When it comes to home protection, I always keep a fully loaded mag in my 74, but I wouldn't chamber it unless I felt it necessary.

Speaking of my 74, holy shit, I took it to the range yesterday and got a shittastic grouping with it, even with the most stable hold on the rifle I could accomplish.  I'm starting to get the feeling the barrel is just bad.  I hope not, and I'm hoping to get someone who is a far better shot than I to shoot it, but I'm pretty sure at this point I need a new barrel to get any better than 2 MOA.

Excuse me while I crawl into a corner and cry.