Posted on 10/04/2012 8:21:47 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
So why do gangsters aim their guns sideways? Marine marksman sheds light on how gunmen from the 'hood unwittingly use a well-known aiming technique
It's an iconic image immortalised in dozens of Hollywood gangster films: the gangster aiming down the side of his pistol before pumping a volley of bullets into his victim.
But with most people knowing that the aiming sights are found on the top of a gun barrel, it's also a counter-intuitive way to accurately fire a weapon.
So why is it that gangsters are always shown using their guns in this way? According to Jon Davis, a former marksmanship instructor with the U.S. Marine Corp, there is a good reason, at least in theory.
As a specialist in pistol marksmanship and a veteran of the war in Iraq, Mr Davis has fired these kinds of weapons thousands of times.
He explains that when aiming a handgun in the conventional, barrel-up manner the rear sites must line up with the front sight in the horizontal and vertical planes to make sure the bullet travels a straight line.
This important technique, known as 'building the castle' since the gunman has to line up the three 'turrets' into an even position, ensures that the barrel of the gun is aligned perfectly along the trajectory he wants the bullet to travel.
The problem with 'building the castle' each time you want to fire your gun is that it takes time. Time you might not have in a combat situation - or alternatively when you want to quickly execute your victim and make a fast getaway.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
'Building the castle': This graphic shows the conventional way to line a target up using the sites on the top of a handgun
'Flash sighting' - gangster style: Mr Davis explains that this method is a much faster way of aiming a weapon, but it is much less effective for aiming accurately
Ensuring innocents are not harmed is not the objective with gang bangers.
Best of both worlds.
If I’m gonna have a backwards hat wearing droopy drawered nitwit firing at me, I hope to see his gun sideways...his eyes will probably be closed too.
easy way to limp wrist a malfunction too...
I used to have a graph of where a bullet would hit if you aimed at the bull’s eye and fired.
Then turn the firearm 90 degrees to the right, aim at the bulls eye and fire.
Then hold the firearm upside down with the sights lined up on the bull’s eye and fire.
Then turn the firearm 90 degrees to the left, line up the sights and fire.
You would be surprised how far off your shots will be except for the one aimed properly at the bulls eye.
I figure those with full auto AKs and Thompsons hold their firearms at 90 degrees so when the first shot is fired the recoil will move the rifle across the field of fire and spray lead in that area.
It’s a stoopit way to sight, period. You can never have the same sight picture, grip and stance for each shot.
If you need a quick shit that is very effective practice punching your target.
Start by getting a perfect sight picture then lower your gun to your chest by bending the elbow only.
Practice this as if you are punching exactly where you want hit with a bullet at the end and build that picture perfect in your mind.
At the point you are confident you have mastered this begin practicing from your hip, gun in hand. Remember you are punching as if someone has thrown a punch or will throw a punch(with their bullets) which have anticipated or are responding too.
Once you are confident with both these drills begin practicing from your holster. You’ll get different feedback as you disengage your holster safety, draw, fully grip the weapon and punch.
Very effective and hiw trick shooters learn quick draw.
Just a second now:
“to make sure the bullet travels a straight line.”
The bullet is always going to go in a straight line except for the effects of gravity. The only thing the shooter controls is the direction that straight line goes.
The sideways firing thingie grew out of the gangbangers in LA. They would drive by their target, crack the window open a bit, and stick the gun out sideways to shoot through the partially opened window.
It’s also something to do with “swag”...
To me it makes sense physiologically ... it’s a stronger grip. Can’t say I’ve ever tried it, though!
"Whachoo wanna know for, Crackuh-ass crackuh?"
I heard that hollywood implemented that way of shooting during the “New Jack City” period in order to make gang gun battles less deadly and inaccurate.
Thug life, yo.
First, they are called "sights", not sites. Second, the bullet travels the same 'straight' way (actually a slight curvature, because of gravity), with the pistol tilted or upright. It should have been "to make sure the bullet travels toward the target".
It is true that the 2 sights and target take too long to line up for fast action, and a point-and-shoot approach is needed. However, a nice laser sight will paint a dot on the target very quickly, and allow quick shooting from the hip.
MythBusters did this a season or two ago. Jamie and Adam tried multiple aiming styles and found that the traditional two-hand grip is best.
bump
I once took a concealed carry class in a guy’s living room with about 6 other people. He told us to point at a picture on the wall. Then he had us freeze while pointing. I was pointing with my hand vertical like I was holding a pistol. Every other person had their hand horizontal like a gang banger. He said the way we point is our natural shooting style, and they should try gang banger style.
Not to brag, but when I was competing, I was Master class and won plenty of matches at all levels. Pistol shooting always came easy for me. Three of the people in the class were shooting buddies and they all stank with handguns. I thought it was an interesting exercise.
What I've found over the years is that once you're reasonably proficient with a weapon, you no longer consciously "build the castle," though I suppose that it still occurs. Every really proficient shooter I've ever spoken to and shot with all agree that you focus on the front site, with the target somewhat out of focus, and pretty much ignore the rear site. I'm not really expressing this very well, but it worked for me in both 50' small-bore rifle and handgun competition. In the case of the rifle competition, using an aperture rear sight, the sight was forgotten altogether.
Once in a USPSA handgun competition, after the first shot, I noticed that something had changed, but was able to complete the course. It was only when I was clearing my handgun that I noticed that the pin holding the rear sight on my pistol had come out, and the rear sight completely fallen off the gun. While my score on that round was somewhat lower than the other rounds, I was still able to shoot fairly accurately (for practical shooting) without a rear sight.
Mark
BS
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.