The following article is a reprint from PointShooting.com. Permission was received before posting. Check out the site. It’s filled with useful information.
Point Shooting and Officer Survival
A July, 2010 YouTube video shows a Chinese Police women shooting a hostage taker.
In the last quarter of the video, when the hostage taker is distracted momentarily, the Police woman moves forward very quickly. As she is moving, she extends her arm and the gun and shoots the hostage taker. He falls down and away from her. She then moves closer and shoots him three more times.
The video is no longer available via YouTube. (I found a copy of the video and it’s posted below.)
She does not use Sight Shooting. She just Points and Shoots. Here is a picture of her first shot, and another that shows the gun in her hand as she makes the follow up shots.
I doubt that US Police policy would sanction the three follow up shots, but that’s not the issue.
The issue is Point Shooting and Officer survival.
Point Shooting is the shooting method used in most all CQB situations, not Sight Shooting. And if you are going to be shot and/or killed, there is an 80% chance that it will be at less than 20 feet.
The Chinese video adds to the body of evidence that calls out for making Point Shooting the main component of pistol training and qualification courses of fire. That would bring pistol training in line with the findings the flow from the study of thousands of Police combat cases.
Instinctive/untrained Point Shooting is defaulted to in CQB as the circumstances of those situations and/or the activation of the Fight or Flight response, prevents or makes moot the use of Sight Shooting. And the recognized CQB hit rate is less than 20%.
If Point Shooting was the main component of pistol training and qualification courses of fire, CQB accuracy and Officer survival would be enhanced as most all of the training time would be devoted to learning a shooting method that mirrors reality. CQB liability concerns would be lessened. And training and qualification costs would be reduced.
There are several different methods of Point Shooting. Center Axis Relock, Quick Kill, Fairbairn/Applegate/Sykes, Threat Focus Shooting, and AIMED Point Shooting or P&S, are some of them, and information on them are on this site.
I support all of them, and in particular AIMED Point Shooting or P&S as with P&S, the user gets automatic and correct sight alignment, and an automatic and correct sight picture.
P&S is the simplest of all shooting methods, and it can be learned and maintained with little or no training. It also can be used to enhance the other Point Shooting methods as well as Sight Shooting. And it is proven to be deadly at close quarters.
To use P&S, you just: 1. grab your gun, 2. point your index finger at a target, and 3. pull the trigger with your middle finger. Continue to point and pull as needed.
Here’s what the Army says about our natural ability to point in its 2003 Combat Pistol Manual: “It is this inherent trait that can be used by a soldier to rapidly and accurately engage targets.” So with P&S, each shot is AIMED which is very important accuracy wise and liability wise.
For more information on P&S, here is a link to a brief on it. The brief includes answers to the standard questions and concerns that come up when it is discussed.
Click here.
The S&W Bodyguard, Berreta PX4, Walther PPS and SIG P290 appear to be made to be used with P&S. Here is a link to a page that shows those guns along with info on their being designed for use with P&S.
It could be that they are designed to make it natural for a user to place their index finger along side the frame as a safety measure until it is time to shoot. But, it also gives the user the life saving option of using P&S in CQB.
It is clear from the pictures that the index finger must be slanted down when pulling the trigger, rather than pulling straight back as is the case with standard autoloaders.
In regard to trigger manipulation that is significant, and one would think that it would be addressed in the descriptive information on the guns. However, I did not find that to be the case???
They also are said to have a low barrel axis which helps in controlling recoil. P&S also provides a user with a lower barrel axis as a result of placement of the index finger along the side of the frame, and the use of the middle finger to pull the trigger.
