Wielding Dual Pistols

never tried it. I'd rather have an aimed shot from one pistol than inaccurate shots from two.

I think there are probably some people who can shoot accurately two pistols...I'm just not one of them

It's possible to have a pistol in each hand, so long as you fire one at a time. It's not much different than regular one-handed strong side/weak side shooting, although the non-firing hand is occupied and can't be used in any manner. It's not an efficient way to use the weapons, but it can be done.

Firing both at the same time is pure Hollywood.

A CAS Gunfighter firing alternate shots with a gun in each hand will show what can be done along those lines.

I've done it once. 1911 in my right, Beretta M92 in my left. It's not something I would use, ever, in the real world. It's hard enough to hit things one handed with a handgun, so try focusing on two guns, and switching between two sight pictures at any reasonable rate. I'm sure if it's slow, deliberate aimed fire it can be done pretty effectively, but isn't the point of holding two guns to fire as quickly as possible? Personally I don't like spray and pray.
Sure, it's fun, and if you are plinking at a range that would allow such behavior, or in your back yard with a pair of .22s, there is no harm done, but rapid, accurate fire with two handguns at once is in my opinion pure hollywood bull.
Of course YMMV, and some people may be able to pull this off a whole lot better than I can.

Go pick up a copy of Ed McGivern's book <i>Fast & Fancy Revolver Shooting</i>. He details how to shoot two pistols at once with reasonable accuracy.

Clif's Notes Version:

Learn to shoot well with your strong hand.
Then learn to shoot equally well with your weak hand.
After that, shoot two guns at the same time, but start by doing it very slowly and deliberately.
Work on speed from there.

If you want to do it with anything close to a reasonable amount of effectiveness, you're going to have to buy ammunition by the pallet load.

In his book Sixguns, Elmer Keith talked about it some and the book has pics of him shooting at a stump with two guns. I personally have enough trouble at times shooting just one!!

I've tried this with twin Beretta 92FS pistols (of course). I found I had the best results squeezing the triggers simultaneously, which also produces a really neat flanging sound. However, I had much better results firing one pistol at a time, at twice the rate of fire.

If I found myself with two pistols and I didn't have time to holster one of them, then I would fire the pistol in my dominant hand until it was empty, then put the loaded pistol into my dominant hand. If I had no ammunition left for the first pistol then I would drop it and pick it up after the threat is down.

Put a laser on each gun to help with aiming

AD

SGM Blane used the technique on The Unit the other day

cant remember if he actually fired them however.

Ummmm if you empty two pistols at the same time how do you tactically reload both at the same time? Seems the time wasted on reloads just lowers the rate until it's equal to using one gun.

Speaking of THE UNIT they can't have REALLY killed off my favorite character! I am going to be sooooo depressed unless this is some kind of cinematic plot mechanism. This show has such potential. If they don't get carried away with estranged wives doing table dances without removing any clothing or some of the other equally unlikely subplots they risk it becoming Desparate Housewives in the Army!

jerry mitchlick (I probly spelled that wrong) can acuatley fire two guns at one target or even at seperate targets at the same time, though I'd bet he wouldn't in a real-world defensive situation.

Tried It

I tried it once for kicks. I found that I kept hitting close with my weak hand a few hits but not from any skill I posses. I hit repeatedly with my dominant hand. So my thinking is that your just dumping lead into one target, your dominant hand muscle memory etc. takes over and will be more accurate. Maybe the second gun is good for keeping BG's heads down?

One of the guys up above had it right. If you are a Single Action Cowboy shooter, and you like using old Colts or replicas, you will wonder about it. Some of us with dual-handedness have had a lot of fun with it. You don't point, squint, and fire, you simply point and shoot. Just like you did as a kid playing Cowboys and Indians. At first you will only hit large targets, but with practice, a co-ordinated person can get it down to playing card size.

I tried it once for S&G, and didn't hit a dang thing with either hand. Also, standing there with two empty and locked open pistols, I sorta wondered what I was gonna do about that since both hands were already full.

I'm sure it can be done, but unless I win the lottery I won't be blowing enough ammo to figure it out.

It's fun (and hard). Having a pair of matching handguns helps.

The hard part is...

Two handguns? No problemo.

The hard part is getting enough hang time as you leap through the air. I tend to fall to the ground at 32 feet per second per second but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I get the hang of the slow mo stuff.

You don't suppose a giant expanding ball of fire in the background helps do ya?

BoomStick82 said:

Put a laser on each gun to help with aiming

Click to expand...

Make sure to have two lasers of diffrent color, or yo will end up confusing yourself even more!

I tried it once with two full auto Diemaco C8 rifles, during a 'fun and games' range session in the army. I hit absolutely nothing but air and dirt, but it was fun until the staff sergent saw what I was doing. I guess the rumor about sergents having their sense of humor surgically removed in the academy is true..

Yes. But I only do it with Colt SSA replica's, while shooting soft lead at close targets.

Hella fun acting like an old western movie gun fight.

Reloading time sucks even worse. I'll literally holster one to reload the other.

Has nothing to do with a real gun fight thou..

Every once in a while I'll borrow TinyGnat's CZ-52 and shoot it and my own together. I'm not going to say I'm super duper, but I can usually hit the target with both.

Same with my two SIG 229 pistols.

No real purpose to doing it, it's just fun.