I would like to hear from some who have “been there”.
What prompts this question is the many reports of cops shooting hunderds of rounds and rarely hitting the intended target. These many misses are almost universally blamed on adrenaline and it’s effects. I’ve read articles by “experts” on the subject, and I just don’t get it. I’ve been “flooded” before, and my experience was very different. Here’s what adrenaline did to me;
Time seems to slow somewhat, making my actions seem faster than usual.
My vision becomes very sharp. Everything seems brighter, shiny even.
I don’t get the shakes. To the contrary, I get dead calm and very steady.
My voice seems hoarse.
I know I’d have no trouble putting a full magazine into a three inch circle at 25-50 ft.
After the situation I get the shakes, breathing may become somewhat difficult, or labored. I get an odd taste in my mouth, vision gets blurry, and I cry uncontrolably.
Anybody else?
Peace,
mangeorge
Isn’t a full magazine in a 3 inch circle pretty darn good anyways even without adrenaline?
???
Are you asking about the effects of acute stress on shooting accuracy?
I think that’s Mangeorge’s point - his accuracy IMPROVES under the influence of adreneline, in direct opposition to the “many reports of cops shooting hunderds of rounds and rarely hitting the intended target.”
I’ll ask this - how “flooded with adreneline” can you get standing in front of a paper target? I’d expect greater accuracy there than when dealing with a (moving) person who may have a weapon pointed in your direction. If nothing else, unless you’re an idiot, you’re going to seek cover, and it’s easier to miss when shooting around a corner or over a barricade. Paired with the adreneline not making you think so clearly, I can see an accuracy issue.
Although, frankly, when I was dating a cop I was struck by how many of them I could outshoot on the range - and I was a rank amateur. I always hoped it was just that bunch, but maybe not.
Well, in part. I’m asking why cops tend to spray such a large area, when it seems that each should be able to confine their hits to a car-sized object at worse. The cops claim, to the press at least, that adrenaline is to blame. I doubt that, but could be wrong. I suspect over zealous rapid fire might be a factor, and shooting without a target in mind. I’ve never fired a gun while under the influence of the stuff. I’ve only owned a gun for a short while. I have fought multiple adversaries a couple of times, and disarmed a knife wielder once. When possible I just ran. So I am aware of how my body functions.
That’s why I’m seeking opinions.
B TW; Putting all ten shots in a three inch circle at 25 feet is ok, but not difficult. Actually, at that range, I can make most of them touch. This is, of course, with some sort of bracing. Like a wall, or a cop car, or something to steady my aim.
BTBTW; I have no cites, but I think the FBI does much better under similar conditions. They tend to put lots of rounds into the bad man. I’ll have to check on that, I guess.
Training, maybe?
Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called Blink that has an entire chapter on this, citing the Amadou Diallo incident as his main case study. In a nutshell, you become incredibly focused, but the focus comes at a price of a reduced field of vision and the total abandonment of higher-level brain processes.
:mad: I HAVEN’T NOTICED ANY EFFECTS AT ALL!!! BOOYAA MUTHAFUCKERS!!!
There was a little movie file making the rounds, maybe 5-10 years ago, of a traffic stop that went bad. I think it was in one of the Carolinas. Cops pull over a car, bad guys start shooting, cops start shooting, cops didn’t even really take cover, IIRC, and no one was hit. Must have been a total of about 20 rounds before the bad guys drove off. Police were about 5-10 feet away from the bad guys.
I think the best way to replicate this, Mangeorge, is to have someone fire at you next time you are doing target practice and see how tight your group is.
I disagree. That would be foolish. I’m curious, not foolish. But, if it did happen, and they kept shooting down all my neighbors but not me, I’d likely plug one of them.
Your story only makes my point. If one of the cops had aimed, then fired, there’d likely have been a dead bad guy or two. I suspect that cops could use more realistic training, like the feds get.
I think most people don’t realize that it takes a very small movement to make drastic changes in where a bullet will end up.
When we used to play paintball as kids, it’s very easy to line up a target and hit it when you just target shooting. When you are in a simulated battle, running around with all your equipment, trying to see everywhere at once, dodging people shooting at you and trying to hit other people camofladged and under cover, it becomes pretty tough. I’m not surprised when I hear studies about actual combat where very small percentages of shots fired actually hit anyone.
I understand that, msmith537, but police action is only distantly related to combat. They’re almost always stationary and braced across a car door or on the hood, etc. There are, of course, exceptions like the one mentioned above, but not often.
Actually, gunplay itself is pretty rare, statistically.
As I’ve said, I’m not criticizing the cops. But I sure don’t blame the people in the area for being pissed off.