Time in the fight.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Looking at Tom Givens' latest newsletter, his analysis of capacity struck me as useful. The idea is a good take on the caliber debate. He was talking about capacity and how long you could stay in the fight.

Assuming about 250 milliseconds between shots for the average person - a J frame keeps you in the fight for 1.25 seconds. An 8 shot 1911 for two seconds. A Glock 17 with 18 rounds (one chambered) is 4.5 seconds. That's a long time in a fight.

Given the lack of real differences in stopping power with modern rounds, that's telling.

If I misread it - sorry.

[nycnoob]

Even more interesting, is the question "When did you realize you were in a fight"?
Some people started fighting (MUC/Pre-assault cues) long before others even knew it was a fight.

[Robinson]

I get another half second since I switched to a 9mm 1911!

While I get the point, doesn't this assume the fight will always consist of pulling the trigger until your gun is empty with no pauses between shots?

Still, the point made is a good one.

[voodoo_man]

More bullets = more time in fight

I want as much time in the fight as possible.

[Randy Harris]

I tell people that capacity simply equals less manipulation.....that and one handed weak handed reloads while injured with the fight still going on really sucks....the more BBs on board the less likely you are to have to reload. Math doesn't take the day off....more is more and less is less. No matter how fast your reload is, not ever HAVING to reload is faster.

If you didn't have to reload then the FAST drill gets a whole lot easier and an inordinately high number of people could do it sub 5 seconds.....

[Tom Givens]

Randy nailed it. The purpose of higher capacity is not to let you shoot more, it is to let you reload less. Every time you have to reload, you have to stop shooting, take the gun out of action for some number of seconds, and hope the other guy takes a smoke break while you do this. If you have 10-15 rounds in the gun to start with, the odds of having to reload go down greatly.

[GJM]

Randy nailed it. The purpose of higher capacity is not to let you shoot more, it is to let you reload less. Every time you have to reload, you have to stop shooting, take the gun out of action for some number of seconds, and hope the other guy takes a smoke break while you do this. If you have 10-15 rounds in the gun to start with, the odds of having to reload go down greatly.

Tom, are you relatively agnostic about caliber these days, as long as it gives you 10-15 rounds of 9/40/45?

[TCinVA]

[jetfire]

BRB buying a Five-seveN now.

[Tom Givens]

Tom, are you relatively agnostic about caliber these days, as long as it gives you 10-15 rounds of 9/40/45?

Relatively, Yes. There is far less difference in performance now than a few years ago.