The Gun Digest® Book of Combat Handgunnery
6th Edition
How to Defend
• Your Family
• Your Home
• Yourself
Massad Ayoob
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© 2007
by Krause Publications
Published by
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The views and opinions of the author expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publisher, and no responsibility for such views will be assumed.
In regard to the mechanical and safety aspects of the guns covered in this book, it is assumed that the guns are in factory original condition with the dimensions of all parts as made by the manufacturer. Since alteration of parts is a simple matter, the reader is advised to have any guns checked by a competent gunsmith. Both the author and publisher disclaim responsibility for any accidents.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007923008
ISBN 13: 978-0-89689-525-6
ISBN 10: 0-89689-525-4
eISBN: 978-1-44022-425-6
Designed by Patsy Howell
Edited by Ken Ramage
Printed in the United States of America
Introduction
About The Author
Since publishing his first firearms article in 1971 (GUNsport magazine) Massad Ayoob has authored thousands of articles in firearms, law enforcement and martial arts journals, and written more than a dozen books including In the Gravest Extreme, widely considered the authoritative text on the use of deadly force by private citizens in self-defense. His life achievement awards include Outstanding American Handgunner of the Year, National Tactical Advocate, the Roy Rogers Award for promotion of firearms safety and the James Madison award for authorship promoting the Second Amendment.
Ayoob served twenty years as chair of the firearms committee for the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers (including several years on ASLET’s ethics committee) and four on the advisory board of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association. He has taught at regional, national and international seminars for the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, and has taught the investigation of justifiable homicides at venues ranging from the DEA Academy in Quantico to the International Homicide Investigators Seminars. Mas also served two years as co-vice chair of the forensic evidence committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, one of the very few non-attorneys to ever hold such a position with that organization.
For most of his adult life, Mas has worked full time studying violent encounters, teaching how to survive them, and writing about same. He founded Lethal Force Institute (PO Box 122, Concord, NH 03302, (www.ayoob.com) in 1981. Part-time, he has been testifying as an expert witness since 1979, and has spent 33 years as a part-time, fully sworn law enforcement officer, most of that time as a supervisor with command authority over full-time personnel. At this writing he is handgun editor of Guns magazine, law enforcement editor of American Handgunner, and associate editor of Combat Handguns and Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement. The first five-gun Master in IDPA, Ayoob presently holds the New Hampshire State, Florida State, New England Regional and Florida/Georgia Regional Champion titles with the stock service revolver.
Patrolman Massad Ayoob, 1978. Privately owned, department-approved service revolver is his Moran Custom Colt Python .357 Magnum. Photo credit: Dick Morin, Manchester (NH) Union-Leader newspaper.
Dedication
Live long enough, and you can write enough books to dedicate some to your mom and dad, your spouse, your kids, your colleagues, and your mentors. Been there, done that.
This book is respectfully dedicated to my graduates, from Lethal Force Institute and many other programs, especially those who used what they learned to survive. Some of you were kind enough to credit me with saving your lives.
It was good of you, but I have to say you were wrong. You saved your own lives… but, in so doing, you validated mine.
Massad Ayoob
July 2007
Captain Massad Ayoob, 2006. Service pistol is department issue Ruger P345 .45 auto. Photo credit: Grantham (NH) PD.
Contents
Chapter One: The Defensive Combat Handgun: An Overview
Chapter Two: Enduring Classics