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Sunday, February 10, 2013

When your opponent is wearing body armor

It's come to my attention lately that a lot of folks are advocating shooting for the head when attacked by somebody that they suspect are wearing body armor. Bad  idea. For one thing, this is going to guarantee your death because you're probably going to miss.
Everybody seems to forget that in this case your adrenaline is going to be raging through your veins like Niagra Falls, your motor skills are going to go to shit when you're in a stressful situation and most of us, myself included, do not have the intense training necessary to overcome those facts.
Shoot for the chest. Body armor is designed to absorb and halt the penetration of the bullet, not the shock and force associated with a bullet strike. If you shoot somebody at point blank range with a 45 ACP, he's going to get hit with 500-600 foot pounds of energy and it's going to stagger them back. We've all seen dashboard videos of LEO getting hit with a gunshot in their body armor and not a one of them was able to simply shrug off the strike and immediately return fire. It either knocks them down or forces them to take a couple of steps back.
Shoot for center mass, then quickly adjust your point of aim and eliminate your threat.

4 comments:

  1. Another good option is the "hip bowl". Belly button to crotch. Lots of good arteries & veins lying around in there.

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  2. Okay, what I just saw was the shooter stepping off to one side and shooting from a slight angle and I have no idea what kind of a charge was in that round.

    I've heard several first hand accounts of men being hit in the arms and legs in the heat of battle and not even realizing it until it was all done and over with due to adrenalin and focus.

    I've also been knocked down by somebody hitting me in the chest full force with their fist and that delivers less than 200 foot pounds of energy spread out in an area the size of their fist. A 45 delivers 600 foot pounds of energy in an area the size of a dime. Think about it.

    I'm not claiming that hitting somebody wearing body armor with a 45 is going to put them on their ass (we know that ain't gonna happen) but it's damned sure going to thump them hard enough for you to get a second shot in.
    As far as hips go, that's a small target - you may hit high and get their armor (which is what I'm advocating) or you may get a through and through GSW that may not even be felt - remember HIS adrenalin is pumping full bore too - or you might just shoot wide and miss all together.

    The fact of the matter is we ain't gonna find out for sure until it happens and this argument can go on forever like the 45 v 9mm argument.

    Myself, I'm going to hit that motherfucker center mass and hope to stagger him long enough to get in a lethal shot.

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