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Phillosoph

Hidden Hand Trio: Wrist Grab Escapes

Escapes from wrist grabs are not a topic I have often covered in this blog. There are hundreds of books, blogs and videos showing such techniques. They range from simple to intricate, and from realistic to the not so much!
Here at survive.phillosoph.com, I try to offer content not found on other defence or survival pages. When I do consider a more common topic, I endeveor to look at it from a different angle, or provide fresh insight or novel information. I hope that I have achieved this, at least sometimes.
If some self-defence courses and books are to be believed, someone walking up to you and holding your wrist is a common problem. Maybe not for some of us. I am big and ugly and not that many people wish to hold my hand.
On the other hand, (pun intended!) wrist grabs are probably a more common feature of altercations between a man and a woman. And there are fighting styles that often feature controlling an arm to apply a lock, throw or to pull aside a defence for a strike.
Therefore, your repertoire of defensive techniques should include some responses to wrist grabs.
“Crash Combat” mainly concentrates on the method I have called the “under and up”, the “under and out” or even “under, out and up”. Use whichever name helps you remember how it works.
This technique works for same-side grabs (right hand to right wrist, left to left), or cross/mirror-stance grabs (left to right wrist, or right to left-wrist).
It works for whether the grabber's thumb is towards or away from the defender’s hand.
The same technique is used to respond to your knife wrist being grabbed, or someone grabbing your baton or rifle barrel.
Being a more extensive work, “Attack, Avoid, Survive” adds some additional techniques, ranging from the very simple jerking action against the thumb, to the kuk sool won-based throwing techniques.
Recently I started reading “Analysis of Shaolin Chin-na”. This included advice that I will paraphrase as: “if someone grabs you (by your wrist, fingers etc), poke them in the eyes or kick their shins. Attack, Avoid, Survive contains the same tactics, although not as catchily expressed as Jwing-Ming Yang put it, I will admit.

Techniques from Bagua

I was inspired to dig through my collection and find the DVD that included Erle Montaigue teaching eight methods of wrist escape. I found it on MTG15 “Dim-Mak and Combat Wrestling”, which is worth checking out, btw.
The clip below does not include the wrist grab section, but has some other techniques worth knowing, some of which may be used to prevent or follow-up a wrist grab.
The eight techniques Erle shows each use a hand form from bagua/pa-kur. Several of these are actually the under and up technique, but using a variety of hand configurations.
Today I would like to look at three of the other methods in the video. I personally think of these as the “Hidden Hand Wrist Grab” responses.
For ease of illustration, let us assume that it is the defender’s right wrist being held in the following descriptions.

First Method

In the first method, the wrist is grabbed, the grabber’s thumb away from the hand and his palm on the outside/back of the forearm.
In response, the fingers of the grabbed hand are splayed out. This action is also seen in the kuk sool won techniques in Attack, Avoid, Survive, so I presume the intention is to fortify the wrist.
The fingers are then thrust towards the grabber’s throat or face. This echoes the “poke ‘em in the eyes” advice, but uses the grabbed hand rather than your free hand.
The restrained hand is driven forward, not just by the arm, but by a rotation of the hips and waist and the forward movement of the whole body.
As the thrust is made, the hand is turned palm up so there is a corkscrew-type action, and considerable weight and force is applied to the space between the grabber’s thumb and fingers.
There is a supplementary technique to this move, which I will address a little later.

Second Method

The second technique is very similar, but in this case the grab is to the inner side of the wrist.
Again, splay your fingers and use your body motion to twist the arm and drive the fingers at the throat or face.

“Head Scratch” Method

The third and final technique we will look at is the fourth method on Erle’s video. To avoid confusion, I will call this the “head scratch” technique.
The wrist has been grabbed as in the first technique. The grabber holds the right wrist with his left hand.
Splay the fingers and raise your hand up so you look at your own palm. Without pausing, continue raising the hand as though you intend to scratch your head above the forehead. At the same time as you make this action, you utilize the body rotation and movement that powers it to turn to your left and move away from the grabber.
If the hold is not broken and the grabber does not let go, they will be pulled along behind the defender.
As the defender turns away, they may choose to throw their hand before them and thrust forward with their palm, applying additional force to break the hold or pull the grabber off balance.
This technique may also be used right hand against right wrist, or left against left, but you will need to change the direction you move away. Move to take yourself to the outside of the grabbing arm. This will take you out of reach of the grabber’s free hand.

Supplementary Technique

The supplementary technique for all three moves is essentially the same for all.
As your grabbed right hand begins to move, your free left hand moves toward your right elbow and then swings up toward your right hand. The left hand moves parallel to the underside of your held forearm. The grabber may not notice this motion, which is why I call these “hidden hand” escape techniques.
By grasping your wrist, the grabber has effectively immobilized their own, making it easy for you to grasp their wrist with your free hand. Use your thumb or fingers to attack nei gwan/neigwan/PC-6.
Rather than trying to grab the wrist outright, try placing your left palm on the forearm and allowing it to slip slightly down the forearm as it tightens the grip.
If the foe’s wrist grip on you is broken, use your own wrist hold to pull the foe off balance, or pull their arm out of the way while you strike with your freed arm, for example using a hammer-fist or elbow strike.
If the hold was not broken, twist your body to pull him forward, stepping across his front so that he is tripped.
Successfully exploiting a grab or lock may require disrupting the foe with some strikes. Similarly, a lock of grab may only be a prelude to a throwing technique..
For the head scratch technique, the action of turning away may be used to drive a hip or shoulder throw without waiting to see if the hold is broken.
If the hold is broken during the initial “head scratch” motion, the turn away may be replaced with a turn back to deliver a strike.
There are many other options, of course.
Your grab on his wrist may be used to pull his hand low and then up behind his back, for instance.
If moving to the outside of the grabbing arm the arm may be taken up to create a high bent arm lock to force the attack to overbalance backwards.
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Phillosoph

Bullet Points

This page will record various tips, tricks and ideas that do not really warrant their own article.
You may want to bookmark this page, as new content will be added whenever it occurs to me.
The first part of this page will concentrate on combat related material. I have now add a section on survival and bushcraft further down the page.
These are in no particular order or precedence.
Version 1.0.0.8

Combat

When fighting, assume there is a knife present. Just because you cannot see a knife, does not mean it is not there. Cunning knifemen ensure their knife is felt before it is seen.
Many unarmed defensive and offensive techniques become unworkable if the foe can bring a blade into play.
Handguns may also be difficult to spot, particularly in poor light.
Close combat has been defined as knocking the other guy down and not letting him get up again.
Achieving this often involves several phases.
Some self-defence courses only teach reactions to attacks so students are uncertain about how to take the initiative and secure the advantage, or how to engage in defence of someone else.
Some striking styles seem to have no takedown techniques or have neglected these in favour of sport and competition sparring. Or the takedown and throwing techniques are a “secret technique” and not available to most of the students who may need them. An aggressor is presumably battered until one party is exhausted or knocked out.
You will need kicks, hand-strikes, locks and throws.
Many wrestling and grappling styles expect to prevail without acknowledging that a “blow before throw” is often necessary, and combat may not be one-to-one. Often they train with partners who do not know how to realistically attack.
A common assumption is that a foe will use a similar style, or will fight on equal terms and that the foe will not use a knife.
Any time that a person is standing on two feet, there will be an angle at which the feet will be on the same line. If the body is tilted out of this vertical plane, that person will probably lose balance. Typically they will step back or forward to correct this. If you position your foot, leg or body so this step cannot be made, they may be made to fall. This is the principle behind many combat throws and takedown techniques.
Breakfalls have useful applications other than just self-defence and martial arts. In everyday life they can save you from serious injury.
If your preferred training style does not include breakfalls, take the trouble to learn and practice them independently.
Ideally, everyone would be taught breakfalls as infants.
You cannot make your hand or foot heavier, so if you want more power you must move it faster. Relaxed bodies move faster than tensed ones. Only tense a body part when really necessary.
This is the key not only to unarmed and armed combat, but also to many sports and other activities.
There are ways to deal with someone catching your leg when you kick, but it is better to avoid this situation.
Do not kick at targets where there is a chance your leg might be grabbed. Kick targets away from the hands or wait for opportunities where the hands are otherwise occupied. Against a standing foe, kicks are best directed against the legs and hip. This will slow the enemy down and may cause them to fall,
The actions learnt from kicks may also be used to rapidly move your feet to manoeuvre or trip a foe.
Bayonet attacks against high targets may be followed by a kick to a low target from either the front or rear leg. Defending against the high attack with the bayonet may expose targets beneath rib-cage level. Kick or knee the legs, hips, tailbone or testicles. A front thrust kick to just below the heart may be possible.
The front stance of karate, and its equivalents in other styles, is not just for punching and parrying. It may also be used to move into grapples, takedowns or throws. Position the lead leg so it prevents the foe compensating as you unbalance them.
When using a forward head butt, the upper part of the head rather than the forehead should be used to strike. This area is centred around the hairline, for those of you that are not yet balding.
If striking to the side with the head, impact using the area at hairline level above the temples.
When possible, the force from a headbutt comes not from neck movement, but from the motion of the entire body. “Back-heel” applies to headbutts just as much as it applies to linear punches.
A butt with the back of the head may be used against someone who grabs you from behind. Striking area is the back of the skull, the face from the eyes down the preferred targets. In practice, hitting with a particular region of the skull and against a particular target is difficult in such conditions.
The back of the skull may be used when in front of an enemy. If in a clinch and your head is lower than your attacker’s hit upwards with your head, straightening your legs for more power.
Headbutts may be used on targets other than the face. When grabbing an enemy’s legs from behind, butt the small of the back or tailbone to encourage them to fall.
Butting into the stomach or chest is also possible, although the chances of a counter against the neck or face are higher.
If both hands are busy controlling an arm, the head may be butted just above or into the side of the elbow.
A friend of mine used to advocate treading on someone’s foot before delivering a headbutt.
A variation is to place your weight on the foe’s foot and drive your knee into the front of his knee. The knee is unable to bend and may take damage or the foe may fall. Combine this with other techniques to unbalance the foe.
a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to play with your precious bloody phone and a time to look where you are going and at what is around you. Amen!
Never walk with your hands in your pockets. If your hands get cold, carry gloves. If you trip or are pushed, you will not be able to save yourself. Attacking someone with their hands in their pockets is a simple matter of hugging them and throwing them down hard.
Never stop on public stairs. It is bad manners and inconsiderate if nothing else. Some people have bad legs or feet and need to be within reach of the handrail even if they do not need to constantly hold it.
The palm heel, knife hand and hammer fist must become your primary weapons. The chances of injuring your hands when using these strikes is greatly reduced. Save closed fist punches for softer target areas of the body. Think of this as “hard against soft and soft against hard” if you wish, although being on the receiving end of a well thrown palm strike is unlikely to feel that soft.
The eye jab/finger spear is one of the fastest of distraction and opening techniques. Some people are reluctant to use this technique and in many cases it may be considered excessive force.
Placing your open hand over the foe’s eyes (such as “Eagle’s Alien”) is an alternative. Variations of this may be used from the side or behind in situations where a finger spear could not. Speed is the key to this technique so you must learn to apply it with your hand and arm relaxed.
Illustrations or photographs in martial arts books often exaggerate the distances between fighters for clarity. Occasionally you will encounter an illustrated technique that will not work at realistic ranges
Techniques are sometimes taught as “long range”, “medium range” and “short range”. In reality, engagement may change from long range to short range in a fraction of a second. Relying mainly on long range techniques probably will not work outside an action movie.
There will be times when it is necessary to attack rather than wait for an aggressor to make the first move. Some self-defence students and martial artists are at a loss how to proceed since they have mainly been taught defensive reactions. Psychologically they may have formed the impression that attacking may make them vulnerable, since most of their drills have been “attacker does this so you defeat him using…” Being able to attack effectively and realistically will also make their classmate’s training better.
Defensive techniques such as peng-hinge and long har ch’uan may also be used to knock aside an enemy’s guard to clear the way for the attacks.
Once you commit to an attack, keep attacking as long as you can. Move in and keep on the pressure until it is safe to escape, you need to defend or evade, or the threat is neutralized.
It has become a common trope in movies and on TV. A woman attempts to help someone else who is being attacked. She jumps into the back of the attacker, her feet leaving the ground.
Never attempt this in real life. It is ineffective and you may be thrown and land hard.
If the target presents itself, stomp the calf of his rearward leg. Read my books and learn the reverse punch against his kidneys, or the palm heel against his coccyx.
If he falls, jump or stomp on his legs before you run away.
Even if an attacker is much larger than you, use what weight you have. If he tries to lift you, go limp to become deadweight and kick your legs around to hurt anything you can contact. If the rapist falls, use your body weight by jumping or stomping on him. Leave him unable to get up and run after you.
The primary target areas on the centreline approximate the supposed positions of the chakras.
1. The genitals (front), coccyx (back). The CV1 point lies between the two on the perineum.
2. Sacral region/Tan tien (front): a little below the navel. Join of spine and pelvis top (back)
3. Solar plexus (front). First lumbar vertebrae (back): Where spine joins bottom of rib cage.
4. Heart/middle of sternum (front). Spine over heart (back)
5. Throat region (front) Spine at base of skull (back)
6. Forehead/Glabella (front). Back of skull.
7. Top of head/Bregma.
Note that attacking some of these targets forcefully may cripple, maim or kill your foe. Use only when there is a genuine threat to life.
Strikes to the kidneys may be highly effective, so learn their position.
From the rear, strike the soft areas between the top of the pelvis and bottom of the rib cage, lateral to the spine. From the side, strike the same area at the level where the waist is narrowest (presuming the foe does not have a “spare tire”).
These strikes actually target the nerve complexes in the region of the kidney. If using a sharp weapon you must know the physical location of the kidneys. The actual kidneys sit above the waist, partially covered by the lower ribs. Stab upwards under the bottom ribs from the rear or rearward side.
Is the threat you are being taught to defend against likely and realistic, or is it just there to show a clever counter. Are there simpler options?
A constant of older and lower quality self-defence manuals is techniques against someone who stands in front of you attempting to strangle you. I call this the “Frankenstein monster” attack. Recognise that this is highly unlikely. If you are strangled from the front, it is likely you are also being pushed up against a wall, or on your back with the attacker on top of you. Will the taught defence still work? What will?
An overhead knife or axe attack is more likely, but may not start with the attacker helpfully raising the weapon above their head while still several yards away. You may not have time for the recommended arm catch and throw technique.
“A punch starts with the toes” (or the back-heel)
To separate two individuals in a clinch: Place your hands together as though in prayer and insert them between the men’s faces.
Simultaneously covering each man’s eyes with a palm may cause them to flinch back.
If this fails, the edge of each hand may be placed to apply pressure against the throats or upward, under each nose. Be wary of bringing a hand into a position where it might be bitten when using the latter option.
If the above methods do not work, return your hands to the prayer position. Drop your weight down and bring your hands and arms down across theirs.
Arms crossed over your chest has been suggested as a good “ready” stance, particularly when being “interviewed for a fight”. On the positive side, it places the arms in a good position to respond to attacks. On the downside, this body posture may project the impression of insecurity and nervousness, encouraging the potential aggressor.
The same criticism also applies to positions with one hand on your chin or near your mouth.
Raising the forearm with an action like brushing back the hair over your ear is a useful defensive technique against circular punches at the end. Sometimes described as “attempting to smell your own armpit”.
Combine with ducking and appropriate body movement away from the attack. The other forearm may be brought up to shield the other side of the head.
If you move towards an attacker this basic arm motion may also be used to deliver an upward elbow strike to the chin or face.
The motion may also be used to break a wrist grab, although the “under and outside” method is preferred. Even if the grip is not broken, moving the hand up to your ear may pull the foe off-balance towards you. Use your other hand appropriately!
The opportunity for using some elbow strikes can be brief as it takes very little time for a foe to move from “out of range” to clinching and grappling range.
Use an open palm as a rangefinder as an enemy closes distance. When the palm makes contact with his upper chest immediately bend the elbow and move forward to deliver an upward elbow strike to the chin.
Cloth can be surprisingly effective at resisting knife cuts. Small knives (i.e. those that are not kukris or machetes) should always attack with the point first against clothed areas. This should be practised against bare flesh targets too, since a penetrating attack is likely to do more effective damage than a slash.
To cut a throat, stab into the side of the throat first then cut outward. Pulling back the head moves the major blood vessels back so would need a deep cut or slash to reach them. Better to stab in and cut outward.
If you cannot access the throat area, stab up under the ear, down from the suprasternal notch, down behind the clavicle or upwards just under the sternum or into a kidney.
Knives for anti-personnel use should be selected on the basis of their point and suitability for thrusting attacks. For more general field and survival uses, the ability to chop, slice, carve and cut is a higher priority.
If you can slip to a foe’s outside gate, try a headslap.
Swing your relaxed outermost arm upwards, parallel to the foe’s back. As you reach shoulder height convert the motion to an inward horizontal slap impacting the back or side of the head. The more relaxed you keep your body, the more velocity and power this attack will have.
Many fracas involve pushing and shoving. Most fighting styles fail to fully utilize this as an attack. Tai chi uses push like a double palm heel strike. It can often be utilized when in very close proximity to a foe. It may also be used using a hand and a forearm, or both forearms.
Step forward with one foot, utilizing body motion and back heel to generate power.
Push is often used against the foe’s ribs, with force delivered at a slight upward angle. This exploits the elasticity of the foe’s ribs to help bounce them away.
Tai chi often has the hands held in a configuration as though holding an invisible ball. This has a number of applications. One is used to seize the foe’s head. Power and movement from the hips and waist may then be used to twist the neck or unbalance and throw the foe. This is a useful technique if you are taller than your foe.
If your hands are in “hold the ball” and you bring the palms together this action may be used to clamp an arm between them. Slide the hands apart laterally to transition into an arm lock.
Hold the ball may also be used to bring the palms together to use the tai chi technique of press. This may be used to strike and push in confined positions when push would not be practical.
A similar technique has both palms towards the foe, one on top of the other.
When you manoeuvre to the outside gate, hook your palms over the foe’s shoulders and pull downwards and back by making your elbows heavy. This is an adaptation of the opening move of the tai chi form.
Position your legs so the foe cannot step back to regain balance, or kick at his legs to further unbalance him.
Many techniques suggested for dealing with a knife attack or other threats involve catching the attacker’s arm in a wrist grab. Grabbing accurately and firmly may be difficult to achieve in practice.
Hooking your palm over a limb is easier to apply and gives you some measure of temporary control. The forearm may be used in the same manner. Counterpressure from the other hand or forearm may be used to increase control.Counter to an overhead club attack.
If a foe raises their right arm high to use a club, a possible move is to duck in and headbutt to the underarm region. At the same time, attack to hit their solar plexus or sub‑sternal region with a hook punch, palm strike or hammerfist.
You will be in a position where it is difficult to strike you with the club, and most blows will have little power.
Immediately after the attempted torso strike, slip your head behind him and hug him around the chest or over his left shoulder and against his neck.
From this position, use a hip/cross buttock throw.
Variations: Hit under the arm with the shoulder rather than your head. Duck under the arm before moving closer to the body. Use your inner arm to push his chin upward or hook around his left arm to to clamp it to his side.
When studying a technique proposed for use against a knife or club, always be aware of what the foe’s other hand may do.
There is little point controlling their weapon arm if it puts you in a position where the other hand can strike your kidney.
It may be possible for the foe to easily transfer the weapon to their free arm.
Many techniques you may encounter are too complicated. Remember KISS! Will as simpler set of actions be as or more effective?
Real fights often end up with both parties on the ground. Being practised in groundwork techniques is prudent, although some are derived from combat sports and may not work if knives are present.
In most situations, it is foolish to willingly go to ground. Even if you think a confrontation is one-to-one, your foe may have friends nearby. They will happily kick you when you are down if you have given them the opportunity.
Tai chi techniques such as peng/p’eng utilize the forearm and back of the hand. In addition to being used for parrying, this is a useful close-range technique that may be used to push a foe away or off balance.
The forearm may also be used as a striking weapon, either against the body, the throat or an attacking limb.
A strike with the back of the hand may be converted into one with the knife-edge of the hand or hammer-fist when possible.
When grappling, do not interlace your fingers. This may result in injury if a hold is forced open. Hook your hands together by the fingers, or use one of the palm across palm techniques used in various wrestling styles. Or grab one of your wrists or forearm with the other hand.
When doing press-ups or performing “the Plank”, use closed fists. This is better for your wrists and helps condition your hands for punching.
Concentrate the weight on the first two knuckles if the fists are horizontal, the lower two if vertical.
Point-blank is the distance at which a target of a certain size may be hit without significant holdover or hold-under. Point-blank range to hit a tank is much greater than that for a squirrel!
Point-blank does not mean “close-range” or “short-range”. Most people getting something wrong does not make it right.
Many weapon-ammunition-target systems have point-blank ranges in the hundreds of metres.
Concealment prevents you being seen, Cover stops bullets.
An unarmoured vehicle such as a police cruiser offers concealment but very little cover.
Only the engine block is likely to provide any useful cover against gunfire.
Shooting from behind a car door looks cool, but…
If the enemy is shooting, your priority must be finding cover rather than shooting back. If nothing is within sprint range, go prone and exploit any microterrain. Even a street kerb may provide some cover.
Always shoot from cover if possible. If in a door, use the door jamb.
Seek any cover if you have to reload or deal with a weapon malfunction.
There are times to use the sights and a perfect stance, and times to snap-shoot. You need both skills and the wisdom to know when to use which. “Shooting to Live” (Fairbairn & Sykes), the hand gun chapters of “Kill or Get Killed” (Rex Applegate) and “Shooting to Kill” (G.A Elliot) should be essential reading.
There is little point in having a fast-draw if you cannot accurately snap-shoot. If you have time to line up sights and take a stance, you have time to draw normally and avoid the risk of a fumble.
Movies and TV shows often show a character about to enter a room with their gun held muzzle up. This makes for a nice tight dramatic shot.
In real life, keep your muzzle down. If a foe is immediately inside the room they may grapple you to prevent you bringing your firearm to bear. If your muzzle is down you may still fire at their legs, which can be distracting.
The “Lethal T” is a target usually described as a line drawn between the temples and down the centre of the torso.
The vertical of the T actually represents the spine, so is actually down the centre of the back rather than the front or the central axis of the torso. The crossbar may be visualized as a circlet around the brow.
Shooting “centre of mass” (as most people interpret this) is likely to miss the Lethal T unless directly before or behind the foe.
To the visualization of the Lethal T one should also imagine the “vital ball”. This is a 15 to 20 cm sphere within the torso at armpit height.
Shots fired at armpit level of a foe are most likely to hit a vital area. From certain angles such shots will pass through the arm openings of body armour.
Targeting the Lethal T and vital ball is for relatively short ranges where there is sufficient time to aim available.
In combat, range is often uncertain and targets are fleeting. Engagements are often within less than 200 to 300 metres distance.
Shooting high in combat is due to a number of common factors, including shooter and target being at different elevations.
In such conditions, aim at where the foe’s belt buckle would be. This automatically leads a target if they are moving across your field of view or at an angle. If only the head is visible, shoot below chin-level.
At longer ranges, point-of-aim should be shoulder-height or towards the top of the head.
Zero iron sights on the bottom of a target. Scopes and reflex sights should be zeroed on the centre of target.
If you have any choice in the matter, zero your combat rifle to 200 metres. This will be more accurate at the ranges you are most likely to engage targets.
Zero a combat pistol to hit two inches high at 25 yards. At 100 yards the round will have dropped less than twelve inches from point of aim.
Handguns can be used accurately at longer ranges than many users realize. Put in the practice, and they may be used as emergency medium-range hunting or defensive weapons. While a .357 or 10mm shoots flatter than a .45, the difference is only a few inches and generally not significant at useful ranges.
When zeroing an unfamiliar weapon or one new to you, start at a few metres to ensure it actually puts rounds on the paper.
Take the stairs whenever you can. Be thankful you still have the health to do so.
For most of us, the finger jab only has sufficient power as a distraction technique. Learn to throw it with a relaxed arm and body to make it as fast as possible.
This action is worth learning since it has other applications such as making a parry or setting up a throw or takedown. A finger spear “shot” between a foe’s arm and torso might be used to apply an armlock, for example.
In the morning, before you shower, perform “the Plank” on your fists. Immediately after, stand and stretch your hands high above your head. Still stretching, twist your waist to face right and left.
Take several deep breaths to clear your airways.
Variation of the DURA throw (see “Crash Combat”): After ducking under the arm and placing your other hand in contact with the foe’s leg, do not attempt to lift the foe.
Instead, move forward, tilting the foe to move his weight and balance to his left.
Your hand against his calf or shin will prevent him stepping to compensate and he will fall to the side.
A straight limb can only be bent. A partially bent limb may be straightened or bent further, as needed.
Very close? Your shoulder, chest, back, hips, thighs and knees may all be used to bump, strike or knock the foe off balance.
A soft-point or hollow-point load should meet three criteria:
1. The round should be capable of reliably feeding through the mechanism of the weapon using it.
For a revolver or derringer, this may simply be a requirement for the round to fit in the chamber and stay there until fired. Recoil should not case the casing to ride back and foul the gun’s mechanism, for example.
For a round that must feed from a magazine and through a self-loading or other mechanism, the requirements may be more stringent. The bullet must not be deformed or misshapen by loading or firing.
2. The round must have a high chance of reliably expanding at the velocities it is being used at by the gun/ammunition system.
If the round is unlikely to expand, you may be better off shooting solid rounds such as FMJ or semi-wadcutter.
3. Both expansion and penetration is required.
If a round does expand, it should still have sufficient penetration to reach vital organs.
If your hollow-point or soft-point loads give inadequate penetration, you should consider other loads, and be open to the idea that you may need to use non-expanding ammunition.

Survival and Bushcraft

Placing a net or camouflage cloth cover on your headgear does not make it camouflaged.
Not Camouflaged!
Wearing an outfit of the latest fashionable camouflage pattern does not make you camouflaged.
A few token streaks of camo paint on your face does not make you camouflaged.
“Uniform” is the antithesis of “camouflaged”.
Chest rigs and other load-bearing gear intended for field use should have textilage attached to break up its shape. Provision to add natural materials such as foliage should also be included.
For a general purpose survival/hunting .22LR rifle, zero to 35 yards/33 metres. This will give you a point-blank shot against the smallest of game at most practical hunting ranges. Targets far enough away to require hold-over will probably not be visible under usual field conditions.
You would not parachute without a reserve chute. Always have backups, be it the files on your computer, a means of self-defence or a resource for survival.
Having survival items tightly packed or integrated into objects like bracelets makes it more difficult to access them when you really need them. Always assume you will be tired, cold and wet.
Using paracord as boot laces is often suggested. Most miss out the vital detail that if you do use such laces as a source of cordage, you must gut the cord into outer and inner and use one of these to keep your boots on.
Stock up on survival/space blankets, disposable lighters and waterproof ziplock bags. Buy in bulk, you will find many uses for them.
In any outdoor coat, have a survival blanket and disposable lighter, at the minimum. A hank of cotton string can serve as cordage or tinder.
A spare pair of gloves and spare hat in a pocket are also prudent.
A hiking pole or walking staff have too many useful applications to list here. Spears may also be used for many of these tasks. Equipping yourself with one should be a high priority in rural terrain.
A pole or staff will be more comfortable to use if it is long enough that your elbow may be bent at 90 degrees when using it.
A walking staff should be under six feet to allow it to easily navigate doorways. Five foot/1.5 metres is good. Some say as high as your eyebrow, your chin, breastbone etc.
To a pole or staff add a couple of metres of cordage and wrap it LOOSLY around the shaft. This cordage will be readily accessible when needed and may be used as a carrying sling to carry the pole when it cannot carry you.
Many a good movie and novel has been made about survivors trekking to safety.
In most situations, you are better staying with the vehicle or wreckage if possible. Locate resources and construct signals.
Your chances are better if more than one person knows your travel plan and ETA.
If you judge a knife by how well it cuts rope, you will end up with a knife that is a great rope cutter! A survival knife needs to be able to work wood and prepare game and fish.
Only two types of people are injured by their own tools. Those who are unfamiliar with them, and those who are too familiar with them.
Treat all tools with caution and respect.
Despite what you may see on youtube, never cut towards a body-part!
A hunting sling is easily constructed or improvised. Realistically, it will take weeks and probably months of practice before you are accurate enough to be able to hunt small game with a sling.
It is probably more practical to hone your skill at throwing stones by hand.
One of the first survival hunting weapons to construct is a throwing baton. Carve or abrase one end to a point, the other to a wedge. It may then also be used as a digging stick or also serves as a club to dispatch fish or for batonning a knife.
After a throwing baton and a spear, the construction of bolas and Apache/rabbit-stars should be considered.
Apache stars should be big enough to prevent a hit rabbit entering its burrow. Construct from two sticks of about half a metre/18 inches/one cubit length. If possible, use the woodsaw of a penknife to cut a square notch in the centre of each before binding them together.
Bolas are of little use in wooded terrain.
Do not reach your hand anywhere you cannot see. There may be thorns or things that bite and sting. Use your throwing baton, digging stick or staff instead.
The darts offered for commercially produced blowguns are not suitable for hunting, even those designated as “broadheads”.
A survivor is unlikely to have suitable poisons available so must use more effective projectiles.
Darts need to be long to achieve sufficient penetration. Hunting darts used by some indigenous peoples may be nine inches and resemble half-sized arrows.
Darts more effective than the shop-bought junk have been constructed from 3 mm to 5 mm diameter bamboo “satay” skewers or dowels, 10 to 18" long. Coat hanger wire has also been used effectively. Darts made from three inch nails have been used effectively on very small game. Something similar may be made from local natural materials or wreckage.
The tail is just a paper cone( or birch bark) or a blob of cotton wool (sheep's wool, bird or thistle down etc). This design is pretty easy to make in the field.
Blowguns may also be used to project pellets against small game.
If improvising a blowgun, an internal bore diameter of about half an inch is desirable, and a length of more than a metre.
If you do not have a pipe, a semi-circular section channel may be cut in two pieces of material and the halves bound together. Use a taunt string to ensure both channels are cut straight.
Snow on the ground? Footing unstable? Use a stick! So many injuries each winter could be avoided if everyone owned a decent pair of boots, knew how to walk on ice, and used a stick or hiking pole when it was needed.
My girlfriend was about to embark on a long journey by plane, train and bus.
She called for me to produce my stock of ziplock bags. Into on bag went several handfuls of “wet‑wipes”.
Washrooms are likely to be few and far between, and often occupied. With a modest supply of wet‑wipes she can freshen‑up when she wants.
When batoning, use the section of the edge nearest the hilt, unless this part is serrated or scalloped. Also not a good technique to use on double edged knives.
When batoning, hit the back of the blade with a wooden object, not one of metal or stone. Use a hatchet handle rather than the back of the head.
Black is not a good camouflage colour. Calling it “SWAT-black”, “chaos-black”, “ninja-black”, “tactical-black” or such does not make it so.
A bath is relaxing, but not the best way to get clean. You effectively end up soaking in your own dirt!
At the end of a bath, finish by having a shower if possible. A shower is a more efficient time to wash your hair.
When using a seatbelt‑cutter/hook‑knife, cut away from you at an oblique angle. This creates some tension, helping the edge cut. If possible, pull on the strap(s) with the other hand to create tension.
A seatbelt‑cutter/hook‑knife or similar may be used to cut open clothing with less chance of injuring a casualty. They should be included with any larger medical kit, and attached to the outside of the bag with cord.
A cheap butane lighter lights more fires, more easily, than the equivalent weight in matches.
Get the type with a striking wheel. Once the gas has run out it will still produce sparks.
Invest in a number of these before you spend your money on more exotic fire-lighting gadgets.
Your primary survival/emergency items should be carried on your person. You are more likely to remove a jacket or coat than your trousers. Your trouser belt and trouser pockets should carry a useful assortment of items.
Tobacco tins or mint tins are not the best means to carry your emergency items. Often they are such masterpieces of packing that items pop out when opened and are lost in the grass.
There is a danger of thinking their contents are all that is needed.
They carry too few of some useful items, and cannot carry some very useful gear.
Tins are bulky and unpleasant if you sit or fall on them. They are not well suited to being carried in trouser pockets. Carrying them in a belt pouch or jacket pocket is contrary to their intended function.
The only merit of a tin is that it can hold and heat a very small amount of water, possibly to attempt to sterilize a needle or scalpel blade. There are other ways to do this, and it is unlikely the tin will hold enough water to boil the item for an adequate time.
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Phillosoph

Look Out, Get Out, Strike Out!

Look Out: Defence Begins with Awareness

There is no defence without awareness. You must pay active attention to your surroundings.
You are not aware if you are gawping at your phone. Do not walk with a phone in your hand. Keep your phone in a pocket or pouch and only use it when stationary and safe.
Do not walk with your hands in your pockets!
Look where you are going and at the world around you.
Awareness is not just about spotting potential threats. You should be noting possible escape routes, resources or means of defence.
Awareness is more than just sight. Sounds and even scents may provide useful information. Pay more attention to these senses when visibility is restricted.
If you feel someone or something seems “off”, do not ignore this feeling. You may subconsciously be registering body language or other cues that you may be in danger.

Get Out: Defend Before Draw

If attacked, you must evade or redirect the attack before attempting to ready a weapon. Neutralise the attack, then draw and use your weapon.
If an enemy is within three body-lengths distance, you must prioritise defence and evasion over counter-attacking..
If you neglect this, your enemy may have time to wound or kill you, even if you have fatally wounded them. An attacker need not be armed. They may bury their thumbs in your eyes, knock you down and fatally stomp you, or use your own weapons against you. Treat any attack as though there may be a knife, even if you cannot see it.
If you have a weapon ready, combine your attack with an evasion.
If fired on from a distance, do not stand and return fire. Get out of sight, preferably behind hard-cover, before returning fire.
If fired on, get out of sight. Move location, crawling if necessary. Assess the situation and locate the enemy. Return fire, or escape, or manoeuvre, as you judge best.

Strike Out: Hit the Nearest Body Part

Several martial arts advocate “defanging the snake”: attacking the hand or arm holding a weapon.
An extension of this idea is to attack the nearest/most accessible body part.
While this seems obvious when using a weapon, this tactic may also be utilised when unarmed. Hit whatever you can.
Be aware that in addition to your hands, you have your elbows, knees, shoulders, feet and head to attack with. The nearest target may be a foot, leg, hip, shoulder, coccyx, or kidneys.
Lower targets are more easily and rapidly attacked with your feet and knees. Higher targets are better attacked with your upper body weapons. Use what is closest and fastest.
If there is a choice of targets, hit one. Hesitating while you decide which is the better target may result in your missing the opportunity to hit anything. Any attack that lands will have more effect than a more effective strike that misses.
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Phillosoph

A Different Angle on Accuracy and Precision

The other night, I had a dream that insisited that I should go back and re-read a webpage I had encountered about a week ago. This article was the key to a new way to look at accuracy, my dream told me. (Even my subconscious tries to sell me on clickbait, it seems!)

Firing from a squat position

I am not sure this article actually does that, but it makes for interesting reading, the little that I think I understand. Since I do not read Cyrillic and some of the translation choices are unusual, I am missing certain parts.
AKM Golden Ratio
One part that was very clear was:

…monograph of the Central Research Institute of Information “The effectiveness of automatic firing weapons”:“ 3.5. The degree of combining the midpoint of hits with the center of the target ..determines the accuracy of shooting”

This reminds me that the effective range of a weapon system is a product of target size and weapon system accuracy and precision.
Accuracy and Precision Explained

How Accurate Do You Need?

For an example, let us consider a system of a shooter, firearm and ammunition.
Firing semi-automatically, this system manages groups of about two and three-quarter minutes of angle/arc (MOA). This will not impress many of you, but we are considering this system shooting in combat conditions rather than on the target range.
2.75 MOA may be treated as three inches at 100 metres. (It is actually 2.858 inches at 100 yards/91 metres, but we will treat it as the former for purposes of illustration)
A human head is about six inches wide. Providing our shooter can aim and shoot competently, we can expect our shooter to make most head shots within 200 metres. Not too shabby!
Most decisive rifle combat takes place at under 200 metres. Most likely targets will not expose an area much larger than a head. Our three MOA shooter’s accuracy and precision is quite adequate.
As an aside, would it not be more realistic to make all combat targets head-sized? Since targets would only need to be A4-size, this would save paper and money!
The vital area of a deer is also around six inches or more. And most hunters try to take deer at well under 200 metres.
Make things even simpler for yourself by zeroing your rifle to 200 metres. 72% of rifle engagements occur at 200 metres or less.
Learn the correct holdover/aiming point for the rare times you will need a longer shot. There is unlikely to be time to fiddle with your sights and dial up the range.
What about torso shots? A human is about 18 inches across the shoulders, about three times the width of the head. Our shooter should be able to put bullets within a torso out to about 600 metres. 
It is worth remembering, however, that a bullet takes around a second to reach 600 metres. Even if you are a trained sniper, you will have to make a shot like this as a surprise attack.
If the enemy is aware of you and dodging, ducking and dashing, hits are going to be more a product of luck than skill. Might be better to save ammo until it may be used more effectively?
Shots against active, distant targets are best left to the machine guns, mortars and artillery. A machine gun that was firing at 2.75 MOA would probably be well regarded. At 600 metres it would put most of its burst into an area less than man-sized.
Full frontal torso shots may actually be rare under certain combat conditions. Many targets will be in cover and not exposing much more than their heads. What torso shots can be made, will be against targets crossing your line of sight or moving obliquely.
If we consider the apparent average torso width here as about twelve inches, we can expect our shooter to make hits out to 400 metres, should targets be actually visible at this distance. 97% of rifle engagements do not exceed 400 metres.
Our shooter should keep his rifle at a 200 metre zero and aim somewhere between armpit- and chin-height. This will produce a hit somewhere on the torso from 200 metres+. A higher aim point may be needed as range approaches 400 metres and beyond. The bullet will hit about 30 cm low of the aim point at 300 metres, three-quarters of a metre low at 400 metres.
Time of flight to 300 or 400 metres will be about a third of a second, so he should lead his target a little, but not too much.
So far we have only considered semi-automatic fire. If our shooter fires on fully automatic and measures the diameter of the group produced, effective range for automatic fire against head and torso targets may be calculated.

Conclusion

The Russian article makes the point that there is little point in adopting a more accurate/precise rifle if the sights are flawed.
The small group the AN-94’s hyperburst produces just makes it more probable for both rounds to miss the intended target if the aim point is wrong.
Generally, it is the shooter rather than the weapon or ammo that is the limiting factor.
Many of you reading this are capable of shooting a rifle better than 2.75 MOA.
If so, you are have adequate precision for realistic combat/defensive scenarios, which are most likely at less than 200 metres.
The ideal iron sight for combat would probably be an L-flip sight with a 5mm aperture zeroed to 200m and a 1.75mm aperture zeroed to 400m.
But, for such an application, does even higher precision actually contribute to a real increase in functionality?
As long as the group we shoot is smaller than the area of the likely target, at likely engagement ranges, is a smaller group actually a practical advantage?
Is it even possible that a tighter group may decrease our chances of hitting the intended target if our aim is slightly off?
Something to ponder before you hand over your hard-earned cash for the latest customization or accessory to give your defensive or deer rifle even greater sub-MOA performance?
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Phillosoph

Backup a .45 with a 9mm

As we transition into the Third Wave, we will meet new and evolved challenges.
Surveillance capabilities are likely to expand by at least an order of magnitude. Not only will there be many new ways to gather data, but technology such as artificial intelligences (AI) will greatly increase the capability to process such data into meaningful information within a useful time frame.
More so than in the past, information will be both a currency and a weapon.
In such a light, I have been thinking a little on the requirements of covert operations.
A satellite cannot see into a desk drawer. A drone flying down an office corridor is likely to be noticed. There are some places computer hackers cannot look.
HUMINT and Covert or clandestine operations are likely to remain important for a considerable time. This will involve close proximity to other, possibly hostile individuals. Many environments will not permit the overt carry of weapons.
I have also been watching some post-apocalyptic fiction, so have also been considering the field of logistics, particularly in a SHTF or TEOTWAWKI scenario.
Your best option is to always avoid combat. If you must defend yourself, a long-arm such as a shotgun or rifle is the preferred choice.
There will be, however, many situations when a long-arm will not be available. For example, enemy surveillance capabilities may mark as a target anyone carrying an object that might be a long-arm or other weapon. This brings us to handguns.

Primary Handgun

I have written quite a bit about this topic on this blog and in my book “Survival Weapons”, so will not repeat myself here. Suffice to say, when combat is serious and at close-range you want a handgun that is as effective as is practical. That means an automatic pistol in .45 ACP.
A .45 ACP will not drop a target every time. No round can be guaranteed to do this. The .45 is simply the best of the options there are.
In “Shooting” (1930), J, Henry Fitzgerald notes that at most ranges game is taken, a handgun is as accurate as a rifle, and more accurate than many hunters can shoot. With reasonable shot placement, a 230gr .45 will do the job a 180gr .30 rifle bullet can. Fitzgerald doesn't bother with specialised hunting guns. He was happy to use his 2" barrelled .45 FitzSpecials. This makes me wonder if a .45 Glock 30 with a 3.8" barrel might be way more versatile than most shooters expect!
Of the relatively few autos in .45 that are available, top of the pile has to be the Glock 30. The Glock 30 is hard hitting, high-capacity, compact, light, reliable, and simple to operate. Standard magazine is ten rounds, but the weapon can also take the 13-round magazines of larger Glock .45s. That is nearly twice the capacity of the larger M1911A1!
The only downside may be a logistical one. Since the US military retired the M1911A1 Colt in favour of the Beretta M9, .45 ammunition has become less readily available. Outside North and South America, .45 ammo may be difficult to acquire.

Backup Handgun

Thinking on this matter, I will propose a strategy that may be of use to some readers, particularly in a long-term scenario.
If your handgun is likely to serve as your primary weapon, it is prudent to have a backup or two.

The Pocket Gun

Elsewhere, I have discussed how a lightweight, “hammerless”, short-barrelled revolver can be carried in an outside pocket and may be more accessible than a larger holstered weapon covered by a coat or jacket. There is no hammer or slide to catch in the pocket lining should you have to fire from within the pocket.
Unfortunately, such useful weapons only hold five or six rounds. In the heat of combat, reloading revolvers has often proven more involved than a simple magazine swap, no matter how smooth the former could be achieved in training.

The 9mm Backup Option

The idea that I am proposing is to back-up your .45 with a 9x19mm automatic. To keep the weight down, my weapon of choice would be a Glock 19. Many of these are available second hand, so may be found for a good price. If your sense of symmetry is offended by using a compact 9mm as a backup for a subcompact .45, the Glock 26 is an alternative.
Glock 19 Pistol
All Glocks can take the magazines of larger models in the same calibre. The Glock 26 uses a ten-round magazine and can take the 15-round magazine of the Glock 19. Both the Glock 19 and Glock 26 can take larger capacity 9mm magazines. These are available in a wide range of capacities, from 17 to 33 rounds.
9x19mm ammunition (aka 9mm Luger/Parabellum) is more likely to be encountered than .45. It is probably safe to say you will find 9x19mm anywhere you can find ammunition. 9x19mm may be harder to find in China or some former-Soviet states, but even in these regions there are 9x19mm weapons.
Rhona Mitra holding a Glock 19
It makes sense to have a weapon that can use 9mm ammo, and save your .45 for situations that really need it.
There are a lot of Glock 17s and 19s out there in the world, so there is a chance your “battlefield-pickups” may already be in a compatible magazine.
Conserve your .45 supply by using the 9mm to shoot-off locks, signal, scare-off aggressive animals, coup-de-grâce wounded animals and similar. Mel Tappan considered the 9x19mm round as good for hunting game in the 100-125 lb range (in the absence of a long-arm). Thus, your 9mm backup can be used to forage for small to medium game. Anything wolf-size or smaller.
The higher velocity 9mm has a flatter trajectory than a .45, although the actual difference at practical ranges in only a few inches. The flatter trajectory may be useful for certain applications. The 9mm could be used for suppressive fire, saving your .45 for conducting or repelling an assault.
Against flesh, a non-hollowpoint 9mm penetrates about the same distance as a non-hollowpoint .45. The .45 makes a wider wound channel, hence superior physiological effect.
Against other materials, the lighter, faster, smaller 9mm may penetrate better than the .45. The .45 Thompson was regarded as the preferred solution to road-block runners in the 1920s and 30s, so I would be reluctant to assume that the penetration of fast 9mm always exceeds the inertia of the heavier .45.
A comparison of 9mm and .45 ammunition on a variety of building materials and vehicle parts might be a useful article or video!
If you are carrying two automatic pistols of different calibre, or even different models, the question of how many magazines to carry for the spare gun arises. Perhaps a standard-capacity magazine in the well: a 15-round for the G-19, or a ten-round for the G-26. With this, carry at least one higher capacity (17+) magazine.

Don't Believe the Hype!

There are folks who will tell you that new ammunition now makes the 9mm the equal of a .45.
Quite frankly, that is bollocks!
Any design innovation or configuration that you can apply to a 9mm to make it more effective can also be applied to a .45 for a further improvement of the latter.
No bullet design may be relied upon to work perfectly every time. Hollow-point cavities may get plugged by debris or clothing. The main predator you may need to defend yourself against wears clothing!
A .45 that fails to mushroom makes a bigger wound channel than a 9mm that fails to mushroom. Some 9mm that do mushroom do not create a wound channel much wider than a .45 that does not mushroom.
Also, realize that most of the 9mm ammunition you are going to encounter is not going to be in some new and improved wunderkugel-JHP. In fact, a lot of the 9mm rounds out there are FMJ. A .45 firing FMJ is more effective than a 9mm firing FMJ.
Incidentally, there are tools and devices available that can add hollow-point cavities to FMJ ammunition. Some of them seem to be reasonably prices so may be worth adding to your survival resources.
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Phillosoph

Crash Course in Rifle

A friend of mine was reading about the training of conscripts in Taiwan. He referenced some of the articles I have written about making training more relevant. These include my blog on the “Murray System” and the book that derived from it, my book “Crash Combat”.
Crash Combat is about unarmed and non-firearm combat. For a more generic training program, where would I start?
Probably, near the start, would be an introduction to practical use of the rifle, taught in several phases:

Introduction Phase

• Basic safety and orientation.
• Perceive, Recognize, Engage.
• Load, unload and clearing.
• Anatomy for shooters: The Lethal T, the belt-buckle aim and the armpit line.
No one goes past the introduction phase until the instructor is convinced all students are competent and mature in their handling of firearms and their behaviour on the range.

Phase One

This phase teaches shooting from behind cover, from various positions. It ingrains the habit of always using available cover, while teaching shooting posture fundamentals.
Firing from a squat position
Start with prone position and move on to other positions such as kneeling, sitting and squatting.
Key points:
• Fire around rather than over cover when possible.
• Keep low. Never be reluctant to get close to the dirt.
• Always use cover when possible.
• Use cover when reloading and clearing stoppages.
• What parts of a gun not to rest in contact with hard cover when firing.
• Includes section on correct techniques to use when firing from windows.
Phase one is conducted with half-silhouette targets of various sizes, engaged at relatively short ranges, such as 20 to 50 metres. Sights zeroed to 200 metres are used for all shooting.
Emphasis in this phase is on building the student’s confidence in their shooting while teaching good shooting postures and tactical positions.
There are no scores, shots being judged as either hits or misses. Reactive targets that make a noise, fall or flash a light when hit will prove useful.

Phase Two

Phases two is dry firing. It is effectively kata for guns, or tai chi with triggers.
As recommended by Elliot, students practice mounting their rifle to bring it smoothly up to firing position. This is practised in the various postures learnt in phase one.
Mounting is combined with tracking, breathing and trigger exercises:
• Tracking involves keeping a mounted weapon moving to pursue, swing through and lead a moving target.
• Breathing involves synchronizing the respiratory cycle with the moment of firing to minimize unintended movement of the weapon.
• Trigger exercise is developing a trigger “press” that causes minimum displacement of the barrel.

Phase Three

Phase three is Quick Kill training.
Airguns/airsoft guns with the sights removed are used to engage small thrown targets. This builds on the instinctive pointing and tracking skills developed in phase two. Phase three teaches effective engagement skills for situations when there is insufficient time to align sights or when sights are not visible.

Phase Four

Introduction to room-clearing techniques. The likelihood of operations in urban terrain means a familiarity with room clearing must become a fundamental skill-set of any firearm user.
• Shooting on the move and while sidestepping.
For safety, phase four may be practised with airsoft weapons.

Phase Five

Phase five is preceded by a short review of leading a target, and the effects, or lack of, of wind and elevation upon aim.
Phase five is a repeat of phase one, but the engagement range is increased up to 250m.
Students may be required to crawl to a firing position, or use other appropriate modes of tactical movement.
Target shooting, long-range shooting, volley fire and other fields can be taught later. Soldiers with an aptitude for these disciplines can be encouraged accordingly.
The five phases are designed to quickly produce riflemen that can respond quickly and accurately against threats that occur within likely engagement ranges and terrain.
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Phillosoph

Leading Targets for Lead

If some field manuals are to be believed, determining the lead for a moving target involves:
• Correctly determining the range to the target.
• Remembering the time a bullet will take to reach that distance.
• Estimating the speed of movement of the target. For added complexity estimate this in miles per hour and convert.
• Calculate how far the target will move in the time the bullet gets to reach it, and aim that distance ahead.
• Don't forget to halve the value if the target is moving obliquely.
You will probably have under a second to do this as the target dashes between cover.
Andrew G. Elliot, “Shooting to Kill”:
“The impossibility of judging this consciously will be realized when it is explained that a target moving at this range and speed scarcely allows time to place the rifle to the shoulder without making complicated mathematical calculations.
“In war, as distinct from print, there is hardly time to aim at all, and that is why the whole technique must become so natural that it is carried out without thought.
“…The secret of hitting a moving target is simple. Follow the target with your aim for a few seconds to judge its speed, then just before firing, quite instinctively and without any conscious allowance, you will find that you swing a little in front of the enemy.
Always keep your eye on the target, and for a moving one, on the front of it, so that- if you are shooting a running Nazi, focus the front buttons of his tunic.
“…In shooting moving targets, one need not worry about the sights. The Nazis will rarely give you any time for that!
“To prove that instinctive allowance is easier than conscious effort, it has been found that many men can shoot better in the semi-darkness than in daylight. I myself have often shot running rabbits with a rifle when the light was such that I could only just see the animal’s outline.”
Elliot was a big advocate of soldiers spending time practising raising, swinging through and dry-firing their rifles. This was time much better spent than squarebashing.
Note that swinging through is not the same as the tracking of a target that some manuals describe. Swing through overtakes the target.
The swing-through method of leading a target cannot always be used. From certain postures or firing positions it is difficult to use. In such an instance one must use the ambush method. Aim at a point in space and fire when the moving target is the correct lead distance from your aim point.
For simplicity, the following will assume targets are dismounted personnel. Shooting at drones, aircraft and vehicles will not be covered today.
Note that if you need to quantify a target's velocity, it is more useful to judge it in metres per second than units such as miles per hour or km/h. This is something that you can observe and make use of in the field.

Depths of Lead

Possibly the easiest technique to learn is found in field manuals for the M14. The M14 was zeroed to 250 metres so the nearer aim point is also lower to allow for trajectory and provide hold-under.
Depth of Lead for Moving Target
The method is based around a measure I call a “depth of lead”. This is approximately the depth of a human torso, from sternum to spine. It is also roughly a foot if you are viewing your target side on. If the target is moving at an angle to you, the depth will appear smaller and the amount of lead you apply will be automatically reduced.
Bear in mind that lead is often overestimated. At less than 50 metres most moving targets will not need leading. Those that will will only need aim shifted towards the leading edge.
For targets that are more distant, or moving fast:
• If the target is moving slowly (less than 2 metres per second), and within 200 m, aim at the leading edge or the button-line/belt-buckle.
• If speed is slow but range greater than 200 m, add one depth of lead.
• If moving fast, but within 200 m, add one depth of lead.
• If moving fast AND beyond 200 m, add two depths of lead.
The amount of lead this gives may differ somewhat from a calculated value. Given all the other factors in play during combat, it is generally “close enough for government work”.
Two complimentary systems will be mentioned:

USMC Points of Aim

This first is that given in USMC MCRP 3.01A Rifle Marksmanship.
This is an excellent work for fundamentals and how to utilize iron sights.
The “point of aim” system appears to resemble the “point of depth” method, but has differences.
Marine Point of Aim for Lead
“One point of Aim” in the marine manual is actually aiming directly at the target's leading edge. (The above illustration could be clearer on this.)
“Two points of Aim” is placing the top corner of the trailing edge of the front post on the target's leading edge. Two points of aim is used for a fast-walking (2 m/s) target at 300 metres or a running (3+ m/s) target at 200 m.
These leads are reduced for targets not moving perpendicularly.
The actual offset this will produce will depend on the apparent width of the front post.

US Army Single Lead Rule

Single Lead Rule
The technique given for leading a target in US Army FM 3-22.9 (August 2008) at first glance seems the same as MCRP 3.01A.
The army “Single Lead Rule” actually uses the trailing edge corner of the post to sight with.
Unlike the marine method, the corner of the post is targeted on the centre rather than the leading edge. This technique automatically increases the amount of lead as distance increases. Lead is approximately 5 MOA (about 15 cm/half a foot at 100 metres). If you miss, increase lead.
7 mph is about 3 m/sec.
The manual notes: “At 100 meters, the rule begins to break down for targets moving at slight and large angles.”
Despite this, it seems a useful technique to get in the ballpark.
AT4 Slow TargetAT4 Fast Target
This aiming technique is very similar to that used for the AT4/M136 anti-tank weapon.
For a slow target the post is placed on the leading edge of the vehicle.
For faster targets one of the “horns” is placed on the centre of the target.
Aiming at faster targets such as jeeps and technicals does not yet seem to have made it into the copies of the manuals I have. Placing the horn on the leading edge seems like a logical place to start.
Amusingly, the copy of FM3-22.9 I have insists that iron sights on the M16/M4 are now only for backup. The entire section on leading a target only refers to the use of iron sights!
Below is an example of using the ACOG sight with a depth of lead-type method. Using frontal silhouettes is misleading.
Depth of lead with ACOG reticle
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Phillosoph

Aim Low! Avoid Disappointment!

Because it is what was taught in basic, many shooters assume that “center of mass” is the optimum approach to bullet placement. It isn't.
Firstly, “center of mass” is something of a misnomer. What we are actually attempting is placing the bullet in the centre of visible shape. While the term “center of mass” is freely used, it is seldom defined. I think of it as the centre of an X drawn from shoulders to hips, but I suspect others may use different visualizations.
If you have learnt a little anatomy, such as reading “Attack, Avoid, Survive”, you will understand that putting a bullet into the centre of shape will often avoid hitting the central nervous system unless the enemy is running straight at you.
Often you will not have a shot at the torso. When a head appears around cover, firing at its centre will often result in a miss. A better point of aim is about an inch below the visible area.
Center of mass does have its uses. It is taught since it is felt to be easy to learn, and it is because it is what we have always done. Against a vehicular target, center of mass (or leading edge) is a good aimpoint. If you are springing an ambush, chaos and disruption are primary objectives. Multiple wounding shots or near misses may be more effective in that context than a lesser number of clean kills.
In “Attack, Avoid, Survive” and “Survival Weapons”. I explained shot placement in the context of anatomy. If you have a relatively good view of your target, or sufficient time, this is your best approach.
The following two illustrations are of interest:
Shot Placement for Snipers
The first is taken from a WW2 manual for American snipers (FM21-75 Feb, 1944 p.172). The rifle was zeroed to 400 yards and the shooter encouraged to use offset aiming rather than adjusting their sights. Note that at 400 yards the intended target appears to be the armpit-level line, as advocated in my own books. At less than 400 yards, the sniper is recommended to aim twelve inches below the intended point of impact.
M14 Aim Points
The second illustration is from a manual for the M14, which was zeroed to 250 metres. At ranges of less than 200 metres the round would hit high so soldiers were taught to aim at the bottom edge of the “center mass”.
Most military rifles are zeroed to 300 yards or metres. Some older models have battle sights set for 400 yards. Yet most combat shots are made at less than 200 metres, where the bullet is expected to hit several inches above the point of aim! Any wonder that shooting directly at a face will so often miss?
In combat, it is common for troops to shoot high anyway. This is partially stress, but also poor visibility makes targets appear more distant. Fog, smoke or darkness, or a low shooting posture, will cause a shooter to tend to fire high, Differences in elevation will also have an effect.
Firing through a sloped windscreen will tend to deflect a bullet upwards. This occurs if outside firing in or inside firing out. The solution is to aim low.
Often a target will be at a higher or lower elevation. You may be firing down from a hill, or being fired upon from an upper window or roof.
The actual range to the target is not a straight line between the shooter and target. Imagine a right-angled triangle, with the shooter at one corner and the target at the other. It doesn't matter which is higher, since the effect is exactly the same both “uphill” and “downhill”. The direct distance between shooter and target would be the hypotenuse of the triangle. As far as the bullet and gravity are concerned, the relevant distance is horizontal, the length of the triangle base. The true or horizontal range will always be shorter than the slant range.
Using a 5:4:3 triangle for illustration, the horizontal distance will be 20-40% less than the direct line between target and shooter. Shots up or from elevations tend to hit high.
There are two solutions to these effects. If you have any choice in the matter, zero your combat rifle to 200 metres so that it tends to hit what you point at. This gives a mid-range trajectory of only two or three inches.
For longer ranged shots, learn the correct holdover and offset aim-point. Tactically, you are often better off waiting for an enemy to get close or pass by.
Long-range engagements are better left to machine-gunners, mortars, snipers and riflemen with aptitude.
The second solution is to make the belt-buckle your default point of aim. I believe there is an episode of the Simpsons where Homer claims the family moto is “Aim Low! Avoid Disappointment!”.
• If you are at a higher or lower elevation, aim at the target's belt-buckle.
• If you are uncertain of the range, aim at the belt-buckle. A short shot may still glance off the ground and hit the target.
• If the target is moving, visualize the belt-buckle and aim for it. This method automatically tends to adjust for relative angle of motion. If the target is moving obliquely aiming for the buckle will put less lead on the shot.
• If a target is moving towards you, aim for the belt buckle or lower. The use of shots at the pelvis against charging enemies is explained in Attack, Avoid, Survive.
• Unless range is very short, snap shots should be aimed at the belt-buckle.
• A target may be prone, or looking around cover. Aim your shot about an inch below the visible target area. A low shot may still endanger the target.
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Phillosoph

Crash Combat Fourth Edition Out Now!

I am pleased to announce that the Fourth (and final!) Edition of Crash Combat has now become available.

This version has been extensively expanded, being about 50% longer than the first edition.
More content, extra illustrations, more techniques, new techniques and generally much more book for your money.
In addition, much of the book has been rewritten and restructured so information is more easily assimilated and learnt.
While Crash Combat was originally written for a military context, it remains relevant to any individual wishing to learn to protect themselves in this dangerous and uncertain world.
Visit the Author Spotlight for my other books.
May be purchased direct from Lulu.com in either print or epub format.
It will take a few more days or more for this version to appear with other retailers.
Buying from Lulu costs you less and more of the money goes to the author.
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Phillosoph

Modern Quick-Draw for Self-Defence

Recently I have been thinking a little on the subjects of quick-draw and hip-shooting.
One reason for this is that I treated myself to the Kindle Edition of “Shooting” by J. Henry FitzGerald. A very entertaining read and lots of information that is still useful, even if the book was written in 1930.
Expect me to refer back to this work in future posts. I highly recommend it.
At around the same time, I came across an article on quick-draw by Elmer Keith.
Unfortunately the print quality is too poor for me to reproduce it here.
Much of the article is padding and anecdotes, but there were a couple of useful ideas within. The article was originally in “American Rifleman” Sep 1938. Reproduced in Poor Man’s James Bond, Vol.5, Kurt Saxon.
“No Second Place Winner” by Bill Jordan is also worth a read on this topic.
I also reread Fairbairn and Sykes’ (F&S) “Shooting to Live”. This is another “must read”, although it doesn’t have a lot on quick-draw. While most of the F&S technique is not hip-shooting, it did provide some insight.
The main reason I decided to discuss this topic was due to some of the videos I viewed. The cowboy action shooters I will discuss in a moment.
Most of the “non-cowboys” would quick draw their weapons, then slow down as they locked their arms straight, lined up their sights, held their breath and did all the other things their shooting guru of preference recommends.
Most took more than a second to draw and fire. Some individuals were faster, but still we were looking at around three-quarters of a second.
In the early part of Shooting to Live, the authors state that the considerable experience of the Shanghai Police had found making a hit within a third of a second was desirable to officer survival. Admittedly, this was not necessarily quick-draw from a holster.
Gun Magazines love to fill their column inches with “either/or” binary propositions.
One example of these is “Frontier style” vs “Aimed Technique”.
For the duration of this article, I would like you to forget all you have read along these lines and temporarily accept two other propositions:
• There is a time for aimed pistol fire, and there are times when there is no time for aimed fire.
• If you have to quick-draw, you need to put lead in the target in the shortest time possible.
“Shoot double action if it is at short range and quick draw is not necessary at long range.”
Shooting. FitzGerald, J. Henry. Sportsman's Vintage Press. Kindle Edition.
Doc Holiday and Wynonna

The Cowboys

Cowboy action shooting actually proved less useful than I expected.
Certainly the fast-draw experts are very fast. However, this is achieved by firing as soon as the muzzle is out of the holster. The muzzle may be right above the holster.
To speed this up, most cowboy action shooters would lean backwards.
This technique is not really applicable to self-defensive shooting. If someone is likely to be shooting back, you will probably be crouched forward. You also may have to quick-draw from a seated position where you cannot lean back.
My other reservation is that I have no idea how important accuracy is to cowboy quick-draw shooting competitions.
One shooter did say something about accuracy coming with a few thousand practice rounds. Perfecting literal hip-shooting may be beyond the means of many of us.
Some aspects of cowboy fast-draw are specific to single-action only weapons such as the Colt Peacemaker. Practical defensive handguns should have a double-action mode.
The best advice I got from my brief dip into cowboy quick-draw was “Don’t hold your breath!” As we know for other fields of combat training, relaxed bodies and untensed muscles move faster.

When Not to Draw

In a past blog, I referenced a video of some young guys practicing fast-draws against charging training partners and imaginary enemies.
As I commented then, “speed and skills were impressive, their tactics deplorable”.
No matter how fast you are, if an enemy is rushing in from close range, your first move should be to get out of the way.
A well placed palm-strike or trip may drop them more effectively than any bullet. Once the immediate threat has past, then is the time to draw your weapon.
See “Attack, Avoid, Survive” and “Survival Weapons” for more on this topic.
If a target is within a few metres, thrusting your gun nearer towards them may not be prudent.
There a numerous ways to dodge out of the line of fire at such ranges.
You may have brought your hand(s) into range of unarmed, blade or baton attacks.

Quarter-Hip Position

Quarter-Hip Firing Position

I am showing the F&S “quarter-hip” position here since it has some parallels to cowboy hip shooting.
Fairbairn and Sykes suggest this only be used at ranges of a yard or less.
The gun is held back so an attacker cannot reach it. The free-hand can be used to fend off the attacker.
F&S note that this is the only one of their firing techniques where the gun is not fired from the centre-line.
It can be fired parallel to the centre-line, although there is an obvious difference of half a body-width. It can be fired to intersect the centre-line, although this will require more skill at greater ranges.
I show a similar position in “Survival Weapons” and “Attack. Avoid, Survive”. Keep the free-hand well out of the possible line of fire.

Safety

As should be done before any firearm training, or handling, verify the loaded status of your firearm.
For dry-firing, chamber or chambers should be emptied. With some weapons a loaded magazine can be left in place to keep the mass realistic. A revolver will need dummy cartridges instead.
Some semi-automatics need the backward movement of the slide to recock their strikers. Magazines of live rounds should not be fitted for dry-firing practice with these models.
Draw using the lower three fingers of your hand. The trigger finger should not touch the trigger during the drawing phase. The trigger only comes into contact with the trigger when the muzzle is pointed at the target.

Consistency

The principle of consistency applies to many phases of training.
Train with the weapon, holster and holster position that you are most likely to be in when a potential need occurs.
A holster that always stays in the same relative position is obviously an advantage.
Accuracy comes from the weapon always firing from the same relative position.

Efficiency

Speed comes from efficiency.
A quick-draw has three stages: the draw, the point and firing.
Work to make each of these phases with the minimum of wasted motion.
Make the transitions between them as as efficient and smooth as possible.
The movement of the hand from the start of the draw until firing should be a single continuous motion.

Patience

To learn quick-draw safely, you should accept that you will have to practice at least several months without firing a round.
You will be tempted to try it with live rounds, “just to see how it is going”. Do not!
You will only be ready for live ammunition practice once you can honesty say that you have the phases of the draw and its whole working as efficiently as you can.
Start off at a slow speed. Trying to be fast is counter-productive. Speed will increase as you get smoother with practice.

The Quick-Draw

How you draw will depend on where you carry your holster, your weapon, your physique, manner of dress and many other factors.
Your free-hand may need to be involved to pull your jacket open or lift your shirt while the other hand draws.
For a strong-side holster, the most efficient draw may be simply to lift the pistol upwards out of the holster. As soon as the muzzle is clear of the holster, the action of pointing it towards the target begins.
Shorter weapons are theoretically quicker to draw than longer ones.
In practice, an excess of force is used on the draw and, within limits, length has little significant effect.
Shorter weapons are more practical to wear if you have to spend anytime seated.
Compact/subcompact automatics of 7"/180mm loa. or less are recommended.
If you have to use a revolver, have a snub with a barrel of less than 3"/76mm.
Big bore options for revolver shooters include .45 Long Colt, .45 ACP, .44 Spl and .45LC/.410.

The Point

If we are quick-drawing, it is because we need to put lead in a bad guy ASAP!
Logically, this means we fire as soon as the muzzle is pointing at the target. For the cowboy shooters this is a fraction after the muzzle is clear of the holster. With a typical low-slung cowboy rig, this is literally shooting from the hip.
For a shoulder carry, your weapon may be as high as chest-level when it points at the target. For most modern belt holsters, the gun will first point at the target at between groin and chest-level.
“Hip-shooting” should not be taken too literally. I prefer to think of it as “sub-shoulder level shooting”.
If your gun reaches eye-level before you fire, you have waited too long!
To continue my example of a quick-draw from a strong-side holster: Once the muzzle is out of the holster, straighten your wrist while at the same time pushing your gun-hand forward onto your centre-line. This is a very simple action that can be made very smoothly, particularly if your body is relaxed. Draw and point are thus a simple lift and then push sequence.
Raising the gun out of the holster probably raised your shoulder. The action of dropping the shoulder helps push the gun towards the target.
Keep your trigger finger clear of the trigger until your gun points toward the target.
If your weapon uses a safety, do not release your safety until beginning to point towards the target.
If your weapon is single-action, cock as the target comes before your muzzle.
The weapon is aimed by turning the hips to place the target on your centre-line.
A sighting laser can prove useful when dry-firing. Plastic or wax ammunition can also prove useful.
Half-Hip Firing Position
For purposes of illustration, the F&S “half-hip” firing position (above). F&S suggest this for ranges of three yards.
Actual angle of the elbow will depend on factors such as physique and holster position. The elbow angle will probably be more obtuse, although a high draw may make it acute.
The point to observe here is the weapon is on the centre-line and pointed at the target.
In fact, the actual firing position may look closer to the F&S “three-quarter” position. This was for a crouched position and used for targets at three or four yards. Like the half-hip position, the gun was fired while still below the eye-line. This position is an intermediate phase of raising the pistol up to eye-level.
Three-Quarter Firing Position

The Free Hand

As already mentioned, your free-hand might have an important role in making your fast-draw.
Whether you need your free-hand or not, you should practice drawing so that your free-arm does not in anyway hinder or obstruct the draw. Shooting your own fingers off is not good form!
The technique described here may be made as either a one-handed or two-handed technique. As the gun-hand is pushed towards the centre-line, the other hand comes inward and upward to intercept it and come into a two-handed grip.
Assuming a two-handed grip should disengage the safety with the free-hand (“fumble insurance!”).

Bang!

As soon as the weapon points at the target, fire.
Ideally, your handgun should have a double-action mode.
A weapon without a manual safety, or that can safely be carried without this engaged should be selected.
I have plenty of reverence for weapons like the Colt Government Model and Peacemaker, but when it comes to personal defence, and particularly quick-draw, your handgun should be as simple, straight-forward and as least fiddly to operate as possible.
Through the entire drawing process, your eyes should have been locked on your target, not your weapon.
You should have adjusted your body to place the target on your centre-line.
If your weapon has reached the centre-line and is pointing at the target, there is no reason to delay firing.
A standing human is taller than they are wide. If you have the aggressor on your centre-line, there is some margin for the elevation of your weapon.
A first-round hit is very likely at the sort of ranges fast-draw would be used at.
The pointing technique suggested tends to put the plane of the barrel parallel to the ground.
Accuracy and precision can be improved with practice, of course.
A pair of silhouette targets, set up about six feet apart and eight feet away, is a good start.
The Elmer Keith article had the useful suggestion that something like a tomato can laid on the earth was a good target for improvement. Missed shots were easily seen as impacts with the earth. Objects floating in bodies of water were also suggested as good targets (although lead in a water systems is now frowned on).
As your accuracy increases, so too will the effective range of this technique.

Conversion

Something I like about this particular system of quick-draw is that it nicely integrates with other fast-shooting techniques.
Once the first shot is fired at half-hip or three-quarter position, the arm can continue to straighten and rise up to eye-level.
If you are shooting using the basic F&S technique, you fire as soon as the weapon reaches eye-level.
If you have a shade more time, you use your foresight like a shotgun bead and place it on the target. This is how you would use a reflex sight.
If your fast first shot has brought you more time, you can line up and use the iron sights.
Bringing the gun on to the centre-line may be fractionally slower than firing from over the hip. I think this is compensated for by the benefits this has to making accurate shot placement easier.