Zombies can be helpful???

So, you may be asking yourself, exactly how can zombies be helpful?

Well, with respect to marksmanship, the study of zombies and their behavior as chronicled by noted zombie author Max Brooks in his 2006 epic novel World War Z can provide a few lessons for fending off large groups of rioters/looters/gang bangers during a civil disturbance or collapse in society.

But before we get into the meat & potatoes of this discussion, I would like to make sure that everyone understands that before a shot can be legally fired at another person, lethal force guidelines must be followed.  You must be defending your life or the life of your family members from death or great bodily harm before a self-defense shooting can be justified in the eyes of the law.  See your own state's laws for details.  Just because there is a civil breakdown today does not mean that the rule of law will never return.......at some point when society returns to normal you will have to answer for your actions, justified or not.



Also, the scope of this article pertains to handguns, not rifles or shotguns.  I am going to assume that you all know that handguns are our worst defensive firearm, a weak sister compared to the combat shotgun, and a poor retarded step-nephew compared to the semi-auto AR15 pattern carbine.  The reason we are speaking about them at all is simply that more gun owners have them compared to combat shotguns & carbines/rifles. Simply put, if you have a carbine or shotgun available to you, do not put it down until it breaks or runs out of ammo before going to a handgun.  Rifles>shotguns>handguns.

Zombies are not intimidated by "shock & awe" tactics used in modern warfare and neither will that hungry crowd that's coming to raid your food supplies and burn down your house.  In these situations, slow-to-reload revolvers and area suppressive fire are not your friends.  What needs to be accomplished is the elimination of your threats one by one with controlled aimed fire to the vital zones, followed by an efficient magazine change.  Your ammo supply is not unlimited, and each round fired must count.  If you can engage your attackers with a sustained rate of fire of one accurate shot every two seconds, you will be able to more than hold your own in most any situation.

The "Spray and Pray" techniques shown on TV and in the movies are great for entertainment value, but should not be what you are spending time and ammunition on while you are at the range.  The Zombies/looters/rioters/gang bangers will simply outlast your ammunition supply as you piss it away hosing the general area down.  For a good time/speed/distance exercise, I recommend Mel Tappan's old guideline from way back- From the holster, draw & fire five rounds in five seconds from 25 yards.  You have mastered that particular handgun when you can keep all your shots within a ten inch circle.

Other good techniques to practice are hammers and double taps.  Hammers, in my opinion, are best utilized within 7 yards while double taps should be effective out to about 15 yards.  Beyond 15 yards I recommend individual aimed shots.  Double taps are defined as two, independent flash sight pictures and shots fired rapidly back-to-back.  Hammers are an initial flash sight picture and shot followed by an immediate unaimed second shot as soon as the handgun recovers from the recoil pulse.

You should be able to place two quick shots from a hammer within 8" of each other on a man-sized silhouette at 7 yards.  A double tap from 15 yards should have the same accuracy while being slightly slower.

Shots on target are the only ones that count.....we are not gonna stop anyone by just making a bunch of noise.  Zombies/looters/rioters/gang bangers are not gonna be scared when the growling in their stomachs is louder to them(in their mind) than any noise you are making.

Your range time is also the place to practice your magazine reloads from your offside magazine pouch.  At a minimum, I recommend carrying 2 loaded spare magazines in addition to the one in your pistol.  However, more are always welcomed!

You may have noticed at this point that we haven't spoken about what type of pistol might be ideal for this task, or what caliber it should be.  I have a future article in mind concerning those issues, and we'll speak about them at length then.  The most important characteristics regarding particular guns that we need to be concerned with today are these two: It must go bang when you press the trigger, and you have to have a large supply of ammo for it.

Bet you'll never look at zombies the same way again.....now get to the range and practice!



LWM out.............