Your last gun fight..??

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I'd recommend watching Active Self Protection online. You'll see some interesting real-world examples. (One of the main lessons for me: don't move to Brazil!)

It would seem that many of the single-attacker situations are resolved within a 5-6 shot capacity...but there are quite a few 2-4 attacker situations as well (particularly robberies and carjackings). Most of those involve multiple shots fired.

Some interesting thoughts from Clint Smith (strong language): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3l6BR4YXKY
 
Last time: early October 1970...They never got all the way through the wire, and I didn't need a pistol, but if they had, and got into the bunkers with us, a handgun would have been more useful than the CAR15 I was carrying at the time...I was also toting a BHP in a tanker cross chest holster.

I've slept with a gun of one sort or another ever since, and carried quite a few as well...ya just never know when you're going to hear the tin cans in the concertina tinkling in the moonlight, donchano? Best Regards, Rod
 
This is the way I look at it: If I am suddenly faced with life threatening peril and manange to have everything line up perfectly in my favor AND I manage to land every shot. I probably only need 2-3 shots ( on average)
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I'll buy that, for one attacker.

Of course, "on average" is your qualifier, as stated.

There's something else to consider,

If "need" means the number of shots fired before effecting a quick physical stop, most defenders will prudently fire more than they "need" at a violent criminal attacker.

It would be preposterous to expect a defender in a Tueller-like scenario to pause after each shot to try to decide whether he or she has yet succeeded in making the stop.
 
Been carrying professionally since Dec. 1978 as an armed security officer and later a police officer. In all that time I have never had to fire a round except for range work Normally though I do carry either a six shot revolver with no less than 4 speed loaders, a Colt 1911 with 4 spare mags or a Beretta 92F with 2 spare mags. Now do I feel out gunned with the revolver? Absolutely not. If I were to knowingly go where a gunfight would occur I would have my AR or a shotgun with me.
 
To be honest, you should train/prepare to dominate any fight you find yourself in. Only through victory do you have a chance of survival. You can win and still die, but you have no control over the outcome if you lose.
 
Most non-leo engagements involve 2-3 rounds.

I know the IDPA "Tactical Tommies" feel you they need to carry at least 2 spare 15 round magazines and constantly practice "tactical reloading."

More power to them! I feel comfortable with the magazine in the gun. I firm believe that I will either be dead, or the winner long before my Glock 17 runs out of ammo.
 
More power to them! I feel comfortable with the magazine in the gun. I firm believe that I will either be dead, or the winner long before my Glock 17 runs out of ammo.
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Or you suffer a malfunction........
 
Or you suffer a malfunction........
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I think this is drastically over stated.

Outside of induced malfunctions these are very rare and often enough corrected without dropping the magazine. The idea of dropping the magazine as step one is trained into people who carry a spare magazine.

Revolvers are not immune to failure and some failures, on either a semi or a revolver, are not fixable in a fight. Its fates way of telling you its time.
 
Lohman446 said:
I think this is drastically over stated.



Outside of induced malfunctions these are very rare and often enough corrected without dropping the magazine. The idea of dropping the magazine as step one is trained into people who carry a spare magazine.



Revolvers are not immune to failure and some failures, on either a semi or a revolver, are not fixable in a fight. Its fates way of telling you its time.
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It's not step one. I don't know anyone that teaches it as step one. If you have a failure to extract you're going to need to strip the magazine. You might be able to retain it, however.

This whole conversation has always been interesting to me. Everyone feels the need to validate why they carry what they do. But it doesn't end there. They also feel the need to explain why others are wrong or doing things unnecessarily. It's exhausting. Do we really need to replicate the already many page long thread from the Semi forum?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
I think this is drastically over stated.
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I don't. I shoot competitively and see malfunctions all the time. People shooting in less than perfect form.

The idea of dropping the magazine as step one is trained into people who carry a spare magazine.
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No, Its Tap, Rack, bang. But Mr Murphy is alive and well.
 
Take care of your weapon and your weapon will take care of you!

It was true when the Sgt Major said it, and it's true today.
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Take all the care you want, when you can predict things like extractor failures let me know.
 
This whole conversation has always been interesting to me. Everyone feels the need to validate why they carry what they do. But it doesn't end there. They also feel the need to explain why others are wrong or doing things unnecessarily. It's exhausting. Do we really need to replicate the already many page long thread from the Semi forum?
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It is an interesting thing to observe.
 
Bamaranger, Agedwarior, Nanuk, All good answers, that really make sense,

Like I said at the beginning, the question was really tongue in cheek,,,I am totally surprised at some of the answers,,,not agreeing, nor disagreeing,,,,,,,just learning,,,
 
8 years ago a bugler broke into my house and i got a hold if my shotgun and blast a warning shot. he heard the shot, noticed it was a shotgun and he ran away so fast he left behind all his tools. the closest i have ever came to a gun fight.
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Could have been scary, those Bugler's are something.
 
I get in gun fights twice a year, haven’t lost to a paper target at 1000 yards or steel at a mile yet.
:)
 
I don't. I shoot competitively and see malfunctions all the time. People shooting in less than perfect form.
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I think that this is something that people fail to consider.

We shoot at the range when we're fresh, standing still, mostly using both hands. We get all set, then we do our shooting, finish our ammo and go home congratulating ourselves on how reliable our gun is.

Instead try practicing where you are not perfectly set to shoot, grab your gun in a hurry and fire it with one hand, possibly with an imperfect grip. Then consider that you may be injured when you need to use the gun, perhaps even injured in your hand or arm.

I was struck by how often guns seem to malfunction in gunfights based on video evidence and firsthand accounts. I'm not talking about garbage guns either--I'm talking about guns that are well thought of as being very reliable. I noticed that in the videos, guns were often shot one handed, from unorthodox positions, often while the shooter was in motion--not being perfectly set to shoot and it started to make sense.

Just because a carry gun is perfectly reliable at the range doesn't mean that it is acceptable to ignore the possibility of malfunctions. Even under the stress of competition malfunctions tend to increase and that is a pretty controlled situation. In a real gunfight things are much more chaotic.
 
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