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Old February 20, 2006, 06:32 PM   #1
Doug.38PR
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Shooting with one gun in each hand

Is this a safe and sound tactic or is it just hollywood? I've only tried this (VERY CAREFULLY) once with aiming one gun out and shooting it while the other one was pointed up and vice versa very slowly until both guns were empty.

A friend of mine told me once that an outdoor range (nobody else but the range officer and he were out there) let him once take his two Ruger 9mm automatics and walk towards the target firing both guns and he didn't hit squat.

If you do it real fast (Brendon Frashier style...aka Mr. O'Connell from The Mummy) then it seems to me two things could happen 1) your two guns (if close together straight in front of you) could clatter together with the recoil of each scratching them up and two (it potentially puts one arm or gun in front of the firing one)
Is is a sound tactic that could be mastered with proper practice and care?

Last edited by Doug.38PR; February 20, 2006 at 09:46 PM.
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Old February 20, 2006, 06:38 PM   #2
Glenn E. Meyer
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Angelina Jolie demonstrated that you could use the technique to kill giant robots and magical statues.

That's good enough for me.
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Old February 20, 2006, 07:32 PM   #3
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I have a bet set up with a friend we will settle in about a month. The bet is that I can put more rounds on target in 10 seconds with one gun that he can with 2.

We will see how it goes.

NukemJim

PS did I mention I have 2(two) 33 round glock mags for a G-17 and 2(two)25 rounder for my Sig-228
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Old February 20, 2006, 07:55 PM   #4
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It looked really cool in "The Usual Suspects", so it has to work, right?

Seriously, though, I tried this a couple of times. OK, with 1991-style Airsoft pistols, not the real thing. But anyway, what I found was that I could aim the gun in my right hand pretty well using my right eye, and then the gun in my left hand using my left eye. The problem was that as soon as I switched eyes to aim the other hand, the one I just switched from would lose its aimpoint. If I tried to fire both at the same time, the one I aimed last would hit the target and the other would be waaaay off. So the only effective technique would be to aim and fire with one hand, then aim and fire with the other. To me, this is no better than shooting one gun using both hands and reloading with a back-up mag. After a lot of time and practice I might be able to shoot both simultanously and effectively, but it just doesn't seem worth it.

Bottom line: I would not consider this a viable option for self defense, or any situation where my life or the lives of others were hanging in the balance.

-Charles
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Old February 20, 2006, 08:29 PM   #5
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I've tried simultaneous fire with my .40 and a friend's 9mm. Accuracy went significantly downhill. I suppose with a lot of practice, one might get good at it, but for the most part it's a Hollywood thing.
Quote:
Angelina Jolie demonstrated that you could use the technique to kill giant robots and magical statues.
And hordes of ninja assassins.
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Old February 20, 2006, 09:05 PM   #6
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Quote:
I have a bet set up with a friend we will settle in about a month. The bet is that I can put more rounds on target in 10 seconds with one gun that he can with 2.
You could probably do better, even with a magazine change thrown in. It's not a viable tactic. I tried many times when I was younger and stupider. Never came close to being any good at it.
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Old February 20, 2006, 09:17 PM   #7
springmom
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Jeez, I thought you meant...

....two guns IN EACH HAND. I was trying to figure out just HOW you were going to shoot four guns at once. Grammar is your friend....

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Old February 20, 2006, 09:47 PM   #8
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Changed springmom.

My own mom would have said the same thing. Momma and dad both to this day are very quick to point out bad grammer.
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Old February 21, 2006, 09:42 PM   #9
Mike in VA
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Like any other skill, I'm sure it can be developed with practice ( and a big ammo budget).

In my very limited experience, it's easier ("easier" being a relative term) with two similar/identical guns, harder with guns of different weight/size/caliber (no, really ). All in all, I suspect it's better for supressive fire than taking out BGs.
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Old February 21, 2006, 09:49 PM   #10
Doug.38PR
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On another thought, it could be used to cover yourself from two sides. In other words if you are cornered somewhere and had opponents from two different points within say a 45-90 degree angle from your point of view you could use each at each point to keep them pinned or maybe even hit them taking aim. It might possibly be easier keep two different guns on two different points than it would be to alternate one gun on two different points. Plus, your ammunition would last longer from one gun than two.
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Old February 21, 2006, 10:03 PM   #11
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I think it was Ed McGivern who was told about one trick that couldnt be done. He parcticed for about 30,000 rounds and then said it could be done.

what would 30,000 rounds of .38 special cost if you bought it in bulk?
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Old February 21, 2006, 10:16 PM   #12
Doug.38PR
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Quote:
what would 30,000 rounds of .38 special cost if you bought it in bulk?
Well, there are 50 rounds to a box and ammunition per box in .38 special LRN or FMJ is about $7.50, more or less. Divide 30,000 by 50 and mulitply that by $7.50$ and comes to $4500. 30,000 / 50 x $7.50 = $4,500
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Old February 21, 2006, 10:35 PM   #13
Walter
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Obviously you people have never watched the Bruce Willis movie,
"Last Man Standing". Not only does he shoot .45 1911's in both hands,
he draws them from shoulder holsters equally fast, reloads both with
lightning speed, and blows people through walls with his .45 slugs.



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Old February 21, 2006, 10:50 PM   #14
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Hollywood!
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Old February 21, 2006, 11:03 PM   #15
Az Qkr
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Actually it is not hollywood, doesn't take 30K rds to develop either.

It is quite easy to do, took me one afternnoon with two snubs to get this down.

Two threats about 6 feet apart, distance of 12 feet, both guns emptied into respective targets simultaneously.

http://www.threatfocused.com/forums/...?p=403#post403

Read post 6 and 7 at that link. I showed Sweatnbullets how easy it was while he was here last month, now he owns the skill as well.

The person who commented it would probably work better with similiar guns has the right thought process. I could do it with a g17 in the strong hand and a snub in the off hand after a few more hours of playing with it.

While Sweatnbullets was here at my place we also developed it further to include two guns fired simultaneously at threats that varied in distance and heights.

It's only impossible until you can do it. Neat skill to have, one that may never be used, but in developing this skill, information was uncovered that helps in
other areas of shooting as well.

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Old February 21, 2006, 11:33 PM   #16
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Yep.
Possible but not practical.
Unless you are perfect like Angelina Jolie.
It would help if I could follow one gun with one eye, and the other gun with the other eye.
But for some odd reason my mind is only capable of processing one stream of video.
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Old February 22, 2006, 12:37 AM   #17
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Yup. Drat that 'one focal point' feature. I want an upgrade.
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Old February 22, 2006, 01:11 AM   #18
Az Qkr
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Upgrades are 7 hours and $500.00 USD

The upgrading is not that difficult but my education and training was expensive.

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Old February 22, 2006, 01:31 AM   #19
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I did it once at my buddys land. .380 and .45. Started off shooting slow, was decently accurate. I got the great Idea of blasting them off as fast as I could. I think I hit the target once, put a few holes in the wheel barrel near by and probably killed some other lawn maintanance gear. It was super fun though. Next time I'll remember to move the stuff that I'll have to replace when I break to a safe area. Did I mention that it was super fun? Now that I've got 2 laser sighted Glocks I've been even more tempted to do it then ever.

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Old February 22, 2006, 03:05 AM   #20
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Never done it with autos, but I must say it was quite fun with a pair of Ruger Vaqueros. I'm sure this style has a low level of practicality, but I can't deny the fun factor of it.
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Old February 22, 2006, 07:38 AM   #21
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Did't Jim Cirillo of NYPD stake out squad fame discuss this?

I seem ot recall reading how he utalized it back in the day when a NYPD offiers max armamanet was pair of revolvers -- primary and back up, though from the pictures in the article of his range demo and description it seemed that he had a nice alternating cadance between the two wheel guns shoot recover / shoot recover alternating back and forth,

Seems possible but not very practical for most.
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Old February 22, 2006, 07:55 AM   #22
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What a waste. I'd rather have hits coming half as fast then misses twice the speed. Last Man Standing was cool though.
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Old February 22, 2006, 08:01 AM   #23
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For training/availability reason's, I plan to practice this is the near future. My plan is to get both hands shooting equally well and then slowly work my way up to point shooting with either hand. At that point, a laser on each gun would lessen the need to acquire a sight picture from either gun.

My plan is to find two 9mm SA/DA pistols such as Ruger P94, Witness Compact or Fullsize, Taurus 24/7 Pro, etc and then train each hand as above.

DISCLAIMER: This in NO WAY, SHAPE, or FORM is to be taken to mean that these skills "will" be used in a life or death/defense situation. Only to mean that they "can" be used, if required, in a SHTF situation.
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Old February 22, 2006, 10:17 AM   #24
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While the application is not very practical, there are huge benefits to owning the skill. There is a much bigger picture than just having fun. Brownie and I can do it, we get the hits, and we have really pushed it's limitations.

It is exploring the limitations that lead you to the real benefits.
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Old February 22, 2006, 10:39 AM   #25
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Ive done it with two .40's (glock and xd) and wasnt able to hit anything but with two .22 autoloaders it is much easier due to the low recoil. It also is a fun way to learn to shoot with your other hand.
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