Seen a Guy "Double Fisting" at the Range Today

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Monkey see monkey do. Experience is a very harsh teacher because the lessons come afterwards.

Expanding the accepted "safe" behavior at a range to accommodate this type of thing must by its nature reduce margins of safety. It must do this because the inept shooter that tries this for the first time and has his weapons far off the target as a result is assumed to be as safe as the champion point-shooter that never misses a hipshot.
 
Maybe he wanted to do Gun Kata like in Equilibrium (Christian Bale.) Or like Bruce Willis in 'Last Man Standing."

Now if you can shoot well with either hand (I can) then I can see learning to fire both weapons effectively, but I bet it takes tons of ammo.

So when he shot 2 'fisted', did he hit the targets well?

Deaf
 
This is where I have to draw the bs gun rule line.

If the guy can safely put all rounds into the backstop, assure no equipment damage, let him be.

I go to the indoor range all the time and see people struggle with a full size silhouette at like 30 yard....yes, fail to make hits and the shop owners treat them great cause they are buying high end guns, lots of ann and range time.

If someone cannot safely imitate, they should be talked to.


I have been called the trouble maker....I once shot rapidly into a paper plate with a 357 snubbie....I was told no magnums, their too loud....no rapid fire or some bull.

I once put a target stand 7 yds down range at an out door range...was told no, it encourages rapid fire.....and I have to hang my target on the ~22 yd string. I was shooting a a Keltec P32.

In neither situation were there posted rules that could be decifered to say these were not allowed. Either way, I now belong to a "real" range where if you hit the backstop and not the club provided stands, you're generally good.
 
Why is it unsafe?
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Well, ok... so, you're blasting away with two hands with fully loaded semiautos. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, BOOM (some kind of major malfunction.. something explodes the way it's not supposed to, maybe something comes off the gun and comes at you).... what is the likelihood that you flinch and pull the trigger on the second gun? And, where is that gun pointed when you pull that trigger?

Just one way it can be unsafe
 
double fisting is on my long list of stupid gun things to do, along with spin cocking a lever action and firing madly from the hip, for the simple reason that living out stupid childhood dreams seems to be the theme of my generation. That said, it's something I'm smart enough not to do at a populated, supervised range. Spend 5 minutes talking to a range safety officer and you'll learn that encouraging even harmless stupid behavior is not in the interest of their insurance premiums.
 
waspinator said:
Well, ok... so, you're blasting away with two hands with fully loaded semiautos. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, BOOM (some kind of major malfunction.. something explodes the way it's not supposed to, maybe something comes off the gun and comes at you).... what is the likelihood that you flinch and pull the trigger on the second gun? And, where is that gun pointed when you pull that trigger?
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Same as the likelihood that you'll do it with a single gun. If they're going to do it, I've never seen anyone jump with just one leg or involuntarily squeeze just one hand closed when startled. Is there some special reason that you believe that the gun would not be pointed in the same direction as a single gun when something happened?

Mythbusters even did a show on it a while back, didn't see anything that struck me as any more unsafe than 99% of the people I typically see at a range.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HhY2xQr0zw
 
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But that single gun would have been the gun with the failure, hence most likely disabling it during the time period of your flinch reaction.

Is there some special reason that you believe that the gun would not be pointed in the same direction as a single gun when something happened?
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So, if something explodes in your hand, you are telling me, that while flinching, you are going to be rock steady and aiming that second firearm in a safe direction? Most people curl into themselves when something like that happens, it is basic instinct.

Mythbusters was done in a controlled environment, not a public range.

If you want too argue that shooting two guns at the same time is as safe as shooting a single gun at a time, then I guess we will have to agree to disagree.
 
In the old cowboy westerns it was called "shootin' two handed". Why the 'ell did certain cowboys carry two six-guns on their hip instead of just one? Who can forget Rooster Cogburn's infamous horse ride with a carbine in one hand and a sixgun in the other? Okay, I know it is Sillywood and all make believe, but what the hey. So is shooting zombie targets and folks payin' big bucks to roll in the dirt during so called "defensive training" exercises. Callin' folks unsafe/unethical just cause they can do something you can't do, seems to be a common thread on gun forums. Don't shoot at a deer past 300 yards cause I can't. Don't shoot at a running deer because you'll just wound 'em like I always do. Don't Duo-Wield because I can't. :rolleyes:


Again, if the guy was shooting safely(no where in the OP is it mentioned he is not) and not breaking any rules(again, the OP says he was not) what is common sense to one is nuttin' but being a worry-wart to someone else. If a shooter wants to waste his ammo shooting this way, and does it safely, why are other folks so critical? Is it cause they are jealous? One reason I have two of my own private ranges is so I can shoot safely the way I want without some worry-wart in the stall next to me thinkin' I'm gonna kill him with an errant shot. Even tho odds are I have more to worry about from his shooting. How is a person that is experienced shooting duo-wield any more dangerous that someone doing fast shooting training that has never done it before.....or the new guy at the range with the new auto-loader that he is still unsure of how to properly chamber a bullet. How is it that folks that have no idea of the shooting skills or gun handling skills of a perfect stranger automatically assume he is a bigger threat to others than they are?
 
BW; "John Smith"....

The Bruce Willis character; John Smith also fired up about 1000 .45acp rounds before needing to reload, too. :rolleyes:
I don't think any TFL forum member can shoot like that with 2 1911a1s.

I do like Last Man Standing. The part were a scared gangster claims 10-15 guys musta shot up the place is good(that's the violent scene where "Smith" fires both 1911s rapidly).

ClydeFrog
www.imfdb.org
 
I don't think it's unsafe. It's useless practice, a waste of ammo, and annoying, but if the only actually unsafe part is a hypothetical about one of the guns blowing up and the other one ending up out of control, I don't think it's unsafe. Certainly not "get banned from the range" unsafe, considering it can be done while obeying all 4 of the cardinal gun safety rules.
 
How is it that folks that have no idea of the shooting skills or gun handling skills of a perfect stranger automatically assume he is a bigger threat to others than they are?
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For the very reason that I have no idea of their shooting skill. I know myself, what I am capable of and what I'm not capable of. I don't know them from a hole in the wall.. so yeah, it gets me worried when I see people trying to pull off Hollywood stuff at a full public indoor range.

You seam to think it is a jealousy thing. No, I don't care what others can do or can't do. I care what I can do. I also care that I can do what I do in a safe environment without fools trying to show off.

I don't care if people do this, but do it at your own private ranges.
 
20yrs ago, I was shooting at an outdoor range with my buddy...he is a Browning HiPower aficionado, and had two P35's with him.
We were just getting ready to pack up and leave, when he put a 30rd mag in each HiPower, and proceeded to rapid fire both pistols, alternating back and forth for each hand each shot...he riddled a silhouette target at 25yds pretty convincingly...
We still laugh about it.
 
Their range, their rules. Read Ed McGivern's Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting, see some of the things he did. Were I to attempt some of those stunts, I would start out with unloaded handguns to get the motions down pat, then using light target loads-or 22s- at say 10 feet with a VERY large target to see where-and if-I was hitting. Bill Jordan practiced his fast draw with wax bullets
 
Is it unsafe to point-shoot a pistol with your right hand only?

Is it unsafe to point-shoot a pistol with your left hand only?
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No and no, so long as the shooter is safe and competent. Folks who do the "dual wielding" thing don't generally fit that description. In fact, I've never seen or heard of someone who does.

What exactly makes it so unsafe to do it with both hands?
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Because it requires the brain to focus on two things visually and to perform two simultaneous actions that require fine motor skill. The brain doesn't do that well. The result? One of the guns (if even that) is not being controlled by the shooter. He can't be sure of where every bullet is going. That means the ceiling, floor, and equipment is in danger of being peppered, especially since folks doing it tend to do it fast.

It shows an irresponsible, immature mindset, and it's one of the things for which I'll summarily boot people from the range.
 
So maybe I won't try it.

As a true ambidextrous person, I've always wanted to try this. I guess I'll wait for a private venue.
 
Weak hand shooting....

I sometimes shoot weak-hand at private ranges. Few of my friends do. :rolleyes:
It's a throw-back to my MP days where we had to re-qual with our M9s on a course of fire that included a few wounded officer/weak hand positions.

It's not a bad training method, not it's not like firing off 2 guns at once.

I like to pull up the human type/Speedwell photo type targets to CQB range or extremely close. Id bet a cadre or safety officer might gripe about that too. :mad:
 
I don't shoot on public ranges so I can do as I darned well please. One of the things I do when I want to show off is shoot a 22 semiauto in each hand at plates about 3' apart. If the bullets hit the plates at the same time, the bar holding the plates flips over. If the hits aren't close enough together, no flip-just ping/ping. Hitting isn't the problem, it's timing the hits.
 
I have shot 2 9mm at once and never felt out of control in the least. Was not "pull the trigger as fast as I can" like hollywood of course. More of a steady bang..bang..bang..bang..bang. Just slow enough to get my sight onto the other gun to make sure it was pointed in the vicinity of my target. Was not using sights, but point shooting. This was only at 10yrds, but from what I could count I only missed 4 shots out of 30.
 
I understand both points of view on this, but I'd have to say I'm guilty of this myself. But, this was on a private range when there was nobody else there besides my friend who I went with. I held both guns with my hands touching and kept a rigid grip. It wasn't too bad. Every rule you add is more regulation. I don't agree with the argument that not shooting 2 guns is common sense. To some people, it is "common sense" that society is safe enough without guns so nobody should have them, right? And those people actively pursue gun control.

It might be an immature thing, but that's what I like most about being an adult. I can choose to do things I have always wanted to do with the intelligence not to screw it up. I say the same thing about cars; while I use it 99% of the time to drive more or less the speed limit to work and back, occasionally I still take it to an empty parking lot in the middle of the night and do donuts with it in the snow.

Since "Last Man Standing" is covered, I see a thread in the future reenacting one of my favorite movies "Hot Fuzz"

Danny Butterman: Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?
Nicholas Angel: No.
Danny Butterman: Have you ever fired one gun whilst jumping through the air?
Nicholas Angel: No.
Danny Butterman: Ever been in a high-speed pursuit?
Nicholas Angel: Yes, I have.
Danny Butterman: Have you ever fired a gun whilst in a high speed pursuit?
Nicholas Angel: No!
Danny Butterman: Ever fired your gun in the air and yelled, 'Aaaaaaah?'
 
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