Shot placement for small caliber pistols

[animal]

COM - decreasing hit probability to increase damage potential is not logical when externally controlled variables have increased the margin of error in shot placement. Maximizing use of the area of effect of the shot (aim point plus margin of error), by choosing the larger vital target gives the best chance of successful defense. Anything else is gambling on whether you will hit a precise target… actually everything is a gamble, but mitigation of risk is the most successful strategy when gambling.

 

[Deaf Smith]

I said I WOULD SHOOT HIM IN THE GROIN AREA

Trouble with small calibers is usually they come in small sizes that are hard to shoot. Be it because of small grips, or sights (if any), or sight radius, or combination of the three.

As a result precise shot placement can be much harder than with a larger caliber gun.

Now when someone is trying to crack your scull with a St. Louis slugger or ventilate you with any variety of knife or gun, I'd say a groin shot would kill but not stop. And stopping is what SD is all about. I do not want to swap pain with the bad guy nor end up in the hospital cause the guy keep a 'shooten.

If my .22/.32/,380 was the size of say a Sig 232 then I'd go for the eye socket IF I AM VERY SKILLED. If not, COM. If the pistol was the size of a TCP, then COM is the only real choice.

Deaf

 

[Mike in VA]

I'm not saying it was smart or tactically sound, but it worked out. There is a place for luck in the world. My wife's friend is a small woman, maybe 5'4", 105 lbs., but lived in NYC before moving to NOVA,so she is pretty street-smart/aware. She is not a trained shooter, probably fired the gun some after she bought it, but certainly not practiced. She drives her Marine son crazy . . .

My guess is that like most scumbags, he was lazy and moved on to easier prey, and she was simply very lucky.

 

[publius]

As fast as I can pull the trigger in the chest until the threat is no longer a threat.

 

[L_Killkenny]

Don't confuse lethal with stopping. The reason so many people die from small calibers is not because they are so deadly, it is because they see it as a minor injury and go home to slowly bleed to death or die of toxemia days later.

Ya, I hear all the time where someone is shot in the chest with a .22lr and goes home to sleep it off.

LK

 

[Nanuk]

Ya, I hear all the time where someone is shot in the chest with a .22lr and goes home to sleep it off.


I have stated my experience, What experience do you have that leads you to doubt me?

 

[Jammer Six]

Nobody has good aim under fire.

Large caliber, center mass, or failing all that, suppressive fire.

If you're carrying a cap gun, beg.

 

[seeker_two]

A LEO I knew advised me to treat anything smaller than .380ACP like it was pepper spray....aim for the face, use until empty, and retreat at the soonest opportunity....

Still seems like good advice....

 

[skoro]

Shouldn't it be center of mass regardless of caliber?

 

[Seaman]

After a 37 day manhunt, S. Eizember, average height and build, fugitive and killer, kidnapped a couple at gunpoint, Doctor S. Peebles and his wife. Dr. Peebles shot the fugitive 4 times, with a 22 cal revolver, 3 hits to the chest (center of mass). The bullets did not faze Eizember, who then forcefully disarmed the doctor, all the time staying alert and angry, then pistol whipped the doctor with a 380 pistol, and then pointed his pistol at the wife and pulled the trigger, the 380 jammed, so Eizember struck the wife in the head knocking her to the pavement, leaving the couple battered and bleeding, the fugitive fled the scene, driving the Peeble's vehicle.

Eizember, tho seriously wounded, leaking blood from three 22 cal holes in his chest, continued driving, stopped at a convenience store and robbed it for medical supplies, left, continued driving, and was later finally stopped by police in a routine traffic check in Corrigan, Texas.

This is just one example of many small caliber handgun failures to stop a determined attacker.

Mousegun tactics are different, takes a skilled (or lucky) fighter to use mouseguns successfully.

“A LEO I knew advised me to treat anything smaller than .380ACP like it was pepper spray....aim for the face, use until empty…” [seeker two]

Pretty much what I tell my wife, she prefers 25 ACP.

 

[BikeNGun1974]

My problem with the "shoot for the groin" theory is that with today's dress style, it would be really hard to pick out where that is in relation to the low hanging loose denim and oversized shirts.