Point Shooting 2:

Ongoing conversation with 'Pete' about point shooting adds further thoughts on this topic

Rex Applegate Demonstrates His POINT SHOOTING Technique With 9 mm Pistol:

Fairbairne, Sykes, & Applegate worked together on training techniques between the war years and their 'point shooting' system is sometimes referred to as the 'FSA' method. 

- If you check-out the sights of the pistols used back then it will help you understand how ignoring the sights had only a small bad effect on shot placement. The sights back then were VERY small and you needed excellent focus to be able to align them. My recently bought MAB Model D's prompted an immediate search for my round section needle file to open-up the rear sight notch.

  I have done some timed or "speed shooting" over the years - mostly IPSC practical shooting. - I have tried timed plate shooting but was useless - however 'bowling pin matches' were hilariously good fun before safety considerations ruled them out here .. I used to leave "pin" matches with my whole face aching from smiling & laughing for hours. -   Practical shooting is very challenging because it requires accurate shooting under the pressure with your score being divided by the length of time you take to complete each stage.

Scoring Zones Of Classic IPSC Card Target

There are so many ways to set a challenging IPSC style course including using the reverse face of the card as a 'No-Shoot' target .. with any miss-hit logging negative points ..

No-Shoot targets seem to have a magnetic attraction for some (me) - even when club matches are run using 'two-twos' just for fun and safety training.

"You can't miss fast enough to win" ..

_________________

'Pete' says: A fascinating topic. Point shooting is so different to the common "Weaver" triangular shooting stance commonly seen on shooting ranges nowadays. Viewed with derision as an anachronism from a bygone era where law enforcement officers and SOE agents used .32ACP pistols, point shooting is nevertheless based on real life pistol combat experience by military and law enforcement.

Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald:

'Pete' comments: 
There are two versions of point shooting, one you often see in 1930s and 40s gangster films, where a hero or villain holds up others in a room with a revolver held down at his hip, wrist bent upwards. Advantage is that he is difficult to disarm or for someone to knock the gun to one side. Disadvantage is that shooting is literally unaimed as he cannot line up the gun visually but relies on instinctive pointing.

A related, actual "point shooting" technique, is literally pointing your index finger at the target while using your middle finger to operate the trigger. This has the advantage of a better pinch grip of the gun between index finger and thumb and also a more straight pull on the trigger. Your middle finger has straighter-running flexor tendons. If you seek a real-life example of this, check a photo of Jack Ruby taking out Lee Harvey Oswald, shooting from the hip and using his middle finger on his snubnose revolver's trigger. Could mean Ruby was well-trained, certainly his aim was good, but the reason he used his middle finger as trigger finger was that he had lost his index finger!

The more practical point shooting technique, gun raised, which actually IS a method of eye aiming (albeit not with the sights) is described by Colonel Rex Applegate of the Office of Strategic Services in his book "Kill Or Be Killed", (1943) p119. This by the way is the stance adopted by the G-men in the photo in the article above. Many situations preclude use of the sights, both for reasons of ambient light but also because using the sights carries a time penalty.

p119
"Shooting By Instinctive Pointing

This method of firing is done and practiced with the body in a crouching position. The arm is fully extended, although the elbow may be slightly flexed. The grip of the hand on the weapon is tight - almost convulsive. The crouch is used because it has been found that when subject to enemy fire, men will instinctively assume this position. With the arm extended, control of elevation and windage is more easily affected and the necessity for the extreme amount of practice in learning to shoot accurately with the run resting on the hip is eliminated. The grip on the pistol or revolver is extremely tight. This is also a combat condition, because in the midst of battle excitement, a man instinctively grips his weapon in this manner and certainly does not take time to hold his breath, line up the sights, and squeeze the trigger."

Point shooting is the way to aim only when it's too dangerous to use extra time use the sights. It would be a fun SOE re-enactment using CO2 repeating pistols ... and eye protection. )-;

Thanks 'Pete' for well researched and considered comments.

Certainly I have read Applegate & company's booklets and also have studied Ed McGivern's marvellous shooting achievements. There is clear evidence that talented individuals who practice frequently can do wondrous feats of skill-at-arms.

I'm trying to focus on the potentially deadly effects of each & every shot fired ..

Without doubt when an armed individual is facing and trying to stop a deadly force attack - they understandably may release shots hurriedly .. but they truly ought to be trying to present their firearm accurately sighted 'on-target' as best able.

Certainly ON RANGE where allowed in a safe manner - practised shooters may develop extraordinary skills with firearms. - We live in a time when the use of arms by law enforcement officers is rightly being questioned .. Indeed the use of deadly force at any time surely must always be questioned.

I think that the only justification for anyone to carry and potentially USE a firearm as a weapon against another is 'SELF DEFENCE' .. to protect their own life or the lives of others. This is a most serious responsibility and there surely is a 100% duty to train and practice regularly in order that risk of accidental injury to others is minimised-eliminated.

Now I just clicked on this video from Massad Ayoob .. it being a quiet evening following a mild winter's day - he says something in the first two minutes that we should NEVER forget - Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j4PS_8R5IE

.. Mas. writes good books too.

Note: Medically speaking there is no such thing as the commonly used phrase "shooting instinctively" .. as there can be no instinct inborn for use of any tool .. there is another term often used about practising "moves" MUSCLE MEMORY which explains how we learn to do something from repetition training. The muscle memory actually happens inside our brains where myelin smooths & speeds the mental pathways or axons.

"Practice Makes Perfect".

Marty K.