Human Targets

[Nephrology]

At the end of the day, I still think that a 6" circle directly at the midline seems to be a perfectly adequate target for training purposes. In the spirit of the Mozambique drill/failure drill, shoot for center of mass; if it works, great; if not, the head is a better target if available.

I don't think I've ever seen a facial GSW make it to the ED at all, in my relatively brief experience so far.

just to clarify, this statement was intended to mean that I've simply never seen a facial GSW in person; not that they aren't survivable, by any means.

[BehindBlueI's]

It's been said that experience hunting correlates positively with success in gunfights. I wonder if this as much related to being able to visualize vital areas on mobile 3 dimensional targets than any "stress inoculation" involved in hunting. I've never been in a gunfight, but I've done my share of hunting and never felt a physiological fight or flight response (I've also never hunted dangerous game).

It's been said by who?

I've hunted and been in a gunfight. It's a different skill set with limited overlap, IMO.

You've never had an accelerated heart rate at sight of your quarry while hunting? The sympathetic nervous system does kick in, although not to the levels I'd associate with a gunfight.

[Beat Trash]

I've seen a few facial GSW wounds that survived. Mostly it involved the shot going in at an angle and skimming along between the skull bone and the scalp and coming out at another location on the head.

I had one suspect/victim shot in the forehead. As Fire/EMS were doing chest compressions, blood and brain matter oozed out like a play though press. So much so that the Fire Lt told his people to stop. The GSW recipient survived and became even more of an a**hole.

I have come to the conclusion that some people just require more effort to neutralize than others do. This is one of the reasons that I prefer the capacity of a pistol like a Glock 19 or an M&P9c when off-duty and on my own time. As i come upon retirement, I don't see my desire for capacity in my carry gun changing much.

[Beat Trash]

A friend illustrates it with an edge-on 2x4 behind the target...

I clicked on the link you posted. Such a stupid simple concept that would be such an effective training tool. Thanks for the link. Although it caused me to get sucked into your blog for a while. There's some interesting stuff there.

[Nephrology]

I've seen a few facial GSW wounds that survived. Mostly it involved the shot going in at an angle and skimming along between the skull bone and the scalp and coming out at another location on the head.

I had one suspect/victim shot in the forehead. As Fire/EMS were doing chest compressions, blood and brain matter oozed out like a play though press. So much so that the Fire Lt told his people to stop. The GSW recipient survived and became even more of an a**hole.

Reminds me of this guy, who became rather famous (and even more of an asshole) after surviving some serious penetrating CNS trauma...

[Tamara]

It's been said by who?

It was one of the things on Jim Cirillo's checklist, is where I read it.

[nycnoob]

Quote Originally Posted by Caballoflaco
It's been said that experience hunting correlates positively with success in gunfights.

It was one of the things on Jim Cirillo's checklist, is where I read it.

That's what I was thinking as well. However I thought that his view on hunting was about keeping still and yet alert/ready.
That part of the equation is not really applicable to self-defense or modern police work.

[BehindBlueI's]

That's what I was thinking as well. However I thought that his view on hunting was about keeping still and yet alert/ready.
That part of the equation is not really applicable to self-defense or modern police work.

In that regard, it makes sense. Stakeouts suck.

[voodoo_man]

It's been said by who?

I've hunted and been in a gunfight. It's a different skill set with limited overlap, IMO.

You've never had an accelerated heart rate at sight of your quarry while hunting? The sympathetic nervous system does kick in, although not to the levels I'd associate with a gunfight.

I concur, the "in the moment" of a deadly force confrontation involving firearms is significantly more of an impact to a persons nervous system and heart rate than "hunting"

[John Hearne]

I really want to take one of these classes: Threat Anatomy Llc - Online

Another option: http://www.tacticalanatomy.com/