Shot placement is everything

shot placement

I agree, here is a true story- Local Sheriff Deputy shoots a BG twice in the chest with a .45. BG drops, is arrested, makes full recovery. Two weeks later, local Firefighter defends himself by shooting the BG in the chest with one .380 round. BG is DRT. Moral of story, accuracy trumps caliber.
 
"a .45. BG drops, is arrested, makes full recovery. Two weeks later, local Firefighter defends himself by shooting the BG in the chest with one .380 round. BG is DRT. Moral of story, accuracy trumps caliber."

I think the actual message is that luck trumps caliber.
 
I agree with Hard Ball.

So what if it takes a few Hydrashoks to "stop" a hypothetical 350-lb. former running back with an addiction to painkillers?
vs.
a single .380 round to DRT a 145-lb. HIV-positive junkie already on his last legs?

There are a lot more variables than # of shots fired and caliber. It's simply reductive to refer to those two variables as the only ones involved in a gunfight.
 
I've never been in the military, have been involved in some gun play though.

I was BS'ing with a guy I worked with who retired from the SEALS, his primary carry weapon was a six shot .22 LR revolver, his BU was a .45 semi-auto. He indicated that he was trained to go straight for the head (and I saw him hit moving targets at 25 yards while he was in motion) so his .22 was all he needed

But for the average guy I think you have to find a good middle point...a .45 is worthless if you can't shoot it well while a .22 or .25 is a dangerous round in the hands of a well trained shooter.

If you're shooting Center of Mass and packing less than a....38 or 9mm I would not like my chances. It also depends if you're shooting to kill with one shot or trying to stop an attack...way too many variables but I still think common sense tells us that you pack whatever gives you the best of both worlds (accuracy and stopping power).

God forbid you have a .45 but can't shoot someone attacking you in the head in case they're wearing body armor right???
 
Not to hijack...but at one time I heard that Birmingham Al. SWAT in the 1980s (actually TACTICAL) was either going to or at least considering .22 mag S&W revolvers for entry handguns...anyone with correct info comment on this? I feel it's a pretty wicked close-in round.
 
Just to reiterate: most of us train for self-defense, not for stealthily taking out sentries or kicking down crack house doors.
 
I agree, workinwifdakids, for COMMONplace shootings. I prefer to be prepared for BOTH types! That way, you're less likely to be the second place winner. You fight as you train. Train in a small midset, lose big!
 
re: "his primary carry weapon was a six shot .22 LR revolver"

Not a good idea, IMO. Head shots with a .22LR? There have been more than a few cases where the .22 round either penetrated the scalp and circled the head outside the skull, or did the same thing inside the skull without stopping the shootee. Imagine a triangle with the point above and between the eyebrows, and the base along the top lip with the sides bisecting the eyes. The round, in an effective caliber, needs to penetrate that area of the brain housing unit, to effectively turn the power off (presuming a frontal shot). The skull is a hard target, and the brain in a moving head is a small one.

Good luck relying on that idea! I'll go for 2+ shots center-of-mass, and then if that fails, go to the head or pelvis what's the pelvic version of a Mozambique? the Mozamdique?!). Shoot till the threat is over.
 
Rex Applegate claimed to have carried a .22 automatic (probably a High Standard) for a while believing that he would be able to place his hits accurately enough to make up for the caliber. However, he never had a chance to prove his theory. He later carried a .38S&W revolver (not .38 Special) and decided that the .38 S&W was insufficiently powerful for a reliable defense revolver (with a short barrel). Supposedly it was after that incident that he encouraged Smith & Wesson to produce a hammerless .38 special revolver, which was in fact produced as the Centennial. The original had a grip safety, which was not included when it was re-introduced some fifty years later.

For what it's worth, most of those people I know who actually have or had a loaded handgun in the home for, well, shooting things, had .22 rimfires. They all lived out in the country.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top