Today is the 38th anniversary of the “FBI Miami Shootout.”<\/p>\n
FBI agents attempted to apprehend 2 violent criminals in their vehicle.\u00a0 When they did, the next 5 minutes 145 shots were fired and law enforcement and self defense ammo and training changed dramatically as a result.<\/p>\n
One of the rounds fired by an FBI agent stopped JUST short of the heart of one of the shooters…after this hit failed to stop the shooter, the shooter murdered 2 FBI agents.<\/p>\n
This incident forever changed how law enforcement chose ammunition and weapons for gunfights and it influenced a lot of what and how responsibly armed citizens own and use today.<\/p>\n
For most of the 20th century, the rule of thumb was that when you\u2019re using a pistol for self-defense, the bigger the bullet, the more effective it is.<\/p>\n
That led to many shooters becoming passionate fans of the .45 and eventually the .40.<\/p>\n
9mm was seen as a pathetic self-defense round and .380 was worse.<\/p>\n
This was kind of ironic since the .357 magnum bullet is the same size as the 9mm and .380, but I digress.<\/p>\n
The world of ammunition has changed at an exponential pace in recent years and caliber doesn’t really matter like it used to…even as recently as 5-10 years ago.<\/p>\n
This happened mainly because of 3 factors.<\/p>\n
First\u00a0<\/strong>was the April 11, 1986 shootout in\u00a0Miami\u00a0involving\u00a0FBI\u00a0agents where the 9mm they were using didn\u2019t get the job done.\u00a0This event, 38 years ago, led to very specific penetration requirements by the\u00a0FBI.<\/p>\n The\u00a0FBI\u00a0wasn\u2019t the only organization to use the standard.\u00a0So did other Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies as well as civilians.\u00a0It meant that ammo manufacturers had to design defensive ammo to meet the requirement, regardless of caliber.<\/p>\n That started the ball rolling…but these next 2 factors kicked things into overdrive.<\/p>\n Second\u00a0<\/strong>is a huge increase in civilians buying defensive handgun ammo.\u00a0People want to buy ammo that would be most likely to work, so they tend to buy ammo that meets the\u00a0FBI\u00a0standards.\u00a0This made it profitable for more companies to manufacture defensive ammo and compete for people’s business.\u00a0That competition fueled innovation.<\/p>\n Third\u00a0<\/strong>is the internet and specifically YouTube.\u00a0Testing results, shooting results, and a bazillion statistics are available online to everyone in a few seconds on almost every defensive round made.\u00a0This put pressure on ammo manufacturers to not only make ammo that worked in theory\u2026but that worked when some dude with a YouTube channel decided to shoot stuff in his back yard to test it out.<\/p>\n It’s amazing when you think about how we\u2019ve gone from shooting full metal jacket or lead bullets for self defense to hollow points that kind of worked some of the time to hollow points that are engineered NOT to expand when they go through glass, but that will expand when they hit fluid and maximize penetration without over-penetrating.<\/p>\n The defensive ammunition that’s common today would have been thought of as science fiction a decade ago.<\/p>\n In fact, the SimX ammo that I’ve been testing since SHOT show is 9mm and has a muzzle velocity of more than 2200 feet per second out of carry\/duty pistols!\u00a0 That’s probably double the muzzle velocity of your carry ammo…and the recoil, as measured on a ransom rest, is about half.<\/p>\n In short, any reports that you read or beliefs that you have about ammunition that are more than 3-5 years old need to be re-visited.<\/p>\n Ammo has changed that much.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of how this has played out.<\/p>\n The penetration performance of top loads is amazingly consistent, regardless of caliber.<\/p>\n They\u2019re shockingly uniform, regardless of size, weight, and speed\u2026because the majority of manufacturers are aiming for the standards that the\u00a0FBI\u00a0has set.<\/p>\n And there\u2019s not that much difference in the number of hits that it takes, on average, to stop a threat either.\u00a0(It\u2019s between 2-3 hits, regardless of caliber\u2026as long as it\u2019s a hollow point in a defensive caliber or a wadcutter\/semi-wadcutter in low-power loads.)<\/p>\n So what\u2019s that mean for you?<\/p>\n First<\/strong>, it means shoot the gun you like.\u00a0Especially for women, this can mean shooting a 9, .45, .380, .32 (revolver), or even .22 with the right ammo instead of a .40.\u00a0Just pick the one you enjoy shooting the most.\u00a0You still want to do the majority of your practice with dry fire, but you want to make sure that your live fire practice is enjoyable and not painful.\u00a0 As you try lighter recoiling loads…especially if you try a .380, make sure your gun+ammo combination will run reliably when you’re shooting with your support hand only.<\/p>\n Second<\/strong>, there\u2019s no one-shot man-stopper in defensive pistol calibers. Other than SimX, The FASTEST pistol ammo is more like poking with a sharp stick than shooting with a rifle. If you think .45 ball is incredible because of the size hole it makes, keep in mind that a 9mm hollow point will expand to over .50in.\u00a0Shoot a gun because you like shooting it and can shoot it well…not because you think it has magical powers to compensate for bad shot placement.<\/p>\n Third<\/strong>, THE most important factor in how effective a particular gun\/caliber is going to be at stopping threats is you.\u00a0Your skill with the gun and your skill executing those skills under stress.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why it\u2019s so vital that you practice on a regular basis.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t have to always be live fire\u2026you can do the majority of your practice with dry fire at home.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t have to be for an hour, 30 minutes, or even 15 minutes at a time\u2026when you do the right practice the right way, you can quickly make huge improvements in performance with 5-10 minutes of dry fire practice, a few days a week.<\/p>\n The key is to do your training as efficiently and effectively as possible so that you don\u2019t waste any time or effort.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s the whole point of this training<\/a>.\u00a0In just a few minutes per week, it seamlessly incorporates more than a dozen accelerated learning techniques into the training so that you can squeeze the most benefit possible out of your training time.<\/p>\n Get it today…because no matter how awesome your gun or ammo, the biggest factor in how quickly you’re able to stop a threat is your ability to put hits on target under stress.<\/p>\n This is how you build the skills 10x-20x faster than traditional training.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is the 38th anniversary of the “FBI Miami Shootout.” FBI agents attempted to apprehend 2 violent criminals in their vehicle.\u00a0 When they did, the next 5 minutes 145 shots were fired and law enforcement and self defense ammo and training changed dramatically as a result. One of the rounds fired by an FBI agent … Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t