Advice that might save your life
From Tam:
Once the cops have been called, you don’t need to be running around outside with a gun in your hand.
Read it all. One time, I had put alarms in some houses after a spate of copper thefts. An alarm went of at OMG thirty and the police were notified, as was I. I grabbed a holstered gun and headed that way. And, after a few miles down the road, thought that having that gun on my hip probably wasn’t the best idea. I called the police to tell them I was going to be there, what I was driving, what I was wearing, and THAT I HAD A HOLSTERED GUN. They were expecting to see me and nothing bad happened.
And I agree with Tam on those targets. Cool gut shot, bro:
August 23rd, 2016 at 4:34 pm
I got ’em clean through the duodenum!
August 23rd, 2016 at 5:22 pm
Isn’t that more of a base-of-the-sturnum/diaphram/solar plexis/liver shot? And if it’s directly face-on and in the x, it’s also a spine shot.
Anyway, yes; know thy anatomy.
By the way, I’ve witnessed a deer run some 20 yards or more with a completely blown heart. The only “stop and drop” shots I’ve ever made were actually sort of “misses” in the sense that the ball ended up grazing the spine and disrupting the central nervous system. I once put a ball through both shoulders, completely wrecking the off shoulder after destroying the wind pipe and damaging two lungs. That one ran, or rather hobbled, some 30 to 40 yards after being hit, and I had to search for quite a while in thick brush and steep terrain to find it. That’s a soft lead round ball of 50 caliber with approximately the energy of a 44 Magnum.
All the talk we hunters hear about “one shot stops” or “stopping power” with regard to service caliber pistols tend to make us chuckle a little bit, ’cause there really ain’t no such thing without a CNS hit, or a hit that mechanically disables the shooting hand/arm, etc. I believe it’s often as much a psychological “stop” we’re discussing, when it comes to human attackers, as it is a physiological stop.
That pistol you’re carrying is considered underpowered for game animals in the same size class as humans. The average deer rifle delivers multiples of that pistol’s energy, with vastly more shock effect, and we still sometimes have to search for our kills.
August 23rd, 2016 at 6:13 pm
I love Tam’s writing, and her site. I wish she still allowed comments so I could tell her that every once in a while.
I’m endlessly amused when she posts a target, with a pair of 2 inch ragged holes in the head and heart, and then she beats herself up over the one flyer in the 200 round bunch, 3 inches low and left. I hope she never sees one of my targets — I’d die of shame.
August 23rd, 2016 at 8:57 pm
Lyle,
Way to completely miss the point. 🙂
August 23rd, 2016 at 11:01 pm
The lone police 911 call I’ve ever made (years ago) included my description and “I’ve a holstered gun.”
When Officer MacMannus finished his sweep and came to the door I made damn sure both hands were in view and my drivers license was laying on the hall table.
“Nice gun.” he said.
I like Herndon P.D.
August 24th, 2016 at 5:57 am
RE: Tam’s point, I’ve wondered why so many target makers haven’t figured out shot placement. I’ve stopped using printed silhouette targets with students and gone to plain rectangular cardboard with a sort of oval taped-on head and 3-inch-wide strips of tan packing paper in the appropriate position, mostly from amazon boxes. Perfect it ain’t, cheap it is. (I start ’em with full 8 1/2X11 sheets of copy paper between sternum and lips and move to the low contrast center strips when they’ve demonstrated reasonable mastery of the front sight and trigger).
August 24th, 2016 at 12:02 pm
I’ve been a cop for thirty-five years, and never shot at a B27 for quals. Two reasons. 1), the scoring rings suck, and 2) the standard B27 is all racist-and-sh*t. (What, they only teach the cops to shoot black folks)
Years ago we went to the P1 target. It’s green with scoring rings so vague that you can’t see them from the 5 yard line. http://www.targets.net/html/Targets/L/LA-P1.html