People are occasionally complimenting me on my target work with the snubbie revolver.
But is it enough?
(The accuracy, not the compliments. There is NEVER enough compliments.)
Sure, I can cover the pattern with an 8x10 sheet of paper (I'd prefer it was a 3x5 card...) at 7 yards, and at least that would account for more holes IN a bad guy's center mass rather than missing entirely...
But that can't be adequate shot placement. Or is it?
Is that adequate enough?
Assuming I keep the shooting at that high a level in the incredibly stressful circumstance where I place in a position to draw and fire at someone threatening my very life. Circumstances like that have been know to rattle fellas better than me.
After all, it's only .38+P. One of the bottom rung absolute minimum (considered by 'experts') cartridge size for relatively serious self-defense. And out of a 2 inch barrel, barely enough to get the velocity up to 900 fps.
It in these situations where conventional wisdom says shot placement is critical. And my shot pattern is 8x10 inches. And I only have 5 shots to do that.
Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. Every self-defense instructor stresses it. And I don't think I have it. Second is speed. I know I don't have that.
Oh, I'm not down on the snubbie for self-defense carry. There are smaller things that are no more easy to carry than this. That's the joy of it. But the reality matched up against my skill and having a smallish pistol... It's sobering.
It makes me want to sling the M1A and carry THAT everywhere.
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6 comments:
Meh- First of all, 7 yards with a snubbie is gonna be hard for ANYBODY... 5 yards and in are more realistic. They don't call em belly guns for nothing! I look at mine as a backup, not as a primary weapon. Just my 02...
It depends.
Is that one-handed? How fast are you shooting?
In your goals you state " To be able to defend myself with a handgun." . Take a long look at that statement with the real world in mind . What are you defending against ? Are you attempting to train into an unrealistic skillset for unrealistic defensive scenarios ? Who are you most likely to need defense from .. A trained , motivated Terrorist who looks at you as a military objective , an active shooter in a school where clildrens lives hang on a headshot ,or some mope who basically counts on intimidation forcing compliance at close range. If its the first two then get rid of the snubby because no one human could count on doing the job with one . If its the last one and ranges limited to " inside a stop and rob " then the snubby will do fine . spend a round or two to get to cover , get braced , and ear the hammer back, or stage the da for the longer ranges if the mope isn't either down or evacuating the area in a brown mist.
+1 on what Farm.dad said but above that put a 8.5x11 sheet of paper on your torso and see what it will cover. Quite a bit of real estate in critical areas, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen and a whole lot more. All are bad things to be shot with even a "lowly" .38 round.
When they taught us "controlled pairs" before I deployed we were told part of the idea was not to put 2 rounds in one hole but to put 2 rounds 6 - 12 inches from one another. the analogy being that the body is a series of circulatory systems with vessels going from one organ to another, the idea being to disrupt as many of these "rivers" as possibly in quick succession.
Anyway, a small snub is one of the best CCW weapons you can have on you IMHO, and you seem to be able to wield it properly..
I agree with the previous post-one doesn't need to put them all through the same hole for sufficiency. Twenty years ago, or so, I had an early model 60 (no dash) S&W. On one occasion, I put 5 @ 25 yards downrange, deliberate slow, double-action fire, two hand Weaver. You could have covered the group with a coffee cup. And the trigger pull needed a Clydesdale assist. But, I was never able to duplicate the feat. And, most of my practice was drop to kneeling, go for a controlled pair (like at a coffee shop cash register). Now, my knees won't cooperate. And the 60's gone. So, I guess it's 442 bellygun technique. You could do much worse than a .38 snub.
To answer Tam's questions... 2 handed, and pretty quick ROF after presentation. I am pretty impatient when shooting. Harder to practice draw and fire with range rules being what they are.
I do need to practice more one-handed, but I am often surprised by how decent I shoot that way. Some days. Other sessions are a total disaster.
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