Originally Posted by
Don Quijote
This issue is overblown.
The human brain is far more adaptable and flexible than many think it is. It doesn't take near the number of repetitions that most think it does to become reasonably proficient with different firearms to the point that one can operate them smoothly and without confusion. I don't shoot as much as I'd like to but I can easily switch between handguns and rifles of radically different operating systems without any difficulty at all. All it takes is to give your shooting time and your dry fire time some structure and purpose. I can go months shooting only revolvers and then pick up one of my DA/SA pistols and never forget to decock when I should, or sit there wondering how to reload it when it goes empty. It's just not that hard to get to that level of basic proficiency as some here make it out to be.
I don't think it is overblown - if you are talking about dissimilar weapons as in revolver versus 1911, or even Sig 220 versus 5906 carried with the safety engaged (a dumb idea BTW).
I also take exception to the adaptability and flexibility of the human mind when under stress. In the example you gave:
Originally Posted by
Don Quijote
I don't shoot as much as I'd like to but I can easily switch between handguns and rifles of radically different operating systems without any difficulty at all. All it takes is to give your shooting time and your dry fire time some structure and purpose. I can go months shooting only revolvers and then pick up one of my DA/SA pistols and never forget to decock when I should, or sit there wondering how to reload it when it goes empty. It's just not that hard to get to that level of basic proficiency as some here make it out to be.
You had a chance to reconcile your brain to the fact that you were shooting a different pistol or rifle - your brain can catalog how to operate different weapons and bring that knowledge to the forefront quite easily during a relaxed event, not so easily under sudden stress. I'll give you an example:
One night at the termination of a chase, during which the bad guy had put one of our units into a local business, the bad guy got out of his truck and pulled a rifle out. 'Bill,' one of the best shots on the department, was in the first unit and he rolled out with the unit's Winchester shotgun.
(Take a break in the action here, and let me explain, this was in the late 70's, our agency had seven guys out a shift. Each unit had a shotgun, either a Remington 870 or a Winchester Model 1200. We realized the controls were different, so made sure each officer knew how to work both during range training with the shotguns - once each six months. At the time, we made sure that the officers drove the same unit each shift, largely as a measure to induce the officers to take better care of the equipment. Bill was a hunter, I don't know what he hunted with, from the following events, I imagine a Remington)
At that time we carried the shotguns hammer down (actions unlocked), so as 'Bill' exited he was cycling the action and bringing the shotgun to his shoulder. He later said he fully intended to shoot the bad guy but could not get the shotgun's safety disengaged. By the time that he figured he had the Winchester, and disengaged the safety, the bad guy had seen the error of his ways and threw the rifle into the bed of his truck.
Last edited by 26 Inf; 02-07-19 at 13:41.
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.
Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee
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