right next to the bed: i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/HardShell/RWB%20-%20General/DSC00638.jpgi2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/HardShell/RWB%20-%20General/DSC00628.jpg

Does it have to 'mount' into the wall? or can it stand upright?  I didn't see anything on the website about fireproofing? Good price though for a college student who truly needs a safe, seems a little small though for 3 rifles, 1 shotgun, and 6 handguns I need to store..

Quoted: Drill a couple of holes inside your closet, above the door and put some sort of dowel rods in them. You can mount the shot gun on those. It's out of the reach of children, it doesnt require "disabling" the gun by opening the action, it's out of immediate view, and it has the ability of quick access.

i like!

Thanks all for the responses.

Special thanks to dfariswheel- I ordered the gun vault.  The price was really attractive and I didn't know the product existed.

The wall mounted safes that were pictured look great, but I am still puckering from the cost of my floor safe that I put in downstairs.

Thanks again,
Cheese

Quoted: Thanks all for the responses. Special thanks to dfariswheel- I ordered the gun vault.  The price was really attractive and I didn't know the product existed. The wall mounted safes that were pictured look great, but I am still puckering from the cost of my floor safe that I put in downstairs. Thanks again, Cheese

When you receive the gun vault, please post your thoughts.  I have exactly the same situation and would like to secure my shotgun, but still have quick access to it.  I work from home office, alone all day and have a 3.5 yo child.  thanks!

Sure, I will gladly post a report on it when it arrives.

The unit takes 8 AA batteries.  Looks like that singing Elmo doll of my daughter's will have to go on a diet.   A permanent diet, in fact.  

Best to you,
Cheese

I built a nice oak blanket locker for the foot of the bed.  It has a hidden compartment for a Rem 870.  You could easily make something like this with a remote, mechanical lock that is hidden but easily accessible.  

Quoted: www.securitylockersystems.com/ Mine, mounted right next to the bed: i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/HardShell/RWB%20-%20General/DSC00638.jpgi2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/HardShell/RWB%20-%20General/DSC00628.jpg

Man, I like that. May have to look into getting one of those.......:)

I think you made a good choice with the GunVault - it looks ideal to secure only a shotgun.  The reason I went with the RifleLocker I posted above was that, like you, I now have a small child running around and I wanted all of the bedroom ordnance (my rifle, the missus' shotgun, a few handguns, and reloads for all) secure but instantly accessible.  (The gun room is down the hall from the bedroom & I wanted something loaded yet secure closer than that.)

Quoted: Does it have to 'mount' into the wall? or can it stand upright?...

It has to be mounted into a hole cut in the wall to look right - the front outer edges are bigger than the core unit to extend over the studs in the wall, to which the safe is bolted from the inside with four very large bolts on each side.  Installation was surprisingly simple, albeit somewhat permanent.

Quoted: Man, I like that. May have to look into getting one of those.......:)

I've had mine for a couple of years now and absolutely love it.

Quoted: It has to be mounted into a hole cut in the wall to look right - the front outer edges are bigger than the core unit to extend over the studs in the wall, to which the safe is bolted from the inside with four very large bolts on each side.  Installation was surprisingly simple, albeit somewhat permanent.

So it was pretty easy to install, huh? I've been looking at that exact safe for about two weeks now. The only thing holding me back is the cutting of my wall (never done anything like that). But it really looks like a safe I would love, it's exactly what I want. Any other caveats you can pass on before I finally buy one?

Quoted: Quoted: It has to be mounted into a hole cut in the wall to look right - the front outer edges are bigger than the core unit to extend over the studs in the wall, to which the safe is bolted from the inside with four very large bolts on each side.  Installation was surprisingly simple, albeit somewhat permanent. So it was pretty easy to install, huh? I've been looking at that exact safe for about two weeks now. The only thing holding me back is the cutting of my wall (never done anything like that). But it really looks like a safe I would love, it's exactly what I want. Any other caveats you can pass on before I finally buy one?

Nope - I have zero complaints about this unit.  It came with very clear installation instructions.  I am not a great DIY'er, but my wife & I cut the hole and installed it in a couple of hours one evening - very simple.  (The whole "cutting into a perfectly good wall" thing put me off at first, too. )  Plus, the outer (visible) front edge overlaps the hole and main body of the unit, so it will cover any minor cutting mistakes you might make.

Why do you want a Shotgun for Home Defense?  Don't you own an AR?

Sure, I have an AR-15.   It isn't the best choice for me for home defense as I have had two close encounters with black bears less than 10 feet from my house.   I have taken steps to uparmor my garbage cans and I no longer put out bird feeders, but it appears the bears still come around regularly.

A shotgun will do the job for people as well, so it seems the best compromise for me.


 

Quoted: I have had two close encounters with black bears less than 10 feet from my house.

Wow!  I heard those things can bite and such!

Quoted: Sure, I have an AR-15.   It isn't the best choice for me for home defense as I have had two close encounters with black bears less than 10 feet from my house.   I have taken steps to uparmor my garbage cans and I no longer put out bird feeders, but it appears the bears still come around regularly. A shotgun will do the job for people as well, so it seems the best compromise for me.

+1

I'd go for my 12 gauge for home defense before I'd go for the AR.

Quoted: Quoted: Sure, I have an AR-15.   It isn't the best choice for me for home defense as I have had two close encounters with black bears less than 10 feet from my house.   I have taken steps to uparmor my garbage cans and I no longer put out bird feeders, but it appears the bears still come around regularly. A shotgun will do the job for people as well, so it seems the best compromise for me.   +1 I'd go for my 12 gauge for home defense before I'd go for the AR.

thats what i got my 870 for

That reminds me of my favorite bear hunting joke.  Sorry if this is an oldie, but I like it:

Bob got himself a new bear rifle, so he eagerly went into the woods to find himself a bear.  Unfortunately, all he found was a small scrawny black bear.  Bob was itching to use that new rifle, so he shot it dead.  Just then he felt a tap on his shoulder.  He turned around and it was a grizzly bear!

The grizzly bear said:"Ahh, you shouldn't have done that.  That was my cousin.  Now I am going to have to give you a choice.  I can either maul you to death right here and now, or we can have sex.  Rough Grizzly sex.  Which is it?

Bob thought it over and went for option #2.  Four months later he was released from the hospital.  The first thing he did was to drive home, fetch his rifle and go into the woods after the grizzly that did him wrong.  He surprised the Grizzly in question and BANG, down it went.  Before he could celebrate, though, he felt a tap on his shoulder.  He turned around and it was a brown bear!

The brown bear said: "Ahh, you shouldn't have done that.  That was my sister's boy.  Now I am going to have to give you a choice.  I can either maul you to death right here and now, or we can have sex.  Rough bumping Brown Bear sex.  Which is it?

Bob thought it over and went for option #2.  Six months later he was released from the hospital.  The first thing he did was drive home, fetch his rifle, and go in search of the Brown Bear that took his manhood.  He surprised and shot the bear in question, but again, he felt a tap on his shoulder.  He turned around and it was a Polar Bear!

The Polar bear said: "Face it Bob, you don't come here for the hunting."

Just two days ago, I used my 870 to protect myself from an intruder.  I never had a loaded gun in the house and was very lucky to get a shell chambered quickly.  I definitely keep the magizine loaded now, without one in the chamber.  I hung a rack in the closet that protects the gun from being fired accidently.

the other day I was on the ar15 portion of the site and someone had a mount out of a police car bolted to the wall with an ar15 in it if this interests you they also sell a lockable shotgun mount in the same configuration that would be available from galls, express police supply or any other police equipment source for around 70 to 250 dollars andyou could set up the system to run off a 12 volt switch or a key that is included

Quoted: The unit takes 8 AA batteries.  Looks like that singing Elmo doll of my daughter's will have to go on a diet.   A permanent diet, in fact.

The ohio guys recently put a tickle me elmo on a diet. It ended up with a hollow point .223 sticking out the top of his big plastic eyeball.

I like this offering from mossberg. I confess I have never actually even seen one in real life but it seems like a cool idea.link