Essential Texts/Articles/Videos on Mindset and Gunfighting

[C.W. Clark]

I'm sure there has been multiple threads in the past that have covered this topic however I feel it is important to constantly seek out new information and revisit certain texts as time goes by.

A few to start the list off:

Art of War - Sun Tzu
Principles of Personal Defense - Col. Jeff Cooper
Handgun Combatives - Dave Spaulding
The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning - John Farnam
No Second Place Winner - Bill Jordan
On Killing/Combat - LTC Dave Grossman
Warfighting - Department of the Navy (USMC Philosophy and Doctrine)

Any text, article, video or other sources of information on these topics would be welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

C.W. Clark

[Olim9]

Jared Reston, a Jacksonville Florida LEO has excellent presentations about one of his OIS incidents he has been in.

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....orth-the-watch

There's also Varg Freeborn. Lots of experience with street violence from a criminal perspective. He has a book that definately belongs on the list and he has a lot of content online.

https://www.spreaker.com/user/primar...1-varg-freebor

[Odin Bravo One]

Not a fan of Grossman or military doctrine when it comes to mindset.

I won’t turn this into a Grossman bashing thread, but there is a reason he isn’t invited to speak at organizations that do a significant amount of killing. .

Military doctrine is based on national strategic objectives. I don’t see a lot of practical application of using national strategic objectives as part of the foundation for the mental preparation of the armed citizen, or domestic Law Enforcement Officer.

Dr. William April, the Tactical Professer Claude Werner, and the man with the permanent black eye Craig Douglas all routinely provide valuable insight related to mindset; not just yours, but also a variety of mindsets, beliefs, and even current TTPs of actual threats that are encountered domestically.

[Dagga Boy]

Every single lecture given to cops by Grossman I would substitute Jeff Hall’s “Finish the Fight” presentation, and I highly recommend William April as well.

[Trumpster]

I'm sure there has been multiple threads in the past that have covered this topic however I feel it is important to constantly seek out new information and revisit certain texts as time goes by.

A few to start the list off:

Art of War - Sun Tzu
Principles of Personal Defense - Col. Jeff Cooper
Handgun Combatives - Dave Spaulding
The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning - John Farnam
No Second Place Winner - Bill Jordan
On Killing/Combat - LTC Dave Grossman
Warfighting - Department of the Navy (USMC Philosophy and Doctrine)

Any text, article, video or other sources of information on these topics would be welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

C.W. Clark

I'm curious: are you preparing for urban warfare?

There is only one book you'll need if your goal is surviving an encounter with a banger or bangers who want you reduced to evidence of murder autopsied the following morning, this one: https://secure.calibrepress.com/shop...e-order-today/

The only known way of surviving a gunfight is to not get in one. If Rule One of Gun Fighting ain't an option, Rule Two becomes dominant: don't get shot. If Rule Two prevails, the rest of the rules are immaterial.

[C.W. Clark]

Urban warfare is not what I’m training for/interested in. Although CQB tactics I am as they translate. I’m interested in learning as much as possible, researching all perspectives on interpersonal conflict/use of deadly force. If I may ask, why are you not interested in Grossman or military doctrine when it comes to personal security? Besides the obvious which is you’re not part of a team of a 11 other guys with rifles, automatic weapons, MK 19’s etc. I feel from a mindset/tactics standpoint there is much to be learned from .mil, not totally useless.

I’ll check out William April, Claude Werner, Jeff Hall, and Craig Douglas. Thanks for the suggestions.

I’ve watched the Jared Reston presentation several times. Great stuff and glad he stayed in the fight and lived!

[Totem Polar]

There is only one book you'll need if your goal is surviving an encounter with a banger or bangers who want you reduced to evidence of murder autopsied the following morning, this one: https://secure.calibrepress.com/shop...e-order-today/

I’m starting to warm up to your decidedly old-school outlook, and I suspect that I’d enjoy grabbing a beer with you. I have both that book, and the companion ‘tactical edge;’ until very recently, that survival book was the ONLY thing in print discussing one-handed revolver reloads. Pretty cool. That said, I think this is spot on:

I'm sure there has been multiple threads in the past that have covered this topic however I feel it is important to constantly seek out new information and revisit certain texts as time goes by.

With all the low-level conflict going on around the globe, there are more people around with direct experience engaging in violence who can share their thoughts on the matter than at any time in my life. Might as well see what they have to say, from that experience. Speaking of, this guy is always well worth listening to:

Military doctrine is based on national strategic objectives. I don’t see a lot of practical application of using national strategic objectives as part of the foundation for the mental preparation of the armed citizen, or domestic Law Enforcement Officer.

Dr. William April, the Tactical Professer Claude Werner, and the man with the permanent black eye Craig Douglas all routinely provide valuable insight related to mindset; not just yours, but also a variety of mindsets, beliefs, and even current TTPs of actual threats that are encountered domestically.

Sadly, I haven’t met Claude W yet, but I have digested a ton of his writing—which is great. I have met both April and Douglas, and I’ve totally drunk their kool-aid: world-class information. Stuff I’ve learned from that collective has been applied regularly and directly to my own life.

This place is thick with experienced and knowledgeable people. In the revolver round up thread (training hosted by Darryl/Dagga) there’s a dude (Cecil) responding about attending the training who would be one of the first guys on any savvy list of people to work with when it comes to rolling around in the dirt in a contact range fight involving weapons, and he’s just responding to the thread as another customer. Point being, the principles may not change, but tools and techniques do, and this is a good place for joe layman (like myself) to keep a finger on the pulse of what’s current.

As to books, I got some good things out of "left of bang," which I’m told is nothing new for any experienced in LE or .Mil, but it was a good primer for a guy like me who’s not had the distinction of serving in those capacities. I also got some good things out of Miller’s "facing violence," which is a great breakdown of the hows and whys of violent behavior in a citizen’s context. I know that folks around here can run both hot and cold on Rory, but I got good stuff out of both the book and the guy’s training, myself.

If we are going to revisit old classics, Ayoob’s "truth about self protection" and DeBecker’s "gift of fear" can both probably slot into the OP’s list. Those books have each turned more new people on to the idea of proactive self defense and awareness than any 5 other books in print. JMO.

Lastly, the youtube revolvution—and, especially, liveleak and the surveillance state along with it—has given the student of self defense a wealth of examples of how things go down after dark. That John fellow over at the Active Self Defense youtube channel has sure done notable work collating the non-stop shit show that is human-on-human predation. Interesting and compelling feeds.

[Trumpster]

Hi C.W. Clark,

It's a good idea to keep in mind that technology has affected gun fighting and survival. Revolvers are obsolete as on-duty cop weapons. I can't write for sure, but my guess is the US Military has concluded that battle rifle technology has caused handguns to become obsolete. I'd rather carry more magazines for an M4 than any handgun. Hence, dated warfare and gunfight survival texts are probably obsolete. Just as Billy Mitchell predicted, airplanes were going to cause battleships to become obsolete. I often wonder whether fighter planes are already obsolete. Who knows what technology our military has and is perfecting. I do know Sun Tzu would die of fright were he to see an F-15 Strike Eagle.

Depending upon where you live, gun fight probability is as close to zero as it can get.

I was taught, no, make that drilled into me that the only known way of surviving a gunfight was to not get in one. Yes, I still had to respond to life threatening calls. But we were taught to think about tactical deployment long before we arrived on scene. If the primary rule of gun fighting was unavoidable, Rule Two became operative: don't get shot. A shot cop is a twofold problem: he can't help anyone and he becomes a liability for other cops. He has to be extracted for medical care.

There are myriad factors permeating gunfight survival factors, so many that it's impossible to consider them in their entirety. Hence, survival has to always remain as your primary objective. And the best way to survive is avoid.

If you live near a college or university, see if it has LAPD Captain Rich Wemmer's officer survival videos. His productions were the best I've seen.

If I were going to read one book on gunfight survival, it'd be Street Survival.

Now, I'll cop to a paradox of my creation: I have a very tender spot in my heart for the Chief Special. Believe me, I know it's a poor choice for remaining vertical, especially in the Greater LA Area. It's an affinity that I can't shake. Sometimes sentiment trumps knowledge.

I wish you the absolute best.

Stay safe.

[03RN]

The book of 5 rings by Myamoto Musashi

The Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee

[Coyotesfan97]

Officer Down, Code 3 by Pierce Brooks

Straight Talk on Armed Defense edited by Massad Ayoob with a lot of familiar contributors from PF

Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights by Jim Cirillo

The Art of Modern Gunfighting by Scott Reitz

Facing Violence by Rory Miller

In the Name of Self Defense by Marc MacYoung