The Top 5 Missed Shots in Handgun Shooting
- The first shot.
- The last shot.
- The first shot after reducing a stoppage (which includes a reload).
- The shot after an Unintentional Discharge (it’s missed because it’s not fired).
- The first shot after the transition to another target.
The first shot is easily the most missed shot of all. Walking rounds into the target is a very common exercise. However, as Theodore Roosevelt wrote in his 1893 book Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail https://www.amazon.com/Ranch-Hunting-Trail-Theodore-Roosevelt/dp/1414505108 :
No possible rapidity of fire can atone for habitual carelessness of aim with the first shot.
If the gun isn’t indexed into the eye-target line with adequate precision, relative to the distance involved, the first shot is likely to miss. Brian Enos called the necessary personal characteristic “visual patience.” Get the gun adequately aligned prior to pressing the trigger.
The last shot is often missed due to lack of follow-through. There always needs to be one more sight picture than rounds fired. Follow-through may be the least understood of all the Fundamentals of Pistol Shooting. https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2021/11/05/fundamentals-of-pistol-shooting-part-1/
A stoppage is any unintended interruption in the cycle of operation. Whether that’s a malfunction or simply running out of ammo is irrelevant. Any stoppage reduction is a complex motor skill. That means a combination of gross and fine motor skills. Once the stoppage is reduced, we need to transition back into the fine motor skill only (trigger manipulation) mode before we fire the next shot.
After an Unintentional Discharge, the next shot is frequently not fired at all, which is why it’s missed. Periodically, a POlice dashcam or badgecam will record an officer firing one shot, then clearly displaying some type of startle response, and then immediately reholstering. That means it was an Unintentional Discharge, even if shooting was Justifiable under the circumstances. In competition, shooters will occasionally have a UD and then look at the pistol in a dumbfounded way. If they’re not Disqualified by the Range Officer, they will eventually get back to shooting but it’s often several seconds later.
Transitioning from one target to another and then making a good hit with the first shot is difficult. Very few people ever practice it, which increases the difficulty. It’s a sacrilegious view, but my observation is that when someone who isn’t a highly experienced and capable shooter (GM, M, A, Expert) moves their eyes to another target ahead of the sights, the first shot is going to be a miss. If the target is in an unexpected location, this is even more true.
Understanding the Top 5 Missed Shots makes them easier to avoid and shoot gooder.
The following isn’t related to the 5, but it’s an interesting comment from a previous post on my blog.
If you can’t be bothered to expend fifteen minutes a week in dry practice, two extra magazines on your person are most likely meaningless.
SSS Summit Roundup from Active Response
Greg Ellifritz wrote an excellent article about the Summit. I’ll just link it here for those who are interested.
Greg asked me to open the links to my Patreon articles about the Summit and those are now public. The links are available in his article.
SSS Summit – Mindset
#mindsetmonday
The Surgical Speed Shooting Summit Surgical Speed Shooting Summit 2022 – An Overview was largely about pistol shooting technique. Nonetheless, the first thing Andy spoke about on Thursday was mindset. Several items he mentioned are like leadership and land navigation, they bear regular study and periodic review.
- Ayoob’s Priorities
- Mindset
- Tactics
- Skill
- Equipment
- Cooper’s key contributions
- Fundamental safety rules
- Private sector combat competition and shooting schools
- The Modern Technique
- Principles of Personal Defense https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Personal-Defense-Jeff-Cooper/dp/1581604955
- Stanford’s Strategy
- “Private citizens have no law enforcement duty to control and arrest criminals nor military objectives such as killing people and breaking things.”
- Your number one option for personal security is a commitment to:
- Avoidance
- Deterrence
- De-escalation
- Disengagement
Keeping those in mind at all times is a good formula for avoiding Serious Mistakes and Negative Outcomes.
Surgical Speed Shooting Summit 2022 – An Overview
Twenty-one years ago, Andy Stanford researched and wrote the book Surgical Speed Shooting https://www.amazon.com/Surgical-Speed-Shooting-High-Speed-Marksmanship/dp/1581601433 about combat shooting technique. He began teaching classes based on what his research had found. A number of people in the industry, myself included, became part of a group Andy formed to spread his knowledge.
Fast forward to June 2022. Andy organized a four day event, the Surgical Speed Shooting Summit, https://www.tacticalresponse.com/products/surgical-speed-shooting-summit to further update what he learned subsequent to writing his book. The event was held at the classroom and range of Tactical Response https://www.tacticalresponse.com/ in Western Tennessee. The purpose of the Summit was not only to update Surgical Speed Shooting but also to bring together a group of some of the top trainers in the industry, many of whom were not SSS related, to add their expertise to the knowledgebase. The final group of instructors was:
- John Holschen
- John Hearne
- Greg Ellifritz
- Michael Green
- Claude Werner
- Michael DeBethencourt
- Allan McBee
- John Johnston
- Karl Rehn
- Don Redl
- Lee Weems
- Melody Lauer
The first day started with a half day update of what Andy has gleaned about combat pistol shooting since the book’s publication. For the second half of the day, the group went to the range to shoot a few drills and see some targets Andy has developed for Surefire https://www.surefire.com/.
Day Two was spent at the Tactical Response classroom with each trainer giving a presentation of his or her own choosing. The topics all related to personal defense but did not have to be specifically on Surgical Speed Shooting.
On the third day, 47 students arrived at the Tactical Response range to begin training with the 12 instructors who had been divided into three different groups of four instructors each. The students were divided into equal sized groups based on an initial skill evaluation by shooting one of the Surefire drills. The student groups received 2 hours of training each by each instructor group. The instructors divided their two hour time frames among themselves to that the students received 12 total short blocks of instruction.
The final day’s range activities for the students were similar to the third day’s but the instructor groups were reorganized and the instructors had the option to present different material than they had on the previous day.
Finally, everyone returned to the Tactical Response classroom for a wrap-up of the Summit’s events. The instructors and students invidually gave examples of two things that they had personally taken away from the Summit’s training and presentations. As each person gave their take-aways, they were presented with a certificate testifying to their attendance at this historic event.
More about each day’s activities in the next few posts.
When things go wrong
This post is a little different because the subject is a submarine, specifically the USS Connecticut, a US Navy nukuler attack submarine. The Connecticut had an incident in the South China Sea on Oct 2, 2021. Initially, there was speculation on the internetz that it had collided with a Chinese submarine. However, it turns out that the boat simply crashed into an underwater terrain feature, which the Navy calls an “uncharted bathymetric feature.”
The Sub Brief YouTube channel has an excellent video on what happened and what went wrong.
What does a submarine running aground have to do with Personal Protection? The stack up of numerous problems, some of which had been going on for quite a while, and others that were immediate, caused the grounding.
Just one thing after another and this is how casualties happen. Casualties are very rarely isolated incidents, they cascade. This casualty, this collision cascaded all over the boat from the sonar being destroyed forward to the engine room believing they had lost propulsion to the machinery room catching on fire. Everybody’s having a bad time all of a sudden because casualties will cascade and that’s what’s happening here. Immediate actions of this crew is outstanding and probably is what saved the ship because whenever they were losing … buoyancy, sinking past 74 feet without propulsion, they were screwed. That is a dying submarine. Whenever you do the emergency blow and you still have negative buoyancy and you don’t have propulsion, well guess what, you know you better start making plans for the next life because you’re almost done with this one.
https://youtu.be/IPr7Yrwgly4?t=2396
Laxity, failure to pay attention to detail, and poor or absent communication all contributed to what could have been a tragic loss of a submarine and its entire crew.
Executive Summary [from the Final Investigative Report]
14. (U) On 2 October 2021, CONNECTICUT grounded on an uncharted bathymetric feature while operating submerged in a poorly surveyed area in international waters. This mishap was preventable. It resulted from an accumulation of errors and omissions in navigation planning, watchteam execution, and risk management that fell far below U.S. Navy standards. Prudent decision-making and adherence to required procedures in any of these three areas could have prevented the grounding.
Here is a short summary of the incident and findings of the investigation. https://news.usni.org/2022/05/24/investigation-uss-connecticut-south-china-sea-grounding-result-of-lax-oversight-poor-planning
The link to the full redacted investigation report is here. https://news.usni.org/2022/05/23/command-investigation-into-uss-connecticuts-south-china-sea-seamount-grounding
Consider how many things can stack up to cause additional problems in a Personal Protection incident as you watch the video.
Revolver History – Merwin & Hulbert
#wheelgunwednesday
The Merwin & Hulbert revolvers of the Old West period aren’t very well known today. Forgotten Weapons has an excellent video about them.
The innovative engraving style and extensive use of nickel plating were unique features of their revolvers. Being able to eject the empty cases while keeping unfired rounds to do a tactical reload made them an excellent choice for gunfighting.
Keeping tabs on Unintentional Discharges
One of the ways I keep an eye on Unintentional Discharges is via Google Alerts on a weekly basis. Although I prefer the LAPD definition of Unintentional Discharge, the most common phrase found in the news is ‘accidental discharge,’ so that’s what my search is set for. I know that “negligent discharge” is the common vernacular in the firearms community but as Marty Hayes of Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network https://armedcitizensnetwork.org/ has pointed out, ‘negligent’ has a specific meaning in legal terms that does not fit the circumstances of most UDs. Consequently, I don’t use ‘negligent discharge’ except when the applicable legal definition fits the incident. If we’re going to pick nits about the difference between ‘clip’ and ‘magazine,’ let’s pick nits consistently.
Here is this week’s list:
Google Alert – “accidental discharge”
From: Google Alerts (googlealerts-noreply@google.com)
To: me
Date: Wednesday, May 4, 2022, 08:06 PM EDT
“accidental discharge”
Weekly update ⋅ May 5, 2022
3 Piqua PD officers injured in accidental discharge incident – WDTN.com
3 Piqua PD officers injured in accidental discharge incident … PIQUA, Ohio (WDTN) — A firearm was accidentally discharged inside the Piqua police …
https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/3-piqua-pd-officers-injured-in-accidental-discharge-incident/
‘Accidental’ Gun Discharge Hits Douglassville Woman – The Sanatoga Post
… Police from the Troop L Barracks in Reading reported Friday (April 29, 2022), in what they said was an “accidental discharge of a firearm.”.
https://sanatogapost.com/2022/05/02/douglassville-woman-accidental-firearm-victim/
Victim of reported accidental shooting ID’d as 64-year-old – Bring Me The News
The man who died after being shot in the head as a result of a reported accidental discharge has been identified. The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s …
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/victim-of-reported-accidental-shooting-idd-as-64-year-old
Capitol Police incompetence: Officer suspended over accidental gun discharge | Just The News
The accidental discharge comes as Capitol Police are already under fire for a series of mistakes. The department ordered the Capitol to be …
Soldier who accidentally killed comrade is convicted of manslaughter | The Times of Israel
Staff Sgt. Yonatan Granot, killed by an apparent accidental discharge from another serviceman’s weapon in the Jordan Valley (Courtesy).
https://www.timesofisrael.com/soldier-who-accidentally-killed-comrade-is-convicted-of-manslaughter/
Union Township woman wounded accidentally, state police say – The Mercury
Troopers said the incident was an accidental discharge of a firearm. The woman was taken to the Reading Hospital, where she was treated for …
https://www.pottsmerc.com/2022/04/29/union-township-accidental-shooting/
Uncle allegedly shoots 4-year-child in Taylor in accidental shooting – The News Herald
… remains under investigation, Canning said preliminarily it appears to be a case of gross negligence — an accidental discharge of a firearm.
Incident Reports & Arrests April 22-26 – The Post-Searchlight
Accidental discharge of firearm reported on the 200 block of Hales Landing Rd. · Criminal trespass reported on the 700 block of E. · Burglary reported …
https://www.thepostsearchlight.com/2022/04/28/incident-reports-arrests-april-22-26/
Lake Lillian Shooting Victim Identified | KDUZ
The initial news release said at 10:34 p.m., a person called the sheriff’s office to report an accidental discharge of a firearm that hit Coulston …
https://kduz.com/2022/04/29/lake-lillian-shooting-victim-identified/
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Why we shoot pistols one-handed
A very interesting article is available on the NRA Sporting Sports USA website. There are some relevant historical details about the development of pistol technique in it.
https://www.ssusa.org/content/a-short-history-of-american-target-development-and-evolution/
U.S. Cavalry troops were required to shoot dismounted on the Army Target “L”. Even though they carried sabers and carbines, revolvers and pistols were the primary arms of the cavalry. Just as foretop men aloft in the rigging during the days of sail was [sic] admonished, “One hand for yourself and one for the ship,” so it was with the cavalryman, one hand for the horse and one for the pistol and that is why conventional pistol shooting is a one handed affair. After qualifying on foot, troops were required to repeat the course of fire while on their horse.
The Army Target “L” was pretty big, six feet tall and four feet wide. A five-inch aiming black, worth ten points was surrounded by seven concentric circles at intervals of 8.5 inches, 12 inches, 15.5 inches, 19 inches, 22.5 inches, 26 inches, and 46 inches and of descending value nine through three points. Any hits on the remainder of the frame were worth two points. On the left side were large numbers, five through two, from top to bottom, and six through nine on the right for scoring purposes.
The influence of the US Army Cavalry on the use of the handgun in our country cannot be underestimated, although mostly forgotten a century later. The Cavalry was the branch of the Army that led the development effort for the 1911 pistol. Cavalry doctrine of that time is the reason the 1911 has a spur hammer, manual safety, and grip safety. Those are details for another time, though. Teaser: the 1911 was NOT designed to be carried ‘cocked and locked,’ contrary to popular opinion.
Gun Safety 2022 – Part V
#mindsetmonday
In addition to the Four Rules, store firearms and other weapons where they are not accessible to unauthorized persons. Guns are not boxes of Kleenex and require a higher level of security for their storage.
My personal ongoing data gathering indicates that every single day, on average, a child gains access to an improperly stored firearm and then incurs or causes a gunshot wound. While this is small number compared to some other types of ‘accidents,’ the other types don’t generally result in large amounts of blood that has to be cleaned up. The level of psychological trauma to the responsible parties cannot be imagined by the rest of us.
The saddest aspect of these incidents is how preventable they are. Numerous easy and inexpensive ways to secure firearms either at home or in a vehicle are readily available. There’s no excuse for not using them.
The balance of the post is on my Patreon page and is publicly available.
Philadelphia robbery kidnapping and sort of home invasion
They tied his hands with zip ties around his back and threatened to kill him if he made any sudden moves. That’s when our victim realized these individuals were not police officers
Police Chief Inspector Scott Small
The FBI calls this ‘a clue.’
Legally speaking, this was a kidnapping.
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=18&div=0&chpt=29
According to police, the 25-year-old victim was able to free his hands and grab a gun from his pocket. The victim fired several shots toward the men, striking the police impersonator three times.
The three hits resulted in the kidnapper/POlice impersonator to be neutralized and dead. The Rule of Three appears again. Good thing he had his pistol in his pocket.
tacticalprofessor 
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