JR has a great training aid/illustration of the importance of shot placement. In comments, Existing Thing mentions the Tueller Drill, which was a new term to me.
While the drills described are good, the reason for doing them is the point I want to highlight (emphasis mine):
A cushion of .2 seconds.A common test of handgun skill was to start with one’s hands at shoulder level with a holstered gun and place two shots on a target 7 yards (6.4 m) away within 1.5 seconds. Typically, those trained with handguns can complete the drill in 1.3–1.4 seconds, although some have managed the task in less than one second.
Tueller wondered how quickly an attacker with a knife could cover those same 21 feet (6.4 m). So he measured as volunteers raced to stab the target. He determined that it could be done in 1.5 seconds.
That's a pretty thin cushion.
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7 comments:
Thin indeed. It assumes a full-sized gun and duty or competition holster rather than an IWB or pocket carry. it also doesn't leave room for momentum to dissipate--I'm guessing that if someone is running towards a target at speed, shooting them 0.2 seconds before impact isn't going to help very much
Yeah, that's why I'd be backing up if at all possible.
Yup, and that's a .2 second window in a static situation where you know EXACTLY what thet "attacker" is going to do.
When I was taking Fencing in college a split-second lunge was about the fastest means to making a hit on target, everything else was just a chess-game setup for the lunge.
The only defense was parry-riposte or a stop-thrust - but like they say in knife-fights, the "winner" goes to the ICU and the loser to the morgue.
1. Interesting target.
2. I had Steve Moses in a class once, he's a good guy.
3. A little more information about the Tueller drill.
I always thought the point of the Tueller distance, i.e., 7 yards, was that you should never let an attacker approach closer than 7 to 10 yards BECAUSE you can't draw and, if necessary, shoot before he gets his hands on you. Or his knife in you. Or his club onto your head.
You need to keep far enough from an attacker to evade or to draw, so that if you need to shoot you can do so without getting stabbed, clubbed, punched, steamrollered or disarmed.
Also, a good 20-30 foot distance allows the attacker to change his/her mind about attacking you, even if he starts a rush at you, upon seeing the gun in your hand, which is a free and beneficial side effect that might lead to you not having to shoot. However, the point of the Tueller distance is that you are very unsafe if you let an attacker gets 7 yards or closer.
For example, about a week after a coworker of my wife was mugged at a local gas station in Baltimore (on Charles just south of JHU), I was filling up my car there. A large and very rough looking street person approached and at about 20 feet started talking to me, begging for change or a cigarette. My infant son was in his car seat, so I could not step away and keep him safe. I turned on the bum, and with the gas nozzle in my hand I shouted, "Get away from me. I will douse you with gasoline if you come any closer to me." Happily enough, he did not approach me closer. His foul invective, delivered as he walked a large-radius circle past me, was quite sufficient to demonstrate that he was indeed intent upon getting closer to me, had I not verbally resisted. Maybe he just wanted to ask for change. Maybe he wanted to hit me and steal my car or wallet. Either way, not my problem, as long as he stayed far enough away from me.
And I stopped using that station after this, because I kept thinking, what the hell was I thinking, stopping in that neighborhood for gas?
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