Personally, I tend to strongly agree with the self-defense explanations, cataloged experiences, and gunfighting logic of retired Sheriff’s Deputy Lieutenant Dave Spaulding—Strongly agree!
What Really Happens In A Gunfight?
COMBATIVE PISTOL: The Epistemology of Dave Spaulding – CIVILIAN DEFENDER
Furthermore, I also tend to agree with the recorded physical behaviors of NYPD Stakeout Unit gunfighter Jim Cirillo.
(Get ‘um while you can!)
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Now to add a few comments of my own:
I feel much better about carrying a snub with those statistics. I also feel I can get my snub into action quicker than my autos.
I would suggest that you shouldn’t. Moreover, ‘feelings’ are irrelevant. Performance is all that counts. When the other guy is better armed than you are then it’s reasonably certain that you are the person who’s going to get screwed.
Anyone who has never happened upon a gunfight would likely be paralyzed at the speed with which they occur . . .
Personally, I don’t think the preceding remark quite says it! What has always amazed me is the very sudden surprise that often goes along with self-defense events.
If a defendant has the advantage of prior training then his proprioceptive reflexes and physical coordination should be able to do all of the fighting for him, and THAT is where the real speed comes from. (The event is already over before the conscious mind is able to sort things out!)
Reminds me of the old adage "the quickest draw is already having your gun in your hand when the action starts". While you can't walk around with a gun in your hand all the time, I'm guessing this speaks more towards situational awareness.
Better yet, if you have a moment to yourself BEFORE walking into a self-defense event, try hiding your pistol in the armpit of your support arm.
When I attended THUNDER RANCH handgun course 28 years ago, Clint Smith started classroom session by quoting FBI statistics.
1) Average rounds shot 3-5.
2) Average time expired 3-5 seconds.
3) Average distance 3-7 feet.
Yes, but this is also well dated information that has been largely refuted by Dave Spaulding’s written records and work, and it is also at wide variance with Jim Cirillo’s well known and well recorded personal gunfighting behaviors.
Any gun on your person is better than a gun left at home. .380, 9mm, or .38 special all have stopped bad guys many times, and will continue to.
If the word ‘stopped’ means what I think it does then actually each of these calibers (or chamberings) have failed to ‘stop’ far more times than any of them have succeeded, and that is the truth.
In fact all antipersonnel ‘combat calibers’ below 45 Long Colt have long been known to be highly inconsistent ‘stoppers’. This, of course, includes the 45 ACP pistol that I have carried around with me for 14 to 16 hours a day for more than 30 years, now.
The principal tradeoffs with combat calibers are rates-of-fire, and recoil manageability. A self-defense gunman has to be careful not to ‘outgun himself’—A subtle, but, very real phenomenon which I believe has, and has had, a deleterious effect on the combat marksmanship of many law enforcement personnel who continue to use hefty, sharp recoiling combat calibers like: 10mm, 357 SIG, 40 S&W, and 357 Magnum.
Having to look down the muzzle of someone else’s handgun is disturbing, to say the least! During the first half of my life I spent a whole lot of time hunting all different sorts of wild game—Some of it dangerous. Consequently I have watched many wild creatures get hit and die in front of my gun. (Something that I am not proud of today.)
Looking back from where I am now, I find myself to be in complete agreement with the ballistic hypotheses and conclusions of both Dr. Michael Courtney and his very well educated wife, Amy (the other Dr. Courtney).
Dr. M. Courtney has stated:
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With a (combat-caliber)(Ed.) handgun, no wounding mechanism can be relied on to produce incapacitation 100% of the time within the short span of most gunfights.”
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Selecting a good self-defense load is only a small part of surviving a gunfight. You have to hit an attacker to hurt him, and you need a good plan for surviving until your hits take effect.”
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Get good training, practice regularly, learn to use cover, and pray that you will never have a lethal force encounter armed only with a (combat-caliber)(Ed.) handgun.”
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The ideal performance standards for a (marginally) effective ‘combat-caliber’ CQB pistol bullet are,”
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(1) A minimum of 450 ft lb of muzzle energy,”
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(2) A muzzle velocity of, at least, 1,250 fps,”
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(3) Penetration at, or about, 12 inches in a standard ballistic block of gelatin; and,”
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(4) The RECOIL CONTROLLABILITY of either a 45 ACP, or a 9x19mm handgun.”*
It is combat caliber logic like this that has impressed me the most; and this is the reason ‘why’ I strongly prefer (and have preferred) to mainly use a 45 ACP pistol for all contemplated self-defense work.
* Dr. Michael Courtney,
http://arxiv.org/pdf/0803.3051.pdf.
(Yes, I know that the Drs. Courtney have aroused a lot of online controversy within various internet firearm communities. Be that as it may, as I have indicated, I too share in the above opinion(s)—Which I assure the reader have not been casually reached.
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