Guns Mag.: "Why Not Pack A Pair?"

Most of you are probably familiar with what is often termed the New York reload: carrying two (or more) firearms, and switching from the first to the second when the first runs out of ammunition rather than attempting a reload. This subject generally comes up with using revolvers because the common belief is that it is faster to draw a second revolver than to reload a revolver. (But if you want to train for faster revolver reloading, here is a drill developed by Marcus Wynn). This isn't necessarily the case with a semi-auto pistol.

     But--and don't shoot the messenger--I came across an article at Guns Magazine by Tiger McKee, who is a generally respected gun writer, discussing using two handguns at once. He writes:

The experiment began by researching the works of others. Ed McGivern’s Fast And Fancy Revolver Shooting has a chapter on two-gun work. He recommends starting out slow, firing one pistol at a time, never sacrificing accuracy for speed. For defensive purposes, J. Henry FitzGerald’s Shooting advises working up close, firing “… double action and pointing, no sights used, the arms stiffened when the muzzle is pointed in the right direction.”

He also adds that "McGivern suggests using two guns of the same type, size and weight." He then moved to dry fire practice:

       I load up with dummy ammo and dry practice 10 or 15 minutes a day. “Filling” each hand, I draw both pistols at once. As soon as the sights hit the target I smoothly stroke the triggers one at a time. After a little of this I practice pressing both triggers at once. Working with both hands at the same time feels a lot more natural than I anticipated. I research this phenomenon and discover the concept of “bilateral coordination,” our natural ability to use both sides of the body at the same time for controlled movements. Your hands and arms can perform the same tasks, like drawing two guns at once or opposite-type actions such as pushing with one arm while pulling with the other.

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      The visual aspects of working with two guns are very interesting. Firing one pistol and then the other is just a matter of shifting your visual focus from one set of sights to the other. Since this experiment is supposed to be fun, my main interest is in seeing what could be done firing both pistols at once. I don’t have a dominant eye, so I can actually get a sight picture with both sets of sights.

 The author got it to work, even being able to shoot one handgun at the chest and the other at the pelvic area.

    He found out some other things. First, shooting at the same time at the same target will often cause the handguns to smack together. Second, you need handguns of the same trigger pull weight to fire simultaneously; otherwise, you will be slower to fire the one with the heavier trigger. Third, and related, is that accuracy is much better with semi-autos than double-action revolvers.

    Is this a viable defensive option? The author relates:

    Is there a legitimate need to carry more than one pistol? History says “yes.” On December 19, 1854, Jon athan R. Davis, a military veteran, killed 11 armed outlaws at Rocky Canyon near Sacramento, California using two Colt revolvers and his Bowie knife. This is one of the deadliest fights in American history involving one man against multiple foes. There was a reason men carried weapons in those days.

      What about more contemporary examples? I contact Mas Ayoob. Probably the most famous example he mentions is Lance Thomas, a watch dealer in L.A.. Thomas has defeated multiple armed robbers, using more than one pistol in all but his first gunfight. He had pistols positioned all around his shop within easy reach. In another robbery, a young clerk at a stop-and-rob, Ayoob tells me, “pulled his primary gun on a robber, who jumped him and got it away from him.” The kid pulled a backup gun, stopping the threat just in time.

And, from another article:

In Tales of the Stakeout Squad, Massad Ayoob relates that Cirillo did carry spare ammo in belt loops and speed loaders. However, Ayoob also says, “I don’t think he ever reloaded until after a firefight was over. He and his favorite partner, Bill Allard, both told me that when they ran one gun dry, they’d drop it and grab another. It was from that that I coined the term ‘New York reload.'” At times, Cirillo would carry three six-shot revolvers and a Walther PPK while on duty (though it’s worth noting that he completely switched over to semi-autos of various calibers in his later years).

But these are examples are probably using one handgun at a time. McKee concludes: "Could you do it under realistic conditions, when your body is flooded with a chemical cocktail against a live [assailant]? I’m not sure, but I do know it’s some fun shooting."