Scare the Bad Guy...

[Nic]

I have heard from people at my local gun range, and even read on this forum from a member or two, that all you have to do to stop a home invasion is rack the slide on your shotgun and the BG will run for the hills.

I thought I would test the waters, so to speak. I took a cel phone video of me racking the slide on my 12g.

So off I go to test this very unscientific theory, but I didn't go to the range or any other place where knowledgeable gun people might gather. I picked a place where I knew I had the best chance to find people who don't congregate to talk about guns. My Grandmother has owned a bar for 40+ years. It's a shot and a beer bar... you wont find a fancy umbrella-garnished drink in the place. Most of the regulars are rough around the edges, but for the most part they are a friendly bunch, and I've never heard anyone talk about guns there.

Well, I'm behind the bar on Friday and I asked a few of the regulars if they would mind identifying the sound. I played the audio for 11 guys and 3 gals, and explained that it might be heard by a thief inside someone's house. 2 guys and 1 girl knew what it was, 1 guy guessed correctly but wasn't sure. The others had no idea what could make that sound until I showed them the video. I got some crazy answers though, including a door being slammed, and my favorite... a toaster popping up.

Now this was just for fun. It didn't prove or disprove anything, and was certainly not scientific, but I thought I'd share it with you all anyway.

[HiredGoon]

... a toaster popping up.

.

Stop, Mr. Bad Guy or I'll toast you!

[zackattack784]

I think if you had something that captured better quality sound you might have more people identifying with the sound. A crappy cell phone playing a slide racking sound.... I'm sure a lot of us PAFOA members would have a hard time correctly identifiing it as well, esecially in a noisy bar setting after a beers....

[rwilson452]

The Human ear can nominally hear sound from 30-30000 Htz. older guys usually cut off around 15000. A telephone at max will give you 300-3000 Htz. The speaker of a cell phone is even worse and doesn't have a flat response curve.

[djturnz]

Some say that the sound will scare off anyone, some say it only gives away your location. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

If someone thought the house was unoccupied, they might run. Some may also assume you don;t know how to use it and try to take it from you.


As for your experiment, someone who breaks into houses, knows that encountering a gun is a probablility, and so they are probably more familiar with the sound.

[TaePo]

Stop, Mr. Bad Guy or I'll toast you!

Or...

I ain't got no bread, man!

So stop or your toast!



But back on topic, you probably should use better recording equipment.

Further, in basic I learned something that stuck with me, and it even helped me once; there is a difference in the sound of a 16 bolt going forward vs. an AK variant. Further, there is a difference in the sound between a round picking up and being slammed home with the bolt vs. an empty chamber.

Now, this fact is not good for telling if your firearm is loaded or not but could give you an edge against someone especially at night.

On a late foggy night on the DMZ in Korea, I had a bolt go home near me. Could not see a blasted thing beyond a few inches so had to think.

I determined it was an M16 variant (5.56) and not an AK and it was definitely loaded. Apparently I had meandered in front of a ROK soldiers' bunker that I did not know was there. They did not know I was camped nearby either.

I was trying to decide to move off silently before they pull the trigger or say don't shoot in English or say don't shoot in Korean. It depended on whether they were North Korean or South Korean troops. One wrong word to the wrong group and poof (Pafoa??). No more Taepo.

I chose to sneak away just in case I was wrong.

[Philbert]

I know what you're thinking punk. You're thinking did he toast six slices or only five? And to tell you the truth I've forgotten myself in all this excitement.

[Nic]

LOL - Actually the sound quality is pretty good, and it's a quiet little bar, which made it easy to listen to the audio. Those of us who frequent this forum would have easily picked up on what it was, even if shotguns (or toast) aren't your cup of tea.

The part I found interesting was that almost none of these people had ever heard a shotgun slide being worked. Kind of hard to identify something you've never heard before. I'm not gonna take a bet on whether or not a BG, who is brazen enough to invade my home, knows that the sound he just heard was a shotgun and not my toaster!

For me, I'll just keep wondering if some BGs run out of houses because they hear a noise (any noise) or if it's because they identified the sound and actually know it's a loaded shotty that's waiting for them down the hall.

[matty70]

I have heard from people at my local gun range, and even read on this forum from a member or two, that all you have to do to stop a home invasion is rack the slide on your shotgun and the BG will run for the hills.

I thought I would test the waters, so to speak. I took a cel phone video of me racking the slide on my 12g.

So off I go to test this very unscientific theory, but I didn't go to the range or any other place where knowledgeable gun people might gather. I picked a place where I knew I had the best chance to find people who don't congregate to talk about guns. My Grandmother has owned a bar for 40+ years. It's a shot and a beer bar... you wont find a fancy umbrella-garnished drink in the place. Most of the regulars are rough around the edges, but for the most part they are a friendly bunch, and I've never heard anyone talk about guns there.

Well, I'm behind the bar on Friday and I asked a few of the regulars if they would mind identifying the sound. I played the audio for 11 guys and 3 gals, and explained that it might be heard by a thief inside someone's house. 2 guys and 1 girl knew what it was, 1 guy guessed correctly but wasn't sure. The others had no idea what could make that sound until I showed them the video. I got some crazy answers though, including a door being slammed, and my favorite... a toaster popping up.

Now this was just for fun. It didn't prove or disprove anything, and was certainly not scientific, but I thought I'd share it with you all anyway.

We've all heard that the pump racking on a shotgun scares them off, but I'm thinking you don't rack the slide on you pistol-you carry one in the pipe right? why wouldn't you already have one chambered in the HD shotty?
Aside from that, I don't believe its the sound of the pump that scares them, its the thunderboom that immediately follows! Yep, most times it scares them to DEATH!

[Bug44]

My girlfriend snoring will send most packing for the hills...