Do Not Aim at the Chest?

I often read articles on one of the major concealed carry insurance websites that generally has very good material. My guess would be that this website also has many users who are new to shooting and concealed carry. The quantity of utter nonsense you read on the internet concerning firearms and self-defense is staggering and it is rarely worth the effort to comment. However, I recently saw an article on this website that has several egregious statements that I simply cannot let pass without saying something--my observations are in parentheses as follows:

    -- Article: In my (the author's) opinion, the best option for close-range self-defense shooting is a five or six-shot center-fire revolver. (Comment: Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion; however, a mechanically sound semi-auto pistol is a pretty good choice for close-range encounters.)

    -- Article: . . . and with no manual safety to fumble, revolvers are less prone to malfunction. (Comment: Lack of training on properly disengaging the safety may be an issue; however, I have never seen safeties causing pistols to malfunction. Further, many striker-fired pistols have no manual safety . . . so)

    -- Article: Furthermore, a snub revolver can be fired from nearly any position without malfunction, including from the ground. (Comment: In reality, a revolver can probably be fired from any position if you can maintain a firing grip and work the trigger. So can a semi-auto pistol. I have fired and seen others fire semi-auto pistols from every conceivable position without issue.)

The article recommends adding some type of laser sighting system to the revolver. (Comment: I am a big fan of lasers for low light scenarios and have one on my primary carry pistol; however, in bright sunshine, lasers are almost impossible to acquire quickly because the sun washes out the laser's dot making it very difficult to see.)

The article then discusses a drill for improving your accuracy. Using three targets ten feet or closer. The strings described for the drill are generally reasonable; however, two recommendations are way into “did he actually say that?” territory.

    -- Article: Practice acquiring your target using the laser dot to maintain sharp focus on the threat. (Comment: See comment above concerning laser sighting systems in bright sunshine. Further, I do not know how a laser would encourage you “to maintain sharp focus on the threat.”)

    -- Article: Aim for the “X” ring of a B27 type silhouette target, not the chest, to improve accuracy. (Comment: Aiming at a specific point does not improve accuracy. Also, since the article purports to be about self-defense, recommending that the shooter not aim for the chest is simply bad advice. I doubt that many humans threatening or using unlawful deadly force have “X-rings” conveniently located anywhere on their body. All of them have a chest however and aiming for the chest at least gets you closer to an area of rapid incapacitation.)

My thoughts.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to read more like it, you can subscribe at the link in the upper right. For more information about firearms training in South Central Texas go to the Sensible Self Defense Academy website: SSD