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Hafoc · June 3, 2006, 11:54 AM

I don't know that I'd take a computer game as reflecting reality-- but it got you thinking, and thinking is always good.

I've never had to shoot anyone, thank Goodness. I have had a gun in reach when I went to see what was up with the drunk at the front door at 3:00 AM, and man, was I glad to have it! Sometimes having a weapon is just the extra courage you need to do what you would have had to do anyway.

If you want to KNOW about shot placement in the real world, you have to ask someone who really had to do it. Or you have to rely on statistics. Neither is definitive, since you can't ever know how your situation is going to compare to the averages, or to somebody else's situation.

I've read reams of stuff on real world gunfights, on theoretical gunfights, on shot placement vs. stopping power, and most of what I've read seems to be designed to prove what the writer wanted to believe before starting. Based on all that, the only rule I've been able to derive personally is to pick the most power that I can EASILY carry. That's going to vary depending on how much weight you can deal with and how large a piece you can conceal. Are you willing to wear a sports jacket in 90 degree weather so you can carry a full-sized automatic beneath it? That sort of thing.

Problem being that if you go with something smaller and less powerful, hoping to make up for it with shot placement, you often get something that's harder to shoot accurately too. Take my Kahr PM-9. It's a little DAO automatic in 9mm, pocket-sized. Theoretically, I should be able to shoot better with a 9mm than a .45 because of lesser recoil. But as a practical matter, the Kahr has a very short barrel and a DAO trigger, which make it incapible of target accuracy.

It is, however, small enough and easy enough to carry that it can be there when you need it. Limited as it is, it makes it easy to obey the first rule of gunfighting; "Bring a gun."

June 3, 2006, 11:54 AM	#3
Hafoc Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2005 Posts: 552	I don't know that I'd take a computer game as reflecting reality-- but it got you thinking, and thinking is always good. I've never had to shoot anyone, thank Goodness. I have had a gun in reach when I went to see what was up with the drunk at the front door at 3:00 AM, and man, was I glad to have it! Sometimes having a weapon is just the extra courage you need to do what you would have had to do anyway. If you want to KNOW about shot placement in the real world, you have to ask someone who really had to do it. Or you have to rely on statistics. Neither is definitive, since you can't ever know how your situation is going to compare to the averages, or to somebody else's situation. I've read reams of stuff on real world gunfights, on theoretical gunfights, on shot placement vs. stopping power, and most of what I've read seems to be designed to prove what the writer wanted to believe before starting. Based on all that, the only rule I've been able to derive personally is to pick the most power that I can EASILY carry. That's going to vary depending on how much weight you can deal with and how large a piece you can conceal. Are you willing to wear a sports jacket in 90 degree weather so you can carry a full-sized automatic beneath it? That sort of thing. Problem being that if you go with something smaller and less powerful, hoping to make up for it with shot placement, you often get something that's harder to shoot accurately too. Take my Kahr PM-9. It's a little DAO automatic in 9mm, pocket-sized. Theoretically, I should be able to shoot better with a 9mm than a .45 because of lesser recoil. But as a practical matter, the Kahr has a very short barrel and a DAO trigger, which make it incapible of target accuracy. It is, however, small enough and easy enough to carry that it can be there when you need it. Limited as it is, it makes it easy to obey the first rule of gunfighting; "Bring a gun."