If you're working a specific drill, BY ALL MEANS you should be adhering to the drill at first. Most of the time the drill in question is using those numbers for a relevant purpose. If, however, that purpose has anything to do with fair play for competition shooters or specific administrative scoring requirements then you can and should play with the number of loud noises a little bit.
Score is a number. In the real world, the fight starts with a clean slate... Both parties are alive and kicking. Odds are, at the end of a gunfight, one party will either A) NOT be alive and kicking; or B) be well on their way to A. Now, this can get into disparities and the like where one party may have to make up for their opponents' "higher score" due to them having more bodies alive and kicking at the get go. A criminal is NOT going to play fair, so you can leave that fair play Bravo Sierra for the birds. As far as scoring, if I'm scoring your paper target I'm looking at your kill zones (T-Slot, Heart/Lungs into spine, and Pelvic Box on some drills) and as long as no bullet holes are outside those zones I'm going to give you a thumbs up, slap on the back, a "Good Job," and go on the next target. I really don't care how many times you shoot most targets on most drills.
Why is that?
History has shown that all pistol calibers in places other than the central nervous system stop people with one bullet about as effectively as one of those funny looking Smart Car's stops a Suburban in a head-on collision. EVENTUALLY the Suburban will stop from the damage but it does take time. Now... Stack two or three or six or twenty funny looking little Smart Cars back to back and you got something that is more than likely going to stop that Suburban MUCH faster!
How many times should we shoot an aggressive human?
As many times as needed.
I can't tell you how many times you're going to need to shoot an attacker... So I'll leave it at shoot them... A LOT.
I don't believe in "X" rounds per target in most drills... I prefer a burst of fire on each one. Leave it at that. "Fire a burst of at least three rounds..." is how I refer to chest shots. I don't care if you're using a .45ACP or a .454 Casull. Multiple shots to the chest... Everytime... And two is one so two shots is not enough for us most of the time.
When working head shots... Work on surgical shots to the T-Slot. I'll put another article up later on targeting and show this better. Can you shoot bursts to the head? Of course you can. I would say that's ill-advised, namely because if you've conditioned yourself to firing a burst to the head and you find yourself needing to take a hostage rescue shot a burst ain't gonna cut it. One shot... One Drop.
The last thing I want to his is NEVER fire the same number of rounds per burst one different targets or stages! This is a conditioning thing. If you condition yourself "Three shots... Three shots... Three shots..." what happens when you need this stuff and "Three shots" wasn't enough? Shoot the threat to the ground... not shoot the threat a specific amount of times. When you're on the range you can always play with the number of rounds in your burst. This gets you used to firing multiple rounds, but not a specific number, plus you now have a number in your head that you formulated as opposed to a course of fire or an instructor's command. NOW you have conditioned your brain to process the target, the need to shoot, the shots themselves, and a moment known only to you when to stop.
On the street... When do you stop shooting? When the bad guy is no longer trying to kill you. Until then, shoot them until they stop... If they stop trying to kill you, great. If they stop breathing, so be it.
Stay Safe.
Stay Frosty.
WY6
1*
V/R
-Kenny Smith
TFTG President