Marine marksman sheds light on how gunmen from the 'hood unwittingly use a well-known aiming technique
By
Damien Gayle
PUBLISHED:
11:31 EST, 4 October 2012
|
UPDATED:
09:36 EST, 5 October 2012
It’s a familiar sight seen in dozens of Hollywood gangster films: the gangster aiming down the side of his pistol before pumping a volley of bullets into his victim.
But with most people knowing that the aiming sights are found on the top of a gun barrel, it’s also a counter-intuitive way to accurately fire a weapon.
So why is it that gangsters are always shown using their guns in this way? According to Jon Davis, a former marksmanship instructor with the U.S. Marine Corp, there is a good reason, at least in theory.
Which is best? researchers have analysed the reason gangsters often hold their gun sideways – and say it can actually help aim
As a specialist in pistol marksmanship and a veteran of the war in Iraq, Mr Davis has fired these kinds of weapons thousands of times.
He explains that when aiming a handgun in the conventional, barrel-up manner the rear sites must line up with the front sight in the horizontal and vertical planes to make sure the bullet travels a straight line.
This important technique, known as ‘building the castle’ since the gunman has to line up the three ‘turrets’ into an even position, ensures that the barrel of the gun is aligned perfectly along the trajectory he wants the bullet to travel.
The problem with ‘building the castle’ each time you want to fire your gun is that it takes time. Time you might not have in a combat situation – or alternatively when you want to quickly execute your victim and make a fast getaway.
‘Building the castle’: This graphic shows the conventional way to line a target up using the sites on the top of a handgun
Instead, gangsters – albeit unkowingly – use another method to get what’s called a ‘flash sight picture’ by quickly aiming down the side of the gun barrel without perfectly lining it up with the target.
The ‘flash sight picture’ is a way to quickly get an aim that’s good enough for combat but without worrying too much about being totally precise with your aim.
Marines do it too, Mr Davis says, but they hold their guns the right way up.
‘Flash sighting’ – gangster style: Mr Davis explains that this method is a much faster way of aiming a weapon, but it is much less effective for aiming accurately
In answer to a question on quora.com Mr Davis explains: ‘The problem with tilt style shooting is that it is almost impossible to acquire a reliable sight alignment. The alignment in tilt style is achieved by making the weapon flat and aiming down the side.
‘In theory this works, but in practice you can’t accurately measure movement left or right and you have absolutely no way of knowing if the weapon is tilted down below your field of vision from the back of the weapon.
‘This means that you never actually take the same shot twice since you are never actually aiming the same way.’
This, Mr Davis adds, shows that there is in fact a rational method behind why gangsters aim their weapon side on. However, it’s not a particularly good method – and they probably don’t realise that there’s method to it at all.
The research sheds new light on why holding a gun sideways can help aim under pressure
The comments below have not been moderated.
I will try this method tonight when I go out !!! Thanks for the tip DM !!
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Rob
,
Barcelona,
05/10/2012 15:45
And this is relevant to my life or 99% of Britons – How? What an utter non-story, load of codswallop!
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Lazloid
,
Glasgow, United Kingdom,
05/10/2012 15:44
‘Flash sighting’ – gangster style: Mr Davis explains that this method is a much faster way of aiming a weapon, but it is much less effective for aiming accurately———————-So what’s the point? If you “aim” faster and don’t hit your target, what have you gained?
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VA_USA,
05/10/2012 15:41
My Desert Eagle weights too much to aim sideways. When I’m taking out a snitch in my hood I just point and click.
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London, United Kingdom,
05/10/2012 15:30
The method of canting the weapon horizontally is attributed to the German military in WW2 and in particular the use of the semi automatic Mauser pistol. The logic behind the advantage of this method is sound but probably inappropriate to explain to advantages on open forums lest some muppet gets ideas. Needless to say it has nothing to what the DM expert claims
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homer
,
Springfield,
05/10/2012 15:28
hand gun—-notoriously inaccurate,
aim it like you are pointing your finger at the target.
Or pretend the gun is your finger, point and shoot——-simple.
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London UK, United Kingdom,
05/10/2012 15:20
Never read such rubbish in my life. I always believed that ‘gangsta’s’ fired like that either because they are too thick to hold the weapon properly or are emulating what they see in the movies “cos it looks well cool bro….innit!”
As it happens you can take a very accurate instinctive shot without needing to use the sights.
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defender
,
hereford,
05/10/2012 15:07
“He explains that when aiming a handgun in the conventional, barrel-up manner the rear sites must line up with the front sight in the horizontal and vertical planes to make sure the bullet travels a straight line.”
This is the dumbest statement. The bullet travels in a straight line (more or less-don’t forget gravity) whether the sights are aligned or not. Its just that when the sights are not aligned it travels in a straight line off target.
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dnarex
,
Rochester, United States,
05/10/2012 14:58
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2012-10-08 17:43:19
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Whistler Blowers, Insiders
They do it because they are idiots and looking stupid is part of the whole gun culture thing. You don’t see people properly trained in fire arms posing like that, only the muppets.
- ladysam, southampton————————So true. But keep in mind that these are the same brainiacs who walk around with their huge pants sagging around their knees and their sneakers untied. You’d think that, if you were going to run from the cops, you’d want to wear a track suit and properly laced shoes so you weren’t tripping all over yourself. They often have unique tattoos so they are easily identified, too. They are not famous for their critical thinking skills.
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dblake864
,
VA_USA,
05/10/2012 15:50
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