HANDGUN COMBATIVES
The thought that any handgun, regardless of caliber, having true
stopping...read that RAPID INCAPCITATION POWER...is ludicrous if you take time
to stop and give it critical thought. Think for a moment...the gun has a barrel
that is 4 to 5 inches long, a sight radius not much longer, launching a bullet
no bigger than your thumb at a speed of 1,000 to 1,300 feet per second. Take
your thumb and place it next to your chest...move it around. Its not very big
and there is A LOT of surface area. Now take into account the pandemonium that
accompanies a close quarter gunfight. You are moving, your opponent(s) are
moving, screaming, yelling, reduced light...is it really any wonder that
handguns are anemic?
We carry them because they a portable, not because they are effective...or even efficient! They offer a stand off capability in a package we can carry and conceal. Yet when someone writes an article on the topic of handgun stopping power people stop and debate which is better, fast expanding or slow and large...do you really want to be standing in front of any projectile? I get the "what's best" question regularly. Recently it was something like "if all things are equal and no one is moving and you have perfect shot placement and no one is wearing body armor what is best, the .357 SIG or 10mm?" WHAT?! When will this happen?! What are you smoking?! When will there ever be a time when "all things are equal"?! For fu*ks sake...
I focus on the combative application of the handgun because it is most likely to be the weapon you will have with/on you when you need a weapon. It is also the hardest platform to shoot well and master...after almost 40 years I am still working towards that goal just in time for arthritis and poor eye sight! Understand that practice is not training. Training comes after proper instruction and then worthwhile repetition of the essential skills. You see, training is preparation! Practice is just shooting bullets at a tin can. Training requires proper mindset and imagery of life threatening events while launching bullets. Practice does not...
Carry the gun you can control in rapid fire, reach the trigger properly and can afford to buy ammo and practice. Are .22 conversions ok? Sure, as long as you mix in full power ammo of the caliber you carry (and can find .22!). My "Two Second Drill" is a good test of recoil control...from ready at 20 feet on an 8 inch square, four rounds in two seconds. It should break down to the first shot in 1 second or less and the three follow up shots in .33, .33, .33. If you can go faster, great! But everyone who carries a gun for personal security should be able to do this.
Train hard, image well and quit worrying about stopping power as it probably doesn't really exist...at least as we want it to happen. As Dr. Vincent DiMaio once said "It comes down to where you shoot them and how many time you can shoot them."
We carry them because they a portable, not because they are effective...or even efficient! They offer a stand off capability in a package we can carry and conceal. Yet when someone writes an article on the topic of handgun stopping power people stop and debate which is better, fast expanding or slow and large...do you really want to be standing in front of any projectile? I get the "what's best" question regularly. Recently it was something like "if all things are equal and no one is moving and you have perfect shot placement and no one is wearing body armor what is best, the .357 SIG or 10mm?" WHAT?! When will this happen?! What are you smoking?! When will there ever be a time when "all things are equal"?! For fu*ks sake...
I focus on the combative application of the handgun because it is most likely to be the weapon you will have with/on you when you need a weapon. It is also the hardest platform to shoot well and master...after almost 40 years I am still working towards that goal just in time for arthritis and poor eye sight! Understand that practice is not training. Training comes after proper instruction and then worthwhile repetition of the essential skills. You see, training is preparation! Practice is just shooting bullets at a tin can. Training requires proper mindset and imagery of life threatening events while launching bullets. Practice does not...
Carry the gun you can control in rapid fire, reach the trigger properly and can afford to buy ammo and practice. Are .22 conversions ok? Sure, as long as you mix in full power ammo of the caliber you carry (and can find .22!). My "Two Second Drill" is a good test of recoil control...from ready at 20 feet on an 8 inch square, four rounds in two seconds. It should break down to the first shot in 1 second or less and the three follow up shots in .33, .33, .33. If you can go faster, great! But everyone who carries a gun for personal security should be able to do this.
Train hard, image well and quit worrying about stopping power as it probably doesn't really exist...at least as we want it to happen. As Dr. Vincent DiMaio once said "It comes down to where you shoot them and how many time you can shoot them."
Dave Spaulding
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