Customer Reviews

Shooting To Live

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is easy to read. The lessons are simple, and the techniques are so easy that you will be able with one hour of practice to hit a target within 15 yards.(consider that FBI's statistics show that most shootings happen under 6 yards). You use your body's centerline to align your hand and fingers and the gun barrel and point and shoot at the target. No need to use your sights unless you have the time and space to do so. The authors were British policemen in Shanghai of the 1920's, a very crime ridden city. They later trained the British Commandos and the U.S.OSS (The original CIA). While the material is a bit old, it is from real life experience and the lessons are timeless. It is not the gun, but how you use it. The authors point out, in real stress situations, one can't focus, movements become exaggerated, and fine muscular control is difficult. This method uses these conditions to help one shoot in combat. Rex Applegate, who also wrote about gun usage, studied with the authors. He was the trainer for the OSS in personal combat during ww2. A highly recommended book.

I was a personal student of Rex Applegate and I consider this one of the most important shooting books ever written. This volume (written in 1942, but based on the authors experience with the SMP from 1907 to 1940) is as relevent today as the day it was written. From the descriptions of the typical gunfight(under 4 yards), to their dislike of competition/team shoots, to their theory of stopping power( we don't know what makes bullets effective so we recommend shooting until the threat drops), to shooting from behind cover, to using two hands for the ocasional long shot,to the use of the 'mystery house" for training, this volume was way ahead of its time. Why these ( and Rex Applegate's) methods fell out of favor for the nonsense being taught for the past 20 years is almost a sin. I've read this book dozens of times and I STILL learn something from it. Modern law enforcement/military instructors are finally praticing these methods and so should you. This book is a ten!

Though this book is nearly 60 years old, and the techniques described in it were developed between the World Wars, this is still by far the best book I have ever read on combat pistol shooting. With only a few changes to reflect current pistol design and shooting doctrine, you could still use this as a manual for instruction today. In many ways the book is way ahead of its time as it recommends self-loading pistols over revolvers, discusses stopping power, body armour and suggests a layout for a tactical range that would be familiar to military/law-enforcement/IPSC shooters today. Thoroughly recommended to anyone who might have to use a pistol in a combat situation or who simply has an interest in the origins of modern tactical shooting techniques.

Fairbairn and Sykes were way ahead of their time. Many of the concepts in this book can be seen today in several different forums; tactical pistol shooting techniques, concealed carry weapon and holster design, indoor shoot houses, moving target training and competition.

That said, there is some advice that has not proven itself over time. For example, they recommend you disable the safety on the 1911 and carry it without one in the pipe. Most people would disagree with that advice today for tactical as well as legal reasons.

Formatted as a small pocket book with a fuzzy "manual typewritter" font, with only 96 pages it can be read in a single session. A historically significant book that is well worth reading but overpriced.

One of the classics on combat shooting by two of the most interesting men that ever worked in law enforcement. Based on practical police experience in one of the worlds most dangerous cities the book lacks the usual macho posturing that many modern books have. The book quite simply is about "Shooting to Live". While there is no substitute for practice and training this book is a very good start on the practical realities of combat use of the handgun.

Shooting To Live offers great thoughts on the Fairbairn and Sykes method of point shooting. They educates a surprising amount of "modern" material for a book written in the early part of the 20th century.

A few points I enjoyed:

-Fairbairn and Sykes trained on negative targets.

-They incorporated failure-to-fire drills into their training.

-Fairbairn and Sykes utilized different gun positions based on proximity of the threat. And they fired off of the centerline.

-I found one point of particular interest is the ideal sight design for a defensive pistol (an express style sight as used on big game rifles, with the front sight being a large bead of ivory or silver). An Very worthwhile purchase and read.

You only have to compare the conditions found in a typical shooting range with what would be the most likely scenario
in a self defense confrontation to realise how unrealistic are the modern training methods. After having read this book and check its principles with some friends who are policemen and have participated in several gun fights (and in one case wet their pants and not with blood), this book is an absolute necessity if you are interested in actual self defense and not in shooting games.

I rate this book a strong 3.5 (stars).

This classic manual was way ahead of its time in 1943, and some of the theory still holds true today. This book was a joint venture by two of the most respected gunfighters of the day; Fairbairn and Sykes. This book shows both the authors no nonsense approach to teaching and employing these combat prove techniques. The same techniques taught to the World War II American Office of Strategic Services (OSS), British Commandos and the Shanghai Police and this is just but a few examples of players who employed these methods.

This book is a superlative work on "modern" pistolcraft (in 1942) dealing with the intricacy's of pistol selection, close quarters shooting methods and stopping power theory. Although it focuses on autoloaders the methods can be applied to revolvers (if one really cared to use one over an auto-loader).

Overall this is an important and significant title for its historical study and value. Today a lot of the methods have been debunked or improvements have been made on the techniques in the evolution of combat pistol shooting leaving much of the material in the book dated. As well there continues to be heated debates on the validity of "point shooting". Although it being a dated book I fully recommend it for historical/academic study.

This 1942 reprint was the first Practical Handgun Training Book for Police and Military. Experience taken from years with the Shanghi China Police Dept who patrolled the most dangerous streets in the World, this book was a compulation of what worked in over 600 deadly encounters between police officers using only handguns and criminals attempting to kill them. This is a great piece of history of law enforcement.

The book is a classic, setting forth what has become widely accepted doctrine on defensive shooting. It is clearly written and commonsensical. The chattiness gets a little tiresome, with all the references to the now-grizsled author's youth and adventures.

It's certainly interesting as an example of the first-generation of practical shooting books, but I'd advise people to borrow a copy instead of buying one.