What if your defense weapon does not affect a criminal

[psychophipps]

It might be time for you to re-evaluate whether that .22, .25acp, or .32acp is adequate if you happen to keep close proximity of thugs on PCP on a regular basis.

Head shots from .357mags, 44mags, or .45acp have a terminal effect on pretty much anything walkin and talkin.

-Steve

Umm...head shots with 9mm tends to get the job done as well, last I heard. Corrected the post above for having added a very "Huh?!?" caliber.

 

[BattleChimp Potemkin]

Quote:
You let out a ROAR and go medieval on his ass. That always works.

You owe me a keyboard! This is going to form into a caliber debate really quick, so dont feed the trolls

 

[oda226]

The bottom line with this is the following: SHOOT UNTIL YOUR ATTACKER IS NO LONGER A THREAT TO YOU! Do not assume because you shot him once with a .44 Magnum that he is going to go down! Do not shoot him once and sit back to observe your marksmanship skills! Continue to fire until the attacker is no longer a threat to your life and cannot enter into the fight again!

This may sound brutal, but this is the reality of any life or death attack upon your person...I've been there before and I am speaking from experience.

 

[sulpak]

i saw a bad guy shot by our securitymen. the bg wanted to get the guard 38 revolver.he was only shot once. the guard hit the neck (jagular area), i guess he was aiming for the chest. lucky guard

 

[BigO01]

This is a good reason to aim just below the chin at all ranges you practice at .

The chest has many heavy bones designed to protect the heart/lungs , the skull has to many curves and angles for a bullet to bounce off of .

Now a good neck shot , theres a horse of a different color , you can cut the jugular , puncture the trachea , and sever the spine .

Even if you fail to do any of the above the impact of a bullet that close to the spine may be enough to temporarily paralyze someone even if it is only 30 seconds or so .

And remember when the cops ask you raised your weapon and fired to defend yourslef , no aiming intentionally at anything or trying to kill or any other stupid statement that might send you to jail .

 

[FourNineFoxtrot]

+1 for "getting medieval". If I shoot to slide lock, and the guy just keeps coming, I'm probably going to scream something incoherent and bum rush the guy... maybe with a low tackle. ~300 lbs. of terrified fat guy hurled at knee-level ought to take down anyone, and give me a chance to run away screaming. If it doesn't, then at least I get to tell Thor and Odin that I went down fighting.

Good enough for Valhalla? Maybe.

Good enough for me?

It'll do.

 

[phoglund]

The question is a valid one in that you may not get more than a shot or two before your opponent has closed with you. Attackers seldom come at you at a walking pace from 50 yards away shouting intentions to kill.

The answer is to be able to defend yourself without a firearm as well as with one. Be in the best physical condition you can be for your age and physical integrity. Study unarmed combatives and close combat skills. If you have to fight an attacker that has closed with you and is attempting mayhem on your body you have a far greater chance of coming out alive and whole if you have put a hole in him somewhere and you know how to fight up close and personal.

Since dying from a handgun wound takes time, be able to defend yourself long enough for your opponent to bleed enough to defeat him.


Sorry if this sounds like a bit of a rant but I'm a bit put out by folks that think a gun is the only way to defend against an attacker. It's great if you get to use it and it works right away...but as the OP noted, if it doesn't, what then?

 

[tinygnat219]

Another area to aim for besides the Center of Mass and the Head is the pelvic area. If you break the Pelvis, he will go down like a house of cards.

 

[Daemon688]

As others had said, shoot him in the hips. Kinda hard to keep comming at me if he can't walk/run. Really though, my ideal defensive weapon would be the saiga-12. If he can take 20 rounds of 00 buckshot, I think I have a situation.

 

[Kacerdias]

This topic reminds me of one of my favorite Firefly quotes:

River: "He's faster than you - all of you. And he's wearing armor."
Wash: "What about his face? Is his face wearing armor?"



If COM shots fail, I'm aiming for the head until I hear "click" instead of BOOM. Reload, repeat.

 

[AJM]

In the handgun class I was in last night, the instructor had us do some 3 shot drills: center of mass, center of mass, head. Then he suggested that a higher percentage shot would be to go to the pelvis instead of the head, so we practiced that as well. The idea being that when the BG is coming at you, the head is moving around and a difficult target to hit. The pelvis is always facing you and is a larger target. It also has some major veins and arteries going through it as well. A pelvic hit should at least drop him to the ground and buy you some time.

 

[buzz_knox]

There are plenty of failures reported for every caliber, whether it be "anemic" calibers, "manly" calibers, or rifles.

Keep shooting until the threat ceases, and keep moving so that the attacker cannot do the same to you.

 

[CountGlockula]

Run!

 

[jgo296]

maybe try apologizing and ask if you can be friends

 

[buzz_knox]

At that point, it's the "save that last bullet" type thing going on, because if I hit 'im IN THE HEAD with a .357 mag, a couple .30 Carbine, some 5.56, or some 7.62x39 and he keeps coming....it's the apocalypse.

It's worth remembering that the skull is the only armored portion of the body. It's fairly thick and curved, enhancing its protective ability. Plenty of people have survived headshots because the round bounced off. They might be dazed, confused, etc., but that's no guarantee that they wouldn't be able to spray and pray in your general direction.

Unless you see gray matter flying or the body dropping, don't let up.

 

[Cosmoline]

It's actually a very realistic situation. Running isn't a terribly good answer, since by the time you turn to run he will be on top of you. Plus if running had been an option to begin with you would have done it before shooting.

The Mozambique Drill was created to deal with this situation. You start by putting one in the chest, then another and if that doesn't work you go for a head shot--all in quick order. If that still doesn't work you continue with head shots. If the attacker stops and falls at any point, the drill is over.

If you have exhausted your magazine or chambers, reload. If possible move to cover. Do not turn your back on the attacker.

 

[EOTechRulesAll]

You show me somebody that can take 30 rounds of .223 and I'll show you a man who needs to have his muscle/tissue tested and replicated for the next generation of body armor material production.

 

[Fred Fuller]

It appears another reminder is in order.

This is not your little brother's Internet.

Please conduct yourselves with something approching the degree of gravity that the subjects at hand here require. If you can't manage that, just read and don't post. If you can't manage that... well, I'll have to help you out.

lpl/nc