American Handgunner May/June 1978

PoRk. COPTALKCOMBAT STANCES FOR POLICEecades, American police and defense-mindedcivilians have beentaught that in a close-quarters firefight, itwas best to shoot "from the hip," and theonly real debate was the "FBI Crouch"versus the Bill Jordan school of "don'tmove anything but your gun-hand.Lately, however, serious thinkers havecome to accept the idea of using bothhands and eye-level aim even at ranges ofseven yards and less. This approachmakes mucho sense.As a policeman and a combat weaponsinstructor, I have had the opportunity tointerview and tape record a large numberof cops and troopers who have survivedshootouts. Most of them were trained toshoot from the hip, crouching or other-Turret stance is favored for accuracy by PPC shooters.Shown is John DeChellis, National Champion in 1974.wise, at close-range; training tells, andmost of them did the same under pressure.The result was that, time and again,they would utter the phrase: "I can'tunderstand how I missed him that close."Most of them were relatively goodshots. Many of them were interviewed byme only after they had recuperated fromgun and knife wounds. Typical was themetro patrolman who wore an honestlyearned Expert badge and missed threeshots from the hip at his assailant, at arange of three and a half feet! His assailant,however, had raised his gun, takena quick aim, and shot the officer an inchto the side of his heart. I play the tape recordingof that officer's remembrances tomy ~olice classes, and they never fail toshudder when he tells of the aftermath ofthis close encounter.Clearly, hip-shooting doesn't work terriblywell in real life. It's great on the firingrange, when the target is a paper silhouettethat obligingly stands still for you, andwhen you have time to get your feetplanted and your body indexed to the targetwhile the rangemaster is droning hiscommands. But it doesn't work on thestreet because, without your feet plantedjust so and without sights, there is no wayto index your aim at your opponent! Ifyou must turn offcenter to fire, the gunnow swings at the end of a pendulum thatis your arm, a pendulum loose on threejoints (shoulder, elbow, wrist), and themuzzle will probably go by him before youfire.Jeff coder and his free-style combatshooting disciplines proved as early as the1950's that the difference in speed betweena one-hand hipshot and a two-handroughly aimed one, could be measured inmilliseconds. Yet the hit percentage isenormously increased.Though hip shooting at seven years andless is still taught to most of our police,forward-thinking instructors generally realizethat it is obsolete. Even the Smith &Wesson Academy with its advanced butFBI-influenced methods, now permits studentsto bring the gun up to chest level atclose range, where the gun can be visuallyindexed in the periphery of the shooter'svision.The real choice in a combat stance is nolonger one hand versus two; it is theWeaver stance versus what Col. Coopercalls the "Fairbairn Isosceles" position,which I prefer to recognize as the "McGeeTurret" stance.Contrary to common belief amonghandgunners, the Weaver stance is notmerely a two handed hold. Properlyexecuted, one stands with the feet about18 inches apart, with the foot on the nongunhand-sideslightly forward. The elbowof the supporting hand is sharply bent tocreate a springy recoil-absorber effect.The gunhand pushes the pistol forwardinto the support hand, which pushed backagainst it, both with about forty poundspressure. The elbow of the gun arm is.Â¥. .AMERICAN HANDGUNNER * MAY/JUNE 1978* .