What gun do you want in your hand?

[CAS700850]

Sitting around with some gun types last night, watching the kids play and talking guns. One developed a hypothetical situation for discussion that was interesting, so I thought I'd bring it up here...

You're home, tinkiering with the guns, so the safe is open, and your full collection of handguns is there in front of you. You hear a loved one scream, grab a handgun, and run to see what's wrong. You find loved one being held by a Bad Guy, Bad Guy has knife in hand, arm raised, and appears to be about to plunge the knife into the chest of your loved one. There's time for one shot. Your angle to the Bad Guy allows a clear shot at the torso and head. Distance is the classic 7 yards, across the room, no obstructions.

Which of your handguns do you want in your hand at that moment?
Where do you aim?

My response was I wanted my Smith 586 with 6" barrel, which is currently loaded with full magnum 125 grn JHP's. I would aim for his nose.

 

[ruger270man]

well I dont own any handguns.. (give me about 3 hours, going to pick up a Makarov today )

but umm.. I'll pretend I own some..

and I'll go with a CZ P-01

 

[Red Tornado]

I'd want my Sig P-226. It's my HD weapon, and I practice with it the most. I think the nose sounds like the most likely aiming point, too.
RT

 

[WT]

5" M1911 with 230 gr FMJ ammo.

 

[Souris]

Kimber Royal Carry w/ 230 grn hydro shocks
Ruger Blackhawk w/ 125 grn JHP
S&W 39-2 w/ JHP

It would be Either the Kimber or the S&W since those are the ones that are always loaded and at hand. And probably the Kimber since it has had the most range time lately.

 

[skidmark]

SIG 220 if I'm inside the apartment, or AMT Backup outside.

I think the nose sounds like the most likely aiming point, too.

Why are you aiming at the nose? I don't recall much behind it that will affect the CNS unless bone fragment carries through the neck into the spinal cord, which does not seem likely.

My POA is along a box from eye to eye and up to the middle of the forehead. If that is not available, I'll try anything along the neck if I can't get the "golden triangle" - across the nipples to a point in the middle of the throat.

stay safe.

skidmark

 

[MSGT9410]

I'd grab my Tanfoglio Inturder .40S&W.

I can make just one big hole with that at 10 yards, so I think it would serve me well.

If a clean shot was availible on his head, then that's where I'd aim. If he's about to kill a loved one, and I only have enough time for one shot, I'm going to dispatch the thread in the quickets way possible. Sure you can shoot him in the torso, and say, hit him in the heart, but he's still going to be alive for a little while longer, long enough to cause harm. One quick shot to the head is nearly instantly fatal, taking down the BG, and saving the life of the loved one.

 

[KriegHund]

Dont have any handguns either, but ide take anything.

Preferably a glock 10mm.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Ithaca Model 37 12 gauge. If you have a whole safe full to choose from, why choose a handgun?

 

[MSGT9410]

I say screw it, just grab an M134 Minigun and wing it. There goes the neighborhood!

 

[Dave Markowitz]

In that scenario, I'm grabbing my AR-15A3. Handguns are for fighting your way to a rifle or shotgun.

 

[foghornl]

Springfield "GI-45" model 1911-A1...BG is raising a knife to a member of my family? ? ?


"bang!" end of story.

 

[Rupestris]

5" M1911 with 230 gr FMJ ammo.

Ditto.
My Kimber Classic Target would do nicely.

Aim - Two to the body, reassess before (as stated in the movie tombstone) turning his head into a canoe.

 

[boofus]

 

[Fastlane]

870P, loaded with #00 buckshot. Head shot.

 

[Augustwest]

Ditto WT, and since the original scenario dictates one shot, it'd be a headshot.


And I'd have to be very, very confident about the pattern of my shotgun to point it anywhere near a loved one...

 

[nomadboi]

If this is indoors, anything with a silencer on it. I like my hearing.

However, since I don't own anything that fits that description, more realisitically it would have to be my Steyr M40. Not sure I'd trust my Buckmaster .22 to do the job, and the Steyr is what I practice with the most.

 

[TallPine]

I don't have a safe ... it would be either the 4" double action 357 mag that is always on my hip, or the AK-type rifle leaning in the corner.

In that case, I would hope I would have grabbed the rifle because I would rather not have to take that kind of a shot with a handgun.

 

[Gillster]

I carry either a S&W 457 or a Springer 1911 and feel secure shooting either but if the safe was open that means this one is out anyway and I have fired more shoots out of this gun, rapidly and on the timer, then any other so it gets the call:

 

[Brian Williams]

It is and will be my S&W 13 3"

 

[Father Knows Best]

Why are you aiming at the nose? I don't recall much behind it that will affect the CNS unless bone fragment carries through the neck into the spinal cord, which does not seem likely.

My POA is along a box from eye to eye and up to the middle of the forehead.

Bad choice. The upper portions of the brain are not necessary for motor control, basic emotional responses, etc. Thus, a shot to the upper cranium does not interrupt basic central nervous system (CNS) function. There are lots of cases of people being impaled through and around the eyes and suffering horrific upper cranial injuries, and still walking/talking almost normally.

To stop someone, you need to either interrupt CNS function, or do such significant vascular damage that they bleed out and lose consciousness. Shock from severe pain may cause the desired result, also, but head wounds tend to induce surprisingly little pain. In part that's because the brain has no nerve endings.

If you're going for a head shot, and need to stop someone quickly, you want to aim low. The objective is to destroy the brain stem and/or upper spinal cord. That interrupts CNS function and literally stops them cold.

 

[Chipperman]

P7M13 loaded with Gold Dots
Head Shot

 

[InfernoMDM]

Anything but my makarov, or the ruger.

Probably a walther or the sig.

Probably Id pick up a shotgun.

 

[Father Knows Best]

By the way, assuming I could grab any gun in my safe, I wouldn't grab a handgun. I'd grab my Arsenal SA M-7S (AK clone) with Kobra holographic red dot sight on it. I keep several loaded mags right next to it. As for aiming point -- the lethal triangle and as many shots as it takes until he is down and no longer a threat.

If you are restricting us to handguns, then the choice would be my Para Ordnance SSP -- a full size 1911. The mags hold Winchester Ranger RA45T 230 grain JHP.

 

[Sam Adams]

If restricted to handguns, I'd use my Springfield .45, loaded with flying ashtrays (I think Hydrashock at the moment - haven't carried it for a while, since it is summer and I now have a S&W 642 for very comfortable pocket carry). 2nd choice is my 586, loaded with .38 +P hollowpoints - very controllable, and quite deadly at that range with a 6 inch barrel.

If not restricted to handguns, then I'd use my AR15. Definite hydrostatic shock at that distance.

I wonder about those of you who'd use buckshot - the BG is holding your loved one in his arms, so you'd be as likely to hit him/her with part of the shot pattern.