The Gunner's Blog

It has been a long while since I wrote anything about strategy for personal, that is individual, self-defense shooting. I have had little new to say. In any case, few readers are interested in my take on the topic. Instead of fashionable and exciting run-and-gun my approach is more nearly described as hide-and-bide. What I have that is new to say, or new for me anyway, is an endorsement of red dot sights on rifles. A decent quality dot sight increases your hit probability when shooting fast. To briefly recap, the points I like to raise about defensive shooting are three. Fight from an ensconced defender position. Or at least, find the best cover you can. Use a weapon that maximizes your hit probability. That is where the dot sight comes in.  Use the advantage of surprise if at all possible. I still endorse the shotgun as a better weapon than a rifle, for the self-defense scenarios that are most likely. Its hit probability is better. Many peopl...

I may be going on too much about this. It's the third time I've brought it up. The last two times didn't stir much reader interest. The shooting community in general, even the defensive and practical shooting segment, does not seem to be deeply interested in examining strategy as it applies to personal defense. None the less, I will go on about it a bit more, hoping to generate some interest in the matter. I have identified several force multipliers you can use in personal self defense with a firearm. Take an ensconced defender role. As a defender fighting from chosen cover you have at least a three to one advantage, which ideal circumstances can boost as high as eight or nine to one.   Maximize your hit probability. Do all you can to improve your likelihood of connecting with your target. This involves choosing your weaponry based on efficiency not style and also carefully evaluating how you go about target practice. Most shots fired in anger miss. Yo...

After writing a previous post I got to thinking about the wider implications of strategy in self defense. A few principles stand out as generally useful, which are to take cover in the best ensconced position you can find, achieve the best probability of hitting that you can, and exploit the element of surprise. I previously wrote about these things in a piece about the shotgun but they apply to any firearm. For example, if a pistol is what you are using, you should get behind some cover and shoot with as much precision as you can under the circumstances. Quite often, maximum efficiency in firing is going to mean using a field rest firing position--it's a good idea if you can do it, and you usually can if you have taken cover. You shoot over or around the cover, bracing your aim against it. These concepts don't get enough of a workout in courses of fire that are shot in the "practical" matches popular these days. Self defense in the real world is not an assault c...

Long experience by military forces everywhere shows that an ensconced defender has a 3:1 advantage over those coming against him. What is an ensconced defender? He has a good fighting position that protects him from the enemy's weapons, he knows the lay of the land and is ready and waiting when the enemy arrives. A soldier who digs a properly situated hole and gets in it becomes as powerful as three soldiers in the open. That is a very useful thing to know in thinking about your personal defense plans. Whenever possible, have a plan to take cover. Another number: The shotgun firing buckshot has twice the hit probability, within its limited range, of a select fire military rifle--a real assault rifle, not the neutered look-alikes the liberal media loves to fret and moan about.  What of the submachine gun? Here the shotgun scores nearly half again better. That is what our military concluded after studying the matter . The shotgun has the best hit probability of all the personal we...