Observations on Marksmanship

Quotations and personal observations on marksmanship, tactics, shooting and the right and righteousness of doing so.

Who invented the gun? Nobody knows for sure. Like the invention of gunpowder, it has attributed to many people: Chinese, Hindus, Greeks, Arabs, English and Germans. As good a story as any about the invention of the gun credits Black Berthold of Freiburg, a mysterious German monk of the early 14th century who, as legend has it, was preparing gunpowder in a closed vessel called an apothecary’s mortar when the mixture ignited and blew the pestle from the mortar. The use of “mortar” for a type of ordnance commemorates this occasion. Cannons are depicted in a 1326 manuscript on war by Walter de Millimete of England. “Gunnis cum telar” - guns with handles - showed up in the 1350s, marking the emergence of the personal firearm.
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2 Dec 93

Note that mere ownership of a firearm does not render the owner armed any more than ownership of a guitar renders the owner a musician. The wild cry, “My life is in danger, give me a gun!” is the plaint of a fool. The time to acquire one’s weapons and learn how to use them is before the riots start, not afterwards.
Jeff Cooper, G&A Nov 92

3 keys to stopping power: Placement, power and speed. You must hit the right spot, you must hit with sufficient power, and you must hit before it's too late. Moritz

In a man to man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine. Erwin Rommel

He wins who can fire first and can deliver the heaviest fire. Erwin Rommel

You must not be paranoid. Nor can you be complacent. You must be aware, alert, cautious.

It is better to hit once with a .22 than to miss six times with a .44. – Wayne Shaw

Man-killing is a ghastly business under any circumstances, and the thought of using deadly force in defense of their lives and homes is too dreadful for many people to contemplate. The alternative can be even more dreadful, however, and the right to kill as a last resort in defense of oneself and one’s loved ones is an absolute right bestowed by God on his whole creation. It applies equally to cornered rats, Kipling’s she-bear, mankind and lionesses with cubs. It cannot be abrogated by any merely human authority. But society can, and properly does, insist that it be exercised only when there is no other reasonable alternative.
Finn Aagard, American Rifleman Aug 86

In any dangerous business, a man’s equipment and his brains are of roughly equal quality. Dean Ing

Exercises, maneuvers and tests can never reproduce the essential ingredient of combat, which is fear in a lethal environment. Col. Trevor Dupuy.

God wears a revolver. He copied it when he made the universe.

If God had intended semi-automatic pistols to be double-action, He would have had John Moses Browning design it that way in the first place. RGM

Detached reflection cannot be demanded in the face of an upraised knife. Oliver Wendel Holmes

If I can recognize the danger at long range, I’ll deactivate it from a safe distance. The rifle is one of the better long range danger deactivators. Jim Woods.

The quality of an ammunition load’s performance is a measurement of how it interacts with it’s specified target. The target is as important a factor in bullet performance as the ammo. Dick Metcalf

Play marbles with cyanide balls and juggle jugs of nitroglycerine if you must have excitement, but never try to scare an old gunman. The results of success are likely to get your name sandblasted on a piece of white rock. Elmer Keith

Never bluff with a gun. If you are a trained gunfighter, then leave your gun alone until such time as you may need it. Leave it in the holster until you know you have to use it, and then shoot to kill or disable your adversary. Keith

Your gunfire should exceed the speed of death. Fire as rapidly and accurately as possible until your opponent is unable to harm you or you have expended your available ammunition. Don’t wait to see if he’s going to quit or die. That only affords him the opportunity to inflict more harm on you. Dave White.