How much ammo is enough?

[pneuby]

Normally a click-bait type post, right? Active Self-Promotion compiled this, and I have to say it's pretty neat.

https://watch.activeselfprotection.com/ ... unfights-p

[smithers599]

If you don't aim, and just close your eyes and spray in the general direction, and miss a lot, then you need a lot of rounds. If you continue to shoot after the BPF is running away, then you need a lot of rounds.

[Suck My Glock]

Oh,...ok,...you mean how much ON YOUR PERSON.

I was about ready to damn your soul as a blasphemer for even daring to ask if there are limits to the stockpiling practices of the faithful.

[campinginaz]

Great video! Thank you for posting. I'm a fan of carrying as many rounds as possible and having high capacity for home defense. If there are multiple threats and you are being shot at you might not be as accurate and controlled as you would be at a range shooting paper targets that don't shoot back.

I'm also a fan of carrying a extra magazine just in case, even though the people in these videos didn't shoot any rounds out of them. You just never know.

[Joe_Blacke]

The problem is people think John knows what he is talking about. If you are using prior incidents to draw conclusions, you need to use proper statistics. Rather than counting the shots fired, you should count:

What percentage of ammo people were carrying was used up in a gunfight. You can say hey this person only fired 5 shots, but if 5 rounds is all they had, then the stat is an encounter where 100% of available rounds were fired.

Then you look at how many engagements ended with a gun running dry. The number of empty gun encounters identify how valuable a reload would have been.

Finally, you count how many times someone shot after conducting a reload.

Those are stats that matter vs how many shots each particular gunfight had. In the end all it shows it trends, and doesn’t give you enough data on which to clearly define a predictable number.

[ooda]

The one with the most Ammo WINS.

[smithers599]

There is a difference between how many shots are fired, and how many shots are needed. If you fire two shots (whether hits or misses), and the BPF turns and runs away, but you chase him down the street and fire ten more shots into the air, then twelve shots were fired, but only two were needed.
Likewise, if you shoot the BPF and he goes down, and you shoot ten more (hits or misses) after he is already dead/incapacitated, then not all the shots fired were needed.

[smithers599]

I watched the video again. There are 22 incidents. They are organized in order of fewest rounds fired to most rounds fired.

Incident 19 takes place in Pakistan. Two guys come in to rob the place while two getaway guys on motos wait outside. Store owner shoots one guy in the back multiple times (four? five?) through a frosted glass door. That guy (unarmed) tries to leave, but can't move fast; he can barely walk. The guy with the gun turns and runs immediately. Then the store owner, and another person with a gun, go outside and shoot at the guys fleeing on motorcycles. No hits are apparent. They are shooting into heavy traffic in a busy city. Eighteen-nineteen rounds fired, but arguably none necessary (or wise) after the first guy was hit, and the others were racing away on their scooters.

In Incident 20, a store clerk draws on the holdup man. The BPF goes down on the first shot, and is out of the game, likely dead. The clerk then comes around from behind the counter and shoots him 14 more times, including multiple shots into the guy's dead buttocks, until the gun is empty. Total of 15 shots fired. How many shots were "necessary" -- 1 or 15?

Incident 21 is a home invasion in South Africa. Homeowner draws a gun, and the three invaders run like roaches. Homeowner chases them outside and fires 15 rounds at them while they are running. Fifteen shots fired; how many were "necessary"?

Incident 22 was satisfying, because it was the only one in which the shooter, reportedly a USPSA competitor, used two hands and looked at the sights. Mugged by two guys, he put 5 or 6 into one guy, who went down. Then he shot at the second guy, who had run behind a car. Then he shot the first guy a few more times, while he was on the ground. Then he shot at the second guy behind the car. Then he shot the first guy a few more times for good luck. Finally, instead of trying to hose the car, he took a precision shot and nailed the second guy. Seventeen shots fired; probably ten or a dozen at the first guy (who went down immediately); how many really "necessary"?

The lesson I draw from these videos is, don't close your eyes and blast away one-handed in the general direction. If you practice two hands with sights (like USPSA guy), you will probably do that in a fight, and you will probably make hits (like USPSA guy).