Portland [OR]tavern employee foils an early-morning robbery ['Being Armed' success story]

A 30-year-old man who allegedly tried to rob a Southeast Portland bar with a sawed-off shotgun early this morning got far more than he bargained for when he ran into an employee who goes by the nickname "Stub."

Gandalf_The_Gray said: "Femoral artery", hit that and you're dead!

While that may be true, it is not the preferred way to stop an attack. While the perpetrator is bleeding out he may well kill you.

I was taught: two to the center of mass, then evaluate the threat, and follow with a shot between the eyes. The change in tactic is due to the possibility that the person is wearing body armor or clothing which is reducing the effectiveness of the bullets.

Legally, one is justified in shooting to stop an attack. If the shots also kill the attacker that is merely an unintended side effect.

While that may be true, it is not the preferred way to stop an attack. While the perpetrator is bleeding out he may well kill you.

I agree that two to center mass followed by a cranial shot if required is the only proper way to address the described situation. My comment about the possibilities of a lethal result from hitting the femoral artery were meant to point out that "shooting to wound" does not guarantee the recipient a long and happy life. As you rightly point out you may just succeed in making him cranky enough to take you down as well during the last minute or so remaining to him.

Moral of the story, shooting to wound is a very bad idea. If force is required use as much as necessary to end the fight decisively.

Regards,
GtG

“Actually, the jacketed 9mm has a higher kill-per-one shot statistic according to NYPD than the .45cal.”

1. NYPD also has the world record for number of 9mm shots that hit a perp without killing him: 21!

2. They also hold the world record for number of shots fired without anyone, perp or cop, being hit: 125!

I have never like 9mm because of the fast recoil but lately there have been a number of shootings in which a 9mm stopped the perp only after a number of rounds were fired and the last one hit a critical organ. It appeared that if the last shot had not hit a critical organ the gunfight would have continued ad infinitum (see #1 above).
I like big calibers: high mass, low speed bullets which have low speed recoil. I shoot only .45s because they are the only pistol that I have used that I can comfortably shoot all day long. The first time I shot a .45 it felt to me loke a “working pistol” comfy for the whole day. My body interprets the low speed recoil as much less total recoil than the higher speed, lower mass rounds and they are very comfortable to me. I also like all steel pistols as they seem to jam less. No idea why.
Every few months I feel the need to look at .45-70 pistols. But I have sort of decided that I really don’t want a video of me on Youtube being knocked on my can at the range by the recoil (And yes, my wife would certainly upload one). But I still look. A character flaw I guess.

Some personal observations, which you are free to disagree with.

The 45cal auto is a great cartridge, especially for the military. The 1911 auto is not hard to learn to shoot accurately, is pleasant to shoot, and is flat enough to carry concealed. It gives me the willies to carry cocked, which is the only sensible way. It does have the annoying habit of tossing the empties in all directions, even popping a hot case behind your glasses on occasions. Returning from the range I usually end up finding an empty in my shirt pocket. Like all autos, it has reliability problems. It is finicky about ammo, even store-bought. It will stovepipe on occasions, or fail to eject.

All things considered, I don’t like autos as a personal-defense carry weapon and therefore carry a revolver. Most modern autos are made with two things in mind. Prevent being sued (long, rough trigger pull) and cosmetics. Reliability is their last concern because most buyer take their auto home, load and put it in a drawer, feel defended, and forget about it. True, the Glock is a little more reliable than most, but still will give you problems.

If a revolver doesn’t fire because of, say, a bad primer, you can just pull the trigger again. I never have had a revolver not fire or jam. I’ve seen plenty of autos jam on the range. Hitting what you’re shooting at is more important than caliber or number of rounds in a magazine. For personal defense, six sure shots are more important that a magazine full of maybes.

I agree with all of your comments and will add this: I hate cleaning semis. I am going to be switching over to .45 revolvers this next year and I am really looking forward to it. I reload so it is going to be a hoot to shoot all those different bullets.

As far jamming goes, I have had all but one semi that I have owned jam. Very nerve wracking on the range.

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