January 21, 2019 I have a buddy who works for a well-regarded federal law enforcement agency with a reputation for having the most challenging handgun standards in American LE, and possibly in the world. A few weeks ago, we were on the phone, discussing some tactical issues regarding the execution of some essential tasks in that particular context. I’m happy to say that I was apparently able to provide an alternative point-of-view on a couple of issues he was problem-solving, and he seemed to find them useful. One of the issues we discussed though, was one of the recent subscription training drills that called for an on-demand hostage rescue head shot at 50 yards…with a pistol. That’s a bitch of a shot to make on demand. In mentioning it, he pointed out that, of the guys he had shot with the weekend before, most were not capable of making that shot with any degree of regularity. Only two could do it with reasonable reliability. He was feeling a little discouraged as a result. After all, these are guys who are required to maintain some of the highest pistol standards in the world. I pointed out to him that this was okay. This was an EVALUATION drill, not a training drill. I then went on to describe a method for training the particular technical skills required to hone your pistol marksmanship to the level of being able to make that shot, on demand (subscribers received the same information on the 15JAN19 drill). He mentioned that this seemed like a lot of work to build the ability to make a shot that there was almost zero chance of someone ever needing to make. He wasn’t wrong either. When I first decided I wanted to be able to make a 50 yard head shot, on demand, it took me two weeks of 30-45 minutes a day, and several hundreds of rounds of ammunition (I’d have to look back at my training logs, but I think I blew through something like 800 rounds in that two weeks, just focused on making that precise shot). This was after I was already, by most metrics, an expert pistol shooter. The level of work and focus required leads to two valid questions: 1) What perfect alignment of the stars and planets would have to occur in order for me—as a private citizen, not a serving member of a JSOC or LE counter-terrorist unit, tasked with hostage rescue missions—to need to make a 50 yard head shot on a hostage taker, with my pistol? 2) Why would I waste time on something of such far-fetched implausibility, when there are so many other tasks involved in combat pistolcraft, to master? the rest is on site... this guy puts out some pretty good info... IMHO Prepare for the 1%
We had that requirement years ago, and I can tell you, the equipement wasnt up to the task nor was the training! Still, we persisted and found that in the very unlikely situation where such a shot was needed, almost always you or a team mate had a rifle of some sort and then that became quite doable! As a civilian forced against his will to carry concealed, my choices are mucho limited , not likely to have a rifle at hand, or at the ready if/when a shot like that was required! Thankfully, as a civilian, the need for is some what less. And, my choices of equipement are far better then what we were issued in the service!
Making a 50 Yard headshot, on demand, in the heat of the moment, requires skills that, I am willing to bet, less than 1% of the active SpecOps bunch can make, with anything less than a 10” barrel on a Tuned and Stroked Revolver, like a Dan Wesson... especially considering the most likely senerio is the Perp has a Hostage in front him/her/it..... Better to have a rifle, with a supurb setup, and a shooter with a very steady hand.... This isn’t Hollywood here... This is the real world.. and in the real world, a pistol shot would be highly unlikely, and a very BAD Risk... My opinion, YMMV....
You should read the rest of the article when you get a chance. John addresses your points. Mosby is a solid guy. I've trained with him and he knows his stuff. In a nutshell, the point isn't that you necessarily should take that shot if the opportunity arose, it's that training for it improves your overall accuracy and stress level in general. Obviously, these skills aren't isolated unto themselves. Developing the ability to make head shots at 50 yards will improve your accuracy at all other ranges as well.
As a private citizen, I don't feel this would even be considered. I would not expect a LEO would want to take the risk of making the victim a victim of friendly fire (even with the training), thus bringing a wrongful death law suit down on the department. I guess having never trained that way, never being SpeOps or LE, I just don't get it. If the asset is of high value, then where is the SWAT sniper... ?
