Shotgun mythbusting chapter two

A

Amsdorf

Moderator
The myth I'm busting in this video series is that you don't have to aim a shotgun but can simply Rambo it from the hip.

Based on comments received, I shot a "Chapter Two" showing an example of hip shooting and aimed shooting, using 00 Buck.

In a self-defense situation, when you are using 00 Buck, inside your home, where you do NOT want stray pellets penetrating into other rooms, or even other houses, you must aim your shotgun, that is, shoulder it and sight it, not simply rely on point-shooting from your hip.

So, here you go. As far as I'm concerned the myth is busted.

What do you think? Take a look and let me know.

"You Don't Have to Aim a Shotgun"
 
Thanks, Paul. Unlike so many, you took the time and effort to test things out.

And your results were predictable.

Hip shooting is egregious at more than contact distance.

Aiming produces much better results.

And maybe some of the nay sayers should back away from the keyboards, hit the range and make their OWN videos to rebutt, reinforce or co-oberate your results.....
 
Dave, thanks...

I'm learning to take silly comments in stride as part for the course, and negative comments as well, though if it a thoughtful negative remark you can sometimes learn from it.

Constructive criticism, however, is always welcome.
 
What got under the skin of some, like me, was that you seemed to challenge the utiity of point shooting. If what you meant that some kind of directed fire was needed was needed, the more accurate the better, I think all would agree with you.
 
The results may have been predictable, but I can't even count how many people I've met over the years who think hip shooting a shotgun, especially one with a pistol grip instead of a buttstock, is the easiest thing in the world.

I watched a jackass put three rounds into the ceiling at the range where I used to work before I could get onto the range to stop him. Young punk who thought he knew it all. When he popped off at me I booted him off the range and out of the store.

I regularly see people trying this at the ranges I go to, so obviously someone thinks its easy and this video would be something new for them.


Last thing I'll say is this. If you don't have something constructive and engaging to say, then you don't have any reason to be posting in this thread.

If you think a snide comment is constructive and engaging, I'll be MORE than happy to show you how it's not. :mad:
 
Thanks, Paul. Unlike so many, you took the time and effort to test things out.

And your results were predictable.

Hip shooting is egregious at more than contact distance.

Aiming produces much better results.

And maybe some of the nay sayers should back away from the keyboards, hit the range and make their OWN videos to rebutt, reinforce or co-oberate your results.....
__________________
Click to expand...

While shooting from the hip is best left to Hollywood stars, aiming vs pointing still is the question.

Just because someone makes a video on the net, doe NOT make it gospel, and Dave, of ANY one here, you should be first in that line of agreement

But then I disagree with Chuck Hawks and others who feel a 12" LOP and scrunching up on a shotgun is the way to go - there is WAY too much data to disprove that line of thinking
 
While shooting from the hip is best left to Hollywood stars, aiming vs pointing still is the question.
Click to expand...

The exact and only reason I responded to this post.

I believe it's common sense that most everyone would shoot better shouldering a shotgun versus hip shooting.

This video proves the fact that the OP can shoulder his shotgun and aim, better then he can hip shoot. That would be true for most but does not in any way dis-spell any myths about point shooting versus aiming.
Course, unless one considers point shooting as shooting from the hip and I don't think any of the point shooters who have commented on either thread were referring to hip shooting as point shooting.

Sooo....I guess my question to the OP for clarification is:

....in your first as well as this thread, were/are you referring to hip shooting as point shooting?
 
Last edited:
Honestly, I think my point is clear enough. Here and elsewhere people have insisted that they can, with absolute certainty, under a high stress situation, shoot their shotgun from the hip, and yes, they have said they would use their "point shooting" skill acquired by shooting birds or clays.

My concern remains that people not make the mistake of thinking that the shotgun pattern is such that they will be able to spray and pray from the hip, hopeful that they will knock the bad guy down.

My first video showed how a shotgun patterns shooting 00 buck even out to unrealistically far HD distances, and the closer you get, the tighter the pattern.

I went on then to say, and show, that you need to aim the weapon to make absolutely sure that relatively tight pattern of highly lethal 00Buck hits your target, not most of the pellets, all of them, so that you do not send a pellet into a loved one in another room, or a neighbor in another apartment or even a house close to yours.
 
Honestly, I think my point is clear enough. Here and elsewhere people have insisted that they can, with absolute certainty, under a high stress situation, shoot their shotgun from the hip, and yes, they have said they would use their "point shooting" skill acquired by shooting birds or clays.
Click to expand...

When you said that, Amsdorf, were you talking about the below post by Zippy?

With training, you can accurately point a shotgun without having it mounted. This might be useful in a HD situation. How do you think the exhibition shooters pull off all those crazy shots? It's not magic, it's with dismounted pointing.
Click to expand...

Neither that nor anything else I have seen posted by anyone anywhere even comes close to having insisted that they can, with absolute certainty, under a high stress situation, shoot their shotgun from the hip, and yes, they have said they would use their "point shooting" skill acquired by shooting birds or clays I am sorry, but it almost sounds as though you make up myths that don't exist so you have something to bust.
 
Here and elsewhere people have insisted that they can, with absolute certainty, under a high stress situation, shoot their shotgun from the hip,
Click to expand...

As I went back to closed 'chapter one' and read through the pages, unless I missed something, I did not read anyone promoting shooting from the hip in a SD situation. Please quote post if I missed it. Nor have I ever heard anyone(other then the movies)promoting such.
The first mention of shooting from the hip was you in post #3.

Then the discussion pursued the art of point shooting versus aiming. Which are two different ways of shooting a shotgun and IMO, still not addressed.


This is the reason I asked the question to you if you are calling hip shooting point shooting since your 'chapter two' is showing hip shooting versus aiming.

Again, thanks for the vid. but it does not address pointing versus aiming a shotgun.
Too, I assure you, at SD distance, if I'm in a blacked out area(can't see my sights) and an I.D.'ed BG is silhouetted, my point shooting from the shoulder will suffice.

One more question, what choke were you using in your vids?
 
Last edited:
Couldn't one fire a shotgun from the hip with reasonable accuracy if using a laser sight? Or at least a mounted tactical flashlight, using the beam to help aim?

(Hopefully this will be considered "constructive")
 
Yes, absolutely, using a laser to aim the shotgun makes it possible to be highly accurate shooting it from the hip, or from your little toe!

Seriously, it is a great tool.

I use a Crimson Trace laser grip on my EDC precisely for this purpose.

But, of course, using a laser dot would definitely be "aiming" it no simply spraying and praying from the hip.

I'd be much less sure of simply relying on a flashlight beam.
 
"so obviously someone thinks its easy"

Certainly not easy, but not impossible for the very talented who have practiced it at length. Are those talented individuals a myth? Was I dreaming I saw them do it? ;)

John
 
Reminder:

Point of the video was to show people who are unfamiliar with the shotgun and how it works NOT to believe the myth that you can simply spray and pray and hope to hit your target and NOT hit unintended targets.

And, as for point shooting from the hip, of course, it is possible, but one would have to be a highly trained and skilled shotgun operator to trust those skills will all come into play on a dark and stormy night with bad guys in the house.
 
Amsdorf said:
The myth I'm busting in this video series is that you don't have to aim a shotgun but can simply Rambo it from the hip.
Click to expand...
That may be a myth shared at the Mall Ninja Forum, but I'm guessing the TFL members are a little more in touch with reality. Of course, pointing from the hip takes practice -- perhaps more practice than aiming a mounted gun.

Your video only showed that you can't hip shoot very well with that Benelli. The very first thing I noticed, in your introduction, was the gun you selected is designed for aiming and not for pointing (talk about bias). With an appropriate gun, techniques and practice you could be placing your first shot on target pointing from the hip.

What are you going to do, in a SD environment, if you confront someone who is a competent pointer and you don't have your gun mounted? You won't have time to align those fancy sights. Too many newer shooters believe MIL/LE guns and tacti-cool accessories are a viable substitute for comprehensive training.

I've mentioned this previously: Adding a light to your HD gun makes you a target. Why not spend the ca$h on a whole house lighting control system? It's useful everyday, not just in HD situations.
In a self-defense situation, when you are using 00 Buck, inside your home, where you do NOT want stray pellets penetrating into other rooms, or even other houses, you must aim your shotgun, that is, shoulder it and sight it, not simply rely on point-shooting from your hip.
Click to expand...
Is that really your reasoning? A simpler answer is to use smaller shot, and not rely on your perfect aim and fat BGs. How are you going to tell your neighbor, "Sorry, I hit your child, I was using 00-Buck and the BG ducked."? And, don't rely on the BG stopping your pellets. It's my experience, a 00-Buck pellet may still be lethal after passing a fleshy mass.
 
Zippy makes a good point. What you really showed in the video is that you need more practice hip shooting. I agree that the spray-and-pray method is bad. However there is no reason that a we'll trained person shooting from the hip can't be effectively accurate at HD ranges.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top