Old Fluff, I agree with a lot of what you are saying, but I simply see your position as the opposite end of an extreme, and thus another extreme.
Too many folks think that a hit anywhere in the COM will do the job so long as they are using a Magnum with a trick-bullet (we know it's good because it performs well on jelly)
True. But bullet construction is a very important factor that you cannot simply brush aside. In handguns, it has been shown that no service caliber is a great choice for total incapacitation, but it's what we have, so we use the best examples we can find.
But as the FBI report says, those with any experience know that the only probable way to make an instant stop is to hit somewhere in the central nervous system.
Which anyone with experience will likely tell you, rarely presents itself as an opportunity in the field, under real world conditions.
But I know of cases where COM shots failed to stop an attack, and sometimes the attacker survived multiple hits and killed his opponent.
There are also cases where headshots failed to totally or immediately incapacitate an individual when fired from a handgun. Rifles are a different story.
I believe that many, if not most, so-called “one shot stops” are caused by where the bullet hit, and not necessarily its construction or caliber (within reason), which is why some have taken hits from 12 gage slugs and/or buckshot, let alone any handgun, and still been functional enough to continue doing what ever they were doing.
The "one-stop-shot" thing is completely misleading and proven to be a farce time and time again. In the field, you shoot until the threat is gone, in the heat of combat, there is no immediate and accurate measure that can stop one from tossing out another round just in case. In many cases, an attacker could have been incapacitated on the first shot to COM, but because the recognition of thier death by the shooter is not instant, another round or even several are fired. This is not duck hunt, we're talking an often panciked situation happening in mere seconds. I don't know about you, but if I were to have to fire a round at someone, I am firing all I can get off until I am VERY sure the threat ceases to exist. I don't care if it's the first or the last shot that killed the attacker, as long as one of them does it, I won't be counting. Anyone worth shooting once is worth shooting twice.
I agree that bullet type, construction or caliber is not the sole factor in terminal ballistics, but it is a very important one. A bullet that does not penetrate 12 inches in gelatin is unlikely to penetrate the skull of an attacker and incapacitate for a head shot. And even so, again, damage to the brain tissue is not a wonder-trick one-stop-shot. Brain tissue is not the CNS you are looking for. It does not give you instant "lights out".
Yes, head shots require more then usual marksmanship skills, and I suspect that in many cases both individuals and organizations are not willing to make the effort to develop those skills.
Of course head shots are optional, depending on the circumstances.
But a person that doesn't have the ability also doesn't have an option - even though it might save his or her life.
All of this is true, but the opportunity for an instant lights out headshot is rare. Shooting someone in the face or forehead does not guarantee that. You should train your ability to be able to make a headshot when needed, I agree, but it is generally not the best option in a civilian scenario when one is put on the defensive without much warning, no matter how much skill you have. Poeple can survive head shots and damage to brain tissue just as easily as they can a hit to a vital organ. If you can guarantee a hit on the spinal cord, and also guarantee the severing of that cord, from a shot to the head, more power to you.
Two to the COM, one to the head, rinse and repeat if necessary.
