User Panel
Posted: 12/21/2005 9:35:08 AM EDT
Who was that guy who defended himself when some thugs tried to hold up a gunshop after hours?
I think he used an AR and he fired more rounds than any other civilian ever in a self-defense situation or something like that. I think he even shot at a vehicle that tried to ram him once he fled outside. Anyone remember that or have a link or anything? |
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He also used an S&W subgun. I thought of this incident immediately when I read your thread title.
He lived close to the store, IIRC. |
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Damn, that must have been a hell of a night. I wish I saved some info when I first heard about that. |
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I believe ( read somewhere) that most shootouts occur under 3 yards and involve fewer than six shots.
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I've heard that too and that's kind of what brought this back to mind. There were A LOT of rounds fired with mag changes and using multiple weapons etc IIRC. |
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Harry Beckwith ... Here's a link to the incident
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Harry Beckwith. I've met him, and been in his store. Tough old fella. |
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Thank you. That's awesome. THR-Thumper: Good call on the S&W 76. |
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I didn't mean that one but point taken. |
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Cool story. Of course, I think he would have been better served with the AR and a pistol and more ammo, but it worked out for him in the end. |
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Not exactly but more trying to explain my thinking to some people. I'm on the survival forum often and I am not a militia-type but we have food and water at home to cover our asses. Also auxiliary heat and some other basic preps in case of prolonged bad weather or whatever. I've been through some hurricanes back when I lived in the Caribbean but it was sometimes hard to explain to people why I liked being prepared until NOLA. That seems to have made some basic preps seem reasonable to a lot more people. I thought this was a good example of why someone might want a little more than a 10/22 and a 38 (although that is pretty much an ideal combo). |
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May be but a google search of some of the key words only garners 3 hits and all of them are versions of this transcription of what is claimed an American Handgunners article. A search of the American Handgunners archives gets zero hits. Anyone have the issue cited?? |
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Anyone got a pic of a Model 76 SMG. I couldnt find one via yahoo nor have I ever seen one
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I take it those aren't available now due to the supressor or f/A? |
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If you've fired a Swedish K, you've pretty much fired a 76. Low cyclic and very controllable.
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S&W 76 IIRC as well as a FA AR(RDIAS) or SA AR. Both were used in the same incident IIRC Ayoob wrote about it a long time ago. Don't know where to find the artical though i have read it before. |
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Most rounds fired by a civilian in self-defense?
According to a Texas Grand Jury, the ATF raid on Feb. 28 in Waco, TX B-D acted in self-defense against excessive force. |
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the second amendment's original intent was realised in that incident. |
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Wasnt there some jwelery store owner in LA thats been robbed many times and he's got pistols all over the store for New York reloads?
Each time he gets robbed he uses more pistols or something like that. |
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I don't think he should get credit for the rounds that he sprayed recklessly into the air.
Really, if you're gonna go to all the trouble of confronting what, six?, armed males, you should at least have the mindset to go out there with a winning plan. Giving them warning shots (suppressive fire, bullshit) wasn't really much of a tactical plan and I'm sure warning shots/suppressive fire isn't taught at any reputable schools. |
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SJSAMPLE-- He was there, he made the call. Turns out it was the right one. Lets not monday mornng quarterback it. I bet the grand jury would have sent him to trial, if the sheriffs had shown up to find seven body's. Not every decsion you'll need to make is taught in "a reputable school". Sometimes you gotta use your gut.
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Well he is allive and not in jail. How many of us citizens can say we have ever been in a situation like that? Outside of the Military I would say he is one of few. |
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If you read in the newspaper about a guy who stopped his car from being burglarized by spraying rounds into the air, you'd be one out of many (I hope) decrying the guy's ignorance. Just because he lived and got lucky and hit one guy (with 105 rounds?) doesn't make him a tactical or technical genius. It makes him lucky. Giving armed individuals a chance to kill you by expending good ammo is not a plan. And, why NOT "monday morning quarterback" this situation? If we don't, then any "tactic" (very loosely used) that we read about is acceptable? Whatever happened to "check your target, check your backstop". This guy did neither and 105rnds and ONE HIT makes him a tactical genius. |
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His actions aren't perfect but he was spotted, in the open and faced 7 possibly armed men who just saw him shoot at the vehicle. You think they didn't all know at that moment it was time to fight? What would be your tactical call to make 5 to 7 men drop where they are before one of them could return fire when you are not in shape to be running around? One 5.56mm hit though windshield glass is not as easy as you may suppose. Disableing the second vehicle was a decent call in my book. I'm not sure how I'd handle 5 other guys carefully one at a time without allowing them to scatter on me or return fire. |
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+1 He had been involved in two previous shootings and it sounds like he did fine in both of those instances. I hope I do as well as he did if I am ever in the unfortunate position of 7 to one. |
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I'm glad the guy is OK, but let's look at his actions: 1. He put himself into the open. 2. He saw them, but made the conscious decision NOT to aim at them when firing. Ask yourself what circumstances would you NOT aim at armed targets? If you're gonna go out there with the mindset of not doing what's necessary, why go out at all? "Suppressive fire" works best when it's actually directed at the targets. 3. Disabling the vehicle was a good call. But the guy burned through an awful lot of useful ammo that he might have needed to actually shoot at armed assailants. He relied upon the police to show up and take control. What if they hadn't? I think too many people are awed by the fact that; a) he fired 105 rounds (yet you'll bash cops who fire 10+ and only score two hits) and, b) he used a S&W Model 76 and an AR (for which he didn't bring enough ammo). Poor tactics is poor tactics. |
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105 rounds. |
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Not so sure if that's accurate. I've had a number of reputable people say that according to a study that all of them had read that the average gunfight happens at seven yards, and lasts 3.5 seconds. The six shots may have been true at one time, but I doubt if it still holds true. That was due to cops carrying revolvers and they would have a tendency to empty the gun. Most cops carry autos now and still have that tendency to empty the mag. I'll try and find some support for my statement. I think it may have been an FBI study, but I could be wrong. Let me check on it. |
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Yes it is. I'm not really saying that "supressive fire" is the best call. Personally I question the wisdom of taking on two cars and 7 men whatever the circumstances, unless it's clear you are about to be killed by them. Once the car came at him though the best laid plans and such just went out the window. Now it's time to stay alive, and while I'm no fan of "warning shots" in this case it had the desired effect, nobody else was killed or wounded and the police did arrive. Let's face it... he probably didn't get a lot of training, most people don't, and you will not just get "tactical" out of thin air. I too was puzzeled by the 15 rounds per mag on the AR though? Why? This also proves that the AR is NOT the weapon of choice when faced with a vehicle. |
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Warning shots should not be a genral rule in defusing an armed threat. But disableing the car sounded like a good idea. but not sure what i would do since i have never been in that situation, but i would have definatly shoot to kill the guy in the car who tried to run me down if that was the case. Idont think i would have sprayed the whole place with 100 rnds at guys holding guns.
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His plan worked because he was not facing a well armed, motivated enemy. If they had attempted a serious counter assault, he would have died.
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Why is that? Just tells me the guy wasn't accurate enough to get more hits in. The one shot that did hit the robber killed him, but it took a couple minutes. |
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That was probably his "story" to make himself look better in front of the grand jury. He did kill someone and anything he could say to make himself look less like a "stone cold killer" would be to his benefit. |
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Lotta armchairs bitchin about his actions aint done nothin but ninja a bunch of paper.....knobs.....
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There was some dude that worked at either a ruger factory or H&K factory that fired a class three resulting from a road rage incident if I remember correctly. Or perhaps I don't remember correctly. Either way, the bottom line is......shooting at bad guys is fun!
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Something I've been teaching for 15 years is that those statistics are part of the UCR in the officers killed section. Those stats are not for the average gunfight, those stats are for the average officer killed. Those are losing gunfights. 7 yards, with majority within 7 feet, 2.5 rounds fired, 2.5 seconds, low light (with a national hit ratio of 25%) Fairburn stopping power study done by Police Marksman Association showed wining LE gunfights at 10 yards, 12 rounds fired, 50% hit ratio. Of course none of this directly correlates to private sector scenarios. But it's pretty easy to figure out: be farther away, fire more rounds, hit more often. |
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During the time this happened these were most like 20 round mags. |
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