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(For all you bitter clingers out there) The Rules of Gunfighting
Field and Stream ^ | Feb. 04, 2009 | David Petzel

Posted on 02/07/2009 2:40:59 PM PST by yankeedame

Petzal: The Rules of Gunfighting

Normally, this blog is dedicated to peaceful pursuits. However, SFC Frick speaks much wisdom. I am giving him a meritorious promotion to Command Sergeant Major (E-9).

Drill Sergeant Joe B. Fricks Rules For A Gunfight

1. Forget about knives, bats and fists. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns. Bring four times the ammunition you think you could ever need.

2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammunition is cheap - life is expensive. If you shoot inside, buckshot is your friend. A new wall is cheap - funerals are expensive

3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.

4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.

5. Move away from your attacker and go to cover. Distance is your friend. (Bulletproof cover and diagonal or lateral movement are preferred.)

6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a semi or full-automatic long gun and a friend with a long gun.

7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.

8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running. Yell "Fire!" Why "Fire"? Cops will come with the Fire Department, sirens often scare off the bad guys, or at least cause then to lose concentration and will.... and who is going to summon help if you yell "Intruder," "Glock" or "Winchester?"

9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on "pucker factor" than the inherent accuracy of the gun.

10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

11. Stretch the rules. Always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

12. Have a plan.

13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work. "No battle plan ever survives 10 seconds past first contact with an enemy."

14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible, but remember, sheetrock walls and the like stop nothing but your pulse when bullets tear through them.

15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.

16. Don't drop your guard.

17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees. Practice reloading one-handed and off-hand shooting. That's how you live if hit in your "good" side.

18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. Smiles, frowns and other facial expressions don't (In God we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them.)

19. Decide NOW to always be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.

20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.

21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet if necessary, because they may want to kill you.

22. Be courteous to everyone, overly friendly to no one.

23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with anything smaller than "4".

25. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. "All skill is in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the flintlock of your musket." At a practice session, throw you gun into the mud, then make sure it still works. You can clean it later.

26. Practice shooting in the dark, with someone shouting at you, when out of breath, etc.

27. Regardless of whether justified of not, you will feel sad about killing another human being. It is better to be sad than to be room temperature.

28. The only thing you EVER say afterwards is, "He said he was going to kill me. I believed him. I'm sorry, Officer, but I'm very upset now. I can't say anything more. Please speak with my attorney."

Finally, Drill Sergeant Frick's Rules For Un-armed Combat.

1. Never be unarmed.


TOPICS: Education; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: banglist; gunfight; gunfighting; homedefense; selfdefense
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To: BobbyT

9mm IS .357 inches; ergo less than “4”.

10mm is .395 inches and is a more powerful cartridge. It may qualify as an honorary .40. But then, how many obscure calibers do we need?

In my opinion, the only reason for carrying a .357 sig (other than an affinity for obscure calibers) is that you are Asian and regard “4” as an unlucky number.

On that note, I have a friend (Asian) who owns two Sig’s - a 9mm and a .357 sig. You may find it difficult to believe but the brilliant guys at Sig Sauer designed the P226 so that clips from the 9mm will fit in a P226 chambered for .357 sig. My friend accidentally slapped a 9mm clip into his .357 sig at the range and fired off a round. It discharged but the badly expanded case stovepiped. Didn’t seem to hurt the gun though. The moral I guess is, if you must own two Sig 226s, always leave one locked up at home along with its ammunition.

And if you’re Asian and don’t want a 40 something caliber weapon, plunk down the big bucks and get a Desert Eagle.


21 posted on 02/07/2009 4:34:40 PM PST by InABunkerUnderSF (Be There >>> http://www.milliongunownermarch.com/)
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To: yankeedame
If you shoot inside, buckshot is your friend.

This is incredibly bad advice.

Inside use #6 birdshot.

L

22 posted on 02/07/2009 4:40:09 PM PST by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: Lurker
Inside use #6 birdshot.

Only if you want to make people mad.

The Shotgun Meets The Box O' Truth.

Quote from the article: The problem with birdshot is that it does not penetrate enough to be effective as a defense round. Birdshot is designed to bring down little birds.

23 posted on 02/07/2009 4:48:14 PM PST by InABunkerUnderSF (Be There >>> http://www.milliongunownermarch.com/)
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To: InABunkerUnderSF
I've actually done this experiment myself.

00 buckshot will quite easily penetrate 2 interior sheetrock walls and still retain enough energy to be quite lethal to your kids, dogs, or neighbors.

#6 buckshot at a range of 10 feet is more than enough to stop a bad guy permanently and it will only penetrate 1 standard sheet rock interior wall.

In this case the "Box of Truth" is full of crap.

L

24 posted on 02/07/2009 4:52:04 PM PST by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: InABunkerUnderSF

I’m aware of what caliber a 9mm measures; my point was that the original phrasing could’ve been a cute way of drawing a line between the inadequate .380 and the 9/40/45, since 9>4.

And despite what 10 millimeters converts to, if a 10mm cartridge fired a .395 caliber bullet then there are a lot of people shooting .395 S&W right now, since the .40 is just a chopped down 10mm case that fires the same bullet.

(Albeit much, much faster...energy on par with the .357 Magnum, or 50% more powerful. I still don’t understand why the FBI declared it too powerful for everyday use...everyday use is holstered. On the rare case when you have to fire, why wouldn’t you want a substantially more powerful but still very controllable round?)


25 posted on 02/07/2009 5:00:53 PM PST by BobbyT
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To: Lurker
I've done the same sort of experiments. Buckshot and slugs are a fun but noisy way to dismantle an old modular home. I know buckshot penetrates but it also doesn't spread like birdshot, which will go through a sheetrock wall too.

I guess it depends on your situation. I have no kids and my main concern, and the reason I don't just use a rifle, is not killing or maiming the neighbors. live in an apartment building where I'm insulated from my neighbors by 2 sheets of 3/4 inch sheetrock plus two 3/4 inch sheets of plywood and insulation. The odds of buckshot going through that with enough energy to do serious harm is pretty slim.

If I ever wounded anyone - intruder or neighbor I'd be broke for the rest of my life. Therefore, if anyone comes in uninvited they are not going to live long and multiple gunshots wounds on the intruder might make a jury suspicious.

I find Don a pretty reliable source.

26 posted on 02/07/2009 5:10:55 PM PST by InABunkerUnderSF (Be There >>> http://www.milliongunownermarch.com/)
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To: BobbyT

I had forgotten that .40 was effectively a 10mm short. You’re right.

Things I’ve read about the .40 are that JHP loads seem to be designed to meet the FBI’s own “12 inches of ballistic gelatin” guideline more closely than any other caliber. I don’t see what they don’t like, unless they feel their own guidelines are overkill.


27 posted on 02/07/2009 5:21:30 PM PST by InABunkerUnderSF (Be There >>> http://www.milliongunownermarch.com/)
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To: InABunkerUnderSF
I know buckshot penetrates but it also doesn't spread like birdshot, which will go through a sheetrock wall too.

When we did it, and we literally build 3 "code" sheetrock walls, the 00 went through all three walls and still penetrated into some watermelons we had behind them. When we repeated the experiment with #6, it only penetrated 3 sheets.

Then we placed a watermelon in front of the sheetrock and hit with with one round of #6. The melon was completely penetrated, but the wall behind it wasn't.

This was done at a measured 10 feet.

I guess it depends on your situation.

You're quite correct. My defense scenario is completely different than yours I'm sure. You're to be commended for putting so much thought into this. Most people don't.

If I ever wounded anyone - intruder or neighbor I'd be broke for the rest of my life.

This proves that we know longer live in a rational society.

I find Don a pretty reliable source.

Most of his stuff is dead bang on, I just disagree with him on this one. I think if he repeated his experiment using some slightly different parameters and assumptions he'd come up with vastly different results.

We have a 14 year old in our house who is separated from us by only 4 thicknesses of sheet rock. 00 is, in my opinion, inappropriate in this situation.

Nice chatting with you.

L

28 posted on 02/07/2009 5:30:17 PM PST by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: yankeedame
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
29 posted on 02/07/2009 5:36:43 PM PST by MtnMan101
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To: InABunkerUnderSF

It’s not the .40 they don’t like, but the 10mm. The 10mm was developed for them, the idea being that they would adopt it, then police forces would as well, and then it would become ubiquitous as a civilian self-defense round as well.

It performed fine in the FBI’s tests and met its criteria, but they thought it would have too much kick for smaller/female agents so they ultimately rejected it as not a good everyday carry round.

The thing is, it offers .357 Magnum performance in a much more controllable package. Carrying it around is obviously irrelevant, and since pistols are already inadequate manstoppers, when you need the firepower the last thing you want is a truncated version. I figure what they meant was it’s a more fatiguing round to fire multiple dozens of times in practice at the range, to which I say “so what?”

I’m a big fan of the .40 as a great way to combine the strengths of 9mm and .45, but I’ll definitely own a 10mm some day because there’s really no topping it.


30 posted on 02/07/2009 6:23:46 PM PST by BobbyT
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To: Lurker

Yep agree.......:o)


31 posted on 02/07/2009 6:57:21 PM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: Jet Jaguar

I love reading these threads........ Thanks for the ping !

Multiple hits count !


32 posted on 02/07/2009 6:59:18 PM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet)
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To: Squantos

BTTT


33 posted on 02/07/2009 7:03:26 PM PST by Jet Jaguar (Atlas Shrugged Mode: ON)
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To: Squantos
At ten feet against a soft target #6 shot is incredibly devastating. It only spreads to about an inch and a half.

That's a column of lead in inch and a half diameter and almost an inch deep moving at 900 fps.

That'll wreck just about anyones day...

34 posted on 02/07/2009 7:21:24 PM PST by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: Lurker
I've actually done this experiment myself... #6 buckshot at a range of 10 feet is more than enough to stop a bad guy permanently

Interesting experiment. Where do you get your bad guys to do this?

35 posted on 02/07/2009 9:07:59 PM PST by Fido969 ("The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." - Albert Einstein)
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To: BobbyT

I picked up a Glock 10mm as a curiousity - it is a good round with a lot of punch. You’ll like it.


36 posted on 02/07/2009 9:11:06 PM PST by Fido969 ("The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." - Albert Einstein)
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To: yankeedame

ping for later read


37 posted on 02/07/2009 10:15:29 PM PST by Redcitizen (Good Bank, Bad Bank, I'm the one with the cash.)
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To: Lurker
At ten feet against a soft target #6 shot is incredibly devastating. It only spreads to about an inch and a half.
That's a column of lead in inch and a half diameter and almost an inch deep moving at 900 fps.

Some years ago, at one of those informal rural "shooting spots" that used to be more common, I tried various 12-gauge loads on practically everything I could find. The two most memorable were the rifled slug vs. watermelon (all that was let was a pink mist hanging in the air and a wet spot on the ground - couldn't even find an intact seed) and the birdshot vs. 4" diameter pine tree. From near muzzle-contact range backing out to a foot or two, low-brass #6 shot would blast the tree cleanly in two.

If #6 shot can fell a small tree from up close, you know it would tear the innards out of a bad guy from 10-12 feet. Google "shotgun wounds" and you'll quickly see forensic reports about massive lung damage and shredded aortas.

38 posted on 02/08/2009 8:37:43 AM PST by Charles Martel ("Endeavor to persevere...")
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To: TheConservativeParty

3,000 rounds will seem but a drop in the bucket when you can no longer find ammo on the shelves at your local gunshop.


39 posted on 02/08/2009 9:54:09 AM PST by gundog (When the SHTF, it will not be evenly distributed.)
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To: gundog

I know, 3000 isn’t really overboard considering the current administration. It is becoming a problem with my husband though. Between newly purchased guns and ammo, I’ve spent around $2500 since Nov.4th. He’s beginning to not like that kind of spending. I told him about the new gun grabber ideas that are afloat, like encoding ammo etc. The ways they can make ammo too expensive, before they even try for disarming the people. He is not concerned. I am. If things go sideways in the next 4 years I’d rather have the tools to protect ourselves than have useless money. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Cheers!


40 posted on 02/08/2009 10:07:03 AM PST by TheConservativeParty (That's Mrs.Chief Master Sgt. to you sonny.)
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