Back during WWII both sides were interested in finding people who could infiltrate behind enemy lines, live anonymously as a civilian, and gather much needed intelligence.
The Gestapo, to be frank, sucked at this big time. But the American OSS and, particularly, the British espionage services managed to have a bit more success.
One of the things that had to be developed from scratch was firearm training techniques for civilians who had never held a gun before. Give a drill sergeant six months and they could take any reasonably fit person and turn them into a competent marksman and hand-to-hand fighter, but there usually wasn't enough time for that. Instead the idea was to allow someone to defend themselves in an emergency situation with only a few hours at the shooting range.
The method they came up with has been known by a variety of names over the decades, with the most popular being "point shooting" or "instinctive shooting". It is probably the very best technique to use for extremely fast, extremely close, extremely deadly encounters where there is less than a second to react.
Keep in mind that I have specialized in training people with reduced physical capacity, such as the elderly or someone who has become disabled in some way. Even so, this method works for anyone who has the hand strength to keep a handgun reasonably steady during rapid fire. It is that easy to learn and use.
Over the decades I have seen various training programs for sale that would instruct shooters in point shooting. Although I think that it is important for someone unfamiliar with firearms to train with an instructor to make sure that they always follow the four rules of safe gun handling, I have never been able to understand why an experienced and careful shooter would need to spend the money. It is, in my opinion, a scam to milk the wallets of the curious and inexperienced.
Want to learn this pistol technique developed by the best spymasters the British and Americans had at their disposal? Just go below the fold and take a peek.
The idea is that, if the edges of the criminal's silhouette swallow up the image of your fist, then you don't bother with the sights. Instead you simply point your handgun straight into the center of mass, focus on the image of your fist to keep your gun centered on the perp, and fire as fast as you can bring the gun back down from the muzzle flip.
This kind of description doesn't make much sense unless you can eyeball what I mean. So I went down into my basement classroom and took a few pictures with my crappy VGA cell phone camera. The gun I used is my main carry gun, a Taurus PT111 chambered for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge. As a standard safety precaution, all live ammunition was unloaded from the firearm and removed from the area before starting.
(Please click on all pictures to see if a larger image is available.)
I titled that picture "Point Shootable", and it is! Notice how the edges of the criminal's outline are larger than my fist, but just barely. If I was at the shooting range, I would focus on my fist and start shooting as fast as I could recenter the firearm.
It isn't readily apparent, but the target is very close indeed. The distance between the muzzle of the gun and the target is slightly less than six feet (or a bit less than 2 meters, for my European readers). The cartoon image of that gun pointing thug is slightly larger than an average man as well, which means that point shooting only really works if the aggressor is about arm's reach away. I like to say that you can only use this technique if the perp is "within leaping distance". If he can't get his hands on you in a single jump, then you are better served by taking the time to find the sights.
I moved back a couple of feet, less than a meter, and took another picture.
You can see that the target is now too far away to employ the point shooting technique. The edges of my hand are outside his silhouette, which means that I would find my firearm's sights if I had to shoot.
If the attacker is close enough to use this technique, and you have enough discipline to make sure that your firearm is recentered after each shot, then you will hit center of mass every time. It will be sloppy, with the rounds ranging around his belly and chest without any of those neat cloverleaf patterns everyone seems to like so much, but you will be able to empty your gun in a shockingly short period of time.
How quick can you fire? Everyone has their own speed depending on hand strength, gun weight, and muzzle flip so I can't say for sure. But you can pretty much get up around four shots a second without too much trouble
I once heard someone say that you shouldn't use your big fat fist as an aiming device, and you should instead simply use the width of your gun. If the edges of your attacker's form is still larger than you gun is wide, then you can use the point shooting method.
Ummmm. No!
That is about 17 feet right there, or about 3 meters. It is, coincidentally, the average distance for a pistol fight nowadays. I think that just about every experienced shooter reading this will be able to say that you are just going to spray-and-pray if you don't use the sights at that distance.
Go to the range and try it out. Just remember that it is an emergency technique, something that should be reserved for the gravest extreme when danger is very close, and it should work like a charm.
One of the reasons why I'm writing this is because Carnaby Fudge is hosting the latest e-Postal match. I don't think I will be taking part, and I really can't recommend it. The targets are too small to be used in a point shooting exercise, for one. The goal is also to measure accuracy, which is not the goal of point shooting at all.
But he inspired me to write this little tutorial, so I suppose it had a positive effect.
Comments (10)
Paul Harvey reported many years ago about an incident in which a woman angry at her man shot at him with her mouse gun, and the round was stopped by his pants zipper. One would guess that instinctive aiming had her right on target.
Posted by triticale | August 6, 2007 8:14 PM
Posted on August 6, 2007 20:14
That was a very good article for a newbie to read. Well done.
Posted by Fodder | August 6, 2007 10:20 PM
Posted on August 6, 2007 22:20
Hey thanks for the tutorial. I'm always looking for this sort of thing on the web. Short training drills, videos/photos on techniques, explanations of some terminology you see dropped in the blogs. There's a lot of expertise on shooting out there to share.
Posted by dj | August 7, 2007 1:30 AM
Posted on August 7, 2007 01:30
Yeah, the competition is kinda bunk. It's not serious, but just my lame attempt at using range resources for a point shooting exercise.
To do the thing properly, you'd have to have access to a range where you could line up human size targets and have to aim at several different targets in different locations. Oh, wait, that's IPSC. Well, I guess my dumb competition was just a poor man's IPSC. Really poor.
For the record, I shot my competition and sucked.
Posted by carnaby | August 8, 2007 9:08 PM
Posted on August 8, 2007 21:08
If you haven't read it, check out No Second-Place Winner, by Bill Jordan. He taught point-shooting for close range and was damn good at it.
I learned it from my dad, who learned it in OK Highway Patrol. I don't know if they still teach it or if they've gone to the 'sights all the time', but if they've dropped it it was a bad idea to do so, in my opinion.
Posted by Firehand | August 10, 2007 5:13 PM
Posted on August 10, 2007 17:13
Personally, I don't think you really know what "point Shooting" is. The person who mentioned Bill Jordan does. And, you should not forget the old western fast draw, not to be confused with the new cowboy action shooting. The fast draw shooting is done with neither your gun hand or gun visable to your eyes. And, this is at a distance of between 15 and 21 feet in a split second. And, a person with a two hand hold on a Colt type single action revolver (cowboy gun)can and do shoot five, or six round faster than one can shoot a semi-auto pistol.
What you failed to mention is that, no matter what you call it, any type of shooting reguires practice. Whether that is for target shooting, hunting, or self defense, one needs to practice. And practice several senarios over, and over again. IPSC is very useful for this. In it's way, so is Cowboy Action Shooting.
Thank you for your time
Sincerely Yours, Dave Leland
P. S. I was raised in Ravenna ,Ohio. Are you any relation to Bill Rummel of that city?
Posted by Dave Leland | August 14, 2007 10:08 AM
Posted on August 14, 2007 10:08
Personally, I don't think you really know what "point Shooting" is. (snip) And, you should not forget the old western fast draw, not to be confused with the new cowboy action shooting. The fast draw shooting is done with neither your gun hand or gun visable to your eyes. And, this is at a distance of between 15 and 21 feet in a split second.
What you are talking about is most commonly referred to as "hip shooting". You can find an essay on the subject, as well as the reasons why I don't teach my students this technique, right here.
P. S. I was raised in Ravenna ,Ohio. Are you any relation to Bill Rummel of that city?
No, can't say that I've ever heard of him.
James
Posted by James R. Rummel | August 14, 2007 10:41 AM
Posted on August 14, 2007 10:41
Having read your article on "Hip Shooting" and I know that this type of shooting is taught in many police academies and self-defense courses, and, for good reason. It is not only a useful tool for the uniformed officer, but for the "plain clothed detective" also. You know, those investigators wearing suit coats, etc. And, anyone with a CCW, who is serious about self-defense should also practice this technic. It could save your life.
The photo in your article is a poor example of what you are trying to say. No one, who is serious about the subject of self-defense and seriously contemplating the possibility of using a firearm in self-defense would not carry in such a hap-hazard manner as under a T-shirt as portrayed in the photo. And in some states it would not even be legal to carry a concealed firearm in such a manner because it would not really be concealed.
Proper training, and practice, will keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire the weapon. This is true, whether you are talking about a split second or say five minutes. I know, for I have had forty years of experience in this kind of training and practice.
Keeping your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire is basic safety, whether you are doing informal target shooting, any form of competitive shooting, hunting, or self-defense, especially self-defense.
Jeff Cooper, Chuck Taylor have taught thousands of military personel and body guards from around the world the technic of hip shooting as part of their overall training to do their jobs to the fullest.
Also, when one is preparing themselves for the possibility of having to use deadly force, I would consider your equipment should be your second consideration. Having a firearms that you can't handle very well is the worsed choice one can make. It doesn't matter what the "experts" recommends. What does matter is whether you can handle it proficently and you are comfortable with it. The second piece of equipment to consider is the holster, and that must be determined by how you will carry your firearm, strong side, cross draw, etc. The holster must be of high quality, not one of those cheap flimsy nylon types. Next you must have a good gun belt. Then you should consider the different types of concealment you will use. There are certain types of clothing that work very well for concealment with little or no problem in drawing the gun. I have worn jackets that when I draw (strong side) the jacket actually move back and out of the way of the draw, without the use of the other hand. I have vests that do the same. Carrying under a T-shirt is probably tied for the worst along with the fanny pack.
I think this is about it for now.
Thanks for your time.
Very Sincerely Yours, Dave Leland
Posted by Dave Leland | August 15, 2007 8:36 PM
Posted on August 15, 2007 20:36
I would refer you to Rex Applegate's Point Shooting video. He had WWII troops hitting one handed at 75 yds. point shooting. His technique is a good bit different than yours. I teach point shooting also and it takes some time to master the skill and keep it current. I use Applegate's methods and stay within 20' or so and I teach to use both hands if they are available. And I teach to simulate being wounded in the gun arm and having to reload one handed with the offhand and shoot one handed while laying on the ground wounded.
Posted by T Sherman | August 24, 2007 1:02 AM
Posted on August 24, 2007 01:02
In the point shooting taught by the Brits and Yanks in WWII, the eyes were focused on the target, not the fist.
The best book I've ever read on the subject was "Shooting to Live" by Fairbairn and Sykes. It is available on-line in PDF format.
"Kill or Get Killed" by Rex Applegate is very good too, but not as good as "Shooting to Live".
I agree with Mr. Rummel that any other point shooting book, by ANY other author, is a waste of money. In both of the above books the authors tell you they are entry level techniques for beginners but just about every other book wants to feed you a bunch of modern terms and jibberish but then limit the techniques to pre-beginner levels.
Posted by Rod Tackett | October 28, 2007 11:34 PM
Posted on October 28, 2007 23:34