Father Knows Best
Member
Kodiaz said:Think about a Silhouette target. Most silhouettes have their X ring(Hi score) located below the sternum(where your ribs come together breatsbone) there is not a lot of vital stuff located below the sternum. The major vitals are located behind the sternum. You could get hit in the x area and not die because no vital organs are there. The Xring area on most silhouette's has you shooting at the stomach which is a survivable wound.
I train with Tom Givens at Rangemaster. He teaches you to aim for "the lethal triangle", which is defined by the nipples and adam's apple. That region contains the heart, lungs and reasonably accessible elements of the central nervous system. As you point out, shots to the torso below a line drawn between the nipples typically are not fight stoppers, because the rarely hit anything critical.
I recall reading an article by a famous writer whom I won't name who suggested that shots to the pelvis are better fight stoppers than shots to the torso, at least with high velocity rounds like .357, because they tend to shatter a critical structural element (the pelvis) causing the target to fall down. I haven't seen enough evidence of that theory to cause me to change my practice habits, though.