Get a load of the dude at 24:24 who pointed it right back at himself to look down the barrel. But then again they were probably all just goofing off for the camera. Things were definitely different back then, especially when you were in a war theater where there was a fair chance of being shot down and killed the next day.
As for the one-handed shooting stance, that was the way they were taught. It wasn't until more recent years when people finally figured out that even a one-handed weapon was more effective if you could use two hands to hold it.
The US military trained soldiers to shoot one handed, since it was a carry over from the days when soldiers were still riding on horseback. They were trained so they could hold the horse's reins either on the horse or when standing by their horse with one hand and shoot with the other hand......
During the 1950's, Jeff Cooper and Jack Weaver were instrumental in the development of the "modern technique." Students of this technique were taught to shoot a pistol with a two hand hold on the gun.
Today, the two thumbs forward, two hand grip for pistol shooting is widely used around the world...
The US military trained soldiers to shoot one handed, since it was a carry over from the days when soldiers were still riding on horseback. They were trained so they could hold the horse's reins either on the horse or when standing by their horse with one hand and shoot with the other hand......
During the 1950's, Jeff Cooper and Jack Weaver were instrumental in the development of the "modern technique." Students of this technique were taught to shoot a pistol with a two hand hold on the gun.
Today, the two thumbs forward, two hand grip for pistol shooting is widely used around the world...
Yup, it just shows how much influence Hollywood has on today's young people. Some director somewhere thought it would be more dramatic to have a character hold their gun sideways, and now it's become the preferred technique of hoods everywhere.
The only sideways thing I do with any of mine is racking the slide. Turn gun butt-out, grab serrations thumb and index, give it a good pull, done. Sights-up.
In a way I'm glad the gangbangers haven't embraced marksmanship. I always assume, tho, that the enemy is competent and knows how to shoot.
I wonder how many kids were influenced by how stars on movies and TV handled their Colt SAAs in the 50's....
I know they were mostly clowning around for the camera, but it still surprises me there wasn't an NCO there ready to chew them out for being so careless. The way those pistols were being waved around was downright scary.
I do some practicing one-handed, enough that I can empty a magazine center of mass at 10 yards. You might not always be able to put both hands on the pistol. I even practice one hand weak side from time to time. I'm not very good, but I can keep them on a silhouette from 10 yards. I hope I never have to use either or both hands for real, but just in case.
Being a slow old retired guy I watch a lot of old westerns, I love the "Throwin' it" techniques, they pull the revolver back behind their heads and snap them forward to shoot when it stops moving. Like throwing rocks or something.
And I think I'm a bad shot, but then it's easy to be a first class shot when it's in Hollywood.
There's a scene in Clint Eastwood's For a Few Dollars More where he shoots a bad guy dead with a fast draw, and you can clearly see the pistol isn't pointed anywhere close to the bad guy. Of course that isn't nearly as bad as movies where some petite female actress is made to look like a zombie-slaying martial-arts badass, despite the fact that she is afraid of guns in real life.
Of course that isn't nearly as bad as movies where some petite female actress is made to look like a zombie-slaying martial-arts badass, despite the fact that she is afraid of guns in real life.
Yeah, not to get off-topic, but I'm right there with you. I'm SO tired of seeing 115 lb females kicking the sh*t out of several 225 lb men. And one of the BEST-WORST examples is Angelina Jolie (who has the muscle tone of a wheelchair-bound quadraplegic) man-handling dudes in "SALT".
the old rumor about the M1911 being inaccurate is most likely because of poor technique
and not enough time on the range, just look at the poor firearm safety , improper handling shown.
I was at a Air Museum and the old retired AF guy that was there saw me looking at the Firearms displays and captured weapons, and he said "Forget the dammed guns" and tried to show me the aviator related displays, he had no interest in guns.
Unfortunately, I pay too much attention to the guns and how they are used in Hollywood movies.....and it does spoil "the suspension of disbelief" on some movies!
As a child back in the 1950's I would even count the number of shots fired when watching the Saturday morning Western TV shows.....and realized they fired too many shots with their six guns without reloading.....LOL
The amount of realism for any Hollywood show/movie is a function of the technical people that advise and work on the set. Even many of the vehicle chase scenes often take a tremendous amount of abuse that would normally damage and stop a vehicle from operating.....so they modify and strengthen the under carriage, the frame, the springs, etc.
I remember the movie "The Crow" where Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, died at age 28 in a scene where .44 magnum blanks were used.....Brandon Lee's death was apparently caused by the use of faulty blanks. Bruce Lee died at age 32 from a brain edema at his home in Hong Kong.......
None of those guys seem to be freaked out about their fellow servicemembers waving their guns around and pointing them at each other. If they did that today people would be freaking the eff out. I guess it's just a matter of training and the building of a particular safety culture.
Btw, this isn't just an "old vs. new" thing. I pulled aside a British friend of mine and asked him how they trained muzzle awareness, because I'd noticed his guys were always flagging each other when they carried their weapons horizontally hung from the sling, hands off the pistol grip. He wondered why that was even a problem. I warned him that this was something to be aware of, because US soldiers won't appreciate that. Sure enough, within a week one of our NCOs jumped down a British private's throat for flagging him. The Brit didn't even know what the NCO was talking about. To the Brits, they won't point a weapon at someone if their hand is on the grip or they're ready to fire or whatever, but if the muzzle points at someone during general handling while their hand is nowhere near the pistol grip or trigger, they don't seem to be bothered. I won't even set my weapon down or lean it against something in a way where the muzzle is pointing even vaguely in someone's direction if I can help it. My brit friend would come sit down and have his weapon on a chair pointing right at my leg and not even notice.
Different culture, different awareness. But yeah, some of that gun handling in that video was just downright scary to us with the way we've been brought up on gun safety.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
1911Forum
7.6M posts
204K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to all 1911 firearm owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about optics, gunsmithing, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!