McGee’s Paradigm

“Three shots in three seconds at three yards.” That was Lt. Frank McGee’s iconic summation (McGee’s Paradigm) of the typical gunfight of New York City police officers in the 1970s. Lt. McGee was the head of the NYPD Firearms and Tactics Section at that time. His analysis came from the Department’s SOP-9 report, which began compiling statistics about the gunfights of its officers in 1969. Although the scope and name of the report has evolved over time, it is still published by the NYPD and available online. McGee’s Paradigm hasn’t changed much over the past 50 years.

Since most gunowners are limited to shooting at indoor ranges, learning to shoot against a time standard has always been an issue. Shot timers usually work by tracking the noise from each shot and are therefore not always useful in the indoor-range environment because of adjacent shooters. Besides this, casual shooters are generally unwilling to spend over $100 for a shot timer.

The widespread nature of smartphones and Bluetooth earbuds have given us a solution to this problem. There are several timing apps for Smartphones available online. Used in conjunction with Bluetooth earbuds underneath earmuff-based hearing protection, practicing marksmanship with a par time is now easily accomplished.

https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/three-shots-in-three-seconds

A demonstration video is available at  https://youtu.be/8kL0bUQWsfI

Here’s a target for the final 20 rounds of the 50 round session.

One response

  1. Fascinating stuff. Decades after McGee, a US Special Forces soldier named John McPhee, aka “the Sheriff of Baghdad” has an evaluation/drill which is nearly identical. His accuracy standard is quite high-a 3 inch target-and it’s shot from a concealed draw. I think that it is unrealistic for the civilian defender, and really appreciate your graduated, approach.
    Your approach to timing is brilliant with the phone and earbuds for the concerned carrier.
    Thank you; I look forward to your next installment.

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    With kind regards,

    Chris Edwards
    Firearms Instructor/GSSF Match Coordinator/Special Projects

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