The "Center Mass" Myth and Ending a Gunfight

[larrylegend]

I think that a lot of the information in this thread is important to understand. I myself have had experiences hunting where I have shot even small animals and they ran for a long distance. I have seen a video of two officers confronting an armed criminal after he robbed a convenience store. The criminal had a weapon and the 2 officers both emptied their magazines into him and he continued to walk for at least 10 feet. The reports later showed that he was high on drugs at the time. I think a lot of the ideas that people will stop from one or two shots, even well placed ones, stems from the movies and tv shows that are so prevalent.

 

[LCSOSgt11]

Folks:

Some of the posts mentioned that gun owners are reconsidering replacing their pet blasters for something else. Again, it may not be so much what caliber you are shooting vs. where you are shooting. Don't get rid of that pet blaster whether it be a J frame .38 or an X frame .500. Just make sure you know where it hits. Bullet placement practice is the key here.

Let's face it: Bullets do unsavory things to human bodies. However, when someone needs to be shut off NOW, the only reliable way of doing that is the brain shot. Sure, sure, some would say hitting the "brain stem" or medulla is the way to go. That's easier said than done, if the bad guy is jumping around like an organ grinder's monkey trying to avoid your accurate fire. In what experience I have had, a frontal brain shot by all accounts intensifies the gravitational field beneath the bad guy's feet by about 1000%. Of course, I don't have all the experience in the world either.

I would also agree that rounds delivered to the pelvis will put someone down, however, their "computer system" is undamaged, and they may direct fire at you. If one is too close to the bad guy that accurate fire can be delivered in YOUR direction, the threat must be shut off immediately.

 

[Fixer]

That being said, a pelvic girdle shot, one that breaks the pelvic bone, will drop your threat immediately. Although they aren't likely to die fast, unless you hit or a broken bone severs the femoral artery, in which case the perp will bleed out quickly, but they will at least be immobilized. That allows you time to find cover as they are folding like a cheap lawn chair.

I read an article by Massad Ayoob where he talked to a coroner about putting down a BG quickly with innocents around where a head shot is not possible. His recommendation was the pelvic region for the fact that it is easy to hit and a break to the pelivs will immobilize the BG. I would imagine if you put a couple rounds in that area your chances of hitting your mark are great. Definatly easier to find cover if the BG isn't pursuing.

 

[thompal]

I'm still firing center mass until done.

Prosecuting attorney: Why did you shoot Dewayne 29 times with your handgun on the night of Jan 1?

Defendant: I only had two magazines

 

[larrylegend]

Prosecuting attorney: Why did you shoot Dewayne 29 times with your handgun on the night of Jan 1?

Defendant: I only had two magazines

Lawyer: Your honor, this has to be the worst suicide I've ever seen.

 

[finity]

Folks:

Some of the posts mentioned that gun owners are reconsidering replacing their pet blasters for something else. Again, it may not be so much what caliber you are shooting vs. where you are shooting. Don't get rid of that pet blaster whether it be a J frame .38 or an X frame .500. Just make sure you know where it hits. Bullet placement practice is the key here.
.
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I would also agree that rounds delivered to the pelvis will put someone down, however, their "computer system" is undamaged, and they may direct fire at you. If one is too close to the bad guy that accurate fire can be delivered in YOUR direction, the threat must be shut off immediately.

I read an article by Massad Ayoob where he talked to a coroner about putting down a BG quickly with innocents around where a head shot is not possible. His recommendation was the pelvic region for the fact that it is easy to hit and a break to the pelivs will immobilize the BG. I would imagine if you put a couple rounds in that area your chances of hitting your mark are great. Definatly easier to find cover if the BG isn't pursuing.

My wife was thrown from a horse a few years ago & had her pelvis broken in 5 places. She had to walk about a half mile out of the woods to a vehicle to get her to a hospital. When we got her there the radilogist missed the breaks until 2 weeks later (after she had been walking around on it) when she went back to the doc & was complining that her "deep bruising" in her butt wasn't getting any better. The new guy told her he was amazed that she could have even walked at all with all those breaks.

Anyway, my point is that I don't think that a generic "pelvic" shot will necessarily put someone down any more than a generic "chest" shot. If you get lucky & break major structural pieces then, yeah, they're probably going down. If you just hit the flat bones of the pelvic area there's no reason for it to be immediately disabling. As was mentioned before, the area that you need to hit to break those major structural components isn't very big (smaller than a heart shot).

You can't count on ANY shot to put someone down immediately, even a head shot. People survive those, too. It's all about specific placement.