Video: "Shooting For Survival"

I came across this FBI training video on gun fighting. The video is about 15 minutes long. I don't when it was made, but it appears to be from the mid-1970's based on the automobiles shown. Obviously the video concentrates on the type of firearms common for law enforcement of that date: .38 Special revolvers and 12 gauge pump shotguns,

The video is interesting from a purely historical perspective because it shows the accepted shooting stances and methods of the day which have mostly been superseded by newer methods developed and refined by the likes of Jeff Cooper, Ray Chapman, Frank McGee, and Massad Ayoob. Instead of the two handed isosceles stance employed almost universally today, the video features one-handed stances and techniques, including various hip fire techniques, and the "point shooting" technique popularized by Rex Applegate, which require precise foot placement and body positioning.

However, there are also some good information in the video as well. For instance, it has some practical pointers about shooting from behind cover, such as keeping elbows and legs in. And it demonstrates how bullets, when they ricochet, tend to travel parallel to the surface which they first struck. Of course, most of you are already aware of this issue--that's why you need to stay a foot or two away from brick and concrete walls when moving under fire. However, the video also shows how this can endanger someone using a vehicle as cover/concealment if a bullet were to strike the ground on one side of the vehicle and then travel underneath the vehicle to strike a person on the opposite side. (I say cover, because the vehicle doors and bodies of that time were of heavy enough gauge of steel to actually act as a barrier to handgun bullets).

Whether for the practical aspects, or the historical interest, it is worth 15 minutes of your time.